Stories from Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Billie Ellen Griffin, 85, of Neosho, died Sunday, Sept. 24. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, at McQueen Funeral Home in Wheaton. Burial will be at McNatt Cemetery in McNatt. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, at McQueen Funeral Home in Wheaton...

Edith G. Eriksen, 99, of Shell Knob, died Tuesday, Sept. 19. Memorial services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at Viola Baptist Church in Viola. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home, Shell Knob.

Bruce Allen Burnett, 36, of Monett died Saturday, Sept. 23, at his home in Monett. Visitation will be held on Thursday September 28, from 6-8 p.m. at the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett. Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett...

Lahunta June Bateman, 83, of Verona, died Thursday, Sept. 21. Graveside services were held Monday, Sept. 25, at Muncie Chapel Cemetery in Wheaton, under direction of McQueen Funeral Home in Wheaton.

Charles R. Wicks, 98, passed away September 19, 2017, with the love of his life by his side, at his home in Opp, AL. Mr. Wicks was born September 19, 1919, in Pierce County, Mo., to Harry A. Wicks and Inez Rhea Wicks. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. ...

Flirting with disaster early in the game, Pierce City rallied and turned a tight contest into a 32-7 runaway on Friday over Lockwood. Lockwood struck early on a 44-yard touchdown run. The Eagles (6-0) promptly fumbled the ball away on the ensuing possession. In fact, Pierce City put the ball on the ground four times in the first quarter, losing one, recovering two and having the fourth ruled down by contact...

The Monett Rural Fire District board will hold its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at Fire Station No. 1 in the Monett Industrial Park, east of the standpipes on County Road. Writers Helping Writers meet the last Thursday of each month. ...

Monett Lions Club members Kris Johnson and Steve Wise helped the Carl Junction Lions Club run a concession booth at the Carl Junction Bluegrass Festival on Saturday.

Among the dozen bands playing at the 20th annual Carl Junction Bluegrass Festival on Saturday was Borderline, led by fiddler Jon Harden, who worked for 20 years at Jack Henry and Associates in Monett.

Additional spotlights have been added to the dome and the turret on the Monett Museum at fifth and Broadway last week.

Monett Elementary and Monett Middle Schools have received a prestigious award focusing on physical education and additional physical activity opportunities both during the day and before and after classes. The schools received the 2017 Let’s Move! Active Schools National Award for its efforts in creating an active school environment. ...

Teachers have to stay healthy, too.

Five California residents are each being held on $500,000 bonds in the Lawrence County jail after allegedly being caught with 300 pounds of marijuana. On Saturday afternoon, Trooper Tim Barrett, with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, made a traffic stop of an RV for a lane violation on eastbound Interstate 44 at mile marker 33. Consent to search the vehicle was denied, but Barrett said he smelled an odor of burnt marijuana coming from the occupants...

Ashley Kay Bickel, 31, of Shell Knob, died Wednesday, Sept. 20. No services are scheduled at this time. Burial will be held at a later date in California. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Shell Knob.

A Lawrence County jailer is recovering from her injuries after being attacked during an escape attempt on Sunday. Authorities have submitted charges for Hayden Baugh, 22, of Carthage, to Prosecutor Al Don Trotter. Charges may include assault on an officer, attempted escape and damage to jail property...

A four-year-old is credited with saving the family at 715 Fourth St. in Monett in an early morning house fire on Monday. Sasha Gamroth and her two children, Jacob, 10, and Olivia, 4, had gone to bed Sunday night with a load of laundry running in the dryer. At 2:20 a.m., Olivia awoke to discover smoke. She went to her mother, who had had surgery over the summer and lost the ability to smell, and told her, "Mommy, there's smoke in my nose."...

The Verona school district has dismissed students early today after a water issue at the school. Empire District had a main water line break that has left the school with no water. Students were dismissed at 1:15 p.m. "We're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused," Superintendent Tony Simmons said in a call to parents...

Monett at McDonald County Cassville at Seneca El Dorado Springs at East Newton Valle Catholic at Lamar (Saturday) Mt. Vernon at Aurora Forsyth at Pierce City Monett at Cassville, 0-21 Seneca at Aurora, 15-14 East Newton at Mt. Vernon, 0-54 McDonald County at Lamar, 8-50...

The woes for the Monett football team did not find any remedy on Friday in Cassville as the Cubs fell 21-0. Monett, 2-4 overall and 0-4 in Big 8 Conference play, dropped its fourth consecutive game and was blanked on the scoreboard for the second time in last three contests...