Stories from Tuesday, October 21, 2014

EIGHTY YEARS AGO Oct. 19-28, 1934 Four heavily armed men robbed Mr. and Mrs. Ed Salzer and Philamena Bauman, in holding up the Brown Gables in Monett on Oct. 18. In a week that included "Pretty Boy" Floyd being shot to death in Ohio, the robbers were pursued by Sheriff Shore and escaped into the Roaring River hills. For the first time, Headquarters Battery, Missouri National Guard mobilized at the request of the sheriff to join the hunt if called by Governor Park...

Joseph Allen "Joe" Preddy, 86, of Cassville, died at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24, at Cassville United Methodist Church, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville, Missouri. Burial with military honors will be in Oak Hill Cemetery, Cassville...

The Cubs football team talked all week about the need to start fast and finish strong. What was good for the purple and gold's development was a nightmare for McDonald County. One look at the 67-2 final score doesn't begin to tell the tale of how dominate Monett was...

It is not a very big envelope, roughly six inches wide and eight inches long. It's white in color and has only two words printed on the outside -- quarterfinal winner. For the last three years, the Lady Cubs softball team has been on a quest to open the sealed package and reveal its contents. On Saturday, with a 2-0 win over Bolivar, the secrets of the envelope and details for the state's Class 3 semifinal were finally read aloud in the middle of an excited team...

Make it two wins in a row for the Eagles of Pierce City as they improved to 4-4 Friday on senior night Friday at Don Keebaugh Stadium. The Eagles earned a 38-16 win over Sarcoxie and sent their seniors off with win in their final home game. "The kids played hard," said Brad Hocker, Pierce City head coach. "When you're physical up front, you get things going in the pass and run game. We're trying to do the little things right to make the big things happen."...

Pierce City aldermen are taking aim at the police department, requesting a reserve officer be suspended without pay for allegedly failing to get his field qualifications on the shooting range completed. "I want a letter in the file," Alderman Cory Sooter said. "The department as a whole [should be written up] for failure to get qualified on the range."...

Three Pierce City aldermen held an unscheduled meeting with Mayor Allen Stockton on Sunday evening to discuss the city's police department, its members and their training requirements. While there was no quorum present, Aldermen Cory Sooter, Brian Jones, Malia Henderson and Stockton questioned Police Chief Mike Abramovitz again about the status of one of the department's reserve officer's skills development training on the shooting range. ...

New standards on sewer pretreatment plants at Monett industries will give the city broader flexibility for setting standards on effluent coming into the city's waste treatment plant. "The old pretreatment permits were concrete numbers for each of the pretreat industries," said Utilities Superintendent Skip Schaller. ...

An open house was held on Thursday at The Den youth center in Monett, showcasing the center's new look, equipment and furniture. The public viewed new flooring, brightly colored walls and video entertainment centers. "After five years, we needed it," said Debbie Berger, Den board member...

Ann Hoffman, a circuit coach at Curves and a breast cancer survivor from Pierce City, presented a motivational talk to women at Curves in Monett last Friday. Hoffman volunteered to have her head shaved and the experience recorded and placed on the Curves Facebook page in an effort to raise awareness and funding for Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks. ...

Monett city firefighters responded to a structure fire at the Gary Willoughby home at 1624 Ninth St. around 3:20 p.m. on Saturday. According to Monett Fire Chief Tom Jones, a grease fire in the kitchen penetrated the stove hood, igniting the wood above the kitchen cabinets. ...

The Ozark Festival Orchestra offered a special salute to Jack Frost, businessman and longtime tuba player in the orchestra who died on Oct. 2. Frost's tuba, at front right, was displayed in an empty chair during the orchestra's opening concert on Sunday. ...

Southern Missouri Beekeepers of Monett will hold their monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at the First United Methodist Church, 1600 N. Central. Charlie Johnson will speak about swarm traps and how to catch swarms. Bob Clark will discuss pests and predators of honey bees. All interested persons welcome. For more information, people may contact John Schmidt at 235-7726...

The Monett School District began parent-teacher conferences on Monday and will conclude conferences on Friday. On Thursday, all Monett students will be released from school early for conferences at all campuses. On Friday, school will not be in session so that parent-teacher conferences will continue from 8 a.m. until noon at some campuses...