Stories from Saturday, July 16, 2016

A new comprehensive study of the intersection at Ninth and Cleveland has produced a number of major changes for the Monett City Council to consider. The intersection analysis, conducted by TranSystems, the engineers that prepared the study for the city's transportation master plan, found a variety of problems with the present configuration of the intersection...

Investigators with the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team, which covers Barry, Barton, Jasper and McDonald counties, arrested three Barry County residents Thursday during an open narcotics investigation. Investigators responded to the residence of Beverly Ball, located at 18348 Hwy. E in Eagle Rock...

Ribbon cutting ceremonies were held on Wednesday for the new Challenge Course, a rope-suspended obstacle course, shown above, now open at the Monett Area YMCA.

After months of wrangling, the Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District board appears close to completing a new policy manual, which will resolve several ongoing debate issues between district leaders. Board member David Compton precipitated the discussion by refusing to vote to approve paying the bills for the past year. ...

Next week one of Monett's longest standing traditions, the Jaycees Carnival, will again be held at Monett's South Park, next to the soccer fields. The carnival, with rides and games, will run from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and until 10 p.m. on Saturday. Many of the favorite attractions will return. Amanda Harbaugh, chairman of the Jaycees board, and President Brittie Oakley will serve as co-chairpersons for the event...

Workers making repairs on the steeple at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pierce City will be on the job a bit longer than they originally anticipated, having found a significant amount of water damage to its brick and mortar structure. Workers originally estimated replacing about 300 bricks in the original proposal, but have had to revise that number to approximately 800 bricks to completely repair the steeple...

An appeal for help to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to correct a problem leaving Highway H has resulted in a better situation for Freistatt residents. Last month, Freistatt trustees discussed what to do about 
motorists pulling off of Highway H onto Third Street to go west encountering a dip from the elevation of the state highway, raised by the last resurfacing effort...

Ripplin' Creek, a southwest Missouri bluegrass band, kicked off the inaugural Pierce City Music in the Park performance in May, but since then, no local entertainers or groups have opted to utilize Pierce City's newest park, located at the Jct. 37/97...

A Marshfield teen sustained moderate injuries in a single-vehicle crash that occurred at 4 p.m., Thursday on Farm Road 1240, six miles north of Halltown. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Clifford D. Gorski, 17, of Marshfield, was driving a 1994 Jeep Cherokee northbound when he lost control of the vehicle, traveled off the east side of the roadway and struck an embankment. The vehicle overturned and came to rest on the roadway...

"Play On" is the portrayal of a theater group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty author who keeps revising the script.

A large contingent of high school students are attended the Southwest Missouri Area Health Education Center MASH (Missouri AHEC Science and Health) Day Camp at Cox Monett Hospital.

Aerial activity around Monett has been quite active this week.

The latter stages of Thursday's sunset provided a panorama of vivid yellows and oranges as seen over equipment offered for sale by the Freistatt Farmers Exchange on Highway H in Freistatt.

The Monett Historical Society will meet at 7 p.m. on July 19 at the Scott Regional Technology Center. Jeanne Ann Camp will present a program a the history of the homes that will be featured in a home tour fundraiser this fall. Reports will museum construction and fundraising will be included...

Two Monett-area students at Central Methodist University in Fayette have been named to the Dean's List for the spring semester. Robert Mobley of Monett, a senior music education major, and Jeffrey Musick of Purdy, a senior business major, achieved a 3.5 grade point average or higher for the semester...

Thirty Monett students and 22 other bi-county students at Drury University earned academic recognition on the university's Dean's List for the spring semester. Students on the Dean's List achieved a grade point average of 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale while carrying a full-time course load...

Hospice Compassus team members regularly visit local nursing homes to offer rhythm band time. Recently the team visited the Bentonview Healthcare facility in Monett.

With over 120 youth running around the field, the Monett Mighty Mite football camp could look like a disorganized mess. However, every game, drill and activity serves a purpose. This past week, the Monett High School football coaches worked with both the area Mighty Mite coaches and players to install some of the basic strategies and routines used by the high school program...

With temperatures expected to climb into the mid-90s next week and the heat index to make them feel like 100, athletes need to prepare themselves now. For some individuals, working outside or participating in summer sports camps is unavoidable. In these cases, extreme caution and care should be taken to ensure that an individual doesn't succumb to the extreme elements...

With all the careful planning done over the years by the Monett Board of Education, the mess on Ninth Street by the middle school and the need to close the roadway seems a troublesome problem that no one really saw coming. At least, not in its present form...

I would like to make it known that no words can clearly express the sorrow and loss for the five police officers killed and nine others that were injured in Dallas on July 7. What I can tell you is officers from all over the United States, including the Monett Police Department, are standing together to support our law enforcement colleagues in Texas...