Stories from Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Sara Opal Herndon, 82, of Marionville, died Friday, Jan. 29. A private memorial service was held at 2 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 1, at the First United Methodist Church in Marionville, under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home in Aurora. A graveside service for family and friends followed at 3 p.m. at the Marionville IOOF Cemetery...

Monzell Cox, 89, died Friday, Jan. 29, at Lacoba Homes in Monett. Due to the ongoing pandemic, a graveside service was held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, at Arnhart Cemetery in Purdy, with the Pastor Jason Mackey officiating. Arrangements were entrusted to Buchanan Funeral Home, Monett...

Homer K. Blair, 92, of Monett, died Saturday, Jan. 30. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Shell Knob, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home in Shell Knob. Visitation will be held from 10-11:00 a.m. Saturday, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Shell Knob...

Carl David Young, 81, of Pierce City, Mo., passed away on Saturday morning, January 30, 2021, while at the Communities of the Wildwood Ranch in Joplin, Mo. Carl was born on April 18, 1939, in Pierce City, son of the late Joe C. and Millie Delilah Jane (Stark) Young. Carl attended Pierce City schools and in 1956, enlisted in the United States Air Force. Following his honorable discharge, Carl served in the Army National Guard...

Terry Duane Hensley, 80, of Monett, Mo., passed from this life on Friday, January 15, 2021, at Cox South Medical Center in Springfield, Mo. Terry was born on September 12, 1940, in Gridley, Kan., son of the late Harry Junior Hensley and Virginia Pearl (Veal) Hensley. ...

Virgil Ray Davis went to be with the Lord on Saturday, January 30, 2021, at the age of 81 at his home in Monett, Missouri after a long illness. Virgil was born at home on July 23, 1939, in Dade County, to the late Orla Davis and Lola Bird. He was one of 12 children. He graduated from Jasper County School System in 1956. After high school, he joined the Marine Reserves...

Sydney Parrigon swims for the Monett team Saturday at the Springfield Invitational.

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame ushered in its Class of 2021 during the Enshrinement presented by Killian Construction on Sunday night at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, and this year’s class included one of Monett’s own. Dennis Heim, a standout football player at Monett High School in the early 1970s who went on to play at MSU and in the NFL and CFL, was one of Sunday’s inductees...

In the final meet before the district tournament, Monett brought home multiple medals and a bronze finish at the 11-team Thundering Herd meet in Buffalo on Saturday. Fulton won the event with 308 points, Osage took second with 193, and Monett finished third with 158.5...

Two local basketball players are roaring at the collegiate level, as one has set a single-game points and rebounds school record, and another is leading the team in minutes played. Sophomore center Madi Stokes and junior guard Layne Skiles, Cassville and Purdy graduates, respectively, are playing big roles for the Missouri Southern State University women’s basketball team...

At this point in the basketball season, teams don’t necessarily like to have only one game over a week’s time, but for Purdy, a full week of preparation for Friday’s contest against Crane may be just what the Eagles need. Purdy (13-4) is coming off a 55-44 victory over Seneca on Homecoming night, a game Coach Ryan Stokes said was a challenging one...

Trinity Lutheran School hosted its annual Spelling Bee Jan. 22.

Officials at Verona School District have released the names of students listed on the first semester honor roll for the 2020-2021 academic year. A Honor Roll Seniors: Paige Bauer and Courtney Freiburger. Juniors: Jaiden Carrasquillo, Seth Freiburger, Taylor Palmer and Paying Thao...

Drury University has announced students from the day class schedule who have earned a high enough grade point average to be named to the Dean's List for the fall semester. Students honored earned grades to place them at 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale. They include the following:...

Candidates for Monett School Board have changed, as Missi Miller has withdrawn from the race. Candidates certified by the Barry and Lawrence County Clerk offices include, in the order they will appear on the ballot: Kaley Thigpen, Ken Gaspar, Maella Blalock and A. J. Bahl. The top two elected will serve three-year terms...

Senior Bayleigh Robbins, left, was crowned Purdy Homecoming Queen by Osiel Aldava, who was named King.

Donations are rolling in and food boxes are filing out each week thanks to the Monett Community Outreach Food Pantry. Community Outreach is keeping up with demand, providing food boxes for about 120 families in need each week and hot meals for as many as 200 community members every Tuesday and Thursday. ...

Verona schools may be looking at longer school days to ensure it can continue its four-day-a-week schedule and provide holiday time for staff. The school board is scheduled to make a decision on the school calendar at its March meeting. In the meantime, board members have been asked to consider their options, which range from keeping the current schedule, adding days to the school year, beginning school earlier or ending school later...

The weekend started off with a bang — a banged up fender or two, at any rate. Friday afternoon, a Monett woman, driving a borrowed car, allegedly struck two vehicles and had a near miss with a third. According to a Monett Police Department report, the incident started at 4:19 p.m. ...

The Purdy school district is on the hunt for a new superintendent following the resignation of Mindi Gates. Gates announced that she will be taking a position as elementary principal in her hometown of Cassville, where she graduated high school and began her teaching career. She will remain on in Purdy through the school year, with her last day scheduled for June 30...

Lawrence County has its sights set on a new jail facility that will help keep costs down and house the entire Sheriff’s staff in one building. With $500,000 in the bank and more accumulating every year, plus an eight-acre piece of property in Mt. Vernon earmarked for the construction project, Sheriff Brad DeLay said he hopes to go from a feasibility study to occupying a new, modern facility within the next five years...

Cox Monett received the latest round of COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccines this week and kicked off a vaccination clinic for at-risk residents Tuesday. CoxHealth received a total of 5,700 doses this week and 1,000 doses last week. These are the first doses the hospital system has received since it got its initial release of 6,700 doses in December...

Heidi Whitson, of Springfield, formerly of Miller, went on to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on, January 31, 2021, after a long battle with cancer. Heidi was a beautiful woman both on the inside and outside, and everyone who knew her, knew that well...

Mark Drake, the current assistant superintendent of the Monett School District, has been tapped to take the reins as superintendent of schools starting July 1. Drake will succeed Kent Medlin, interim superintendent, who stepped in after the death of Russ Moreland three months ago...