Stories from Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Betty Jane Johnson, age 97, of Verona, Missouri, passed away at 2:10 p.m. on Thursday, December 1, 2016, at Lacoba Homes in Monett, Missouri. She was born January 13, 1919, in Kansas City, Missouri, to the late Dr. James Oscar and Helen Cecilia (Sullivan) Rice...

Mark David Smith, 74, of Pierce City, entered into eternal rest at his home surrounded by family on Saturday, December 3, 2016. He was born in San Francisco, California, on April 14, 1942; the son of the late Herbert Noyben Oney and Lucille (Story). He was united in marriage on November 30, 1964, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Connie Jean Andersen; she survives...

The final postseason awards for football were released in the All-District and coveted Class 3 All-State teams over the weekend. Monett landed nine players on the All-State squads, including the Offensive Player of the Year in Michael Branch and Defensive Player of the Year in Onis Howard...

The Monett Elementary School Christmas program will be presented by second graders at 6 p.m. today at the Monett High School Performing Arts Center. This is a different location from past performances. Monett High School head football coach Derrek Uhl and some of his assistant coaches will provide a summary of this year's season at the noon meeting today of the Monett Kiwanis Club, at the Family Room Steakhouse, First and East Broadway...

On Sunday, Monett High School's National Honor Society served lunch to more than 150 National Guard service men and women and their families.

A local tradition since 2010 has returned in rural Pierce City for the Christmas season.

A new feature now in use at the Monett Area YMCA is a bungee trampoline.

Waiting to present your routine to judges can be nerve-wracking at Monett's Priscilla Bradford speech tournament.

The First Presbyterian Church in Aurora celebrated the 100th anniversary of its church building in the square on Sunday.

Four additional staff members in the Monett school district who have provided extra-curricular services without pay will now receive compensation. Superintendent Brad Hanson told school board members that duties provided by sponsors for the National Honor Society, the National Junior Honor Society, the National Technical Honor Society and the robotics club were providing more work than was reasonable to expect for free. The board agreed to add those extra duties to the budget...

Music shared in the spirit of holiday giving for the fourth annual Alternative Gift Fair, held at the Monett Area YMCA on Saturday.

A Monett Police Department investigating into a stabbing Sunday night is ongoing, and police say they have no specific suspect information yet. According to Monett Police Chief George Daoud, on Sunday at about 7 p.m., a man was found laying in the street of the 500 block of West Logan asking for help. Upon arrival, officers found Jeremy Donahoo, 30, of Monett, who had been stabbed in the abdomen and was bleeding...