Stories from Friday, August 19, 2016

DIAMOND -- First game rust, youth and mental mistakes plagued the Pierce City football team in a 24-14 road loss to Diamond. The Eagles' defense played inspired ball against a bigger Wildcats line, holding Diamond to just 14 first half points. What makes that achievement even more remarkable was the fact the Eagles were on the field nearly the entire time, and the offense sputtered with just two first downs...

Harold Dean Stacy, Sr., 80, of Virginia Beach, VA, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away on Aug. 16, 2016, peacefully in his own home. Dean was born in Verona, Mo. on Feb. 6, 1936. He is preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Ruth Stacy of Monett, Mo., and his brother, Franklin Stacy of San Diego...

Mary Mae Couch Crist, 80, of Monett, Mo., passed from this life to her Heavenly home at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, August 18, 2016, while at Cox South Medical Center in Springfield, Mo. Mary was born on July 14, 1936, in Milan, Mo., daughter of the late Charlie Couch and Iva Pearl Sterling Couch. ...

An Ozark woman was injured and later arrested following a wreck involving a Pierce City School Board member Thursday at 8:30 p.m. on Highway 97, six miles west of Miller. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Elise Sheets, 29, of Ozark, was driving a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire northbound when her vehicle crossed the center line and struck head-on a 2014 Honda Pilot, being driven by Bryan Stellwagen, 45, of Pierce City. Both vehicles overturned...

A Cape Fair man was injured in a wreck on Friday at 3:55 a.m. on Highway 37, one mile south of Butterfield. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Toby Sturgell, 37, of Cape Fair, was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt northbound when his vehicle ran off the roadway and struck a road sign and a ditch...

After a wide-reaching discussion on future goals and budgetary targets, the Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District board voted to keep the same tax levy rate as 2015 and suspend charging public schools for standby service as major sporting events. Board members entertained the idea of reducing the property tax levy by one cent per $100 of assessed property, which would have decreased revenue by nearly $25,000...

The first day of school in Monett on Tuesday ran smoothly, according to reports, though the day ended with a little more than routine excitement as school officials scrambled to find two students who had not mastered the homebound bus pattern. In the afternoon, police helped to search for two students from Monett Elementary that came up missing as buses unloaded. The first was located within a half hour, and the second was declared found by 4:20 p.m...

An open house and art showing was offered on Saturday by the Pierce City Arts Council for its now gallery and art workshop at 106 W. Commercial Street.

Schools around Monett opened with numbers fairly similar to the beginning of classes last year, except for Purdy, which showed a large increase. The Purdy school district saw an increase of 41 students over the first day last year. The number becomes even more remarkable due to the district discovering through re-enrollment of the entire student body that 60 students, thought to be returning, had moved. That left 101 students changing from a year ago to now...

Cleanup efforts are being planned at the Merlin Bracht farm on Farm Road 2160, north of Freistatt, where a silo fully loaded with 500 tons of corn silage collapsed on the night of Aug. 9. Merlin Bracht had finished loading the silo only hours earlier. ...

New third-grade student Daisy Filpot offered a smile as she arrived at Purdy Elementary School for the first day of classes on Tuesday.

As part of the Freistatt Lions' annual Ernte-Fest, the Lions held a drawing.

The Monett City Council will hold its monthly meeting at 9:30 a.m. today at Monett City Hall. Council members will consider a zoning change request from Sam and Becky Green, contracts with Visu-Sewer and Southard Construction, an LLEGB grant for the police department, and introduce an ordinance banning construction of private wells inside the city limits...

Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) classes, offered through Crowder College, are set to begin in Cassville, Monett and Seligman. Classes include instruction for the following areas: academic skills including math, language, social studies, science, and reading; high school equivalency prep, college placement prep; WorkKeys prep for the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC); ASVAB prep; college and career transitions...

Lawrence County deputies will be out in force as part of the annual nationwide August/Labor Day enforcement campaign, "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" substance-impaired driving crackdown. The enforcement effort will run throughout Lawrence County starting Friday, Aug. 19 and continue until Wednesday, Sept. 7...

Let it never be said that the Monett softball team runs away from good competition. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Today at 5 p.m., Monett opens the softball season with the first of three straight road games against Central Ozark Conference teams...

While the majority of people in Monett will be focused on the American football game to be played Saturday night at Burl Fowler Stadium, the school's other football team will play its opener at Carthage at 10 a.m. Ask any of the Cubs soccer players who is the team's biggest rival, and each of them will say Carthage and Springfield Catholic...