Stories from Friday, January 16, 2004

Loreta V. "Reta" Goddard, 80, of Richards, Mo., died Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004, at Moore-Few Care Center in Nevada, Mo. She was born on March 3, 1923, the daughter of Albert Thomas and Rose Cash Thomas. Reta was a graduate of Richards High School. She married Earnest "Chub" Goddard on March 19, 1943, in Fort Scott, Kan. ...

Alice L. Backes, 89, of Nevada, Mo., formerly of Aurora, Colo., died Jan. 15, 2004, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. She was born on Feb. 21, 1914, in Bellwood, Neb., to Samuel and Versa Brandenburg McBeth. On July 16, 1946, she married Leland Backes in Columbus, Neb., and he preceded her in death in November 1978...

As previously reported in Wednesday's edition, the Cottey College Comets dropped a heartbreaker to Baptist Bible College 56-55 on Tuesday. On Monday night, the Comets hosted Southeastern College of Lakeland, Fla., a game added to the schedule in December to accommodate the visiting team while they were in the area for a tournament at Springfield, Mo. Southeastern won the tournament...

GOLDEN CITY, Mo. -- A strong finish lifted the Bronaugh Wildcats to a 52-39 win over Liberal in the Golden City Tournament on Thursday. The eighth-ranked Class 1 Wildcats broke a two-game losing streak while improving to 10-2. A stingy Wildcat defense limited the Bulldogs to two first-quarter points in the second-round contest...

100 Years Ago -- January 16, 1904 OIL STRIKE UPDATE- Major W.F. Lemmon is spending much of this time of late in the oil fields of Kansas where he has a large acreage of land. A big drill recently went down by Lemmon, on his own land, struck a gusher, the largest and heaviest flower in that district. Before the flow could be controlled, it sent out 100 barrels of oil in seven hours. At this rate, it would have flowed of something over 300 barrels a day...

Senior Judge David Darnold was sworn in to office as Vernon County presiding commissioner Thursday morning. A Democrat, Darnold replaces Republican Charles Johnson, who resigned as presiding commissioner to take a position with a local financial services company...

A Nevada man was killed Wednesday afternoon, when he was struck by a passing vehicle on U.S. 71 Highway in rural Bates County, near the Marais Des Cygnes bridge, between Butler and Rich Hill. According to a report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 37-year-old Luis Soto was struck and killed at about 4:20 p.m. ...

Missouri Representative Jerry King, Butler, announced Thursday that he does not intend to run for office in 2004. Instead, King said, he is endorsing Barney Fisher of Nevada as his predecessor in representing the 125th District. King used an open letter to his constituents as a means of formally making the announcement...

Nevada firefighters responded to a report of a possible fire at a home near Garfield and Ash, at about 3:30 Thursday afternoon, and found a smoldering car seat inside the garage. Firefighters believe welding sparks that landed on the seat some time earlier may have been to blame for the smoky incident. No injuries were reported...

A bicycle was donated by Wal-Mart to the first place essay writer in a contest marking the end of this year's Drug Awareness Resistance Education for young students. The winner turned out to be Jeremy Satterfield. Satterfield is presented with the award while school resource officer Lt. Pat McCarty looks on, during an assembly and DARE graduation ceremony at Truman Elementary on Thursday...

The Nevada Tiger freshmen team was defeated 63-44 by Webb City at Wynn Gymnasium on Thursday. Nevada (2-5), with leading scorer Drew Weatherly scoring eight first-quarter points, hung close at 16-12. Weatherly finished with a game-high 20 points. Turnovers plagued the Tigers in the second quarter and the Cardinals took advantage, extending the lead to 11 at 34-23...

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"When a fifth grader comes in from recess and tattles in English, you know you're making progress," said Julie Clark. Clark coordinates and administers the Nevada R-5 School District's English as a Second Language program, which currently serves seven children, up from three or four children just three years ago. One of the hallmarks of progress is when spontaneous, age appropriate behavior is exhibited in the classroom in English, indicating a high level of comfort with using the language...