Rural Macon County homeowners pay for fire protection in one of two ways, through a property tax levied by a fire protection district or through yearly dues to a volunteer fire department, depending on where they live.

Four tax-funded districts levy on Macon County property, according to the Missouri State Auditor's tax rate database. Most of the rest of the rural county is served by departments that live on dues.

Macon County Assessor Jon Kerns sent Chariton Media Group a county map of the fire districts Oct. 1. It shows the La Plata, Bevier, Callao, and Tri-Creek districts, plus an area served by New Boston and Bucklin in Linn County.

"The balance is Macon Rural that pays dues annually," Kerns…

Macon County has no set hours for trick-or-treating on Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31, but La Plata Police Chief Jason Bunch is recommending families in his town go out from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Bunch's recommendation is unofficial; La Plata does not set hours, according to answers the city clerk's office relayed Oct. 15. Sheriff Kevin Shoemaker said the county does not set them either.

"Macon County has no set times for trick or treating," Shoemaker said in an email. "All of the towns rely on us for their law enforcement needs, even those with municipal police departments such as Bevier, La Plata, and Macon."

Sunset in Macon is 6:09 p.m. Oct. 31, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Several community…

Macon County deputies arrested two people and recovered more than $151,000 Sunday after stopping a vehicle on U.S. Highway 36 linked to a theft at a St. Joseph casino, the sheriff’s office said.

Both are charged with felony stealing in St. Joseph and are held in Macon County awaiting extradition to Buchanan County, according to the Macon County Sheriff’s Office. The office has not released their names.

According to the sheriff’s office, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the sheriff’s office were notified about 10:30 a.m. of a theft at the St. Jo Frontier Casino. Dispatchers reported the vehicle was headed east on Highway 36.

About 10:54 a.m., Deputies Ligon and Jefferson found the vehicle eastbound on Highway 36 west…

The Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) is starting the transition from raised letter embossed license plates to flat license plates.

For decades, embossed plates have been a familiar sight on Missouri roadways. The move to flat license plates supports greater efficiency and prepares for the state’s move from a six-digit to a seven-digit license plate number as part of the upcoming FUSION system implementation that will take place February 2027.

“The transition to flat license plates is an important step in modernizing our process,” said Trish Vincent, director of the Missouri Department of Revenue. “We are running out of six-digit configurations for plates; this move not only saves taxpayer dollars but prepares for the future.”

Currently, customers whose vehicle or…