Stories from Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Monett High School wrestlers Chase Brennan and Devon Overall were named to the Missouri Wrestling Academic All-State team on March 2 at the Missouri Wrestling Banquet. The banquet honors the best wrestlers and coaches in the state. In order to be eligible for an Academic All-State selection, wrestlers must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher and be a top six finisher at the state tournament...

Emma Jo Privett, age 83, of Butterfield, died at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, March 3. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 7 in Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville. Burial will be in Muncie Chapel Cemetery, Wheaton. Visitation will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Wednesday, in Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville...

Almeda J. Penwell, age 90, of Mt. Vernon, formerly of Rockaway Beach, died on Saturday, March 2, at the Missouri Veteran's Home. The Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home has conducted all local arrangements. Private family services will be held at a later date...

Tracy Machelle Bieber, age 38, of Mt. Vernon, died at 6:24 a.m. on Sunday, March 3, at her home. A funeral service, under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home, will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 7, at the Northside Baptist Church with burial at the Mt. Vernon City Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6, also at the Northside Baptist Church...

Linda Moss, age 60, of Exeter, died on Saturday, March 2, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 9, at the White Funeral Home, Cassville.

Rosalee Bowerman Dixon, age 89, of Miller, died at 5:26 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at Mercy Hospital, in Springfield. A funeral service, under the direction of the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home, of Miller, was held at 2 p.m. on Monday, March 4, at the Round Grove Baptist Church. Burial was in the Pennsboro Cemetery...

Opal Thompson, age 96, of Miller, died at 4 a.m. on Friday, March 1, at her home. A funeral service, under the direction of the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home, was held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, at the First Baptist Church of Miller. Burial was at Sycamore Cemetery...

Rayburn Wormington was born August 24, 1933 to Walter and Cora (Terry) Wormington in Purdy, MO. He was a lifelong resident of Barry County Missouri in the Purdy area. He graduated from Purdy High School where he was active in FFA and the high school orchestra. He was also a charter member of the FFA at Purdy Schools and strongly supported the program and his beloved, "Mr. Estes"...

Melvin "Duane" Keith, age 74, of Aurora, formerly of Springfield, died at 5:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at Cox South Hospital in Springfield. A memorial service, under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home, in Aurora, will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 9, at the First Christian Church of Aurora. Burial will be held at Orange Cemetery at a later date...

Melody Michelle Brink, 37, of Monett entered into eternal rest with both her sons at her side, at her home, surrounded by her family on Monday, March 4, 2013. She was born on Feb. 6, 1976 in Joplin, Mo., the daughter of Tom and Linda (Cole) Carr. She was united in marriage on Nov. 25, 1995 in Monett to Bobby Brink, he survives...

The Purdy High School speech and debate team competed at the Ozark 7 speech and debate tournament on Jan. 26. The team placed second. Individually every student returned home with a medal or a trophy. The individual results were: Juaquin Robles, second, and Megan Whitcomb, fourth, prose; Katherine Wise, second, Lino Perez, fourth and Megan Whitcomb, fifth, Lino Perez, fourth, and Megan Whitcomb, fifth, poetry; Maddie Vice, first, humorous interpretation; Katherine Wise, first, dramatic interpretation; Lucas White and Russell Gonzalez, first, Kat Hughes and Maddie Vice, third and Andrew McCormick and Tanner Marshall, fourth, improv duet acting; Lucas White, third, radio speaking; Lucas White, first, and Katherine Wise, fourth, storytelling; Russell Gonzalez and Tanner Marshall, first, duet acting; Kaitlin Brigman, first, extemporaneous speaking and third in original oratory.. ...

Two Monett High School students attended the Show-Me TechKnowledge Day at Jefferson City on Feb. 6. Madison Barnes and Tallie Williams attended the event accompanied by school superintendent Brand Hanson, Blair and Lauralie Powell. The one-day event features districts and organizations that are willing to showcase student projects at the capitol. ...

Scott Regional Technology Center has named the students of the second quarter for the a.m. and p.m. classes.

An Eagle Rock teen was injured in a single-vehicle crash that occurred at 7:35 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5, on Highway 86 about three miles east of Cassville. According to a report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the crash occurred when the driver of a 2001 GMC pickup, Veronica R. Wronkiewicz, 16, of Eagle Rock, struck a deer...

Community Blood Center of the Ozarks will hold a blood drive from noon to 4 p.m. on March 8 at Mercy Hospital-Aurora and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, at Pierce City High School. The Southwest Missouri Tea Party will meet at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 8 at the VFW in Shell Knob...

The Southwest Trojans and Lady Trojans, both champions of the Ozark 7 Conference, dominated the all conference basketball teams announced last week. James Pettit, a Southwest senior, was named the Player of the Year for the boys division. Michaela Mitchell, also a Southwest senior, earned Player of the Year honors in the girls division...

Times Photo by Nancy Noll-Meyer Monett graduate and Stanford Cardinal Kyle Meyer took fourth place at the Pac-12 Conference wrestling championships at Arizona State University. A 2009 graduate of Monett High School, Meyer was a four-year letter winner in wrestling. He also earned three letters in football and one each in baseball and track. Meyer captained the Cubs' wrestling team for three years earning Big 8 All-Conference honors in all four sports...

Fescue has long been blamed for causing a variety of problems in livestock. Heat stress, lameness, lack of milk and poor reproduction are the main problems sometimes related to toxins that are produced by the plant. For years the problems were known by farmers and researchers, but the reason fescue caused such damaging problems remained a mystery according to Eldon Cole, a livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension...

Eighteen Purdy students attended the annual Area FFA Banquet on Feb. 27. Eleven students received their Area FFA Degree. Recipients included Jessica Ball, Jake Beaty, Deana Burch, Doni Craig, Jake Henderson, Melanie Heston, Dillon Lowe, Alex Mareth, Tyler Scott, Jared Smith and Kirstin Strother...

The name of the woman who died in the Saturday, March 2 house fire in rural Barry County has been released. Katherine Hogenmiller, age 82, of Verona, was killed in the early morning fire, according to her son, Robert Hogenmiller, Jr. The fire began at approximately 6 a.m. in Barry County, north of Highway Z, on Farm Road 1160. When firefighters arrived on the scene, the house was fully involved...

For the second year, grants will be available for property owners in downtown Monett to improve the facades of their buildings with matching funds. The Monett Main Street Design Committee is offering four grants of up to $1,500 each for exterior repairs and other improvements that enhance the social, cultural and environmental well being of historic downtown Monett. The grants are offered on a dollar-for-dollar matching basis...

Purdy saw an increase in police activity during 2012, according to the annual report presented by Chief Jackie Lowe at the February meeting of the Purdy City Council. Officers made 104 arrests in 2012, almost three times the number in 2011. Lowe credited some of the increase to warrants served from other agencies. The department handled 129 cases, a four-year high and up five from the previous year. Burglaries hit a four-year high of 11 and domestic disturbances totaled 24...

Dr. Aaron Cornman has resigned as superintendent of the Pierce City R-6 School District to take the job of superintendent and chief executive officer for the Hillsboro R-3 School District, west of Festus in eastern Missouri. Cornman submitted his resignation on March 4. He will continue in his post until June 28...

More details emerged on the developing plans for new school facilities and storm shelters planned by the Monett R-1 Board of Education. At the board's February meeting, architects Pam Haldiman and Bonnie Crawford from Sapp Design Associates presented their latest ideas...