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The new County of 'Nodadrew'

Teasing senators appeared to not know how to refer to Sen. Brad Lager last week on the Missouri Senate floor.

Senators, who always refer to themselves by county or Senatorial District, traditionally have called the Maryville native as the "Senator from Nodaway," even though the Republican lives in Andrew County.

Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, stumbled between the two counties last week, saying Mr. Lager's origin changed depending on "what day of the week" it was. Mr. Griesheimer eventually settled on calling him the "Senator from Nodadrew."

Other senators picked up on the unique designation. Sen. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis County, jokingly asked Mr. Lager if "Nodadrew" was applicable because his house was so big it laid across two counties.

Shortly after Mr. Lager became a state senator in 2007, he and his wife moved to Savannah, Mo., so she could be closer to her employer, Heartland Health, which is in St. Joseph.

Mr. Lager last week explained the move to his colleagues before announcing he'd prefer not to be called by either county. He said he'd rather senators address him by his district "the 12th" as to include all nine counties that he represents, which he says geographically is comparable to the size of the state of Delaware.

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