Stories from Friday, February 10, 2012

Reports on a wide range of city projects were shared with the Monett City Council Advisory Committee last week. Mayor Jim Orr said council members anticipate the economy will continue to improve heading into a new fiscal year on April 1. They project sales tax revenues will improve by 1.5 percent after rising 10 percent in the current fiscal year...

Sales tax disbursements to the bi-county area showed strength continuing from retail trade at the end of 2011. Revenue to cities and counties recorded an overall 8 percent gain over January 2011. Income from Monett's sales taxes hit a snag due to the discovery that a manufacturer's exemption for electricity sales had not been factored in for the past two and a half years. A city employee discovered the city had been paying the state more tax than necessary...

The Barry County Health Department has awarded Silver Spoon certificates to 15 area food establishments for 2011. Now in its third year, the Silver Spoon program recognizes local restaurants and food providers that have demonstrated excellence in public food safety and did not have any critical or non-critical violations between Jan. 1, 2011, and Dec. 31, 2011...

Monett High School graduate Denae Beckett recently had the rare opportunity to experience her love for helping children in Debra Zeyit, Ethiopia. Beckett is a junior at Southwest Baptist University (SBU) in Bolivar and the daughter of David and Donna Beckett. She is majoring in sports management with a concentration in administration and business...

The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office is now offering a new feature on its website. Citizens can now sign up to receive text alerts to their mobile phones when a change is made to the sheriff's office website. "E-mail alerts have been a part of the website for some time," said Lawrence County Sheriff Brad DeLay. ...

The University of Missouri Extension Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics has issued an optimistic outlook for 2012. The department has completed 14 seminars for agriculture lenders around the state. Several factors supported a continued optimistic view for producers and lenders...

Lawrence County Clerk Gary Emerson has announced the breakdown of votes from the Feb. 7 election. In the Forest Park precinct of Monett, 246 votes were cast in the Republican presidential preference vote. Rick Santorum received 163 votes or 66 percent. Mitt Romney was second with 46 votes or 22 percent. Ron Paul had 39 votes or 7 percent...

Since 1990, the Monett community has had two major fights with its city council. Echoes of both debates continue to come back for a visit. At last week's meeting of the advisory committee that meets periodically to serve as a sounding board for the Monett City Council, Mayor Jim Orr announced that the $1 million lease purchase that allowed expansion of the Monett Municipal Golf Course to 18 holes had been paid off. ...

Fifth and sixth grade students at St. Mary's Catholic School in Pierce City culminated the study of the Toman Empire with a toga party. The students dressed in a modest version of the ancient Roman attire and sampled food that would have been eaten during the era of the Roman Republic. ...

The Purdy School spelling bee was held on Jan. 31. Contestants who participated in the spelling bee are pictured above. From left, are: Samantha Hestdalen, fourth grade; John Brown, fourth grade; Michael Brown, fourth grade; Mason Schallert, fifth grade; Parker Fuller, fifth grade; Zoe Brown, sixth grade; Mikey Schad, sixth grade; Weston Bricker, sixth grade; and Olivia Thomas, fifth grade. ...

Monett Middle School seventh graders named to the A Honor Roll are pictured above. In the front row, from left are: Paige Wiseman, Aleah Palmer, Shane Pass, Jacob Furry, Ashley Bryand, Sydney Williams and Shelby Kuhnert. Back row: Tommy Sangston, Eric Villa, Joel Ridenour, Alex Turner and Dario Rodriguez...

The Monett Intermediate School has announced the sixth grade Cubs of the Month for January. Pictured in the front row, from left, are: Lakoda Barger, Ruby Vela and Jake Bouchard. Back row: Hunter Pyle, Montelongo and Erick Diaz.

CENTRAL PARK AND MONETT ELEMENTARY Key: SC - Smart Choice entree item (16 grams of fat or less.) HM - Homemade fresh in the Opaa! Kitchen. WG - Whole Grain item. Monday - Breakfast: Cinnamon glazed French toast, cereal or oatmeal. Lunch: 1. Crispy tacos. 2. Turkey club wrap. 3. Popcorn chicken chef salad w/WG breadsticks...

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David Byrd Vestal, age 69, of Nevada, died at 9:11 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14 in Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville. Burial will be in Brannon Mountain Cemetery in Madison County, Ark. There will be no visitation...

The Monett Kiwanis Club watched performances by the Junior ROTC cadets competition squads at the club's weekly meeting, held at the Southwest Area Career Center. The unarmed drill team is pictured above. Drill team members, from left, are: Commander Dani Scaggs, a senior from Marionville; Virginia Higdon, a sophomore from Monett; Brenda Saucedo, a sophomore from Monett; Sierra Coy, a freshman from Monett; George Gottsleben, a junior from Marionville; Brandon Jackson, a junior from Cassville; and Jackson Dempsey, a senior from Marionville. ...

Area residents may have noticed a recent name change at a familiar community hospital located in Aurora. St. John's Hospital-Aurora is now Mercy Hospital in Aurora. The change resulted from an effort to integrate systems in over 100 communities to an easily recognizable single-named entity: Mercy...

Officers with the Monett Police Department responded to 1,606 incidents, not including 911 calls, during the month of January, along with nine collisions involving 17 vehicles. One injury wreck was documented, along with 16 vehicles damaged during January. Only one person was injured...