By Annabeth Miller, ShowMe Times Editor

Area residents woke up Monday morning after a night filled with additional strong doses of Mother Nature’s wrath – everything from heavy rain, hail, and strong winds.

A layer of bright green covered many city streets – green from the young leaves ripped from trees during Sunday night’s hail storm. The hail arrived at approximately 11:10 p.m., leaving behind weather-worn trees, dents in vehicles, and reports of damage to homes and buildings. Reports on the hail measured from pea size to just at one-inch size hail stones.

Dexter City street crews were out early Monday morning cleaning up debris and preparing for the next rainstorm expected Monday afternoon.

In Downtown Dexter, Wayne Jean was busy sweeping the leaves stripped from trees by the overnight hail before business opened. Across Stoddard Street, Tim Holder was preparing for another day of business. He rolled out the carts full of plants – flowers and vegetables. The rainfall has halted work in flower beds and gardens.

“I’m going to run a special,” Holder said with a chuckle. “Ten percent off plants while it’s raining!!”

But the most damage yet may be from the abundance of rain. Local weather watcher Tina Fields reported Monday morning that she has recorded 10.4 inches of rainfall since Thursday night.

Flooding in the region has forced cancellations in the region. The following school districts are closed today because of weather conditions:

• Kelso
• East Carter County
• Greenville
• Poplar Bluff
• Southern Reynolds
• Van Buren
• Zalma
• Advance
• Leopold
• Clearwater
• Woodland

In addition, all campuses of Three Rivers College are closed Monday.

Dexter Public Schools were already scheduled to not be in session on Monday due to the Easter holiday break.

Early Monday morning a mandatory evacuation was ordered for persons living along a stretch of the Black River in Butler County. People living south of the Black River in Butler County and east of Ditch Road should leave their homes. Officials say a level along the Black River has been compromised at County Road 607.

A number of roadways in Stoddard County have been closed due to the recent flooding. Several routes have water over them but have not been closed and motorists are urged to use extreme caution and plan alternate routes.

Routes in Stoddard County that as of 9 a.m. Monday are closed or have water over the roadways include:

•· Route 25 - south of Dexter
•· Route AD
•· Route BB
•· Route D - five miles south of Dexter
•· Route F
•· Route FF - east of Dexter and south of Route 60
•· Route H
•· Route J
•· Route K - from Route BB north to Route BB south
•· Route K - from Route BB south to Route M
•· Route M - from Leora and Routes K and N
•· Route MM - from Route U in Stoddard County to County Road 102 in Dunklin County
•· Route N - to Route A
•· Route O - between County Road 309 and County Road 337
•· Route T - from Route 51 to Route J
•· Route U - six miles west of Bernie
•· Route V
•· Route Y - from Route AB to Route Z
•· Business 60 - Dexter
•· Intersection of Route E and N

Photo Above: Hail pounded the Dexter area late Sunday night, measuring from pea-size to one-inch stones of hail. (SMT Photo by Annabeth Miller)

Thunderstorms rattled throughout Southeast Missouri Friday night, and continued just in time for Easter Egg hunts on Saturday.

Heavy rains hit just as the Dexter Kiwanis Club Easter Egg Hunt ended Saturday afternoon, and ditches filling and roadways wet and some rain-covered. The National Weather Service calls for thunderstorms to continue throughout the Easter weekend. The forecast calls for storms to continue, with a threat that some of the storms could be severe and produce heavy rainfall. Low Saturday night around 61 and a 80 percent chance of precipitation.

More showers and thunderstorms are expected on Easter Sunday, with a 70 percent chance of precipitation dampening the day.

With the rains continuing through the beginning of the week, the NWS is calling for a Flash Flood Watch and Flood Advisory continuing in the Bootheel.

By Annabeth Miller, ShowMe Times Editor

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The clock may be ticking, but leaders in the Missouri Senate say they will continue work on crafting a “fair and equitable” congressional redistricting map.”

Senate leaders on Friday said that developing a new redistricting map was a “priority” and that they would meet the May 13 deadline.

