Stories from Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Harley Heath Rose, 75, of Washburn, died Saturday, July 13. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 17, at Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at Hickman Cemetery in Washburn.

Peggy Lore Divers, 82, of Cassville died Wednesday, July 10. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville.

Velda “Jean” Anderson, 77, of Washburn, died at Friday, July 12. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville.

Duane Dale Erickson, 70, of Aurora, died Wednesday, July 10, 2019, at this home. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora.

Arthur Paul Negre, 79, of rural Monett, Mo., passed from this earthly home to his eternal home in Heaven on Sunday morning, July 14, 2019, while at Cox South Hospital in Springfield, Mo. Art was born on July 30, 1939, at the family farm in Monett, son of the late Edgar Henry Negre and Nellie Aretta (Samples) Negre. ...

Charles Wayne “Chuck” Graves was born on Aug. 22, 1939, in Thornfield, Missouri, and passed into eternal rest on July 9, 2019, with his family by his side. Chuck lived a life with a strong work ethic and moral code. Born to Mildred Thelma (Delp) Graves and Euel Thomas Graves, Chuck grew up and attended school in Thornfield, until eighth grade and then was proud to be an Ava Bear at Ava High School as one of the only 6-foot, 200-pound freshmen. ...

• Vanessa I Buchanan, speeding, misd. C, fined $165. • James R. Coale, failure to equip vehicle with a horn in working order, infr., fined $220. • Kelsey L. Coleman, operating vehicle on the highway without a valid license, misd. D, fined $200; speeding, misd. C, fined $150...

Cox Monett Auxiliary will hold a bake sale in the hospital’s main lobby on Thursday, July 18 from 7 a.m. until sold out. Cookies, brownies, pies and much, much more. Proceeds to benefit the Auxiliary’s $25,000 pledge to the Momentum Campaign to build the new hospital...

An annual highlight of the picnic at St. John’s Lutheran Church at Stones Prairie, coming Friday at 6 p.m. on the church grounds, is the drawing for attractive hand made quilts and afghans.

Supernatural mischief was afoot in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” presented over the weekend by the Monett Artists’ Guild.

At last week’s special meeting of the Purdy City Council, Mayor Bo Prock unveiled a map created by Ace Pipe Cleaning showing a very extensive list of sources where stormwater runoff has been able to pour into the sanitary sewer system.

Carver Day at the George Washington Carver National Monument near Diamond offered many activities for children and adults on Saturday.

The High Striker carnival game is a great challenge for those attending the Trinity Lutheran annual picnic.

Two people were injured Saturday when two boats collided at about 9 p.m. at Eagle Rock Marina. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Rebecca Burt, 60, of Eureka Springs, Ark., was driving a 2000 Stratos southbound when her vessel struck the left rear of a southbound 2000 Javelin, being driven by Daryl Ickes, 47, of Washburn...

During the centennial celebration for the V.B. Hall company on Saturday, Monett native Jackie Waltrip Watson will be on hand at the V.B. Hall Antique Mall offering her book recounting her nearly lifelong struggle dealing with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)...

Unfortunate circumstances can leave property “up in the air” in terms of responsibility, and the city of Wheaton has seen such issues, which leads to other concerns for the city. Clint Danforth, Wheaton police chief, said there are a few homes in city limits that are considered abandoned...

The Verona school board has approved a $500 increase in the base pay of teachers and took its first look at drawings for the new gymnasium. Following Super-intendent Tony Simmons' recommendation, board members voted to raise the base pay for teachers to $31,500, putting the base for having a master's degree at $34,350. ...

After five years of operation by Missouri State Parks, the use of Viney Creek Recreational Area looks to be coming to an end. Missouri State Parks Director Ben Ellis said the organization does not intend to renew the lease that saved the campground and lake access point in 2014. Cost of operating the Area versus spending state money on other area parks was the deciding factor...

The Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team (ODET) has released its statistics for the first six months of 2019, showing Barry County accounted for about 37 percent of the 31,136 grams of meth seized over a five-county area. ODET is made up of eight detectives that cover Jasper, Barton, Newton, McDonald and Barry counties. ...

The eighth annual Purdy Festival gets underway Saturday in the heart of the community, with a wide range of activities planned for all ages. Event chairperson Renae Neill announced a schedule that includes a carnival of free inflatables, games and pony rides from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Highway C east of Commercial Street will close at 9 a.m. to allow free walking from the Project Genesis Park to the city park and school grounds, where activities will be held...

Monett school board members laid additional groundwork for the beginning of a new school year, recently approving contracts and the latest version of the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan. A contract was approved with Cox Health Telemedicine, allowing staff and their dependents to receive free telemedicine visits if they use district machines presently at Monett Elementary and at the intermediate campus. ...

Four people were injured Saturday when a boat exploded at Kings River Marina on Table Rock Lake in Shell Knob. According to a report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a 1995 Cuddy Cabin boat was fueled and exploded when Norman Tudor, 63, of Verona, turned the ignition key...

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the Missouri legislature and governor have taken actions to increase penalties for those caught poaching Missouri game animals and other native wildlife species. Missouri Governor Michael Parson signed HB260 into law July 11. ...

Three recent Purdy High School graduates represented their school on the baseball diamond for a final time on June 15 after being selected to the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game, played at College of the Ozarks...

Phone calls and best wishes from immediate family began to flood the phone of Monett senior tailback Jamie Guinn on Monday as the news began to leak. Guinn, who had fought through two combines, received the payoff he was looking for in the form of an invitation to the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, on December 16...