Stories from Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Voters in the Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District on April 3 will have the opportunity to eliminate their property tax supporting ambulance services if they pass a proposal to switch to a sales tax to supplement services. The Barry-Lawrence district, which extends from Freistatt south to Butterfield, and from east Purdy west to Pulaskifield, since its inception in the mid-1970s has had a property tax to supplement revenue derived from charges to customers for ambulance runs. ...

Half the land lease agreements in agriculture in Missouri are verbal, and such loose terms are loaded with potential difficulties. Jim Spencer, regional agriculture business specialist with the University of Missouri Extension Service, shared details of his findings with the audience at the 94th annual Lawrence County Soils and Crops Conference at the university's Southwest Research Center on Thursday...

In Pam Cheney’s kindergarten class at St. Lawrence Catholic School in Monett, children take turns at different work stations during the Daily Five, giving the students an opportunity to work independently while the teacher provide one-on-one instruction for those that need it...

A Virginia man was injured in a wreck at 2:15 a.m. on Saturday on westbound Interstate 44, four miles east of Mt. Vernon. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Olivia Elmer, 50, of Houston, Texas, was driving a 1996 Volvo semi tractor and trailer, departing from the rest area and accelerating in the right-hand lane when her trailer was struck in the rear by another semi tractor trailer, being driven by Kairat Turganbanyen, 29, of Virginia Beach, Va...

A Rocky Comfort man was injured in a wreck at 6:34 a.m. Friday on Highway W, east of Wheaton, east of Farm Road 1040. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Samuel Mahurin, 25, of Rocky Comfort, was driving a 1998 Saturn Ion eastbound when his vehicle traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a ditch...

Business Highway 60 construction moved into its final stages on Monday morning. Crews for Gerden Slipforming managed to pour the bridge on the north side Friday.

The 89th annual Barry County Soils and Crops Conference has been scheduled for Jan. 9 in Cassville. Presentations will focus on herbicides, taxes and beef in school lunch programs. The program, beginning with supper, will run from 6 to 9:15 p.m. Reservations are requested and may be made by calling 417-847-3161 or visit the Extension office on the square in Cassville. Cost is $5 in advance or $7 at the door. For information, people may call 417-847-3161...

A fourth-place finish was a welcome sign for Monett wrestling coach Daryl Bradley on Saturday at the annual Monett Wrestling Invitational. “Things went well,” Bradley said. “I thought we got exposed a little bit as we went to the final round, but that was good in that it showed us what we needed to work on. We still scored a bunch of points and only had 10 wrestlers in the field.”...

Since a 2008 district title win, the Verona boys basketball team had only reached the championship game of any tournament four times. In those games, the Wildcats were a perfect 0-for-4 in attempts to claim a title, including a loss this season to Purdy in the championship game of the Pierce City tournament...

• Melissa A. Kirkbride, fail to stop at a stop light, $102. • Hailey K. Mayes, defective equipment, $26.50 and six months probation. • Dakota L. Morgan, possession of marijuana, $177. • Angelica Delatorre, failed to stop at a stop sign, $102. • Michael B. Knight, defective equipment, $225...

Timothy “Tim” Wilson, 77, of Shell Knob, died Thursday, Dec. 28. Mass with Military Honors will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Shell Knob. Burial will be Friday, Jan. 12, at 1:30 p.m. at Leavenworth National Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kan...

Betty Jo (Loe) Richardson, 94, of Mt. Vernon, died Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017, at her home. A funeral service under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon was held Saturday, Jan. 6, at the First Christian Church Disciples of Christ. Burial was at the Mt. Vernon IOOF Cemetery...

Marjorie Ann Ryder, age 85, passed away on Saturday. January 6, 2018, at her residence in Cassville, Missouri. Mrs. Ryder, the daughter of Oliver and Mabel (Lane) Young was born on August 31, 1932 in her parents’ home northwest of Purdy. Marjorie started to school at the Talbert one-room rural school before the school’s students were transferred to the Purdy School District. She then graduated from Purdy High School in 1950...

James Latshaw, 88, of Monett, Mo., passed away on Friday evening, January 5, 2018, while at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo. James was born on June 4, 1929, on a farm near King’s Prairie, son of the late Orval V. Latshaw and Mabel M. (Spencer) Latshaw...

Homer Leroy Isbell, 97, of Monett, Mo., passed away on Saturday morning, January 6, 2018, while at the Missouri Veterans Home in Mt. Vernon, Mo. Homer was born on March 11, 1920 in Harper, Kan., son of the late Floyd Homer Isbell and Mary Ellen (Coatney) Isbell. ...

Bruce Richardson Dunford, 80, of rural Wentworth, MO, passed away on Sunday, January 7, 2018, at his residence. Bruce was born on October 21, 1937, in Huntington Park, Calif.,, son of the late Grover Parkinson Dunford and Celia Mary (Richardson) Dunford...

Kenneth Eugene Allred was born on November 27, 1921, in Larue, Arkansas, to Reverend O.T. Allred and Pearl (Finn) Allred. Kenneth passed away on January 6, 2018, at Lacoba Homes in Monett at the age of 96 years, 1 month and 11 days. Kenneth was preceded in death by his parents and three brothers, Ervin, Everett and Keith Allred and his wife Jean (Holland) Allred...