Stories from Friday, March 13, 2015

Missouri State University Head Football Coach Dave "Stec" Steckel put the final pieces in place for the Bears' 2015 schedule, and he has also solidified plans for his squad to play the University of Missouri in 2017. Steckel, who was introduced as MSU's 20th head football coach on Dec. 14, 2014, came to MSU after 14 seasons at Mizzou, including the last five years as defensive coordinator for the Tigers...

On Saturday, the Monett Youth Wrestling Club will have 19 wrestlers competing for a berth into the state championships in St. Louis on March 28 and 29. To advance to the regional round, athletes had to record top-4 finishes at the District 5 tournament in Neosho...

The Monett boys basketball team secured two spots on the Big 8 All-Conference basketball team this week. Junior Logan Coones was named to the second team, and Jonah Paszek, also a junior, earned honorable mention. The Cubs finished the season 17-11 and lost in the first round of district play to Carl Junction...

The Monett Branch Library will host a "Let's Make a Kite" workshop with Don Iman at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 14 at the library, Sixth and Bond streets. Supplies will be provided to offer fun for the whole family. Kite flying is possible in the bank parking lot at Sixth and Bond...

The Greater Ozarks Chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association received an extra boost in its Feb. 5 Jail and Bail fundraiser in Monett from FCS Financial.

Former Aurora resident Dale Baum, who performs under the stage name of Blaze, had the dream of a lifetime fulfilled on March 5 when he performed with country music giant Brad Paisley in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Lawrence County Commission held a shredding ceremony on Wednesday, destroying the 2010 lease agreement with UMB Bank in celebration of retiring the debt on the county's $7.5 million Justice Center. The final payment for the debt of $975,856.25 was made in February...

A 40-year-old man was hurt in a single vehicle crash in Monett around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. According to Monett Police, John Weidmann was heading west on Cleveland in a Ford Expedition and suffered a medical condition, resulting in his vehicle veering off the street and colliding with a pole. The pole was guarding a MoDOT signal box in the parking lot in the northeast corner of Cleveland 
and 13th Street...

The U.S. Justice Department's 102-page report into the police department in Ferguson raised serious ethical questions about what a police force and a municipal court can do to the residents of a community. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently detailed how problems in the municipal courts spread throughout St. Louis County, and it called for the Missouri Supreme Court to dissolve all 81 municipal courts in the county...

Construction in Monett during 2014 topped $11.5 million, according to the annual summary of permits completed by Monett Building Inspector Wade Ennes. The total, down from the previous year by 27 percent, represents a rebound of sorts from the $3.5 million total in 2012...

Leroy James Schmidt, 86, of Mt. Vernon, formerly of Hazelwood, died at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, at the Missouri Veteran's Home in Mt. Vernon. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 16, at St. Susanne Catholic Church in Mt. Vernon. Burial will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Missouri Veteran's Cemetery in Springfield...