Crafting a map that is fair and equitable to Missouri citizens when it comes to their representation in the United States Congress is a priority, said Missouri Senate leaders today in Jefferson City.

In the wee morning hours Friday, negotiations between leaders of the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives came to an end. The issue will stand "as is" at least until Tuesday when members return to Jefferson City after the Easter weekend. Members from both chambers worked for more than seven hours Friday night in closed-door negotiations.

The General Assembly is constitutionally charged to redraw Missouri’s Congressional Districts based on the most recent U.S. Census data.

According to U.S. Census date, Missouri must lose a congressional seat – shifting from nine representatives in the U.S. House of Repsentatives to just eight.

“It is especially difficult this year, but the process is extremely important as it will likely be the basis for Missouri’s congressional district make-up for the next 30 years,” said Senate Leader Rob Mayer, R-Dexter.

Mayer said he believes that senators can develop a congressional map that can be approved by both the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives by the May 13 deadline.

“It is imperative we complete our Constitutional duty and adopt a map both members of the Senate and House of Representatives agree is the best in representing the interests of Missourians,” Mayer said.

Senators noted they had hoped to finish by a self-imposed deadline of Friday, April 22. Differences in the House and Senate map versions are currently before a conference committee.

Sen. Scott T. Rupp, R-Wentzville, is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting and said the map should reflect the best interests of Missourians and not currently elected members of Congress.

“A member of Congress’ opinion has no more weight than that of any Missourian,” said Rupp. “We must remember we are elected to represent the people of Missouri and not their Congressmen and women.”

"At some point I think the Senate will get serious about negotiating the map and trying to resolve the differences between the two maps," said Rep. John Diehl, R-St. Louis, who chairs the House redistricting committee. Rupp noted negotiations will resume next week.

The House and Senate versions of the map are similar in several issues, but differ in a few key areas, Shifting the state down in the congressional representation has brought about conflict in rural areas and the state’s urban areas – particularily the Kansas City area as well as St. Charles, St. Louis and Jefferson County.

The Constitution provides lawmakers until the end of the legislative session (6 p.m., May 13) to adopt a new map. The House Friday amended Senate Bill 68 by attaching a House compromise map. That bill would next return to the Senate for consideration. If the Legislature does not complete the task, the issue would move to the courts to be decided.

By Annabeth Miller, ShowMe Times Editor

As a young girl, Michelle Kinsey Mahler was as nimble with a needle and thread as some girls are with cheer stunts or dance steps or piano keys. And when she left Southeast Missouri to go to college, her sewing kit and design ideas were prominent on her packing lists.

Many young women dream of wearing “the” wedding dress.

But Michelle Mahler dreams of designing “the” wedding dress that every young bride wants to wear on her wedding day. She is taking those design and sewing skills to creating dreams.

Mahler is a senior at Missouri State University, just weeks away from receiving a degree in design from the university’s department of fashion and interior design. She recently was awarded first place and a scholarship for her original bridal gown at an international fashion career day in Dallas.

Mahler is the daughter of Linda and Carl Hill of Dexter. She attended elementary school in Dexter and graduated from Ellington High School before heading to Missouri State.

Her gown was presented as part of the fully staged runway show at Fashion Group International’s (FGI) 2011 Dallas Career Day. She walked the runway with her design, as a representative of the university.

Mahler’s design, which she named the “Unrefined Diamond,” features a removable top skirt for the reception.

“I entered it specifically because I had made my bridal collection,” Mahler said. Her bridal collection now includes nine pieces, including the dress she made for her own wedding. Marler and husband Brandon were married in July 2010.

“I made seven dresses from January through March,” she said of her expanding bridal collection. “The other two dresses I made before, including one I wore at my wedding and a second one I wore for my wedding rehearsal.”

She takes much of inspiration for her designs from her faith. The dress “Darling Dove”, for instance, she said was inspired by the Song of Solomon.

