Stories from Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Monett golfer Jacob Fair finished in a five-way tie for second place at the Class 3 State Golf Tournament at Silo Ridge Golf Course in Bolivar on Tuesday. Fair recorded a four-over-par 76 on Monday and was a stroke better with a 75 on Tuesday. "I felt like I struggled more today than on Monday," said Fair. "Today was more of a battle with the course, a lot of back and forth playing with each hole."...

The public is invited to bring their ideas to an open house on Thursday, May 19 at Roaring River State Park near Cassville. The open house will be held at 6 p.m. in the River View Room of the Emory Melton Inn and Conference Center. Representatives from the Missouri Department of Conservation, which operates the hatchery, and MO PARKS Inc., which runs the park concessions, will also be on hand to share comments with the attendees. ...

Cox Monett Hospital held its annual Employee Awards Banquet on Wednesday, April 27. The local hospital recognized employees who hit employment milestones during the past year. Employees were honored for five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service to Cox Monett...

Purdy R-2 Board members wrangled with the decision of whether or not they could give raises to employees during Monday night's regular meeting. Board members held a prolonged discussion on salary increases for the 2011-12 school year, and in the end, staff members and administrators received pay raises...

Area residents are invited to an all-nighter this Saturday, May 21 when the Monett Relay for Life gets underway at 7 p.m. at the Burl Fowler football stadium. The annual American Cancer Society fundraiser continues until 7 a.m. on Sunday. "The Relay is built around a cancer diagnosis," said Jennifer Cendroski, who serves as co-chair of the Monett Relay of Life Committee with Betty Messer. ...

The Purdy Eagles won the Missouri Class 2, District 12 baseball championship on Tuesday with a 5-1 victory over Diamond. "It was our best game defensively all season," said Purdy Coach Joshua Hughes. "The boys really stepped up for this contest and played great team ball. I was very happy with their effort and enthusiasm."...

The Monett Speedway ran an abbreviated schedule on Sunday. Rain forced a delay for two of the feature races. Those races are set to be run May 22 at the speedway. Results for the heats that Mother Nature did not impede were as follows: Street Stock...

The Monett Cubs baseball team fell 7-2 to Mt. Vernon in the Missouri Class 3, District 12 championship game on Tuesday at North Park. "Obviously, (it was) not the way that we wanted our season to conclude," said Monett Coach Michael Calhoun. "I'm proud to have coached these seniors for three years. They have meant a lot to our program. They will be missed."...

The 54 graduates of Pierce City High School received pep talks and encouragement for dealing with adversity in addresses given during commencement exercises on Sunday. Following the arrival of the graduates, history teacher Crystal Charles offered the first remarks. Charles initially congratulated the students for reaching freedom from "13 years of knowledge prison." Their initial achievement would be the freedom to go to the bathroom when they chose...

Legal battles can get expensive, and the lawsuit over Monett's Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program is no exception. To date, the court case has cost the parties involved a grand total of $641,420.73. Barry and Lawrence counties and the Barry County Emergency Services Board each filed suit against the City of Monett in July of 2009, claiming its TIFs were established inappropriately and are therefore invalid...