Stories from Friday, February 20, 2015

The Monett School District unanimously voted Thursday night to hire Derek Uhl as its next football coach. Unlike most candidates, Uhl (pronounced yule) had been a district employee and former coach from 2007 to 2013. It was that familiarity Uhl believed gave him an edge over the nearly 30 candidates, and is provided an extra boost when the district boiled the list down to the final three...

The state swimming championships opened today and for the first time with Monett swimmers in the field at the St. Peters Rec-Plex. This year, the Lady Cubs will be represented in two events, the 100-yard Freestyle and the 200-yard Individual Medley relay...

The Pierce City School District has unanimously approved to move to a four-day school week, effective in the 2015-2016 school year. The decision will move the district from a traditional 6-1/2-hour days of academic instruction to a 7-1/4-hour days of instruction, which would have students starting school at 8 a.m. and continuing through until 3:45 or 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, as most federal holidays fall on Monday...

Construction has taken a sharp upswing in Monett. In 2014, Monett Building Inspector Wade Ennes issued two permits for new homes, one to Habitat for Humanity in April, and another to Gale Huffmaster in July. In the first two months of 2015, Ennes has issued permits for six new homes...

Aldermen at Pierce City have approved hiring a canine officer, Melvin Nay, from Sarcoxie, as a reserve officer for the city. Nay and his canine counterpart, Kane, will be transitioning to part-time status in May. When questioned about the status of the canine and liability issues for Pierce City, Officer Shelby Berry reported the dog is an extension of the officer and assured aldermen there would be no additional liability for the city by hiring the team...

On cold winter days, when children can't go out to play, sometimes the best alternative is a trip to the library. Shelley Preston brought her children to the Monett Branch on Wednesday, and while their sisters looked for books, 3-year-old Kyle Preston, left, amused himself with one of the library's puppets, under the watchful eye of older brother, Tyler Preston. The library has a variety of games and activities for children of all ages. Murray Bishoff times-news@monett-times.com...

Monett-based Jack Henry and Associates (JHA) announced its board of directors increased the quarterly cash dividend by 14 percent to $.25 per share. The cash dividend on its common stock, par value $.01 per share, is payable on March 18 to stockholders of record as of March 3. As of Feb. 12, there were 80,949,518 shares of the common stock outstanding...

A benefit account for the family of the late Leo Wallace to cover unexpected expenses has been established at First State Bank in Monett. Donations can also be made at the First United Methodist Church in Monett. The Monett Rural Fire District Board of Directors will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at the new fire station in the Monett Industrial Park...

With a 64-23 win over Golden City on Tuesday night, the Pierce City boys basketball team assured itself a second conference title in the last three years. The Eagles were led by Colin Garner with 21 points and Kole Kelley's 11. However, Eagles Coach Matt Street believes there are things teams like to share and things that teams just want to keep all for themselves...

Brad Stewart, Verona boys basketball coach, was excited to see his team get the No. 2 seed in Class 1, District 5, but he immediately knew the road to the championship was anything but paved. "We have a tough first-round game against Golden City and then could face Fair Play in the semifinals," Stewart said. "They won the district last year as a No. 5 seed and were an overtime loss away from a final four berth."...