Stories from Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Last week, Freistatt resident Richard Knight encountered a bear outside his home on the corner of Fifth Street and Highway H, close to the center of town. "It was 11:30 p.m. [on Thursday], and my two dogs, who are pups, woke me up barking in a panic," Knight said. "I got up, opened the door, and there was the bear, walking down the street."...

As of July 1, a change to the state budget has eliminated state grant funding for sobriety checkpoints run by law enforcement throughout the state. State Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick, R-Shell Knob, chair of the House Budget Committee, said the change is part of the state’s budget bill, which in the past authorized use of up to $20 million in a highway safety line for grants for checkpoints and saturation patrols. ...

A Purdy man has been charged for allegedly stealing a vehicle from the Kum & Go store on Highway 60 in Monett on May 31. Randall Ford, 38, of Purdy, is charged with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle. According to a probable cause statement filed by Det. ...

Progress is continuing steadily on $2.1 million in building projects for the Monett school district over the summer. Superintendent Brad Hanson and school board members toured the E.E. Camp gymnasium recently. Board members were especially struck by the new LED lights in the gym, brightening the facility much more than in the past. The new heating and air conditioning system in the gym as been finished. Floor work is underway this week. Efforts continue on renovating the locker rooms...

The Purdy school board adopted its preliminary budget for the 2017-2018 school year, anticipating spending out of savings to complete the planned storm shelter, early childhood and performing arts center. Superintendent Stephen Chancellor projected income of $6,159,655 in the coming year, and spending at $8,623,333.28. ...

Plans are complete for the sixth annual Purdy Festival, which will be held Saturday at the city park and on the grounds of the Purdy school district. According to Renee O’Neill, chairperson of the festival organizing committee, all the popular features will be back for the daylong event...

A Washburn woman was arrested in Wheaton on Friday after allegedly admitting to attempting to sell controlled substances found in her vehicle. Lee Ann Mahurin, 36, of Washburn, is charged with delivery of a controlled substance. According to a probable cause report filed by Clint Danforth, officer with the city of Wheaton, at about 12:52 a.m. ...

The annual community picnic at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stones Prairie, northwest of Purdy, will be held on Friday, July 21. Serving will begin at 6 p.m. The church is located west of Highway 37 on Farm Road 2060, north on Farm Road 1057, then west on Farm Road 2057...

The light show at Freedom Jam, a community benefit sponsored by the Wheaton Fire Department, kept everyone’s gaze from start to finish.

At the Monett Branch Library, Sixth and Bond, an adult coloring session is offered at 2 p.m. on July 13. A crafts program on “Making Button Trees” will be offered by Joetta Johnston at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 14. Supplies will be provided. A program on the history of the Monett Historical Society Museum will be offered at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, July 14, at the Monett Museum, 422 E. Broadway, sponsored by the Monett Branch Library. A tour of the museum will follow...

If anyone wondered what type of a basketball coach Tommy Egan is and what his players thought about him, they need not look any further than two years ago. Playing McAuley in a district title game, Egan’s Eagles blitzed the higher seeded Warriors, a team that had defeated Purdy not more than 10 days earlier...

The 2017 Monett Youth Baseball and Softball League Minor League team sponsored by Community National Bank.

The 2017 Monett Youth Baseball and Softball League 10-and-under softball team sponsored by Four States Dental.

Angela Charlene Summers, 71, of Miami, Okla., (formerly of Monett) died Sunday, July 9 at Mercy Hospital in Joplin. Memorial services are pending. Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett.

James Lee Stephens, 69, of Cassville, died Monday, July 10. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 15, at Corinth Baptist Church in Cassville, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial with military honors will be at Washburn Prairie Cemetery at Washburn...

Keyla Camila Serrano, 3-day-old infant daughter of Andres and Rocio (Trujillo) Serrano was died Friday, July 7. The family will be receiving friends and visitors from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, July 14, at the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett. Funeral services are being held on Saturday, July 15, at 10 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Monett. Burial will be at the Cox Cemetery in Monett...

James William Buus, 74, of Miller, died Thursday, July 6, at the Mt. Vernon Place Care Center. A private family burial will be held at the Miller Memorial Gardens Cemetery at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction of the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home in Miller...

Helen Agnes Bisso, 87, of Aurora, died Saturday, July 8 at the Mercy Hospital in Springfield. A funeral mass under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora was held Tuesday, at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Aurora. Burial was at the Lake View Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Fairview Heights, Ill...