Stories from Wednesday, July 29, 2020

KayLynn Hill, 56, of Cassville, died Sunday, July 26. No services are scheduled at this time. Cremation arrangements are under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Cassville.

Leo Faucett, 86, of Mt. Vernon, died at 11:40 a.m. on Friday, July 24, at his home. Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28, at the Eastlawn Cemetery in Springfield. Arrangements are under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon...

Gerry Dale Fannon, 69, of Mt. Vernon, died Sunday, July 19, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. No services are planned at this time. Arrangements are under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon.

Doris Ann Caselman, 87, of Mt. Vernon, died at 6:57 a.m. on Thursday, July 23, at the Mt. Vernon Place Care Center. Graveside services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 1, at the Ozark Prairie Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon...

Debra Ann Biellier, 64, of Mt. Vernon, died July 24, at her home. A private family burial will be held at the Mt. Vernon City Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon.

Aleyda Rueda, age 4, of Monett, Mo., passed from this life to her eternal home on Tuesday morning, July 28, 2020, surrounded by her loving family. Aleyda was born on September 24, 2015, in Monett, to Omar and Lucia Rueda. Aleyda was very loving and enjoyed dancing and singing to herself and for her family. ...

Christy Lynn (Fleer) Krueger, 50, of Monett, Mo., passed away on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in her home surrounded by family, following her dauntless battle with breast cancer on and off for the past 13 years. Christy was born on July 17, 1970 in Washington, Mo., daughter of Donna and the late Thomas Fleer...

The Regal Athletic 18U softball team went undefeated in Kansas City to win the USA Softball 2020 Heartland World Series tournament.

Two area residents are among the more than 1,000 individuals who are eligible to participate in the University of Central Missouri’s 2020 summer commencement exercises set for Aug. 1, in the university’s Multipurpose Building inn Warrensburg. Students who completed their degree requirements by the end of the spring 2020 semester are eligible to be honored at the event, which was rescheduled from May due to COVID-19...

CRIMINAL • Allan H. Albertson, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, misd. D, fined $200. • Jose Miguel Aleman, speeding, misd. B, fined $190. • Kristopher D. Burwell, operating vehicle on the highway without a valid license, misd. D, suspended imposition of sentence (SIS), six months unsupervised probation...

The Pierce City Fire Protection District will conduct its monthly meeting on Monday, Aug. 3, at 7:00 pm. The meeting will be held at the fire station at 2543 Lawrence 2225, Pierce City, Mo. The public is invited to attend. St. Lawrence Catholic School officials are offering tours of the educational facility. Appointments can be made by calling Tracey Welch at 417-439-0456 or by e-mail at: twelch@stlawrencecatholicschool.com...

The Monett High School band program held its annual awards ceremony on July 7. The following students received recognition for their musical efforts during the 2019-2020 school year. Top honors for the most outstanding dedication and superior musicianship for the year, the John Philip Sousa Award, went to Kysten Gorman. ...

There is cause for celebration for Pierce City residents who have been waiting years for water system upgrades — the project is ready to go out for bids. “As painful and as long as it has been, we are putting the bids on a public website and advertising for 30 days,” said Andy Novinger, with Anderson Engineering. “We will do the projects in phases, so we don’t have people working in multiple places in town. Hopefully, by the September meeting, we will be ready for the council to vote.”...

Members of the Barry-Lawrence Chapter of Crime Stoppers took the opportunity to catch up on what criminal activity is trending locally. Luckily, for most Monettans, the news is good. “The crime rate is down, and so are my stress levels,” said Jay Jastal, school resource officer and public information officer for the Monett Police Department. “The kids have not been too bad this summer, surprisingly. I figured by now they’d be bored out of their heads.”...

It may have been a long time in coming, but the castle representing the Missouri Army National Guard’s 276th Engineer Vertical Construction Company’s crest is finally complete. Dedication and christening ceremonies were held Thursday afternoon at the Lawrence A. Witt Missouri National Guard Armory, in Pierce City, where the structure is located...

Monett commissioners have given approval to purchase five new Zetron communication consoles for the Monett-Lawrence County 911 Center to replace Zetron 4000 series installed in 2006, which have exceeded their life expectancy. “We are unable to acquire parts for our system, but we have acquired parts from other agencies that have retired their systems,” said Bonnie Witt Schulte, 911 Monett-Lawrence County director. ...

Crowder College, in conjunction with the Barry and Lawrence County Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs), recently completed a blended live fire instructor course. “The course was primarily conducted online with the final live burn skills session conducted at the Scott Regional Technology Center,” said Cpt. ...

Despite the multi-month economic shutdown from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, local sales tax receipts in July to local cities and county governments still show little evidence of stress, marking the second consecutive month where receipts grew by 12 percent...

A fire of undetermined origin destroyed a three-story center-city home in Monett on the northwest corner on Fifth and Cale on Sunday (July 24), following a two-hour response by firefighters.

A 71-year-old Barry County man has died from complications associated with a positive COVID-19 (coronavirus) diagnosis. Barry County Health Department Administrator Roger Brock said the man, who was hospitalized after the positive result, was known to have other underlying health issues. “We are extremely saddened to have learned this person has succumbed to complications related to the COVID-19 infection,” Brock said.”...

Dixie Jo (Baggerly) Lankford, passed into eternal rest in Joplin, Mo., on July 29, 2020, after a long illness. Dixie was born March 12, 1948, in Joplin and was the oldest of five children born to the late Dick and Bonnie (Proctor) Baggerly. She grew up in Spring City, Mo., and attended the elementary school there. She graduated from Seneca High School in 1966. She was a lifelong area resident...