Stories from Saturday, February 24, 2018

Betty Marie Tolby, 89, of Monett, died Friday, Feb. 16 at Bentonview Park Health and Rehab in Monett. Memorial services are being held at a later date and will be announced when completed. Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett...

Donna L. Smith, 57, of Cassville, died Saturday, Feb. 17. Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Visitation will be held from 12-1:00 p.m. Saturday, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville.

Arthur Cleve Reeder, 74, of Seligman, died Friday, Feb. 16. No services are scheduled at this time. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville.

Glenn Edward Ennis, 78, of Stella, died Thursday, Feb. 15. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Ennis Cemetery in Cassville. Visitation will be held from 6-8:00 p.m. Tuesday, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville...

Thomas Lester Combs, 75, of Marionville, died Friday, Feb. 16 at the Mercy Hospital in Springfield. A memorial service was held Thursday, Feb. 22, at the Williams Funeral Home in Marionville.

Marjorie “Ann” Breeden, 86, of Shell Knob, died Friday, Feb. 16. Graveside services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, February 22 at Roselawn Cemetery in Seagoville, Texas, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Shell Knob.

Milan Wayne Rutherford, 91, of Wichita, Kansas, (formerly of Monett) went to be with his Lord in Heaven on Sunday, February 18, 2018. He was born in Stotts City, Missouri, on November 29, 1926, the son of the late Jessie Harry and Bessie (Scott) Rutherford. He was united in marriage to Betty Ann Leedy on August 19, 1950, in Wichita, Kansas; she survives...

Dorothy A. Fare, 86, of Purdy, Missouri, went to be with her husband in Heaven on Monday February 19, 2018, while staying at Oak Pointe assisted living in Monett. She was born in Monett, Missouri, on February 8, 1932, the daughter of the late Frank and Mildred (Bowman) Bennett. She was united in marriage at Roaring River in Cassville on August 21, 1950 to Frankie Joe Fare; he preceded her in death on August 12, 2017...

It was with significant nostalgia that I listened to teens from the high school where last week’s horrible shooting took place talking about a youth movement aimed at gun control. It’s been a long time since the youth of this nation made a significant contribution to the political dialogue. ...

The Purdy High School Lady Eagles volleyball team earned the Outstanding Academic Award for their team for earning a 3.69 grade point average for the Fall 2017 semester.

This season has been about righting the ship and setting a new course for the Monett girls basketball team. There is no doubt that the squad has come leaps and bounds from the dark days of the last six years of wilderness wandering. This year has been about forgetting the past and solidifying the foundation upon which the program can rise and explode into the uncharted waters of dominance...

For Monett, the trip will not be far to participate in the Class 4, District 10 tournament. With Cassville hosting, a short bus ride will allow the team to roll off and be ready to take a step forward on the district hardwood. The Cubs earned a little respect with a No. 4 seed and that puts them in a rematch game with Aurora on Tuesday...

Trailing 20-17 with three minutes remaining in the first half in the Class 2, District 10 semifinal against College Heights on Thursday, Rob Guerin, Pierce City girls coach, simply told his team to calm down. What ensued even surprised Guerin a bit, as the Lady Eagles finished the half on a 12-0 run and extended the advantage in the third quarter to turn a tight game into a 66-48 rout, advancing to the district title tonight at 6 p.m...

The School-Based Enterprise at the Scott Regional Technology Center in Monett was among 391 school-based enterprises in the U.S. achieving Gold Level Certification (or Gold Level Re-certification) this school year. Scott Tech will be recognized at DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The school-based enterprise at Scott Regional Technology Center has operated for six year(s) and is to be commended for this achievement...

Trinity Lutheran School announces students who made the A-B Honor Roll for the second quarter.

Students at Trinity Lutheran School in Freistatt who achieved perfect attendance during the second quarter have been recognized.

Purdy school district art teacher Freda Wolf for kindergarten through sixth grade named the Purdy Elementary Second Quarter Artists of the Quarter.

Lawrence and Barry Counties Retired Teachers participated in the Missouri Retired Teachers Association Legislative Day at the Capitol in Jefferson City last week.

Gary and Maxine Bates of Wheaton will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on March 2.

FAIRVIEW – There’s a gleam that shines across Dale McCracken’s face. It’s not about his first major ProRodeo award, the 2017 Comedy Act of the Year, but it could be. It’s not about his being in the hunt to be the barrelman for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, but it could be...

