Stories from Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Jack England, age 85, of Wheaton, died Saturday, December 24, 2016. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, December 27, 2016, at McQueen Funeral Home in Wheaton. Burial with military honors will be at Rocky Comfort Cemetery in Rocky Comfort, Missouri...

Jimmie Ray Hall, age 83, of Cassville, died Friday, December 23, 2016. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, December 27, 2016, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial with military honors will be at Ennis Cemetery in Cassville. Visitation will be held from noon until service time Tuesday at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville...

Ernest Paul Ulbrich, 89, of rural Seneca, MO, passed from this life on Friday, December 23, 2016 while at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, MO. Memorial visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, December 29, 2016 at the Bethany Baptist Church, 6902 Old 60 Drive, Neosho. ...

Two days after spending nearly an hour having a heart-to-heart conversation with his team after a lackluster effort in a loss, the Verona basketball team came to life and stung Chadwick, 57-26, to advance to the consolation quarterfinal against Ash Grove...

The Monett boys basketball team heads south on Wednesday to participate in the eighth annual Cornerstone Bank Holiday Hoops Tournament in Berryville, Ark. The Cubs (1-6) are in search of their second win of the season. Monett will have the toughest path to score wins in the physically demanding tournament, drawing the No. 8 seed and opening bracket play on Wednesday against No. 1 seed and tournament host Berryville at 7:20 p.m...

The annual Dining for Diabetes fundraising dinner, benefitting the diabetes education program run through Cox Monett Hospital, will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 21, at St. Mary's Catholic School fellowship hall in Pierce City. Cost is $25 per person. For additional information, people may call Nancy Ridgley at 354-1280...

While Tracy Essary and April Smith sang "Mary, Sweet Mary," Zoey Courtney portrayed Mary and laid Luke Courtney, a new family member, into a cradle.

A sign was formally unveiled on Friday for what will be the Glen and Sharon Garrett Downtown Park, a major addition to the city's park system that will include the future downtown pavilion. The land, the former site of the Jumping-Jacks Shoes factory between Fourth and Fifth streets on Front, had previously been owned by the Garretts, as one of the properties owned by First State Bank. ...

As they have for the past 32 years, Monett area residents gathered together to celebrate Christmas with a community meal, only this year it was on Saturday, the day before the holiday, at the First United Methodist Church in Monett. The annual Linn Thornton Memorial Christmas Dinner, hosted by son Earnie Thornton and a large group of volunteers, fed a crowd of around 350 people at the church's fellowship hall. ...

Board members of Barry-Lawrence Chapter of Crime Stoppers gave their approval to electing Sara Pfitzner as chair of the organization. Pfitzner currently works as a special investigator with Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Pfitzner expressed her interest in the position following the resignation of Bill Banks, who served from June through September of this year. Banks was forced to resign due to a change in schedule at his workplace...

In an effort to better-serve area residents, CoxHealth will open a brand new urgent care facility in Monett on Jan. 9, 2017. This 2,600 square-foot facility will be located at 102 E. Cleveland Ave., where Dr. Bret Bowling and the Hodde Clinic have previously had offices. The urgent care clinic will employ four nurse practitioners and support staff...