Stories from Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Joyce Lynette Batson, 57, of Monett, died Thursday, Sept. 29, at Cox Hospital South in Springfield. No services are planned. Local arrangements are under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon.

Roberta Corke, 63, of Golden, died Thursday, Sept. 29, at Mercy Hospital in Cassville. Private services will be held at a later date. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of the White Funeral Home and Crematory in Cassville.

Ronald Wayne Harris, 68, of Cassville, died Friday, Sept. 30. Memorial services will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, at White Funeral Home and Crematory in Cassville. Visitation will be from 3:30 p.m. until service time at the funeral home. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of the White Funeral Home and Crematory in Cassville...

Cody Taylor, 23, of Miller, died Sept. 29. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4 at the New Home Baptist Church, northeast of Miller. Arrangements are under direction of Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home in Miller.

Running the ball has always been the goal of the Pierce City football team. In every conversation, Coach Brad Hocker stresses the point that if the Eagles (3-2) cannot move the ball on the ground, the team will struggle to win games. While the cliche is true, what Hocker failed to point out is that the Eagles have had a shift in their running philosophy this season...

While it took the Monett offense a couple of series to get comfortable, the Cubs' defense was stellar in a 35-0 win over McDonald County on Friday. The Purple Haze set the tone by ending four consecutive Mustang possessions, intercepting three passes and recovering a fumble...

The city of Monett will host public forums today and Thursday, Oct. 13, both at 6:30 p.m. in the South Park Casino building to garner public opinion on three proposals for the Monett municipal pool. The Barry County Courthouse and Barry County Judicial Center will be closed on Monday, Oct. 10, in observance of Columbus Day...

Two moves by the Monett City Council, reducing energy use and relocating the city's public brush pile, will save money, officials said. Skip Schaller, utilities superintendent, reported conducting an energy audit of city buildings, especially the Justice Center. He said he was startled by the amount of energy used at the site and saw an immediate opportunity to make improvements...

Jared Lankford, left, sports editor for The Monett Times, shows old news print to a group of kindergartners during a tour of the Times' building last week.

The foreman of Monett's South Park is urging drivers to use caution when driving through the park, as one of the geese by the pond was recently run over by a vehicle. Kevin Smith, park foreman, said crews arrived to the park about a month or a month-and-a-half ago and found the white goose dead...

Results from Advanced Placement (AP) tests taken last spring at Monett High School show improving scores, but there was a dip the number of tests taken. Principal David Williams saw both progress and some concern in the latest round of tests. AP tests, like the ACT college entrance exams, offer the same questions to students nationwide. ...