Stories from Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Arlend Wayne Oney, 85, Jefferson City, a former Monett teacher and coach, died Thursday, April 4. A celebration of his life was held on Monday, April 8 at Immanuel Baptist Church in Jefferson City.

Gladys Faye Nivens, 81, of Monett, died Thursday, April 11, at Cox Hospital in Springfield. Visitation for Gladys is being held on Tuesday April 16, from 6-8:00 p.m. at the Bennett-Wormington Funeral Home in Monett. Funeral services are being held on Wednesday, April 17, at 10 a.m. at the St. John’s Lutheran Church in Monett, with Pastor Andrew Kennell officiating. Burial will be at the McCormick St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Monett...

Greg Klein, 54, of Monett, died Thursday, April 11. Funeral services were held Sunday, April 14, at First Baptist Church in Purdy, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Butler Cemetery in Butler, Okla.

Virginia “Sue” Carnes, 76, of Monett, died April 13 at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Mrs. Carnes was born Aug. 2, 1942, in Eldridge. She was married to her sweetheart, John Edward Carnes for almost 60 years. They had two wonderful children, Johnny Ray Carnes and Jana Sue Napolitano. Sue cherished her daughter-in-law, Patty Carnes, and her son-in-law, Gino Napolitano, very much...

Mary Isabel Ashworth Smith, age 93 of Sarcoxie, Mo., passed away early Monday April 15, 2019, at her home surrounded by her loving family. Mary was born on April 24, 1925 in Beckley, W.V., the daughter of David D. and Martha (Kellman) Ashworth. She was the first female ever to graduate with a Master’s Degree from West Virginia University in Microbiology. ...

Patricia Ann Balmas, 74, of Monett, went to be with her heavenly Father on Monday, April 15, 2019. Patty, as known by her friends, was born on December 24, 1944, in Rogers, Arkansas, daughter of Violet and Wallace Robbins. She moved to rural Monett at the age of 3 where she continued living. Patty was a member of the Bethel Baptist Church where she loved to praise the Lord. Patty was a homemaker and had an upholstery business in Monett for a number of years...

The Verona athletic department honored its fall and winter sports last week at its annual sports banquet. Awards were as follows: • MVP: Twilah Carrasquillo, 2,232 career points (school record), 994 rebounds and 458 steals • Wildcat Award: Rita Castillo...

Being open, honest and genuine are traits that I have always tried to portray in columns and when readers approach me in public. In layman’s terms — what you see is what you get. I’ve never considered myself to be a journalist, but an individual that loves sports and gets to cover local teams and scratch out a living...

Stability in its coaching staff has been a trademark of the Pierce City school district, especially in basketball. However, that is changing with the resignation of Rob Guerin, high school girls coach. For the last seven seasons, he has guided the Kelly Green and White to five district titles and three conference championships, along with a quarterfinal appearance and a record of 132-68 (66 winning percentage)...

Members of the Barry County Retired Teachers Association, pictured, have volunteered to sponsor the Blessing Box, located by Cox Monett Rehab Center, for the month of April.

The final service in the Monett Ministerial Association’s series of midweek Lenten services will be held at 12:05 p.m. today, April 17, at New Site Baptist Church, with Pastor Paula Lively from St. Stephen’s Episcopal speaking. A light lunch will be available after the service...

Those familiar with the old parking lot in front of the main office for EFCO Corporation’s headquarters plant at County Road and Bridle Lane may be startled to find the lot completely excavated.

The Ozark Festival Orchestra held its 13th annual Pops in the Park gala concert, its inaugural Marty Beckwith Memorial Concert, at the Monett City Park Casino on Sunday.

After a snowy Sunday, Monday became a banner day for getting out in the spring weather.

Friday was the last day for the Purdy branch of the Barry-Lawrence Regional Library.

Students at Monett Elementary also engaged in Screen-Free Day by making artwork that hung on display, offering some pride in creation as well as learning away from technology devices.

Abigail Couch ran through the cheering crowd of camp counselors on Friday for the first ever all-girls weekend at Camp Barnabas. Campers were greeted with tiaras and an unforgettable welcome.

Sarah Brattin got her spin on, with the help of Jack Mitchell, during the song Boot Scootin’ Boogie at Wheaton’s Vegas-themed prom Saturday, held at the Monett Casino.

Software Unlimited offers the Wheaton school district access to an upgraded system that will cut down on doubling a process that takes time. Lance Massey, Wheaton superintendent said, the schools accounts payable and accounts receivable company that it has been using for a number of years, called Chalkable, has sold out to a group called PowerSchool...

The Wheaton school district will be replacing a bus through the Volkswagen Trust Grant, which offers the district $22,000 for bus replacement on the bus’ total price of $97,665. Lance Massey, Wheaton superintendent, said the district applied by Sept. 14, 2018, and received notification of its selection on Oct. 2, 2018...

The Monett City Council will act on a zoning change request and award a contract for construction of the new public works building during the monthly meeting slated for 9:30 a.m. on Friday at Monett City Hall. Following up on a recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Commission, council members are expected to approve a change for 215 Dairy Street, the Monett Veterinary Hospital, from mutli-family to commercial use. ...

Reorganization of the Purdy City Council prompted a single change in appointments and a review of property plans for the benefit of new council member Bob Mosier. Mayor Bo Prock returned for a second term. Scott Redshaw, from the East Ward and Austin Hammen from the West Ward, both one-term incumbents were sworn in for two-year terms, and Mosier took the vacant one-year seat in the East Ward, winning as a write-in...

A major push to secure property to build approximately 100 wind turbines for energy production in Barry County appears to be close to completion. The Chicago-based firm Invenergy, which calls itself North America’s largest independent renewable power generation company, has had representatives in the Monett area last week talking to property owners about land deals. ...

The Monett City Council acted on a utility warrant contract recently, as well as revised its utility operations policy. Council members approved an agreement with Utility Service Partners, doing business as Service Line Warranties of America, a subsidiary of HomeServe USA Corporation, as a way to help private property owners...

According to an inspection by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) on Barry County bridges in 2018, 106 bridges, plus three bridges that were not on the inventory, were inspected. Of the three bridges that were not on inventory, two of them are new structures, and one was not on inventory because it was not 20 feet or more, which qualifies it for a bridge by MoDOT, but it is now...

A 20-year-old Aurora man, Mason Farris, accepted a plea bargain for multiple felonies on April 12, and will serve seven years with the Missouri Department of Corrections. Farris was originally charged with second-degree murder, two counts of first degree assault on police officers, armed criminal action and a class E felony of resisting arrest, following an incident that occurred May 5, 2018, in which Farris attempted to flee from officers making a traffic stop at Casey’s General Store on Business Highway 60 in Aurora.. ...