Stories from Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Fort Scott, Kan. -- A judge sentenced David E. Shockey, 37, Fort Scott, to 11 years in prison on Friday for sexually molesting a 9-year-old girl. The question was never about if Shockey would go to prison but for how long. Bourbon County District Court Judge Mark Ward had to decide if he would go away for five years or 11 years...

Fort Scott, Kan. -- Many people agree that the last Monday in May is a day to remember America's fighting heroes; men and women who have died defending the United States and the freedoms it offers its citizens. But do many area non-veterans recognize the importance of Memorial Day, a day when millions of people across the country adorn gravesites with flowers or pay their respects in various other ways? Should the day be viewed as simply a three-day weekend where many people receive an extra day off from their jobs?. ...

The Missouri legislative session ended with a flurry of activity that sent several bills to the governor's desk. Some measures were hotly contested; others passed with heavy majorities in both the House and the Senate. Among the measures that passed were an abortion bill, banning people affiliated with abortion clinics from teaching sex education classes and allows abstinence-only sex education courses. ...

Fort Scott, Kan. -- Michaela Eileen Safford, age 4, granddaughter of Lester and Ruth Waring, Garland, will compete as a state finalist in the Miss Kansas Princess Pageant for girls 4-6, a National American Miss Kansas Pageant, on Aug. 10-11 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Wichita...

Norma Louise Johnson, 75 of Webb City, Mo., formerly of Pittsburg, Kan., died at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, May 24, 2007, at Webb City Health and Rehabilitation Center in Webb City, Mo. Norma was born February 23, 1932 in Goodman, MO to Merritt G. and Ethel A. (Carl) Swaim. She attended area schools, graduating from Ft. Scott High School with the class of 1950...

Our thanks to Anne Emerson for sharing the following airline stories:...

This is a "day of remembrance" that was established after and as a result of the American Civil War in which more than 620,000 American soldiers, sailors, marines and an unknown number of civilians died. Memorial/Decoration Day and Armistice/Veterans Day on Nov. 11, were and are the two days we as a nation remember our fallen warriors and family members...

Hi neighbors. While preparing for Memorial Day I wonder how many of us actually touch the tombstones when we place flowers on graves. Do you? Is a tombstone a memorial for the eyes and mind only, or is it a tangible reminder of your loved one? I remember going with my grandmother to cemeteries to place flowers for Memorial Day. ...

Mr. and Mrs. Bob Conner, Nevada, Mo., will observe their 50th wedding anniversary June 1, 2007. The Conners were married in 1957 at the Pine Street Baptist Church in Nevada and have lived in the present area since 1960, having previously lived in Wichita, Kan., and Sheldon, Mo...

Sarah Beth Lovinger, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Warren Lovinger, of Nevada, graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia on May 12, 2007, as a Doctor of Medicine. She is a 1999 graduate of Nevada High School and a 2003 graduate of Drury University in Springfield, Mo. Dr. Sara Lovinger will be entering a residency program in Internal Medicine this June at the Greenville Hospital System of Greenville, S.C...

Northeast Vernon County R-1 held their graduation ceremony at the Walker Campus Saturday afternoon, May 19, with a record crowd in attendance. In fact, there were so many cars on the road north of Walker that our son, Chet Foreman, who was planting corn in the field there, wondered if Highway 54 was closed for some reason. It's wonderful to see the support our youth receive. Graduation receptions were held from Walker to Schell City, and in all directions...

Wayne and I had a great yard sale on Friday, we got rid of almost everything, it was a joy, our yard sale was all FREE. We did have some real good stuff; now our garage looks much better. The best part was we didn't have to mark a price on anything...

My grandmother and my father always called it "Decoration Day," but the rest of the family called it Memorial Day. Perhaps because they were born in the 19th century rather than the 20th. But Decoration or Memorial Day doesn't date to World War I but rather to the Civil War when in April 1866, four young Mississippi women went to the cemetery to decorate the graves of their loved ones with garlands of flowers. ...

Columbia, Mo. -- You may have heard the term "Got Milk?" but you've probably never been asked "Got Vitamin D?" Milk is a major source of calcium; the mineral that is the building block of bones. But, to absorb calcium into the body, people need another vital chemical; vitamin D. Though some may drink a lot of milk, their bodies may not properly absorb the calcium because they don't have enough vitamin D...

