Stories from Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Clifford Wayne Sneed, 77, of Purdy, died Saturday, July 6. Funeral services were held Tuesday, July 9, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial was at Sparks Cemetery in Butterfield.

Daniel Joseph Riedel, 62, of Aurora, died Wednesday, July 3, at his home. No services are planned at this time. Arrangements are under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora.

Kevin Scott Propps, 43, of Purdy, died Thursday, July 4. Funeral services were held Monday, July 8, at Arnhart Baptist Church in Purdy, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial was at Arnhart Cemetery in Purdy.

Evelyn “Kay” Profiri, 64, of Joplin, died Wednesday, July 3. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 19, at Christ’s Community United Methodist Church in Joplin. Burial will be at Lake Park Memorial Gardens in Shell Knob.

Charles “Vern” Petty, 95, of Cassville, died Saturday, July 6. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 10, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Oak Hill Cemetery in Cassville.

Kathryn Ann McMichael, 86, of Marionville, died Friday, July 5, at the Mt. Vernon Place Care Center, in Mt. Vernon. A funeral service was held on Tuesday, July 9, at the Williams Funeral Home in Marionville. Burial was at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Springfield...

Robert L. Gabriel, 101, of Carthage, formerly of Michigan, died July 2. No services are planned. Arrangements are under the direction of Ulmer Funeral Home in Carthage.

Sandra Lee Clark, 69, of Exeter, died Sunday, July 7. Funeral services were held Tuesday, July 9, at Russell Cemetery in Butterfield, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial was at Russell Cemetery in Butterfield.

Robert “Bob” Eugene Brown, 62, of Aurora, died Tuesday, July 2, at Cox Medical Center in Springfield. A funeral mass under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora was held Saturday, July 6, at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Aurora, with burial to follow at the Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Aurora...

Jesselyn Courdin Terry, 96, of Springfield, passed into the Lord’s loving arms on July 7, 2019. Jesselyn was born August 12, 1922, in Purdy, Missouri, to Harry and Miami Courdin. She married the love of her life, Eugene Terry, on June 30, 1946. They were devoted to each other through nearly 66 years of marriage. They had four children...

Andrew “Andy” Dee Allen, 55, of Monett, Mo., passed away on Friday morning, July 5, 2019, at his residence. Andy was born on April 14, 1964, in Kansas City, Mo., son of Jess and Connie (Smith) Beerbower. Andy worked for Kemin Nutrisurance in Verona...

The 2019 Monett Youth Baseball and Softball League Bruner’s Pharmacy 10-and-under softball team.

The 2019 Monett Youth Baseball and Softball League Answered Pest Control T-ball team.

Once a month, on a Saturday, my mother has a lunch date. She keeps this appointment with as much fervor and nearly as much reverence as her obligation to the Church on each first day of the week. My mother gets ready, checks to make sure her newly acquired photos of the grandchildren are on her phone and heads off to eat lunch with nearly 20 of her friends that graduated together more than 53 years ago...

Fans of the Pierce City football team will need to make sure their gas tanks are full this season as they progress through the gridiron schedule. The Eagles are slated to hit the road five times in nine games as they look to defend their Southwest Conference title...

• Angela A. Jenkins, failed to register vehicle, $102. • Jacob S. Morley, speeding, $137. • Caleb L. Brown, defective equipment, $152. • Bridget R. Cahalen, no valid driver's license, $152. • Diana C. Cope, driving while suspended, $26.50 and six months probation; speeding, $225...

MO SWITCH begins its free distribution of meals to kids over summer months this week. Today, July 10, the Super Taco food truck will be located in the parking lot at Unbreakable Fitness, 1308 E. Cleveland in Monett, from 4 p.m. until closing. The First Baptist Church in Pierce City on Highway 97 will offer meals at 6 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays...

Gator Industrial moved in last week to remove the buildings at 111 and 115 Fourth Street in Monett.

Fire destroyed a camper owned by Scotty Redshaw, located on the farm of Marge Redshaw on Farm Road 2062, north of Purdy, Tuesday morning.

A grease fire on the stove at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Pryor around 7 p.m. on Monday at 9742 Farm Road 2100, southeast of Purdy, brought 18 firefighters from Butterfield and the Purdy Fire District.

Lakynn Jenkins, 1-1/2, of Springfield, enjoyed some time on the swings Thursday during the Wheaton Freedom Jam.

Patience paid off for First State Bank of Purdy, organizers of the First on Front concert series, on Friday.

Electricity customers of Liberty Utilities in the Pierce City area experienced a power outage lasting approximately two hours on Monday evening. According the Liberty spokesperson Jillian Curtis, what was described as a large bird flew into a Pierce City area substation around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, prompting the substation to throw a breaker. Crews dispatched to the scene checked the system extensively before returning the substation to service around 11:10 p.m...

Roaring River State Park has an exciting summer planned for patrons, including Bluegrass Music at the River, as bands have come together to play at the Roaring River amphitheater throughout the summer. Joel Topham, manager of Roaring River State Park, said the park has done events like this in prior summers, but not to this extent...

Mental health in students has become kind of a hot topic over the last few years, and school districts are looking into more and better options to offer its students, just like the Wheaton school district, which recently partnered up with Access Medical for the upcoming school year...

The Verona City Council voted this week to seek reinstatement of the city’s .5 percent sales tax for transportation purposes. Aldermen also wrestled through details of a standard operating procedure for use of body cameras by police officers. Mayor Joseph Heck announced at the June 25 monthly council meeting that the transportation sales tax, which generated $20,373.22 in 2018, had expired. ...

The city of Wheaton has approved a $109,270 bid for a significant street paving project this summer, as the city received bids from two companies and went with Blevins Asphalt Construction Co. David Shockley, Wheaton mayor, said the city received a bid from Hutchens Construction Co, which was $104,882, but left out an estimated additional $15,000 worth of work for Goosetree Street...

Rural Pierce City roads have taken a battering this spring from recurring rains. District commissioners counted four floods that washed out sections of pavement, leading to a more conservative chip-and-seal strategy for the summer. With hot mix resurfacing running around $70,000 a mile, commissioners opted against asphalting any roads this summer. Their consensus was that roads were “not as bad off as the year before last.”...

Plans are in place for the annual Stones Prairie picnic at St. John’s Lutheran Church at Stones Prairie, northwest of Purdy. The annual event, where the congregation hosts much of the surrounding community for an evening of food and activities, will be held at 6 p.m. on July 19 on the church grounds, two and a half miles northwest of Purdy on Farm Road 1057...

Monett school board members can expect to have their first look at a plan for major facilities improvements and the next building project at the July 18 meeting. Superintendent Russ Moreland announced architects Bonnie Crawford and Pam Haldiman had completed their review of public and staff input and were ready to present a master plan for how to address student population growth over the next 20 years. ...

The “Building Monett Through New Housing” initiative was introduced at Monday’s special meeting of the Monett City Council, making possible a final vote on July 22, to go into effect by the beginning of August. City Administrator Dennis Pyle explained the proposal, the first made by the city council since the Fulp administration to promote housing development, came from a discussion with the economic development housing group, a housing roundtable discussion hosted by the Monett Chamber of Commerce and ideas shared at a session Pyle attended in Springfield, hosted by the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments.. ...