Stories from Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Judy Kay Wells, 76, of Marionville, died Friday, Nov. 23, at the Mercy Hospital in Springfield. A funeral service was held Tuesday, Nov. 27, at the First Baptist Church in Marionville with burial to follow at the Mt. Olive Cemetery. Arrangements were under direction of Williams Funeral Home...

Rylee Abigail Stevens-Adams, 14, of Seligman, died Wednesday, Nov. 21. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, at Calvary Tabernacle Church in Bentonville, Ark., under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Bayless Cemetery in Gateway, Ark...

Barbara Ann Smith, 90, of Pierce City, died Nov. 19, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. A funeral service was held Saturday, Nov. 24 at the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora. Burial was at the Lee Cemetery.

Robert D. Sims, 83, of Centennial, Colo., died Tuesday, Nov. 20. Graveside services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, at Oak Hill Cemetery in Cassville, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Visitation will be held from 9:30-11 a.m. Thursday, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville...

Carolyn R. Reed, 72, of Fayetteville, Ark., died Friday, Nov. 23. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Dent Cemetery in Seligman.

Vickie Ann Owens, 59, of Aurora, died Sunday, Nov. 18, at the Mercy Hospital in Aurora. A funeral service was held Saturday, Nov. 24, at the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora.

Mamie Floriene Brock, 99, of Springfield, formerly of Cassville, died Nov. 22, at Springfield Rehab and Health Care Center. Funeral services were held Sunday, Nov. 25, at the White Funeral Home and Crematory, with Pastor Danny Heupel officiating. Funeral services are under the direction of the White Funeral Home and Crematory, Cassville...

Cynthia B. Krueger-Renkoski, age 61 of Monett, Mo., passed from this life on Friday, November 23, 2018, at her home in Monett, Mo. Cynthia was born in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday, May 10, 1957. She was the daughter of Bill and Earlene (Mayhew) Jett. Cynthia grew up and received her education in Monett, Mo., where she graduated from high school. ...

For the second consecutive year, the Purdy girls basketball team will be breaking in a new coach. Jason Webb, who served one season after Eli Ernst left, decided to step away from the head coaching role and the district tapped Ashlee Luko, who spent the last three years as an assistant at Nixa, to take over the young program...

A Final Four appearance capped a remarkable run for the Purdy boys basketball team last year. Though the team finished fourth, the fact that it finally got over the hump and reached the high level of competition proved that the little town in Barry County had what it took to turn the heat up and thrill the little city’s basketball-crazed fans...

Since its inception in 1970, the Monett wrestling program has been a boys club. While it was not strictly boys only, any females wishing to compete had to do so against their male counterparts. Slowly, over the next four decades, a movement began to grow nationally to create a female-only wrestling division...

The Messiah Project will present two one-act holiday operas at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Monett High School Performing Arts Center, with additional help from Missouri State University. Menotti’s classic holiday tale, “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and a stager version of O. Henry’s short story “Gift of the Magi” will be given with a chamber orchestra from MSU lead by former OFO music director Amy Muchnick. ...

Volunteer “elves” from the Monett community are staffing the Elf Hut at the end of the Monett Chamber of Commerce’s Festival of Lights, collecting donations and distributing candy canes to visitors of the holiday light show at Monett’s South Park.

Pierce City School District patrons interested in filing for one of two open school board seats on the April 2, 2019, ballot may file a declaration of candidacy at the office of the superintendent during normal operating hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., beginning Tuesday, Dec. 11...

A Verona man was injured and arrested following a wreck at 2:45 p.m. Monday on Route C, three miles east of Purdy. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Maynard Jackson, 50, of Verona, was driving a 1995 Chevrolet Silverado westbound when his vehicle lost control on a curve, ran off the left side of the roadway and overturned...

Women in Monett and the surrounding area will soon have a gynecologist close to home. Dr. Michelle Boice, board-certified physician in obstetrics and gynecology joined CoxHealth Family and Occupational Medicine of Monett on Monday. Dr. Boice will begin seeing patients twice a month for all of their gynecologic needs...

Dedication to promoting good conservation practices has earned Lawrence County's Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Agent Andy Barnes recognition beyond the state. Barnes was named the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ (SEAFWA) 2018 Colonel Bob Brantley Wildlife Officer of the Year during the organization's annual meeting in October in Mobile, Ala...

Aaron Bolin knows what it’s like to receive a boost in a time of need. Bolin, who runs Purdy Development and Reconstruction, has a business repairing rundown homes. This year he thought for the holidays he would gather a few bicycles for Toys for Tots. He joked with a man mowing the Purdy city park one day about buying a bike for a holiday gift. The man did, and challenged 10 co-workers to do the same...

A Monett man is facing a felony charged after drugs were allegedly found in a home on Walnut Street following a house fire on Saturday. Timothy Aguilar, 34, of Monett, is charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia...

Purdy City Council members eyed a number of community improvements recently, focusing on its sewer project, roof for city hall and park additions. Mayor Bo Prock reported the sewer construction project to Monett has continued to progress steadily. Clerk Debbie Redshaw said all the money from the Community Development Block Grant program for the $1.8 million project had been spent. The city was now moving into the loan and grant from the USDA Rural Development program...

Purdy school board members reviewed progress on the nearly completed storm shelter and explored other facility improvements during the board's November meeting. Superintendent Steven Chancellor reported the first program to be presented in the new FEMA shelter/performing arts center will be held on Dec. ...

This year, Monett Elementary School has plunged into an intensive new reading initiative that is generating new excitement among both teachers and students. MES has moved into the Comprehensive Literacy Model through its guided reading portion, and next year will go further into this avenue of teaching. ...

Sales tax revenue to bi-county cities and county governments in November showed unexpected and welcomed strength. While sales tax totals to local recipients have slipped in November, compared to the previous year, from 2015 to 2017, this year numbers charged up by 44 percent, the largest resurgence since a 57 percent rise in 2008 in the midst of fighting through the economic downturn. ...

The final pieces for the flood buyout for Monett along Kelly Creek fell into place this week. The last piece of the $563,703 project with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was covering the city’s financial obligation for 25 percent match to the grant covering property the city will acquire. The Community Development Block Grant program awarded the city $142,432 to cover the match, including administrative costs...