Stories from Saturday, June 8, 2019

Mary Viola Sump, age 71, of Ponca City, Oklahoma passed away at home, surrounded by her family, on June 4, 2019. A celebration of her life will be held on Monday, June 10, 2019, at 2pm at Eastern Heights Christian Church, with Pastor Mark Berry officiating. Access to the church can be made from Kyger Road...

Mary Elizabeth Brunner, 101, of Springfield, formerly of La Russell, died at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 6, at the Manor at Elfindale in Springfield. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, June 10, at Red Oak Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon...

Stanley “Max” Ford, 73, of Wheaton, died Tuesday, June 4. Funeral services will held at 11 p.m. Saturday, June 8, at Wheaton United Methodist Church, under direction of McQueen Funeral Home in Wheaton. Burial with military honors will be at Rocky Comfort Cemetery...

Joyce C. Green, 91, of Mt Vernon, formerly of Edina, died Wednesday, May 29, at Cox South Hospital in Springfield. Memorial services were held Sunday, June 23, at the First Christian Church in Mt. Vernon. Interment will be held in Illinois at a later date...

Dear Editor: The beautiful Lee Cemetery is located in Verona along the Spring River, and the Cemetery has been around for generations, with headstones dating back as far as the late 1841. On June 1, a terrible discovery was made. Approximately 40-50 headstones had been knocked over, some of them broken beyond repair. The cowards that did this terrible deed have yet to be found. The outpouring of support was immediate and far reaching...

Dear Editor: The Missouri Department of Conservation is planning to introduce more restrictive requirements on the issuance of Resident Landowner Hunting Permits, and to further require that said Landowners “register” their land. MDC claims public support for these changes...

This week, our thoughts have focused on service, both community and on a larger arena. The 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion recalls a moment that touched the lives of practically every family, then and for generations to come. My own father was in England that day, following the invasion force into LeHavre, where he deployed as a code man for a reconnaissance crew that ran in front of the Third Army under General George Patton...

The 2019 Monett Youth Baseball and Softball League Family Care Chiropractic Cal Ripken Major baseball team.

Although the Missouri spring softball season All-State team was released last week, the All-Region team was sent to area news outlets on Monday. In order to be considered for All-State, an athlete must be a First Team All-Region selection. Top honors went to students from Purdy, Mt. Vernon, Wheaton, Marionville and Miller...

The Monett baseball team had plenty of reasons to smile with a season that continued to the state quarterfinals. Those smiles can get bigger now, as eight Cubs earned 10 Big 8 All-Conference West Division awards for their efforts this season. Corey Spain earned Player of the Year accolades, and Michael Calhoun was named Coach of the Year...

Monett High School art students took home three first place gold medals and 42 ribbons at the Big 8 Conference West Art Show, held this year at Lamar High School. Teachers Elizabeth Wallsmith and Lynn Morin took approximately 120 pieces of art for display...

Nine cadets from Scott Regional Technology Center's JROTC program completed the annual Army JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge at the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico from June 1-6. According to Lt. Col. Brennan Cook, the camp is a five-day event that challenges cadets both physically and mentally as they learn to lead other cadets in a variety of situational exercises...

Officials at Berean Christian Academy in Monett have announced fourth quarter honor roll students for the 2018-2019 academic year. Students named to the A and A/B honor rolls are listed below by grade. Seniors Kirsten Powers and Taylor Powers. Juniors...

Officials at Aurora High School have named Student of the Month for May.

Members of the Aurora School Board recently accepted several resignations from employees of the district. Those included resignations from Araseli Avila, English Language Learners aide; Stephanie Nalley, fourth grade teacher; Jayne Helms, high school science instructor; Emily Rowe, junior high and high school Family and Consumer Sciences teacher; Irene Billington, high school math instructor; Scott Brownlee, fifth grade teacher; Beth Thompson, special education instructor and junior high cheer coach; and Nancy Jackson, special education.. ...

Cpt. Danny Fowler, retired from the Monett Fire Department after 29 years.

Summer school offers a chance for different activities and educational enrichment.

For the second year, the Mormon Helping Hands effort brought 143 teens and more than 30 adult coordinators to Monett Elementary School to give classrooms a summer painting in an effort to lighten the load of the school district custodial crew.

The Summer Reading Club at the Monett Branch of the Barry-Lawrence Regional Library got underway this week with a visit by Shawn Crist from the Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium in Springfield.

Jade Torez, 7, took a chance on winning a cake at the cake walk, a part of the 32nd annual St. Mary’s Picnic, which took place Sunday in Pierce City.

Steps to reduce water loss in Freistatt and funding for infrastructure projects prompted creation of a new committee at the May meeting of the Freistatt Village Board of Trustees. New Trustee Richard Knight proposed seeking to reduce water loss, which has grown to around 25 percent of water pumped. He specifically expressed concern about the Fifth Street water main extension, where he would like to see tests done...

The Verona school board at its May meeting hired two teachers for the coming year and agreed to participate in a groundbreaking virtual school program offered through the Springfield school district. In personnel action, board members accepted a resignation from second grade teacher Sophia Martin, freeing her to take a job in Joplin, rather than commuting. ...

Law enforcement officials in the bi-county area continue their investigations into a number of crimes that have taken place in local communities in recent weeks. Det. Sgt. Melissa “Mo” Stanford reported activity taking place north of Pierce City, in which a suspect rents a box truck, such as a U-Haul, and drives to people’s homes while they are away and loads their belongings into the vehicle...

The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office has released information regarding the death of Martin Meza, who was charged with homicide in a 2012 shooting death in Lawrence County. Meza was charged in the death of Abel Ibarra, 51, after an incident in August 2012 in rural Pierce City. Ibarra was shot multiple times at a backyard cookout...

Two Barry County jail inmates escaped from the jail in the early hours Tuesday morning, but the pair were captured only blocks away about 3 hours after the escape. Gary Davis, Barry County sheriff, said Mathew Whittenburg, 32, of Aurora, and Charles Stephen Love, 33, of Cassville, escaped at about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday and were found in a home about eight blocks north of the jail at about 4:20 a.m...

Daycare services for children in Monett, which have tightened over the past year-and-a-half with two major businesses ceasing operation, became even tighter this week with the closing of the Playful Preschool on Sycamore Street. Owner Kim Loveday posted a letter on the center’s website on Tuesday night announcing the immediate closing. The action followed a ruling against Loveday in Lawrence County Associate Circuit Court by Judge Robert George for failure to pay rent...