The Hobbs-Anderson American Legion Post No. 91 will host a chili and soup benefit from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27 that will support the Joplin Comfort Dog ministry. Cost is $7 for the meal. The dogs will be present, accompanied by Sue Doennig, retired Monett teacher who is working with the golden retrievers, Louie and Jackson. The comfort dogs are an outreach of Immanuel Lutheran Church and Martin Luther School in Joplin since 2011. Jackson and Louie are brothers...

Monett-based Jack Henry and Associates announced a 19 percent increase in its quarterly stock dividend this week, payable on stock of record on March 16. "The increase in our dividend reflects our ongoing commitment to provide a good return on their investment for our shareholders," said Kevin Williams, chief financial officer. ...

The Monett Ministerial Association will begin its annual series of Lenten services and luncheons on Feb. 28. The third service will be held at St. Lawrence Catholic Church on Seventh St. Dustin Ray will be the speaker. The service will begin at 12:05 p.m., conclude by 12:30, and be followed by a light luncheon provided by the church...

Ice hanging from tree branches was one of the more obvious residues from Tuesday night’s weather, hanging on into Wednesday in the wake of more precipitation that prompted schools to close early on Wednesday.

The Monett Museum is in the final weeks of showing its display of historic Monett calendars for the new year.

Send-off "tunnels" were held for the Monett High School Pizzazz Poms dance team on Friday at Monett High School, Central Park Elementary and Monett Elementary. The team headed into solo competition at the Arena in St. Louis last night and competes in team competition today...

Nearly fifty “jailbirds” gathered at the Angus Branch Steakhouse in Monett on Thursday for the annual lock-up benefitting the Muscular Dystrophy Association, resulting in donations and pledges that topped $13,500. Local volunteers occupied the make-shift jail and made phone calls seeking to raise "bail" money to help in the fight against neuro-muscular diseases...

A Monett man was arrested for mistreating a child and disorderly conduct on Feb. 15. According to Monett Police Lt. Greg Brandsma, officers were called to Eighth Street at 2:50 p.m. in response to an adult accompanying an 8-year-old boy away from Central Park Elementary School. ...

The Monett City Council has adopted a resolution endorsing "complete streets" as an outgrowth of the long-range transportation improvement initiative propelled by the Environmental Protection Agency's grant-funded Healthy Places for Healthy People workshop, held in October 2017...

Monett firefighters saw a 2017 remarkably similar year to 2016, seeing a difference of only 15 runs, damage in the city closer than any other two consecutive years in the past decade, and damage on similarly valued property. Fire runs for the year totaled 1,256, compared to 1,271 the year before...

Now in its third year, the Greater Ozarks Center for Advanced Professional Studies (GO CAPS) program at Monett High School plans to continue expanding, adding a strand for agri-business and food systems next year. The GO CAPS program offered education on a different level from the traditional classroom by providing opportunities for students to discover potential careers with local employers through experiential learning in a workplace setting. ...

Just two weeks ago, Shanna Chapman was facing a death sentence. “I was suffering secondary progression multiple sclerosis,” she said. “Typically, patients in secondary progression are given a prognosis of 2-5 years to live. As quickly as my disease was progressing, I didn’t think I’d make that five years.”...

Major changes will come soon to the Barry-Lawrence County Development Center as the service agency makes plans to move to a new location. Lynda Painter, director, said that the agency has been located at 408 Third St. in Monett since 1981. However, the 1,600-square-foot house, which received a 625-square-foot addition in 1992, is barely adequate to meet the mission of providing therapy and service to preschool children, under age 5, facing developmental delays or disabilities...

Saturday offered considerable tension for Monett's emergency responders and downtown business owners as twice Kelly Creek threatened to breach its banks after 3.5 inches of rain fell on the area in a 24-hour period. The first danger arose at 1 a.m. hour as the flood channel through the center of the city began climbing precipitously. ...

PIERCE CITY – Behind 19-point performance from Belle Golubski, the No. 2 seed Pierce City girls basketball team upset the No. 1 seed Sarcoxie, 65-46, to claim the Class 4, District 12 tournament Saturday night. Pierce City won every quarter, outscoring the Lady Bears 15-11, 14-11, 14-9 and 19-15...

PIERCE CITY — One thing was for certain, one set of Eagles had to win, it just happened to be the black and gold clad Eagles of Purdy who took home the Class 2, District 12 title on Saturday with a 55-51 victory on Saturday. Pierce City jumped out to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter, but surrendered an 18-1 run to Purdy to trail 24-20 with 3:35 left in the first half...