Stories from Thursday, February 14, 2013

Gregory Swaffer, 28, of Purdy, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder on Wednesday, Feb. 13, for his role in a drunk driving crash that claimed the life of a 10-year-old girl. Swaffer also received two concurrent five-year sentences for second-degree assault in Ozark before Christian County Circuit Court Judge Mark Estle Orr...

A rural Marionville man is behind bars in Greene County after a 40-mile pursuit that occurred Wednesday evening, Feb. 13. According to Lawrence County Sheriff Brad DeLay, the pursuit started in Springfield when a Greene County deputy checked the license plates on a pickup truck that had been reported stolen earlier in the day. The license plates did not match the vehicle, so the Greene County deputy attempted to pull the vehicle over...

An Aurora man was arrested and charged with sexual misconduct with a child after investigators served a search warrant at his residence in Lawrence County. According to a release from the Jasper County Sheriff's Office, Gary P. Mullinix, 65, of Aurora, was arrested Tuesday, Feb. 12, after having several sexual online chats with what he believed to be a juvenile girl he met on the Internet...

Area business leaders learned how to protect themselves from fraud at a recent seminar hosted by UMB Bank at The Family Room Steakhouse in Monett. Lisa Balmas, bank president, introduced Nate Bibens, treasury management officer for UMB in Springfield...

On Feb. 9, the Monett Youth Wrestling Club had 12 grapplers place at the annual Webb City open wrestling tournament. Monett's Mason Ray claimed the only gold medal for the Cubs. Taking home silver medals were Junior Villa, Jake Hoyt, Harrison Merriman and Wesley Merriman...

The state's basketball regulation season is quickly coming to an end. The majority of Class 1 through 3 schools begin the playoff push on Monday, Feb. 18. There are some districts that begin on Saturday, Feb. 16. Class 3 and 4 schools begin postseason play on Feb. 25...

Barry County Sheriff Mick Epperly has released the 2012 statistics for the Southwest Missouri Drug Task Force. According to John Luckey, agent with the Southwest Missouri Drug Task Force (SWMODTF), the number of meth-related incidents remains close to those of 2011. As of October 2012, a total of 1,718 methamphetamine incidents were reported in the state, with Barry County logging 37 of those reports and McDonald County totaling 23...

Strategies for maintaining effective pastures and finances were shared at the 84th annual Barry County Soils and Crops Conference, held Jan. 29 in Butterfield. A panel of cattlemen led a discussion on maintaining effective pastures. Drought conditions reportedly hurt many well-established pastures in the past year. The producers offered their ideas on sustaining forages...

The first meeting for the 2013 Monett Strawberry Festival will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 18 at Denali Dreams, 314 E. Broadway. Anyone interested in helping to organize the event or sharing ideas is welcome. The Goulds, a gospel trio from Joplin, will perform at the 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, Feb. 17, at the First Baptist Church in Monett and at 6 p.m. at the Monett Fundamental Methodist Church, located at 810 13th St...

A check to support the Children's Miracle Network has been presented by the Froup Residential Individualized Program (GRIP) Home for boys in Verona.

Purdy High School students Kaitlyn Carpenter and Phillip Roller lent their voices to the 2013 All-State Choir, which performed on Jan. 26. The 200-voice choir was conducted by Joshua Habermann, the director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus. Purdy vocal music instructor Lauren Lee attended the performance...

Marjorie Lou Holmes, age 82, of Monett, Mo., passed away on Tuesday evening, Feb. 12, 2012, while at the Cox Monett Hospital following a lengthy illness. Marjorie was born on April 12, 1930 in Monett, the daughter of James D. Holmes and Lula Ellen (Wormington) Holmes. As a young lady, Marjorie was a member of the First Baptist Church. She had spent most of her life in Monett...

Lynda (King) Johnson, age 64, of Springfield, Missouri, formerly of Monett, passed away at 10:34 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. She was born Jan. 9, 1949, in Springfield, the daughter of Jack and Bebe (Giberson) King...