Stories from Saturday, October 8, 2016

When it comes to how the state of Missouri should fund its schools, the two candidates for the 157th District of the Missouri State House have opposite ideas. The Missouri Foundation Formula, a multi-step plan detailing how much money is spent for K-12 education, gets a little more than $3 billion in funds, and it accounts for about 37 percent of the state's entire budget for general revenue...

This year, Monett Elementary School has introduced Learning in Neighborhood Communities (LINC), an innovative rearrangement of classrooms to provide new learning and teaching opportunities. Susie Gasser, Monett Elementary principal, has spearheaded the approach and is optimistic about its progress...

Voters in Verona on Nov. 8 will be asked to renew the half-percent sales tax the city collects for public safety. The tax was first passed in 2005 and began collections in 2006. It requires renewal every five years. In 2015, the tax generated $17,248.57. The tax helps support the city's police and fire departments...

Participants at the Diet Center in Monett, the local franchise for the national weight loss and nutritional coaching company, will support breast cancer awareness in October with its "Lose to Live -- Lose to Give" campaign. According to Mendy Hubbard, owner and manager with Sue Childress, the campaign raises awareness and money for the cause...

A Mt. Vernon man was injured Thursday in a wreck at 8:40 p.m. on Highway 96, three miles west of Phelps. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Allen Vasques Cifuentes, 21, of Mt. Vernon, was driving a 2006 Dodge Stratus eastbound when his vehicle ran off the left side of the roadway, overcorrected, then ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a ditch and two trees...

On a cool autumn morning, children at the Small Wonders Preschool at the First United Methodist Church in Monett recalled warmer days.

Today, the Monett Lions are in the thick of the action at Apple Butter Makin' Days in Mt. Vernon.

The Friends of the Library in Pierce City will hold their Fall Book Sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today in the library branch at 101 N. Walnut. Apple Butter Makin' Days runs today and tomorrow in Mt. Vernon, with approximately 400 vendors set up in booths around the square and on adjacent streets. ...

The Monett High School Class of 1959 jointly celebrated their 75th birthday with a reunion on Sept. 9 through 11. Activities began with a Friday night gathering at the home of Mike and Phyllis Garrett. On Saturday, classmates gathered at Angus Branch restaurant for a buffet breakfast, after which they toured the high school's new performing arts center, conducted by Marilyn Mann, the PAC manager...

Monett Intermediate School has named the winners of character education awards for September.

Cubs of the Month have been named at Monett Intermediate School.

Officials at Monett Elementary School have chosen students demonstrating the characteristics of being polite and respectful as Students of the Week for Sept. 26.

The evolution of public education certainly resembles a long and winding road, ever taking forks in the road, setting new priorities, ever searching for the best way to prepare students for their futures. A recently retired educator in another state, to whom I recently spoke, has watched some of the latest gyrations and observed some of the changes pushing high schools to change their strategies reflect ulterior motives...

Frank Duane Woodruff, 84, of Monett, Mo., passed from this life to his eternal home on Friday morning, October 7, 2016, while at Lacoba Homes in Monett. Frank was born on February 10, 1932 in Topeka, KS, son of the late Leroy and Vida (Sylvester) Woodruff. ...

Shirley Jean Garmer, 83, of Springfield, died on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, at the Cox South Hospital in Springfield. A memorial service under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9 at the United Methodist Church of Aurora. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday in the funeral home chapel...

Mary Marjorie Harrington, 92, of Mt. Vernon, died on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at the Cox South Hospital in Springfield. Visitation will be held from 10-11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8 at the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home, in Miller. A graveside service will follow at 11:30 a.m. at the Round Grove Cemetery...

James Delbert Strange, 69, of Mt. Vernon, passed died Tuesday, Oct. 4, at the Mercy Hospital in Springfield. A funeral service under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home, in Mt. Vernon will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at the First Christian Church-Disciples of Christ in Mt. ...