Stories from Friday, August 14, 2009

Welcoming faculty back for the 2009-10 school year, Monett R-1 School Superintendent Dr. John Jungmann pointed to highlights from last year and issued a challenge to keep teachers reaching for higher achievement. Before a packed commons room at the Southwest Area Career Center yesterday morning, David Beckett, president of the Monett R-1 Board of Education, officially welcomed the faculty and staff back. Workshops ran this week and classes start on Aug. 19...

A forecast of upcoming Cubs' sports and the football season in particular was offered by Alan Spencer, Monett High School athletic director and head football coach, at the latest meeting of the Monett Kiwanis Club. Spencer said the athletic program at Monett High School is heading into a new year coming off a peak experience last year. In a ranking of finishes for the various sports in which all the Big 8 Conference teams compete, Monett won the sports championship...

Purdy, Freistatt and Pierce City road district commissioners meeting this month have been reviewing various summer work projects. The Pierce Special Road District put down five miles of chip and seal surfacing in July. According to foreman Mike Koenig, only three major projects were tackled this year...

Monett R-1 School District has named Annette Cozort principal at Central Park Elementary. Cozort received her bachelor's degree and masters degree in educational adminstration at Missouri State University. Her specialist degree in educational administration was received at Missouri State University...

The Den will be hosting a community open house from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 17. The event is being held to give area residents an opportunity to tour the new youth center, which is located above Mocha Jo's coffee shop on Broadway in downtown Monett...

Lawrence County was the site of two back-to-back accidents early this morning. A Pierce City man was seriously injured in a one-vehicle crash on Lawrence County Farm Road 1100 two and a half miles north of Monett at 2:15 a.m. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Samuel L. Hyde, 28, was airlifted to St. John's Hospital in Springfield after the 2000 Hyundai Accent he was driving travelled off the roadway, struck a barbed wire fence and several trees and then came to rest in a field...

Raymond E. Merritt, 62, of Verona, died at 3:15 p.m. yesterday, July 13, 2009, at his home in Verona. Arrangements are under the direction of Lakin Funeral Home in Pierce City.