Stories from Sunday, November 14, 2004

By Ralph Pokorny Nevada Herald Six years ago Ray and Betty Bennight retired after selling their furniture manufacturing businesses to Prairie Hills Furniture. Today, after trying retirement and waiting for the five-year no-compete clause in the sales agreement to expire, they are back getting ready to re-open B&R Manufacturing in a new 10,000-square-foot building located east and north of Deems Farm Equipment next to Wheatbelt Distributing...

By Ben Holman Nevada Herald Wednesday, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the presence of soybean rust in the United States. The rust was found on soybean leaf samples taken from two Louisiana State University research farm plots on Nov. 6...

Three seats on the Nevada R-5 school board will be up for election in April, and earlier this week, the board voted to approve filing dates for prospective candidates. Filing for the April 5 election begins at 8 a.m., Dec. 14, and closes at 5 p.m., Jan. 18...

Students and parents peruse the books and games available for purchase at a special event to promote reading and raise funds. The annual book fair at St. Mary's school drew a crowd of students, parents and others from the community on Friday. The fair, conducted at the school Friday and Saturday, was an effort to raise funds to pay for library materials and books and materials to supplement the curriculum in classrooms. St. Mary's school serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade...

Nevada Middle School's practical technology class is a far cry from the practical arts classes of just a few years ago. By Lynn A. Wade Nevada Herald The words "practical technology" and "hands-on, career-oriented learning" often spark memories of sparse workshop classrooms, where students read books, took written tests, then performed various duties with basic tools or in kitchens or sewing labs...

Ryan and Abby Vickers, Joplin, are proud to announce the birth of their son, Skyler Chase Vickers. Skyler was born at 6:20 a.m., on Nov. 10, 2004, at St. John's hospital in Joplin. He weighed 7 pound, 7 ounces, and measured 21 inches. Paternal grandparents are Kendall and Susan Vickers, Nevada. Maternal grandparent is Billie Livengood, Rich Hill. Great-grandparents are Bill and Ortella Woodall, Rich Hill, Eula Mae Vickers, Nevada, and Bob and Doris Benell, Sun City, Ariz...

Mr. and Mrs. Eric and Sonja Ast, Würzburg, Germany, are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Cadence Elisabeth Ast. Cadence was born at 9:30 a.m., on Nov. 7, 2004, in Würzburg, Germany. She weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and measured 20 inches. She joins a brother, Aiden Ast. Paternal grandparents are Tom and Louise Ast. Paternal great-grandparent is Agnes Ast. Maternal grandparents are Edwin and Elisabeth Hofmann, Schweinfurt, Germany...

Arafat dies Yasser Arafat is dead, finally. Yasser Arafat was born in Cairo in 1929, although he lied about it and said he was born in Jerusalem. The fact that he lied about it shouldn't surprise anyone, Arafat clothed himself in lies his whole life. His whole public persona was built on a lie...

Writing our life story Hi neighbors. For those of you who are not writers, there is a tool in plotting called foreshadowing. Foreshadowing means inserting markers in a story that form the groundwork for some event that will happen later on in the plot. If you do this right, the reader will recognize the trail when he reaches the destination...

100 years ago: AD: Chamberlain's cough remedy is pleasant to take The finest quality of granulated loaf sugar is used in the manufacture of Chamberlain's Cough Remedy, and the roots used in its preparation give it a flavor similar to maple syrup, making it quite pleasant to take. ...

Nevada Herald Mr. and Mrs. Gary Colbert of El Dorado Springs, Mo., celebrated the first anniversary of their marriage on Oct. 25. Gary Colbert and the former Elizabeth Hart of Sheldon were married at the El Dorado Springs Gazebo on Oct. 25, 2003. Mr. ...

By Joe Warren Nevada Herald Nevada Tigers boys basketball coach John McNeley is looking to the upcoming basketball season with optimism. Who can blame him? McNeley returns two starters that could be big time players in the Southwest Conference and has a bevy of juniors and seniors to choose from with which he can fill in the blanks...

By Joe Warren Nevada Herald She signed her life away. At least that is what Hillary Adams' Nevada teammates told her after she signed a letter of intent Friday, to play basketball at Truman State University beginning next season. With family, friends, teammates and coaches in attendance, Adams signed the letter making the news official, meaning Adams will be playing in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association...

Missouri hunters had a big weekend, Nov. 6-7, and there is more to come. The Middle Zone opened for the duck hunters and if the action at Schell-Osage Wildlife Area is an example of the hunting in the zone, it was a great opening weekend...

There was no way I could see this coming. No one could. As long-time readers of this column know, I am particularly fond of four football teams. My autumn weeks are governed by how these teams perform in a given weekend. This has not been a good time for me...