Stories from Tuesday, January 3, 2017

John J. Gripka Jr., 75, of Monett, died 4:55 a.m. December 31, 2016, at Cox Monett Hospital. Visitation was held 6 p.m. Monday at Lakin Funeral Home in Pierce City. Visitation followed. Services will be 10:30 a.m. today at St. Mary's Catholic Church, with burial to follow at St. Mary's Cemetery...

Tammy Kay Smallwood, 52, of Purdy died Thursday, Dec. 29 at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3 at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery at Eureka Springs, Ark.

Marilyn Walker, 63, died Friday, Dec. 23 at the Aurora Nursing Center. A celebration of life service will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 6 at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Aurora. Burial will be at the Maple Park Cemetery in Aurora. A reception will be held following the Mass at the Holy Trinity Church Hall...

A new power has surfaced in Lawrence County in the Pierce City girls basketball team. The Lady Eagles sent a message heard clearly around the state that they are a force to be dealt with after a 51-31 win over Hartville in the championship game of the Walnut Grove Holiday Tournament on Friday...

The annual Dining for Diabetes fundraising dinner, organized to benefit 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. Mark Chapman will provide the entertainment. For additional information, people may call Nancy Ridgley at 354-1280...

Swearing in ceremonies were held for officials in Lawrence County Friday morning who officially took office on Jan. 1.

Monett police officers were on hand at the Lawrence County Courthouse to receive commissions from Sheriff Brad DeLay.

On Thursday, crews for the Monett Electric Department used cranes from two digger trucks to raise a new fiberglass well house for well No. 1.

As has been his practice, Lawrence County Sheriff Brad DeLay held a swearing in ceremony on Dec. 31 to issue county commissions to all his officers and those from each municipality.

Comparisons between the Verona school district and other schools in its conference on standardized state tests taken from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) last spring raised no major concerns for school board members...

Ringing in the New Year starts January, and Calendar Girl Haley Williams is ready to start 2017 with the historic Frisco bell at the First Presbyterian Church in Monett.

Having named a new principal for the coming year at Monett Elementary School, the district's board of education has named Deb Wycuff to fill the vacancy as the new Monett Elementary School assistant principal for the 2017-2018 school year. Wycuff succeeds Sarah Garner, who takes over for retiring Principal Susie Gasser in the top spot...

Monett school officials expect to decide in the coming months how to best proceed with building improvement projects and some difficult maintenance issues. A major undertaking being considered involves creating a childcare facility for faculty by renovating the two-story building at Monett Elementary that had been built for kindergarten, at the south end of the circle drive on Linden Avenue...

Teams normally try to identify an opponent's best player and then do their best to neutralize that player's effect on a game. The problem with teams that face Pierce City (7-2) is that the Eagles have a different player step up every night. On Friday, junior Hunter Hatfield was the latest Eagle to make his presence felt in a 43-40 win over Fair Play to secure third place in the Walnut Grove Holiday Tournament...

Charles Eugene "Gene" Forrester, 90, a lifelong resident of Monett, Mo., passed from this life on Saturday morning, December 31, 2016, while at the Missouri Veterans Home in Mt. Vernon, Mo. Gene was born on May 18, 1926 in Marionville, Mo., son of the late Charles N. ...