Stories from Friday, December 22, 2017

With a tie vote, the Verona Board of Education has rejected changing to a four-day school week, in part due to concerns about inadequate public feedback. Superintendent Tony Simmons, citing his initial inclination away from the strategy, recommended the change due to its popularity with faculty and prospective employees. ...

Pierce City aldermen were advised that action is being taken on a home located at 502 N. Elm St. for various nuisance violations including tall weeds, accumulation of junk and the home falling into a state of disrepair. Police Chief Mike Abramovitz provided photographs of the property, showing a vast accumulation of trash and junk littering the back yard, tall grass and weeds, and both the house and an outbuilding in a state of disrepair...

You never know who will show up to check on area girls and boys at this time of year.

Graduation ceremonies were held this week for the Little Medical School, the program run through Cox Monett Hospital for third and fourth graders at Central Park Elementary School. This was the third session for the Little Medical School, in a program that started last spring. Six-week sessions have been held on Tuesdays for one hour after school. Two sessions were held sequentially since the school year started in August. Another session will be held in the spring...

Is the neighbor's grass too high? Can a homeowner have chickens inside the city limits? Can an individual be in the city park after closing? The answers to these and other questions concerning the municipal ordinances of Pierce City can now be found online at ecode360.com/PI3403...

Two Monett residents were injured Monday in a wreck at 5:45 p.m. on Highway 60, four miles east of Monett. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Hector Alberto, 18, of Monett was driving a 2005 Chrysler 300 westbound and was stopped in traffic waiting to make a left turn when his vehicle was struck in the rear by a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, being driven by Gary Baker, 78, of Monett...

Four antique-style street lights, like the ones on Broadway, were installed this week in the Glen and Sharon Garrett Park, beside the new sidewalk leading up to the Jerry D. Hall Pavilion in the new Community Events Center between Fourth and Fifth streets on Front...

While Monett electric crews have been busy installing new decorative light fixtures across the Glen and Sharon Garrett Park by the new Jerry D. Hall Pavilion, street department crews have continue their efforts building new sidewalks around the perimeter of the facility, from the bridge over Kelly Creek at Fourth Street to the bridge at Fifth Street...

Mount Vernon Community Theater is having a Christmas show called “To Drive the Cold Winter Away: Christmas Songbook 2”, at 7 p.m. today, Dec. 22, at the Monett Community Church, and 7 p.m. Saturday at the Covenant Baptist in Mount Vernon. Bass Pro Shops will again partner with the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Ozark Trail Council of Boy Scouts in accepting used Christmas trees for recycling as habitat for rabbits, quail and songbirds as well as habitat at area lakes and ponds. ...

A 7-point halftime deficit turned into a 19-point loss for the Monett boys basketball team on Tuesday, 61-42. The Cubs (3-4) have dropped two straight contests and a disturbing trend has emerged as the energy meter has hovered on the low side. “Especially tonight, I wasn’t pleased with our second half effort,” said Jeremy Land, Monett coach. ...

The Missouri media has released its final rankings for the football season. Pierce City, 11-1 during the season, finished 12th in the Class 1 poll. The complete list is as follows, first-place votes in parenthesis. Rank, team, Rec., Pts., Last Week 1. CBC (15), 13-1, 150, 1...

April 1, 1941 - December 17, 2017 Mr. Burtram Eugene “Gene” Wilson, age 76, a resident of Washington, N.C., died Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017. He was born April 1, 1941 to the late Mildred (Eddingfield) Wilson and Bertram Woodrow Wilson in Lebanon, Missouri. He retired from the Navy and later retired from WTKR-TV, Norfolk, Va...

Edna Rosalee Foulk, 88, of Aurora, died Monday, Dec. 18, at the Aurora Nursing Center. Burial was held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at the Mt. Vernon City Cemetery under the direction of the Williams Funeral Home in Marionville.

Wan Stanton Hope, 101, of Miller, died Sunday, Dec. 17, at the Mercy Hospital in Springfield. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 23, at the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home, in Miller. Burial will follow at the Misemer Cemetery...

Thomas Dane Martin, baby son of Rebecca Ann Martin, just 10 days old, died Sunday, Dec. 10. Memorial services will be held at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 22, at the White Funeral Home and Crematory, with Pastor Dayton Brattin officiating. Service arrangements and cremation are under the direction of the White Funeral Home and Crematory, Cassville...

The last time a league of schools wore the name Southwest Conference was in 2008, when it consisted of Carthage, McDonald County, Neosho, Nevada and Webb City. With those schools disbanding, the name sat idol until Wednesday, when the moniker was rebranded with eight new schools...