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   An Imperial, Missouri woman could spend a year in prison for beating her son's alleged heroin dealer with a baseball bat.  

   It took a Jefferson County jury about two hours Tuesday night to find 54 year old Sherrie Gavan guilty of third-degree misdemeanor assault.  

   Gavan admits that in December 2011, she hit Josh Loyd with a bat after seeking him out to tell him to stay away from her son, Clayton.  Her attorney had argued "self-defense," saying Gavan had believed the teen was going to hit her with a brick.  

   Gavan says she just did what any parent would have done, especially a parent who knows what heroin does to their child. "It's like my husband said, there’s two ways out:  you stop or you die," she said.  "And I did not want to bury my son.  I could not bury my son."

   Gavin says even though she could go to prison, she'd do it again, because her son is alive, graduating high school with straight "A's" and getting ready for college.

   A retirement community that charges a six figure entry fee isn't a charitable institution and must pay property taxes.  That's according to the St. Louis County Board of Equalization which Tuesday rejected a request for tax-exempt status by the Aberdeen Heights Senior Living Center in Kirkwood.  

   Aberdeen officials had asked the board to waive their $1.2 million annual tax bill, a move that would have cost Kirkwood schools around 700-thousand dollars a year. 

   Aberdeen's attorneys had argued that the luxury complex qualifies as non-profit because it waves living expenses for residents who can no pay.  

   St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman say that doesn't matter because residents must first pay the steep entry fee in order to get the "free" lifetime care.  

   Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Aberdeen's parent company, is expected to appeal the ruling.

   ST. LOUIS (AP) - Chris Stewart reached career milestones of 100 goals and 100 assists and the St. Louis Blues clinched a playoff berth with two games to spare, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Tuesday night.

   Brian Elliott had to make just 17 saves two nights after getting yanked in a 5-3 loss at Colorado that squandered the Blues' first chance at clinching. St. Louis, which entered the game needing a point to qualify, scored two power play goals for the first time in 32 games since Feb. 15 in the home-and-home rematch.

   Patrik Berglund and Andy McDonald beat Semyon Varlamov on consecutive shots in the second period to make it 3-0. Together, that duo had mustered two assists in 14 games.