Mahler will graduate in May from MSU, and she and husband Brandon will remain in the Springfield area. Both plan to work as interns for Campus Crusade for Christ to “give back to the students on campus.”

In the long term, the young Southeast Missouri woman wants to build up her line of bridal wear. But for now, she settles on spreading word of her work through friends and family, and through the website, etsy.com.

“I have three brides now who want me to design their dress,” she said. “I am hoping to open an online store sometime this next year. The dress I won for (in Dallas) has been the most popular with everyone so far.”

This was the first year the bridal gown category, sponsored by Mon Cheri Bridal, was part of the student design competition. More than 1,000 design and merchandising students attended the 43rd annual event on April 1, which was held by FGI of Dallas at the Dallas Market Center.



Photos Above:Top Photo: Michelle Mahler on the runway during the FGI 2011 Dallas Career Day Fashion Show. Collage: Michelle and two of her dresses in her Bridal Collection.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – U.S. Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson toured Three Rivers College’s “unbelievable” new Nursing and Allied Health Center on Tuesday, April 19.

“This is fantastic,” commented Emerson, during a tour of the new labs, classrooms, and high-fidelity simulated patient rooms. “I’m overwhelmed. If I were a nursing student, I’d hope to study in a facility like this.”

Renovations to the 25,000-square-foot facility are complete; the nursing and medical laboratory technology programs began classes on location in January. Surgical Technology and Emergency Medical Services curriculum will follow in August.

“This is one of the greatest ideas you’ve ever had,” Emerson remarked to college president Dr. Devin Stephenson, referencing the partnership between Three Rivers and Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center that made the new center possible.

PBRMC rents the previously-unused space to the college for approximately one dollar a year. Nursing and allied health students are given the opportunity to study in a functioning hospital setting, and PBRMC recruits heavily from the graduating classes of nurses.

“We’ve maintained a 100 percent post-graduation hiring rate,” said Kim Shackleford, Director of Nursing and Division Chair for Health and Human Services. “Our last class of graduates has a 96 percent first-attempt pass rate for the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Exam for nursing). We anticipate a 100 percent overall pass rate.”

The nursing program at Three Rivers has once again been ranked by Ingram’s Magazine as a top-20 program within Missouri and Kansas, based on enrollment. Three Rivers Nursing is ranked among the University of Missouri, Pittsburg State, the Godfarb School at Barnes Jewish College in St. Louis, and others. Healthcare curriculum is currently being written so that students studying a variety of healthcare disciplines will be required to work with each other in this interactive setting, just as they would is an actual hospital.

“For example,” said Shackleford, “Our EMS students will bring in a ‘patient’ on a stretcher, having already performed their required first-response duties. The ‘patient’ is then checked in and cared for by nursing students, who then have to work with the Medical Lab Technology students to ‘draw blood’ and have it tested.”

“This is a student-focused learning environment,” said nursing instructor Paulette Alexander in conversation with the congresswoman. “Students have to take the lead, and we’re here to help facilitate that interactive experience, which is so crucial to the quality of patient care once they’re working in a true clinical setting.”

“We’re developing some of the first concept-based curriculum in Missouri,” added Shackleford. “We are writing our own textbooks based on our interdisciplinary approach to health science education. We are leaps and bounds ahead of other institutions, and we’re very proud of that.”

“I’ve never seen anything quite as sophisticated as this in my life,” said Emerson. “You have unlimited options here. Three Rivers’ ability to attract some of the best students because of the quality of this facility is unparalleled. I think this is going to succeed beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. Poplar Bluff is the place to be right now.”

Also present for the tour was Poplar Bluff businessman Jerry Murphy, CEO of Gamma Laboratories.

Murphy announced that Gamma Labs would sponsor a scholarship for a Med Lab Tech student starting Fall 2011.

Three Rivers’ MLT program is lead by Dionne Thompson, a former employee of Gamma Labs.

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (above) tests out "Hal". a simulation mannequin at the new Nursing and Allied Health Center at Three Rivers College (Teresa Johnson, TRC photo)