Stories from Sunday, July 16, 2006

Kelsey Hammontree, her own cancer in remission for four years, participates in annual Relay For Life to help others. By Steve Moyer Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- She's only 10 years old but she has already spent nearly half her life as a cancer survivor. Kelsey Hammontree, daughter of Joe and Leonette Hammontree, had a very rare cancer -- Rhabdomyosarcoma -- that manifested behind her left eye and caused her to lose much of the sight in that eye...

Herald-Tribune Skyrocketing temperatures across the area are posing a real danger of heat-related illness. With a warm front pushing up from the south, temperatures are expected to climb into the high to low 100s by Sunday, increasing the chance of heat related illness...

By Jason E. Silvers Herald-Tribune Fort Scott, Kan. --Items topping the Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees agenda on Monday include the election of officers for the 2006-'07 school year and the scheduling of a hearing to discuss the college's nearly $12 million budget...

By Nancy Malcom Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- Marsha Martin has returned to Nevada again to present a program of music and enjoyment. She produced a widely popular show last year and this year promises to even top that one. Born in Nevada, Martin now lives near Boston with her husband and son. Each year she returns in the summer to visit her hometown...

Herald-Tribune Skyrocketing temperatures across the area are posing a real danger of heat-related illness. With a warm front pushing up from the south, temperatures are expected to climb into the high to low 100s by Sunday, increasing the chance of heat related illness...

By Steve Moyer Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- Nevada resident Zach Greenlee has spent three years at Central Missouri State in Warrensburg majoring in history and minoring in philosophy. He also has spent time putting his faith into practice. During each of his spring breaks, he has gone on mission trips sponsored by Christian Campus Houses, two to Boston and one to Florida...

By Joe Warren Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- Following the old adage that a steer peaks between 1,200 and 1,300 pounds, Kristin Dilly won the junior steer show at the Vernon County Youth Fair when her 1,250-pound calf was chosen out of more than 80 entries Friday...

By Lynn A. Wade Herald-Tribune As the Vernon County Youth Fair winds down, 4-H and FFA members, and many of their families and other adults, are turning their attention to the next event. Soon, many local residents will be in the ring again, at the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield. After that comes the biggest fair in the state -- The Missouri State Fair...

Mr. and Mrs. Shan Lanham, Nevada, and Briannah are proud to announce the birth of their son and brother, Conner Quentin Lanham. Conner was born at 8:28 a.m., July 10, 2006, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces, and measured 20.5 inches...

Hi neighbors. Have you taken your vacation yet? I just wonder how many of us actually do the "road trip" vacations any longer. You know, the kind where you pack the kids in the back seat, food in the trunk and luggage on top of the car and head out to see the country...

Thomas Paine wrote in The American Crisis, "These are the times that try men's souls: the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country but he that stands at now, deserves the love and thanks of man and women." Paine, of course, was referring to the common practice of soldiers going home to tend the farms whenever the need arose...

Very often, during the Civil War irregular forces such as partisan rangers, guerrillas, bushwhackers and redlegs were armed with better weapons than the opposing Union or Confederate soldiers. This was not unusual because members of the irregular forces could individually purchase better weapons on the open market, take them from prisoners or dead enemy soldiers, rob or steal them from civilians. ...

Robert Eshelbrenner and Sandra Dudley announce the approaching marriage of their son, Sale Eshelbrenner, to Sara E. Bultman, daughter of Andrew and Kathleen Bultman of Harbor Springs, Mich. The bride-to-be is a Kansas University graduate and a Spanish teacher at Pembroke Hill High School in Kansas City, Mo...

Christine Copeland, Nevada, announces the engagement and upcoming marriage of her daughter, Sara Katherine Copeland, to Mark Joseph Galus, son of Joseph and Dolly Galus, Nevada. Ms. Copeland, a 1995 graduate of Nevada High School, received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 and earned a Master's in City Planning from MIT in 2000. She is currently a project manager with Planning Works, an urban planning consulting firm, and resides in Kansas City...

Amy Wiltse and Adam Tourtillott announce their engagement and approaching marriage on Aug. 5, 2006. The bride-elect, daughter of Joy Wiltse, is a graduate of Fort Scott High School and a 2002 graduate of Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. She is currently employed by Mercy Health Center...

Arnett and Eleanor Allen were married June 23, 1946, at the First Baptist Church in Nevada, Mo. They have two children, Dianne Bruce of Conroe, Texas, and Wayne Allen of Ogden, Utah; six grandchildren and severn great-grandchildren. A family dinner in their honor was held at their daughter's home in Conroe...

L. Joe and Kathy Rayburn observed their 35th wedding anniversary on July 10, 2006. They were married July 10, 1971, at the Horton United Methodist Church. The Rayburns have three daughters, Kathi Jo Cain, her husband, Jerry, and children Kieran and Keilah, Milo, Mo.; Angie Rayburn-Piper, her husband Tom, and children Spencer, Tucker and Sawyer, San Jose, Ill.; and Shannon Rayburn, San Jose, Ill...

By Scott Nuzum Herald-Tribune PITTSBURG, Kan. -- Two area athletes will represent their schools in the 2006 Kansas Shrine Bowl at Pittsburg State University July 29. Stephen Doherty, a running back and defensive back from Fort Scott High School, and Jason Toms, a quarterback/defensive back from Pleasanton, will play in the 33rd renewal of the all-star football game held each year to benefit Shriners Hospitals, including the one in St. Louis...

By Joe Warren Herald-Tribune NEVADA -- A fabulous freshman season for Lacy Leonard at Cottey College finally came to an end last weekend when the 5-11 forward added another feather to her cap by playing in a pair of NJCAA all-star games in Lubbock, Texas...

Courtney Carpenter (left) and Jolee Sharp, both of Fort Scott, were selected to the high school all-star team at the women's basketball camp held at the University of Kansas, June 25-28. Sharp and Carpenter played on opposing teams in the all-star game. This is the second consecutive year that both players were selected by the women's camp coaching staff at KU. Also on the team but not pictured were Devon Grillot and Karley Nelson of Fort Scott...

Herald-Tribune NEVADA -- The Nevada Griffons were scheduled to be home today as they host the Derby Twins in a Jayhawk League doubleheader at Lyons Stadium. The Griffons are trying to snap a seven-game league losing streak after being swept in Liberal, Kan., in five games last week...

The only possible way to salvage some good of mostly bad is to be the worst. If you're the worst, at least you're No. 1 at something. That, my friends, is why I pity the Kansas City Royals. They don't stand a chance of being the worst ever, especially after their recent hot streak...

At the recent Outdoor Writers of America Association conference in Lake Charles, La., writers found an interesting item that was more than just another fish story -- a million-dollar tackle box. MacDaddy's fishing lures, Inc., has manufactured retail fishing products including solid gold and diamond lures that have the suggested retail prices that range from $800 to $1 million, as well as jeweled flies that range from $900 to $12,000. ...

Local area winners from Nevada Speedway July 8 were Shawn Hendren (above) and Kevin Morrow (below). Hendren won the Factory Stock Feature, his fifth win of the season. Morrow won the Modified race, his second Feature victory of the year.