Stories from Saturday, May 5, 2018

Pierce City may be getting closer to solving its water and wastewater woes following a special meeting on Wednesday. Terry Merritt, director of marketing for Alliance Professional Water and Wastewater Operations out of Columbia, offered information on the services the company provides, including adding the city’s current public works employees to its own payroll and allowing the city to be “out of the employee business.”...

Monett city departments have busily engaged in a variety of projects as the spring season unfolded. Russ Balmas, street and parks superintendent, reported making preparations for Clean-Up Week, which will begin on May 7. He urged residents to separate their discarded items into three piles: trash, brush and metal products. Different trucks collect each of those items, and the process goes faster if crews can simply pick up their items and move on, rather than taking time to segregate material...

Different kinds of prayer and and the meaning of prayer were shared during the annual Prayer Breakfast on Thursday in Monett, hosted by the Monett Chamber of Commerce and the Monett Ministerial Association on the National Day of Prayer. About 50 people attended the gathering at the Monett City Park Casino...

Personnel adjustments continue for the Verona school district as the school board makes staffing plans for the coming school year. In April, resignations were accepted from teachers D.J. Miller, high school English; Melissa Milan, art, who cited back problems made the extended drive to work difficult; and Aaron Crosby, vocational agriculture. Superintendent Tony Simmons said he anticipated another resignation...

The renovation of the buildings at 418 to 422 E. Broadway in downtown Monett, creating what is now the Monett Museum, received the Preserve Missouri Award, part of the 39th annual Statewide Preservation Honor Awards presented by the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation...

Sometimes even a simple vehicle collision can become a complicated affair, as Monett police discovered in responding to a vehicle crash on Highway 37 in Monett on Monday. At 2:36 p.m., Reh Bow, 41, of Monett, formerly of San Antonio, Texas, pulled his 2012 Hyundai onto Highway 37 at Pine Street and into the path of a southbound 2001 Ford F-350 pickup, driven by Evan Skaggs, 21, of Ozark. Skaggs' truck, hauling a trailer, collided with the Hyundai broadside...

Administrators at Pierce City school district have set the summer school schedule, which will encompass 20 days of education. Classes will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, beginning May 29 and ending June 29. Transportation will be offered, as well as gift cards for attendance incentives...

Tom and Sharon VanDerhoef enjoyed a night of dancing at the 19th annual Senior Citizen’s prom, hosted by members of Pierce City High School’s National Honor Society.

A cake decorated with the symbols of firefighters, police and emergency medical services was ordered for Firefighter Appreciation Day at Oak Pointe.

Members of the Pierce City Police Department are taking training on a computer-based program, Milo Range Training, to help sharpen their skills on threat-level assessment and defense.

A broadside collision between a pickup and a car took placed around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday on Farm Road 2180, the detour route from Highway 97, north of Pierce City for traffic because of bridge construction.

A two-vehicle collision sheered off a power pole and left at least one person hurt, and another person fled the scene on Friday.

Students at Monett Elementary School participated in the Let’s Move Active Schools “flash mob” on Friday.

The Harold Bell Wright/Pierce City Museum has opened for the 2018 season in Pierce City. Hours are 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays or by appointment. New is an exhibit on Lewis Seufert’s hardware store from 1967, with unpublished photos from The Monett Times archive. Appointments can be made by calling city hall at 476-2323...

At CoxHealth, there’s a new way to spend less time in a waiting room. Called Save My Spot, technology now allows patients to go online before visiting an urgent care or walk-in clinic, such as CoxHealth Urgent Care in Monett, and select a time they’d like to be seen. Once approved, all the patient needs to do is arrive at the time they requested...

Kira Thou-Mosangkoun recently participated in the Monett Cub Fest, receiving a 1 rating for her piano solo. Kira is a piano student of Mariann Carrier.

Purdy High School junior Colby Boyd will represent the Purdy Eagles at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) National Leadership Conference in Baltimore, Maryland this summer, after finishing in first place at the state competition in sales presentation...

Scott Regional Technology Center SkillsUSA members competed in the State SkillsUSA Contest on April 5 - 7.

Officials at Monett Elementary School have chosen students demonstrating the characteristic of being safe in their environment as Students of the Week for April 23.

Pierce City High school students studying government under high school instructor Crystal Charles recently presented information on a case currently under consideration by United States Supreme Court justices.

The Wheaton school district announced its Students of the Month winners for March.

A 6-run first inning propelled the Monett baseball team (12-9) to a 12-2 victory over Cassville in Big 8 Conference action. The Cubs benefited from shaky Cassville pitching that issued three walks and a hit batter to start the game, giving Monett a 1-0 lead without the benefit of a hit...

In one week, the Class 4, District 12 baseball tournament begins, with six area teams vying for the tournament title and a chance to advance in postseason play. This year’s tournament will be contested at Carl Junction High School. Monett will seek to defend its title from last season and garnered the respect of the other teams in the bracket by earning the No. 1 overall seed...

In what should be an evenly matched baseball tournament, the Class 2, District 12 seeds and brackets were released on Thursday. This year’s event will again be hosted by Pierce City and is set to be contested May 12-14. Pierce City and Purdy landed the top two seeds, respectively, for the second consecutive year and earned first round byes in the six-team field...

The Monett eighth-grade boys track team finished second at the Big 8 Conference track meet in Lamar.

The Monett tennis team recently earned a 6-3 victory over Mt. Vernon. The Cubs picked up singles wins from Casey Shields, 8-2; Jack Barta, 9-8; and Aaron Hoyt, 8-3. The doubles pairings of Jackson Spencer and Shields, 8-5; Brennon Krueger and Barta, 8-6; and Jacob King and Hoyt, 8-1, also earned Cubs’ victories...

The Monett R-1 ELL (English Language Learner) Department hosted a Parent Involvement event at the Monett South Park Soccer Fields on April 27. The soccer tournament — for students and put on by students — brought together more than 250 children, prekindergarten through 12th grade. The Monett High School Multicultural Leadership Club and a group of Monett teachers and community members assisted with the tournament...

Graduates, these aren’t normal days. Never before have we turned on our TVs and every day been besieged by reports of bad behavior, disrespect and a general lack of civility from the highest levels of our nation’s leadership. A year ago, we thought we might still be feeling side effects from bad food or hallucinogens six months after the election. But now, it’s more like a new form of toxic shock syndrome. Our world is still toxic. We’re still in shock and now we’re going to give it to you...