Stories from Saturday, January 7, 2017

Georgia Ruth Anderson, 87, of Aurora died Tuesday, Jan. 3 at her home. A graveside service, under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home, in Aurora, will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at the Maple Park Cemetery in Aurora.

Ronald L. "Ronnie" Boucher, 76, of Monett, died Tuesday, Jan. 3 at his home. Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9 at Buchanan Funeral Home. Interment will follow at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Monett. Visitation will be from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday at the funeral home...

Paulette (Polly) Cowan, 69, of Mt. Vernon, died Jan. 3 at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. Rosary was at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6 at the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon. Funeral mass was held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7, at the St. Susanne's Catholic Church in Mt. Vernon. Burial was at the Summit Cemetery northeast of Mt. Vernon...

Willie "Don" Fletcher, 85, of Exeter, died Wednesday, Jan. 4. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7 at Exeter First Baptist Church, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at True Love Cemetery in Wayne.

As a rule of thumb, there are three basic ways to run fundraisers locally. People will turn out to eat, to be entertained by some sort of performance, and to party. Some of the most successful fundraisers, like Dining for Diabetes, try to combine all three...

Trinity Lutheran School in Freistatt honored students who scored 95 percent or higher on the December Accelerated Reader tests.

Kindergarten through eighth grade students at Trinity Lutheran School in Freistatt have been recognized for perfect attendance in the second quarter.

Preschool and pre-kindergarten students at Trinity Lutheran School in Freistatt have been recognized for perfect second quarter attendance.

Character education awards have been distributed at Monett Intermediate School to students best exemplifying responsibility.

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

The Class of 1956 from Monett High School met recently for its 60th reunion at the home of Jerry James. Classmates, many accompanied by their spouses gathered for pictures, dinner and visiting at Angus Branch Steakhouse on a Saturday night. Classmates traveling the farthest were Winton Burlison from Tallahassee, Fla., and Barbara McShane Wolfe from Brevard, NC. Also attending from out-of-state was Etta Mae Balmas Frampton, Cunningham, Kan...

The Monett High School annual Football Banquet will be held at 5 p.m. on Jan. 8 at the MHS commons. Work crews for the Missouri Department of Transportation will have one eastbound lane of Interstate 44 west of Mt. Vernon from Jan. 9 to 12 for repairing a bridge deck over Spring River. ...

CoxHealth Systems and the Monett Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday for the new CoxHealth Urgent Care.

The first baby of 2017 born at Mercy Hospital in Aurora was Saraya Lynn, born on Jan. 3 at 4:21 p.m.

Steve Eaton, of Wentworth, spent his day off from work Friday splitting logs for his outdoor wood burning furnace.

The Lawrence County Tax Board for the Developmentally Disabled recently awarded $262,719 in grant requests for the 2017 budget. George Woodward, executive director of the LCDD submitted several requests for funding. "We're asking for $75,000 this year for the related services program," he said. "This has been very beneficial to us locally."...

On a cold day like Friday, students at Monett Central Park Elementary School had to let their imaginations take flights of fancy rather than outdoor excursions.

Tickets are now on sale for the annual Dining for Diabetes fundraising dinner supporting the diabetes education program through Cox Monett Hospital. The event will be held on Jan. 21, 2017, at the St. Mary's Catholic School multi-purpose gym in Pierce City. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available for $25 and may be ordered by calling Nancy Ridgley, diabetes educator, at 417-354-1280...

For the first time in more than a decade, a project in Monett has been selected for funding through the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC). The proposal, by Affordable Homes Development of Springfield, aims to construct 39 housing units in an apartment complex in Monett. ...

An Aurora man has been arrested and charged with four felonies relating to the shooting death of 82-year-old Nolan Karch earlier this week. Shannon Hensley, 44 of Aurora, was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and armed criminal action...

Thursday marked the 29th anniversary of the passing of one of the greatest basketball players to grace the hardwood -- Pete Maravich. Maravich earned the name "Pistol" from his high school habit of shooting the ball from his side, like he was holding a revolver in a quick draw competition. He was driven to be the best. He and his father invented drills to improve his skills and would spend hours practicing ball control tricks, passes, head fakes and his shots...

salvation after loss Answers to the season's problems are not coming as quickly as the Monett girls hoops team and coaching staff would like. The Lady Cubs (2-8) travel to Diamond on Monday in hopes of notching their elusive third win of the season...