Stories from Monday, July 8, 2013

Mild temperatures and clear skies offered ideal conditions for Monett's Fourth of July celebration on Thursday. Crowds turned out for each phase of the festivities at Monett's South Park, concluding with the traditional fireworks show. New fans in the barbecue cooking pavilion improved the working area for Monett Lions 1,600 chicken halves for their annual community dinner. ...

William "Rex" Tucker, of Aurora, age 51, passed away on Sunday June 30, 2013, at Cox Medical Center South in Springfield. Rex was born Aug. 5, 1962 in Monett. Rex was a kind person who was greatly loved by family and friends. He enjoyed working outside, gardening and mowing and driving farm machinery. He also enjoyed working with wood...

On Monday, June 10, Pierce City council members began discussions to turn over fire equipment and use of a fire station to the newly formed fire protection district. Rick Mercer, chief of the Pierce City rural district and the newly formed Pierce City Fire Protection District, met with the aldermen about equipment and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) building currently housing the city's fire department...

Progress on the new mailboxes for Freistatt was reviewed at the June meeting of the Freistatt Village Board of Trustees. Mayor Mike Ortwein reported Postal Service carriers began filling the new cluster mailbox units (CBUs) by the Freistatt Community Building on June 12. The promised canopy has to date not yet arrived...

The Lawrence County Health Department is monitoring several streams within the county. Results indicate some areas have higher E. coli counts than EPA-recommended limits. E. coli is a fecal coliform bacteria that lives in all human and animal intestines. At present, there are no federal or state standards for E. coli densities in recreational waters. EPA's proposed standards for bacteria densities should not exceed 235 E. coli per 100 milliliters of fresh water for full body contact...

The Monett Special Road District commissioners will meet at 5 p.m. on Monday, July 8 in the conference room at Monett City Hall. The Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District Board of Directors will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9 at 307 Dairy St. in Monett...

A Pierce City man received moderate injuries in a single-vehicle crash at 5:40 a.m. on July 7 one mile south of Monett on Highway 37. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Tyler Dill, 18, was attempting to turn left onto Highway 37 from a county road in a 1967 Chevrolet C10 pickup. The vehicle over turned off onto the right side of the highway and struck an embankment. Dill was taken by private vehicle to Cox Monett Hospital. Dill was not wearing a seat belt...

EIGHTY YEARS AGO July 8, 1933 Betty Boyle, famous home economics specialist, will lead The Monett Times Free Cooking School. The first session will be held on July 11 at City Hall Auditorium. A new influx of transients has been observed in Monett the last few days. They are hitting back doors with a monotonous regularity. They work in pairs, one on each side of the street...

Norman "Dean" Kee, age 81, of Freistatt, Mo., passed away on Saturday morning, July 6, 2013, while at the Mt. Vernon Place Care Center in Mt. Vernon, Mo., following a short illness. Dean was born on July 29, 1931 in rural Oregon, Mo., near the village of New Point, the son of Harry Kee and Gracie (McIntyre) Kee...

DeVere "Mac" Leroy McQueen, age 94, of Cassville, died on July 4 at the Missouri Veterans Home in Mount Vernon. Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 9 with full military honors at White Funeral Home and Crematory in Cassville. The family will receive friends on Monday, July 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home...