Stories from Friday, June 8, 2012

For little Avery Blackburn, daughter of Rebecka Blackburn, it was hard to decide what was best about the annual St. Mary's Old Fashioned Festival, held on June 2 in Pierce City, the tasty treats or the tunes that made the 1-year-old want to tap her toes. Either way, the little miss was all smiles on Saturday evening. [Times Photo by Melonie Roberts]...

Monett's second annual Strawberry Festival was a success on many levels. Congratulations are in order for co-chairpersons Shaun Bennett and Donna Hammond. Festivals take a great deal of work and seldom bring commendations in equal proportions. Every festival is at the mercy of the weather. The Not So Square Arts Festival in Mt. Vernon has such terrible weather last September that it will be a wonder if the organizers have the spirit to do it again...

Would the United States go to war over marine life illegally harvested in the South China Sea? The very thought of such a thing sounds ludicrous. But under the U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines, it is a possibility. For the past month, China and the Philippines have traded threats over a disputed area in the South China Sea after Philippine authorities seized what they said was illegally harvested marine life from Chinese ships, only to be blocked by Chinese ships when a Philippine navy warship tried to tow the Chinese vessels.. ...

June marks the 100 year anniversary of the first minimum wage law passed in the United States. And, while there is nothing new about low-wage work, we should take this occasion to recognize an even more dispiriting fact about the low-wage workforce: It could have been a thing of the past...

Once again, the United States Supreme Court has proven Clarence Darrow, a civil liberties attorney and long-time advocate for the Constitution, correct in his assertion that "there is no such thing as justice--in or out of court." The Supreme Court recently refused to hear the case of a pregnant woman who was repeatedly tasered by Seattle police during a routine traffic stop simply because she refused to sign a speeding ticket...

The Missouri Southern State University in Joplin conducted its 58th commencement ceremonies on May 19 at Leggett and Platt Athletic Center on the MSSU campus. Among the students who graduated were: Michelle Bohanan, Daniel Bradshaw, Jared Velten and Jessica Velten, all of Monett; Shilah Winters, John Bussman, Brock Campbell, Samantha Galiani, Kevin Garner, Brian Lowry and Holly Zullig, all of Mt. ...

Corey Krebs and Terianne Pitts, of Mt. Vernon, were named to the dean's list at William Jewell College, in Liberty, for the 2012 spring semester. Krebs was a junior majoring in organizational communication and applied critical thought and inquiry. Pitts is a junior majoring in organizational communication...

Purdy Elementary School has announced its honor roll for the fourth quarter of the 2011-12 school year. Students are listed below by grade and achievement level. Third graders named to the All-A Honor Roll are: Dawson Abramovitz, Tanner Fly, Drew Graham, Mason Harkey, Clay Henderson, Connie Lee, Audrey Lowe, Kinsley Mattingly, Lauren Schallert, Macy Terry, Rylee Boyd, Zack Brewer, Jaci Moore, Eduardo Rodriguez, Andres Aldaba, Bailey Aust, Erik Cruz, Daniela Hernandez, Matthew Nichols, Anna Pippin and Daniel Robles.. ...

The faculty and student council at Purdy High School have announced Students of the Quarter for the fourth quarter. The students are pictured above. From left, are, Kelton Mattingly, sophomore; Madison Vice, junior; Addy Roller, senior; and Robbie Moody, freshman...

This year's Red, White and Boom, is planned to be the biggest and best ever, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the event. Red, White & BOOM will be held on Friday, June 29 at the Spirit of 76 Park in Mt. Vernon. The theme is "10th Year...A BOOM to Remember!"...

An eagle, the school mascot for Purdy, was presented to Jerry Lingo as a token of appreciation for his 10 years of service to the Purdy R-2 School District by Bob Vice, high school principal.

Bob and Debbie Berger, of Monett, completed the Indianapolis 2012 half-marathon on Saturday, May 5. This is the largest half-marathon in the country with 35,000 runners. The Bergers completed the Cox Monett Hospital's Journeys class. Bob, who has run half-marathons for 10 years, had his best time at Indianapolis. Debbie, who has watched from the sidelines the past 10 years, participated by speed walking the entire 13.2 miles...

Three people were injured in a two-vehicle crash at 5:55 p.m. on Wednesday on Highway 160 about one mile north of Shell Knob. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the crash occurred when the driver of a 2006 Dodge Durango, Cynthia A. Davis, 47, of Reeds Spring, was stopped in traffic to make a left turn and was struck from behind by a 1996 Toyota Rav 4, driven by Dalton J. Brown, 19, of Mt. Vernon...

Joe Reidle, age 22, of Monett, died at 11:50 p.m. on Monday, June 4, at the home of a friend. A visitation with viewing will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 9, in the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home, in Aurora. Private family burial will be held at the Spring River Cemetery, south of Verona...

Leonard Arden Juel, age 85, of Seligman, died at 9:30 p.m., on Tuesday, June 5, at Mercy Hospital - Cassville. Funeral services were held at 10 a.m., Friday, June 8, in Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville. Burial with full military honors was in Washburn Prairie Cemetery, Washburn...

Helen Elizabeth Jones, age 100, died on Tuesday, May 29, at Cox South Hospital in Springfield. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, June 19, at 2 p.m. at the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home, in Aurora.

James Calvin January, age 84, of Shell Knob, died at 5:55 p.m., on Tuesday, June 5, at his home. Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m., on Saturday, June 9, in Fohn Funeral Home, Shell Knob.

Austin Atkinson, a 2009 graduate of Cassville High School, was living in Ozark when he last made contact with his friends and family. Over the last three and a half weeks, Sherry Atkinson, Austin's mother, has worked night and day to find her son, who was last heard from on May 12...

The Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District Board of Directors named Marty Newman the new board chairman and filled the District 1 vacancy during the April and May board meetings. Newman, who has represented District 2 in the Barry County portion of Monett since 2000, was elected at the April meeting to succeed Daryl Fenski in the top position. Fenski moved to the vice president's job, which Newman held for several years...

Pierce City aldermen approved putting a $750,000 bond issue before the voters in the upcoming August election. If approved by voters, the bond would finance the cost of the combined waterworks and wastewater systems to extend, repair, maintain and operate the systems...

Allison Burruss, age 8, of Monett, recently won the Miss Majorette of Missouri contest for the novice division, ages 7-9. The contest was held in Diamond. Allison is in her first year of lessons and studies under Pam Irwin, who participated in the baton twirling camps led by Homer Lee for the Hobbs-Anderson American Legion Post #91 that ran into the early 1970s. ...

Stories of past adventures and laughs were shared during the reception held recently for Jerry Lingo, retiring school superintendent for the Purdy R-2 District. Lingo served in the Purdy district for 10 years, two as elementary principal before becoming superintendent...