By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times editor

EAST PRAIRIE - The earth moved Tuesday morning under Southeast Missouri.

A 4.0 earthquake was reported in the early morning hours Tuesday with an epicenter near East Prairie in Mississippi County.

The U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center report the earthquake occurred at 3:58 a.m.. The quake was centered 5 miles NNW of East Prairie, 12 miles ENE of Matthews, 13 miles SSE of Blodgett and 92 miles NNW of Jackson, Tenn.

Reports of feeling the tremor were reported to the USGS from throughout Southeast Missouri, including Dexter, East Prairie, Gideon, Kennett, Cape Girardeau, Martson, and across the Mississippi River from Dyersburg, Union City, and Troy in Tennessee and Paducah, Bardwell, Hickman and Fulton in Kentucky. USGS reports the depth of the quake was 5 kilometers (3.1 miles).

The Center For Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis there have been no significant reports of damage from the earthquake.

Link Of Interest

• Center For Earthquake Research and Information

By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

A long-time member of a city board will be recognized for her service at Tuesday’s meeting of the Dexter Board of Alderman.

Mary Ann Taylor, who has served on the City Park and Recreation Board for more than 30 years, will be recognized in Tuesday’s meeting. Taylor is retiring as a member of the Park board. The Board of Alderman and Mayor Joe Weber will recognize her for her many years of dedicated service.

In other business, City Auditor Eddie Cato will deliver the monthly report for January, and representatives from Jean & Company are expected to be on hand to present information on the audit report. The auditors at Jean and Company have been compiling the audits from FYE 2008-2010 and will be able to present their findings to the board.

This week’s meeting of the board will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 21 due to the President’s Day holiday on regular Monday meeting date. The board will meet at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 21 in the Dexter Municipal Building on Vine Street.

JEFFERSON CITY – In an effort to find ways to save on Missouri’s social service program, Senate Leader Rob Mayer has appointed a new committee to study the state’s programs.

Mayer, named five senators this week to serve on the Special Senate Committee on Social Service Program Savings. The committee is charged with conducting hearings in order to examine past and anticipated changes in the participation and cost of each social service program offered in Missouri.

“Missouri is facing an on-going budget crisis,” Mayer said. “As we have fewer dollars to fund our priority of education, as well as the critical functions of government, it becomes even more important that we find ways to counteract the hundreds of millions of dollars in annual mandatory increases embedded in our social service programs. We should examine ways we can provide better care and save lives, while also saving money.”

Members appointed to serve include three Republican and two Democrats. Appointed were Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph; Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington; Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah; Sen. Joe Keaveny, D-St. Louis; Sen. Shalonn “Kiki” Curls, D-Kansas City.

Schaaf will serve as chair of the special committee.

“The severity of our current budget crisis demands that all solutions be considered, including options such as federal block granting, which has never been considered in our state,” said Schaaf. “We will meet our fiduciary duty to the state by looking at these options and reporting our findings.”

The committee will meet weekly in hopes of submitting an initial report of recommended actions before March 1, the last day to introduce bills in the Senate. The committee will continue its work after that date until a final report of findings is submitted to the Senate.