Stories from Saturday, March 14, 2020

Eugene Douglas Prier, 63, of Poplar Bluff, died Friday, Feb. 28, at his home. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville. Burial will be at a later date at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Butterfield.

Mal Hudson, 78, of Cassville, died Wednesday, March 11. Graveside services with military honors will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, at Clio Cemetery in Jenkins, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville.

Norma Lee Harris, 86, of Mt. Vernon, died at 12:13 p.m. on Monday, March 9, at her home. Graveside services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March14, at the Mt. Vernon IOOF Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, March 13, at Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon...

Jimmy Dale “Jim” Cox, 74, of Cassville, died Wednesday, March 11, at Cox Medical Center South in Springfield. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, march 14, at Cassville First Baptist Church. Burial will follow at Corinth Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville...

A total of five Pierce City basketball players, three boys and two girls, picked up Southwest All-Conference honors for their play this season on the hardwood. On the boys’ side, Kyle Renkoski and Aaron Garner were named to the First Team, and Colten O’Hara secured Second Team accolades...

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Missouri State University and the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) issued a press release on Thursday updating new rules for the 2019-2020 state basketball championship in Springfield. The released noted a limiting of attendance and games going forward as a precaution. For the remainder of the tournament:...

The 2019 baseball season was one that the Cubs and their fans will not soon forget. Monett caught fire at the right time and road the wave of momentum all the way to the state quarterfinal round, enjoying a magical run in 2019. Entering his 20th season as head coach, Michael Calhoun attributed much of the team’s success to its veteran leadership...

Congratulations, Monett — you did it again. Monett produced the lowest voter turnout of any major or minor bi-county city in the presidential primary this week at 11.6 percent. Even if we managed to factor out all of the out-of-town voters in the Forest Park precinct to determine a pure Monett vote, the 13.7 percent turnout in the Barry County portion of the city would still fall below the 15.5 percent turnout for the Spring River precinct that holds the city of Verona, or the 16.5 percent turnout in Seligman.. ...

The Monett and Pierce City senior citizen centers will be closed for the rest of March. Mavis Schlessman, director of the Monett center, said staff will work and frozen home meal delivery will continue. The center will not be open to the public. The Monett Historical Society will present a St. ...

A garage sale to benefit the family of Fransisca Perez Salas, who was killed in a crash with a train on Feb. 19 in Purdy, was held Thursday and Friday at The Gathering Place.

Most children like to end their academic day with a nice snack to help tide them over until dinner, but for some students, that snack, or possibly even their dinner, isn’t promised. To help combat the issue of hunger in its district, Purdy school now offers a healthy snack to every student at the end of the school day. The snack is offered through Life 360 Community Services’ Monett site...

Monett is facing some unexpected water issues that may push the utility department into planning for a new well. Skip Schaller, Monett utilities superintendent, said the need is not immediate, in part because connecting the city system to the well at the Monett Regional Airport has provided a major boost to the city’s system via the pipeline built across the six mile distance to the airport...

A single-vehicle crash on Wednesday afternoon on Farm Road 1090, two-and-a-half miles south of Hwy. 60 in Monett, resulted in no injuries to the driver or passenger.

Age: 48 Current Occupation: Safety Coordinator for EFCO Corporation Experience: I have served 3 previous terms on the board for a total of 9 combined years 1. How high a priority is school safety to you and how would you press for it as a budgetary priority?...

Age: 48 Current Occupation: Operations Manager at EFCO Corporation Experience: Two terms served on school board 1. How high a priority is school safety to you and how would you press for it as a budgetary priority? School safety is my highest priority. ...

Age: 37 Current Occupation: Business Intelligence Developer – Jack Henry & Associates Experience: First-time candidate 1. How high a priority is school safety to you and how would you press for it as a budgetary priority? Student safety is always the most important consideration. ...

Age: 44 Current Occupation: Senior Regional Sales Manager Freedom Innovations Experience: New Candidate 1. How high a priority is school safety to you and how would you press for it as a budgetary priority? Student and School safety is the highest priority that starts with Quality Leadership from the top down. ...

Age: 43 Current Occupation: Network Engineering Manager at Jack Henry & Associates Experience: This will be my first time serving on the R-6 Board of education 1. How high a priority is school safety to you and how would you press for it as a budgetary priority?...

Age: 46 Current Occupation: Field Service Tech for Cargill Turkey Production LLC and Area Farmer Experience: Never have served on the school board before 1. How high a priority is school safety to you and how would you press for it as a budgetary priority?...

Pierce City residents may soon have some tasty fresh produce to share, if plans for a community garden come together as hoped. Council member Ruth Bozarth has been spearheading the campaign to establish a community garden for nearly a year. “Lisa McDunner has offered her property on Commercial Street, between Veteran’s Park and Clark Community Mental Health Center,” Bozarth said. ...

Guests, volunteers, friends and family members gathered to dedicate and celebrate the completion of Monett/Purdy Habitat for Humanity’s 12th home on Saturday. Tiffany Tettenhorst, the recipient, spoke of her past addictions, and gratitude to those who supported her through her recovery and the Habitat board for their efforts through the program...

Local voters generally followed the pattern of Missouri voters in general in Tuesday’s presidential primary, with some slight differences surfacing between the counties. Lawrence County had voter turnout of 20.5 percent, equal to some lightly contested April municipal and school board elections. Barry County did better, with 22.24 percent...

The 100+ Women Who Care have presented a donation to the Monett Children's Center that, with the partnership of the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, totaled $7,500 to assist operations and development of facilities at the Monett satellite office...

The general response locally to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) changed this week, as the first major cancellation of an event took place in Monett. Nursing homes and Cox Monett Hospital also implemented different protocols in response to a directive from the Greene County health care community, the Coronavirus Task Force and a detailed guide issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...

Reports around Monett and surrounding communities on Friday documented panic shopping on Friday, spawned by concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus. David Compton, Barry County emergency management director, said the wild shopping sprees witnessed at local stores is unjustified in light of this specific health concern...