Stories from Sunday, December 24, 2006

By Ralph Pokorny Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- Wednesday afternoon members of the newly-formed Vernon County Enhanced Enterprise Zone Board took the first step in acquiring new incentives for businesses to locate or expand in portions of Vernon County, by approving the boundary of the proposed Enhanced Enterprise Zone...

By Michael Glover Herald-Tribune Fort Scott, Kan. -- Two people in a paddleboat drift down the Marmaton River. Children on bikes ride along a trail near the shoreline of the river. Tourists explore plants inside a botanical garden. Those scenes aren't existent in Fort Scott, today. But they could be one day, thanks to a committee dedicated to making the Marmaton River an asset to the community...

By Brett Dalton Herald-Tribune Fort Scott, Kan. -- While Bourbon County and Southeast Kansas Regional Correction Center officials still ponder whether to remodel the current SEKRCC or build a new, off-site facility, they are now considering ways to house juveniles...

By Jason E. Silvers Herald-Tribune Fort Scott, Kan. -- The years of working in classrooms, sitting in on conferences with parents, and spending countless evenings grading homework, are now gone. These days, Fort Scott resident Shirley Palmer is getting ready for a change of pace as the newly-elected Southeast Kansas District 4 State Representative. ...

n Marine draws on inner strength and support of family and friends to recover from injuries suffered in Iraq. By Jennifer Johnson Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- As he approaches, dressed in jeans, with a black leather coat draped over his shoulders, the casual viewer might catch a glimpse of Trey O'Connell's casted arm be-neath his coat...

Rex W. Shade, 25, Leavenworth, Kan., passed away Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006. He was a devoted Harley Davidson motorcyclist, made models of cars, trucks, airplanes and anything that has a motor in it. He was a champion video gamer and devoted Jay Hawk fan. He was a friend to everyone who met him...

Lee Ann Forkner, 52, of Lostant, Ill., passed away Friday, Dec. 22, 2006, in her home after an extended illness. She was born in Louisiana, Mo., on Dec. 1, 1954, to Aaron Grant and Margaret Lee Cox Hemphill. She married Brad Forkner on June 17, 1977...

Hi neighbors. Merry Christmas! I hope you have all your shopping done and can just sit down, prop up your feet and keep an eye on your chimney. You might want to check out that plate of cookies and glass of cold milk while you're waiting. I remember when my children asked me how Santa got in to deliver toys if you lived in a house without a fireplace...

Some Christmases stand out above the rest, don't you think? When I was two years old, for instance, and my recently transplanted southern Ohio parents and I lived in Pelham Manor, a pleasant wartime New York suburb, I got on Christmas morning a black cocker spaniel puppy named Tony...

By Joe Warren Herald-Tribune CARTHAGE, Mo. -- Paden Bennett scored 31 points and Nevada committed 10 turnovers in the second quarter alone Friday as the Carl Junction Bulldogs ran away with the Carthage Invitational championship for the second straight year...

Herald-Tribune The Nevada Lady Tiger swimmers competed in the Carthage Iron Woman Pentathlon Tuesday. The Lady Tigers swam against athletes from Carthage, Joplin and Lamar. There were 45 swimmers in the field and each was required to swim all five events to be ranked in the final results...

It started with a streak of bad shooting while hunting with my two sons and an old friend. Both of the sons are under 40; the friend and I are on the backside of full Social Security retirement age. After we missed several easy shots at the pheasants, one of the impertinent youngsters wondered aloud how much our reflexes had slowed down since we had gotten older. ...

No one can doubt that it was long ago -- May 4, 1871 to be exact -- on a baseball field at Fort Wayne, Ind., where a team known as the Kekiongas played host to the Cleveland Forest Citys. The pitcher for Fort Wayne was a 19-year-old right-hander named Bobby Mathews, who faced Deacon White, a future Hall of Famer, to open the game...

Mark Twain had it right when he said, "If you don't like the weather in Missouri, just wait a while and it will change." Two weekends ago we were building snowmen and having snowball fights in the backyard. This past weekend we were having a family fish fry and playing games like croquet in the same backyard...