Stories from Friday, June 14, 2013

A major fire erupted at the Hydro Aluminum plant in the Industrial Park around 3:45 p.m. that resulted in six fire departments responding. The fire developed in the insulation of the roof in what had been used as the paint building. Built in the mid-1980s, the structure has been out of use since October, 2012 when Hydro shut down its extrusion operations...

A fire has broken out at the Monett Hydro Aluminium plant this afternoon. Monett Fire Department is currently on the scene. No injuries have been reported.

Anyone passing by Monett's North Park in recent months has seen stacks of large blue pipes on the park's northwest corner. Monett water department crews have begun installing the pipes as the three-year water system upgrade advances. The project passed a milestone earlier this year when the city closed out its use of more than $2.8 million in low interest federal bonds, available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. ...

Three people were hurt in a two-vehicle crash one mile west of Monett at 9:45 a.m. on June 12. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Laura Hood-Goodman, 38, of Monett, was driving west in a 1999 Lincoln Cartier. Joe Baker, 65, of Verona, a Monett city employee, driving the city's 2006 Sterling LT7500 tanker, hauling 3,000 gallons of sludge from the Monett waste treatment plant, was headed west behind the Hood-Goodman car...

Clarabelle Laizure, age 78, of Golden, died at her home on Wednesday, June 12. Cremation arrangements are under the direction White Funeral Home and Crematory, Cassville.

With a plethora of food from which to choose, visitors at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Verona were sure not to leave hungry from the annual celebration. The summer evening air was rich with the swirling smells of bratwurst, hot dogs, hamburgers, enchiladas, tamales, tostadas and rice and beans...

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International (CARF) has awarded the Arc of the Ozarks a three-year accreditation. Certification covers Arc programs that support individuals with disabilities as they live, learn and work as valued members of the community...

Nominations for 2013 the Dale Taunton Helping Hands Award are now being accepted for any resident of the Pierce City R-6 School District. This award is named in honor of the late Dale Taunton, of Pierce City, who lost his life during the May 4, 2003 tornado helping save the lives of others at the cost of his own...

An Aurora man has been arrested and charged with three counts of possession of child pornography. Gordon Funk, 70, of Aurora, was arrested following an investiga-tion on Monday, June 10, by officials with the Lawrence County Sher-iff's Office into allega-tions of possession of child pornography...

A permanent drug drop box has been set up at the Monett Police Department, located at 1901 E. Cleveland St. in Monett. Students enrolled in Scott Regional Technology Center auto body, welding and graphic departments built and designed the graphics for the receptacle. Bruner's and Old Town pharmacies donated funds to purchase materials to fabricate the box...

Community Blood Centers of the Ozarks will hold a blood drive from 8 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, June 18 at the main EFCO plant in Monett, from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19 at the Missouri Veterans Home in Mt. Vernon, and from 3 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 20 at the VFW Hall on Highway 39 in Shell Knob...

JEFFERSON CITY. -- To reach out to the people of the 157th District, State Representative Mike Moon will open and staff a district office in Mt. Vernon. The office will be located on the second floor of the Lawrence County Courthouse, across the hall from the license office...

A Monett High School student has completed the Missouri leadership Seminar, held June 7 through June 9 at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. Canyon Lundy, who will start his junior year at MHS in August, attended the Missouri Leadership Seminar at the University of Central Missouri. A not-for-profit project, the seminar engages more than 170 high school students in activities to nurture leadership skills...

Mr. and Mrs. Dale Stotts, of Monett, announce the upcoming marriage of their daughter, Cynthia Dawn, to Matthew Wesley Nason, of Gardner, Kan. The bride-elect is a graduate at Monett High School, Park College in Parkville and Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan. She is a recruiter at Overland Park Regional Center in Overland Park, Kan...

Jared and Melissa Lankford, of Verona, announce the birth of their daughter, Gabrielle Elizabeth, on May 28 at Mercy Hospital in Joplin. Gabby weighed seven pounds, two ounces and measured 18 inches. She was welcomed home by brothers Ezekiel, age 3, and Johnathan, age 1...

