Stories from Wednesday, February 1, 2012

After 11 years of service to the community, Monett Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Suzy McElmurry has announced her retirement. Members of the Monett Chamber of Commerce Board accepted McElmurry's resignation at their January meeting. In submitting her resignation on Jan. 18, McElmurry gave the board two months notice and time to find her replacement...

The Monett wrestling Cubs took sixth place in the 12-team field at the Odessa Invitational Tournament on Saturday with 77 points. "We wrestled some really good competition up north," said Monett coach Daryl Bradley. "I was pleased overall with our effort. We need to improve on our position and mat awareness. I am excited, because I know we are headed in the right direction."...

Trailing by a basket, with 4.2 seconds left in the game, the Monett Lady Cubs stole the inbounds pass from Lamar, and Faith Schmidt buried a 12-foot jumper as time expired to force overtime in Monday night's basketball game. Despite the momentum heading into the extra session, Monett fell to Lamar 54-53 in an exciting Big 8 conference game...

The Diamond Wildcats extended their eight game winning streak to nine with a 56-46 victory over the Monett Cubs. "I thought we played well enough to win on the defensive side of the ball," said Monett coach Ty Goetz. "Offensively, we couldn't buy a bucket. Diamond did a good job of disrupting our flow and forced us to take hurried shots."...

Purdy's Addy Roller and Devon Bennett combined to hit 13 3-pointers, which helped the Purdy boys and girls basketball squads to sweep a pair of games from Verona last night. In the girls game, Purdy topped Verona 66-32 behind a 30-point performance by Roller...

By Murray Bishoff Youth crime cases processed by the Juvenile Office for the 39th Judicial Circuit dropped by 11 percent in 2011. Chief Juvenile Officer Keith Parris said his staff stayed busy throughout the year and welcomed the decrease in activity for the second consecutive year...

Barry County Coroner Jim Fohn said an autopsy completed on the body of Charity Ann Coscia, of Seligman, shows that she died of malnutrition. "She just wouldn't eat," said Fohn. "She had a history of this." Fohn said he was not sure if Coscia had been diagnosed as anorexic...

Jack Henry and Associates, Inc. (JHA) announced second quarter fiscal 2012 results with a 5 percent increase in revenue Based in Monett, JHA, a leading provider of technology solutions and payment processing services primarily for the financial services industry, saw an increase of 4 percent in gross profit and a 7 percent increase in net income over the second quarter of fiscal 2011...

Verona High School crowned Rachel Welters as its homecoming queen Friday night.

Verona High School has announced Students of the Month for November 2011. Pictured from left, are: Ryan Butler, eighth grade; and Francisco Lara, 11th grade. The students had a pizza buffet lunch with Terry Winton, principal, provided by Wing Street of Aurora...

Verona High School has announced Students of the Month for December 2011. Pictured from left, are: Hannah Hilton, eighth grade; and Ulises Lara, ninth grade. The students had a pizza buffet lunch with Terry Winton, principal, provided by Wing Street of Aurora...

Drury University in Springfield has announced the dean's list for the fall 2011fall evening semester. Among the students were: Keith Forgy, Kimberley Johnson, Ava Pires and Marilu Rios, all of Aurora; Sarah Bacon and Joshua Elkins, both of Cassville; Bailey Campbell, Stephanie Campbell and Debra Hughes, all of Marionville; Kimberly Bennett, Charlene Dart, Teresa Martin, Joshua McCaffrey, Sergio Munoz, Jose Soriano and Heather Washburn, all of Monett; David Hood, of Mt. ...

Daliah Lespier-Bradley and Nataliya Mackey, of Monett, and Jessica Yardley, of Verona, earned degrees from Drury University in Springfield during its winter commencement in the O'Reilly Family Event Center on Dec. 17, 2011. O'Reilly replaced Weiser Gymnasium as the graduation venue in May 2011...

Stephen Levi Arnaud, of Monett, graduated from Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla during commencement ceremonies held in the Gale Bullman multi-purpose building on campus. Arnaud earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering with magna cum laude honors...

Drury University Drury University in Springfield has announced the dean's list for the fall 2011 semester. Among the students named were: Samantha Gripka, of Aurora; Aaron Hubbard, of Marionville; Erin Carnes, Desirae Fowler, Sara Hammond and Rattanaporn Maliton, all of Monett; Wilson Cowherd, Nichole Norgard and Savannah Davis, all of Mt. Vernon; and Nathaniel Cochran, of Verona...

The Pierce City Middle School has announced its All-A Honor Roll and A/B Honor for the first semester. Making the A Honor Roll from the sixth grade are: Bill Ashley, Ragan Blinzler, Jack Burt, Kali Fenske, Riley Fields, Dylan Hall, Hunter Hatfield, Christen Henderson, Tyler Stow, Nkaujzong Yang and Aric Zabala...

Monett Elementary School has announced Students of the Week for Jan. 30. Pictured in the front row, from left, are: Enrique Hernandez, Frank Hurtado and Deleny Rueda. Back row: Ernestine Ortiz, Rachel Remington and Alan Reyes.

Lula Anna Writer, age 88, of Wentworth, died at 7:16 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 30 at her daughter's home in Monett. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 at the Pierce City Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Lakin Funeral Home in Pierce City...

Earl T. Telschow, age 81, of Freistatt, died at 10:32 p.m. on Jan. 31 at Ozark Mountain Regional Health Care in Crane. Services are incomplete at this time. Arrangements have been entrusted to Buchanan Funeral Home, Monett.

Johnny O. Reid, age 76, of Cassville, died at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 27. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4 in Community Faith Church, Cassville, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery, Cassville...

Shelby Taylor Pietz, age 33, formerly of Cassville, died on Thursday, Jan. 26, in Springfield. A memorial gathering will be held on Thursday, Feb. 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the White Funeral Home in Cassville.

LeRoy Hans Munson, age 80, died on Jan. 28 in Eagle Rock. Memorials may be made to the Eagle Rock-Golden-Mano Fire Department First Responders and entrusted to White Funeral Home. Cremation is under the direction of White Funeral Home and Crematory in Cassville...

Una Sue Lavelock, age 69, of Monett, Mo., passed away at her residence on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 in her home with her loving family by her side. Sue was born May 14, 1942 in Souder, Mo., to Emmett Kenneth and Euna Burtrus (Graham) Chitwood. She attended Huckleberry Elementary School and the Ava High School. She moved to Kansas City, Mo. in March 1960. Sue enjoyed spending time with her family, cooking, gardening, fishing, the great outdoors and traveling...

Robert "Bob" Lemuel Hilton, age 89, of Scottsdale, Ariz., formerly of the Barry and Lawrence counties area, died on Jan. 28 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Graveside services will be held at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4 at the Van Buren Cemetery near Wentworth...

Larry James "Jim" Gautney, age 75, of Cassville, died at 6:25 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 30. Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, in Clio Cemetery, Jenkins, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville, Missouri. There will be no visitation...

Jenny Ann Garner, age 17, of Pierce City, Mo., died suddenly on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, at Cox Monett Hospital. Jenny was born in Dallas, Texas on Friday, March 18, 1994. She was the daughter of Bryce and Julie (George) Garner. She was a member of the First Congregational Church in Pierce City, Mo. ...