Stories from Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Larry von Briesen, 74, of Tontitown, Ark., died Sunday, April 29. No services are scheduled at this time. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville.

James Everett “Jim” Rice, 83, of Miller, died Tuesday, July 18, 2017, at his home. A graveside service, under the direction of the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home in Miller, will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 11, at the Round Grove Cemetery, west of Miller...

Elaine Kissee, 97, of Marionville, died on Wednesday, April 25, at the Republic Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Republic. A celebration of life was held Tuesday, May 1 at the First Baptist Church of Marionville under the direction of the Williams Funeral Home in Marionville. A private family burial was held at the Marionville IOOF Cemetery...

Elaine Albright Hodge, 76, of Springfield, died Friday, April 27, at the Cox South Hospital in Springfield. A graveside service, under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home, in Mt. Vernon, was held Tuesday, May 1, at the Rock Prairie Cemetery in Halltown...

Roger Dale Fletcher, 54, of Seligman, died Sunday, April 29. Graveside services will be held at 12 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, at King Cemetery in Seligman, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville.

Thursday night at the Neosho Relays, Monett’s Sammy Johnson set a new middle school school record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.39.

Fundraising for a scholarship to give to a past English language learner student at Monett High School culminated on April 27 with a soccer tournament at South Park, involving 150 students from many teams.

The Monett wrestling team will host its annual golf tournament on May 11 at the Monett Windmill Ridge municipal golf course. For more information, people may contact Daryl Bradley at dbradley@g-apps.monett.k12.mo.us

A softball camp for girls entering grades four through eight is set for May 29-31 from 9-10:30 a.m. at Monett North Park. The camp is conducted by the state champion Monett High School coaching staff and players. The camp will center on fundamentals growth and will incorporate fun and challenging games...

Sunny and windy conditions gave way to a stellar day of golf for the Monett team on Monday. The Cubs shot a combined score of 351, good enough for a second-place finish in the nine-team Class 3, District 6 field at Briarbrook Golf Course in Carl Junction. Springfield Catholic won the Class 3, District 6 event with a team score of 322...

Purdy pitcher Hallie Henderson does not need much run support from her offense in order to take control of a game. The senior was dominant in a 10-0 district opening win over Verona on Monday. Henderson threw a no-hitter and struck out 11 of the 15 hitters she faced...

The Monett Chamber of Commerce and Ministerial Association will host their annual Prayer Breakfast at 7 p.m. on May 3 at the Monett City Park Casino. Gordon Brown will be the speaker. A complimentary breakfast will be served by the Monett Kiwanis Club...

Protestors held two separate protests at the Barry County Judicial Center, Saturday and Tuesday, calling for action to be taken in the case of three dogs shot to death in Eagle Rock in March.

Much of Monett will gather on Friday for the First on Front concert, where a close-up view of the new playground, provided through the Pearl Foundation, is located. Calendar Girl Megan Bound offered another highlight to the scene.

Verona High School will graduate 20 members in the Class of 2018 in ceremonies at 7 p.m. on Friday in the high school gym. Heading the class will be valedictorian Ben Stults, son of Bob and Rebekah Stults, and salutatorian Jonathan Freiburger, son of Tim and Sandy Freiburger...

For the first time in decades, the water and wastewater conference for the southwest section of Missouri will be held in Springfield instead of at the Monett City Park Casino. The annual session has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 8, at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds...

Preparations are complete for the premier First on Front concert, part of a series of Friday public performances at the Jerry D. Hall Memorial Pavilion in the new Glen and Sharon Garrett Park on Front Street in Monett. Amanda Lee, coordinator for the concert series for host First State Bank of Purdy, which continues on the first Friday of the month through July, said activities will start with a formal ribbon cutting at 5:45 p.m. ...

Monett firefighters put their engineering skills to the test Monday night trying to figure out if they could extract a car from the side of a garage on Dunn Street between Fifth and Sixth in Monett.

The Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team served four search warrants on April 25 in Barry County, arresting a total of six people. The first warrant was served in the 19000 area of Hwy. 112 Cassville. Chester Cavins, 42, was arrested for delivery of a controlled substance and has charges from the Conservation Department for illegal possession of antlers. Billy Thompson, 40, was also arrested for possession of a controlled substance...

More than 50 people gathered at the Monett Middle/Intermediate School FEMA shelter on Friday to continue Monett's tradition of hosting the Barry County Relay for Life. The "do-it-yourself" Relay, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, was conducted without a community coordinator from the ACS. ...

Barry County Associate Circuit Court Judge Johnnie Cox said Treatment Court, the outgrowth of Barry County’s Drug Court now under a broader umbrella, continues to outpace state averages in percentages of completions and success as an alternative to incarceration...

Groups of Pierce City High School students crowded together to dance to some of the most popular dance songs at Saturday’s prom, held at SomePlace Nice event center west of town. More photos may be viewed at: http://www.monett-times.com/gallery/32748...

Monett School Board President Darren Bass has announced advertising for a new Monett school superintendent will begin Monday. The school board met in a special session on Friday to discuss the issue. The entire meeting was held in closed session. All of the board except for Ken Gaspar, who had a scheduling conflict, was present and met with Superintendent Brad Hanson, who submitted his letter of retirement, effective at the close of the present school year...

The Barry County Sheriff's Office is hoping jewelry found with human remains in rural Barry County will help identify the victim. According to Detectives Doug Henry and Rob Evenson, the remains were located by a landowner in the rural Jenkins area on March 26 after having been moved into a field by animals...