MONETT SENIOR CENTER Monday -- Beef and noodles, chicken patty, scalloped potatoes, peas and carrots, fruit surprise. Tuesday -- Reuben casserole, chicken and dumplings, beets, salad, pudding. Wednesday -- Oven fried chicken, smoked pork chop, baked potato, spinach, blueberry muffin...

Jerri Lynn Henry, a senior at Southwest High School in Washburn, has won a $2,000 MFA Foundation scholarship, awarded at the school's recent awards assembly. She is the daughter of Kathy and Jerry Henry. Henry plans to attend Missouri State University in the fall...

On Friday, May 17, students, faculty and staff at the Monett Middle School held a fundraiser for the Joplin tornado recovery and the Fuller Center. Students paid $1 for a foot of tape. Each foot of duct tape purchased was used to adhere Dr. Apostol to the cafeteria wall during both lunch periods...

Culver-Stockton College, in Canton, held its annual All-Sports Awards banquet on May 8. One of the awards given during the ceremony was the PAW Award. The PAW Award goes to one player from each athletic team and the student athletic training staff. The acronym PAW stands for passion, attitude and work ethic...

Purdy Elementary School recently released the names of students who achieved the fourth quarter honor roll. Students are listed below by grade and achievement level. A Honor Roll Third grade: Aubree Bennett, Bradley Biloki, Matthew Cornelius, Dally Craig, Payton Crumpler, Jasmine Horn, Savannah McGuirk, Angel Perez, M'Kena Propps, Lauryn Ramirez, Grace Stephens, Caitlin Brown, Samantha Ellis, Dakota Farris, Jessica Garcia, Wyatt Lowe, Lucas Maddocks, Kalleah Mosell, Jocelyn Perez, Jasmine Patterson, Heidi Sehrbrock, Michael Stanford, Misael Villa and Eli Webb.. ...

New adult non-fiction titles at the Pierce City Branch Library include: "Windows 8 Kickstart" by James Russell; "Gardening Shortcuts" by Jenny Hendy; "How to Raise Goats" by Carol Amundson; "Savvy $aving" by Melissa Jennings; "5 Simple Truths of Raising Kids" by Bradley Snyder; "Drop Earrings" by Susan Beal; and "Secrets of Tracing Your Ancestors" by Daniel Quillen...

The adult piano students of Ruth Burnside performed two pieces and enjoyed a party gathering at Burnside's home on June 4. Those attending are pictured above.

Dear Editor : A sign on the outside boxes at the Monett Post Office says, beginning June 10, 2013 that the last collection of mail will be at 2 p.m., which is three hours earlier than the present collection at 5 p.m. This is coming about because mail will no longer be "worked" in Springfield, but will be processed in Kansas City. As I understand it, a letter mailed in Monett after 2 p.m. will not be delivered the next day...

People are amazingly adaptive. If a favorite store closes, people find another. If we have bad roads, we tend to learn to live with them. If they get a little better, we're grateful. Right now the roads around Monett are relatively good. No miles of potholes to navigate. The state highways are in particularly good condition...

Clyde N. Blyzes, age 76, of Monett, died on Thursday morning, June 13, at Benchmark Healthcare of Monett. No formal services are planned. Arrangements have been entrusted to Buchanan Funeral Home, Monett.

Etta Fletcher Van Zandt, age 100, of Seligman, died at 2:11 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, in Mercy Hospital, Cassville. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, June 14, in Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville. Burial will be in Hickman Cemetery, Washburn...

John Herbert Critchfield, age 87, of Monett died on Thursday, June 13, at Cox Monett Hospital. Funeral arrangements will be announced at date. Arrangements are under the care of Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett.

Reverend John Vernon Rose, age 76, of Washburn, died on Monday, June 10, at Freeman West in Joplin. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 15, at Victory Baptist Church, Cassville. Burial will follow at the New Salem Cemetery, Seligman...

The 17th annual Ice Cream Social was held at New Liberty Methodist Church on Saturday, June 8. The event featured live gospel music, homemade ice cream, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, along with several varieties of fruit pies and desserts.