Stories from Tuesday, March 2, 2004

100 Years Ago - March 2, 1904 R. Schonewetter, who lives five miles southeast of Nevada, had a narrow escape from death yesterday and the engineer of the Missouri Pacific passenger train is due credit to the fact that Schonewetter was not killed. Schonewetter was walking to Nevada and had started across the trestle just south of Union Station and had reached the center of the high bridge when the passenger train came down the track behind him...

Joseph Allen Russell, 59, Moundville, Mo., died Saturday, Feb. 28, 2004, as the result of an automobile accident. He was born May 24, 1944, in Kansas City, Kan., the son of James and Ruth Selbe Russell. Joe was a 1962 graduate of Fulton High School. ...

Wayman Eugene Cole, 82, Bland, Mo., died Saturday, Feb. 28, 2004, in the Capital Regional Medical Center in Jefferson City, Mo. He was born on Oct. 2, 1921, in Stillwell, Kan., to Andrew Gatha Cole and Alice Catherine McDonald Cole. On Feb. 11, 1972, Gene was married to Carole Sue Branson Basham in Bland, Mo., and she survives of the home...

Harold L. Vandiver, 83, Neodesha, Kan., died Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004, at the Wilson County Hospital in Neodesha, Kan. He was born Jan. 1, 1921, in Bethany, Mo., to Robert and Nancy Hacker. He grew up in Millington, Tenn. Harold joined the U.S. Navy on Feb. ...

Lee B. Hill, 56, Nevada, Mo., died Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004, at Christian Health Care in Nevada following a long battle with cancer. She was born April 11, 1947, in Providence, R.I., to Rodgers Carr Broomhead and Nancy Beth Schuyler Broomhead. Hill graduated from Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif., and San Francisco State University with a degree in Physical Anthropology. ...

Dean S. Folkner, 94, Moundville, Mo., died Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004, at St. Johns Regional Medical Center, Joplin, Mo., following a brief illness. He was born in Pawnee, Okla., on Sept. 18, 1909, to John Aaron Folkner and Evealine Elizabeth Key Folkner...

By Larry Lewis DREXEL, Mo. -- Girls' first-round action of the MSHSAA Class 1, District 12 Tournament tipped off at Drexel, Mo., on Monday. Of the four Vernon County Conference participants, two stayed alive. Hume eliminated VCC sister Northeast Vernon County, Sheldon topped Miami and Bronaugh exited with a loss to Drexel...

Billed as the "Co-ed Snowball Softball Tournament" with the promise to proceed regardless of weather conditions, the event was held in rather mild temperatures -- to the delight of all -- at Twin Lakes Ballpark on Saturday. Eight teams, including entrants from Nevada, Hume, Mo., Schell City, Mo., Arcadia, Kan., and Pittsburg, Kan., competed in the slow-pitch softball tournament...

Nevada Daily Mail JOPLIN, Mo. -- Calvary Christian closed its 2004 basketball season at the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association State Tournament over the weekend. The Calvary boys finished third in the five-team Class 1A division and the Eagles' Tyler Borders was selected to the 1A all-tournament team...

By Steve Moyer March is Save Your Vision Month, the 77th year it has been celebrated, and the American Optometric Association urges all Americans, especially children, to get an eye exam as part of any comprehensive health program. Among all the necessities children take to school on their first day of class, the most important is a healthy pair of eyes...

By Ralph Pokorny About 170 people paid a visit to the new senior center Sunday afternoon for a sneak peak at the new facility, which will benefit residents throughout Vernon County. According to a press release from the Nevada Parks and Recreation Department, the impetus for the Neal Center began with the vision of former city manager Wayne Neal, who proposed that the city pass a Parks and Recreation half-cent sales tax, a portion of which would be used for the senior center building. ...

Tom Gregory Rickey, 35, Blue Springs, Mo., died Friday, Feb. 27, 2004, at St. John's in Joplin, Mo. He was born on Sept. 17, 1968, in Dennison, Texas, to Marvin Ray Rickey, Sr., and Nellie Jane (Daris) Rickey. He was self-employed. He is survived by three sons, Tom Gregory Rickey, Jr., Rocky Ray Rickey and Billy Joe Rickey, all of Blue Springs, Mo.; three brothers, James Rickey, Harwood, Mo., Christopher Rickey, and Esther Leroy Rickey, both of Sedalia, Mo.; four sisters, Suzanne Hood, Venita, Okla., Vicki Pridmore and Kathy Adrian, both of Wichita, Kan., and Josephine Powell, Miami, Okla.. ...

Lynn A. Wade Republicans are gearing up for the 2004 elections, with a number of local and state issues on the agenda and a narrow majority in the state legislature they'd like to maintain in 2004. In Vernon County, the Republicans' campaign season began with a reception for area candidates that began as an opportunity for those hopeful of winning seats to introduce themselves in hope of bolstering local support, and turned into a discussion of local issues current legislators now face...

By Steve Moyer An accident Saturday night left one man dead and sent another man to the hospital. Joseph Russell, 59, Deerfield was killed when the 1996 Chevrolet pickup he was a passenger in pulled in front of a 1996 Kenworth driven by Terry Hearth, 25, Nevada. ...

By Steve Moyer A small, intimate chapel in the woods has brought Nevada's uniqueness and growth into the spotlight. Just as other businesses and growth trends have been making their way into regional and nationa media, a local wedding chapel's gaining widespread attention through an article in the magazine "Country Woman," distributed nationally...