Fort Scott, Kan. -- Mercy Health Center has recently upgraded its capability to read mammograms by using digital technology. Last Thursday, the hospital's Breast Imaging Center implemented digital mammography, a relatively new way of taking pictures of the breast to determine if women don't have signs of breast cancer...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Fort Scott High School senior Zak Al-Shawish advanced to Saturday's finals of the boys' 110-meter hurdles easily, recording a 15.43 in the second heat of Friday's preliminaries at the Kansas State Track and Field Championships at Wichita State University Friday...

NEVADA, Mo. -- John Hill III just said no. Hoping to return the Nevada Griffons to glory in his third season, the head coach took a new approach when putting together the 2007 roster. He stopped taking players with little collegiate experience. He quit allowing schools to send redshirt players, which in the past has saddled the Griffons with kids who hadn't played since they were in high school. ...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Jayhawk-Linn freshman Taylor Dawson's mark of 17 feet, 5 1/4 inches won the Class 3A long jump championship Friday, leading the way for the three Kansas area rural schools at the Kansas State Track and Field Championships. Dawson had just the eighth-best mark of all the qualifiers in regionals, a mark of 16 feet, 1/4 inch at Fredonia last weekend. She went 16-6 1/2 on her first attempt, then went 16-10 1/2 on her second to take the lead...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Nevada's girls' 4x100 meter relay team moved on to the finals at the Missouri Class 3 state championships Friday. The team of Katelyn Brier, Afton Baldwin, Taylor Means and Brittany Pettibon turned in a time of 50.93 seconds, finishing third in their heat and sixth overall. The top eight advanced to the finals...

MULVANE, Kan. -- Top-seeded Bishop Ward won its 37th consecutive game Friday afternoon and advanced in the Class 4A State Baseball Tournament with a 10-0 win over Fort Scott High School in the first round. Ward, from Kansas City, Kan., improved to 24-0. The Tigers ended their season at 8-5...

NEVADA, Mo. -- The Senior Men's League held a three-man scramble tournament at Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course May 17. Placing first was the team of David Grubb, Cecil Caldwell and Jack McElwain. Taking second were Don Hammontree, Ron Berryhill and Art Hawkins...

Nevada's John Shumaker hit a hole in one at Frank E. Peters Friday, May 18. Shumaker hit a 182-yard shot at Hole 4, using a 7-iron.

Nevada, Mo. -- Everyone has heard of Murphy's Law, which states that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. This law frequently haunts people starting new businesses, causing them many problems; but Rob Morris, president of Quick Vent Windows, which manufactures custom made windows for commercial and government buildings, said that since he opened his manufacturing company here about one year ago, Murphy's Law has never been a problem...

The Midwest Outlaw Lightning Sprints were here Saturday. The track was good, the weather cooperated and the racing was excellent with lots of close racing and a photo finish at the line in the Factory Stock Feature. This week is the Memorial Day Special with a purse of $2,500 to win the Modified Feature. This should really be exciting. We have regular nights of racing as well as many special races at the biggest little racetrack in the country...

David and Cathy Pentola, Pittsburg, Kan., announce the engagement of their daughter, Emily, to Brett Dalton, son of Loretta Dalton, Pittsburg, and Randy and Debbie Dalton, Mulberry, Kan. The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Edna Brooks and Glenna and the late Benne Pentola. She is a 2002 Girard High School graduate and a 2007 Pittsburg State University graduate with a degree in commercial graphics...

Stephanie Logan walked around the outside of the circle of chairs talking rapidly as she gestured to the group assembled in the Housing Authority office. "You need to understand how difficult it is for deaf people to interact with the hearing," Logan said...

"I want to hear the good news and the bad news," U. S. Senator Claire McCaskill said, speaking to a crowd of about 75 area veterans and other residents who filled most of the available chairs at Nevada's American Legion Leon Ogier Post No. 2 Tuesday afternoon...

May 25 was National Missing Children's Day. This day is dedicated to the joint effort of U. S. citizens to do everything in their power to stop the on-going, everyday problem of missing children. Between 1979 and 1981 a series of high-profile missing children cases became national headlines...

Memorial Day weekend was a busy one for vandals, thieves and burglars. Nevada police and Vernon County Sheriff's officers are investigating the thefts of golf course utility cart, a school bus and burglaries and a racetrack over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. ...

Gladys Delma Kenney passed away May 25, 2007, at Bates County Memorial Hospital. She was born on Nov. 15, 1910, in Rich Hill, to Claude McQuitty and Hilda Schultz McQuitty. Gladys graduated Rich Hill High School in 1929. She was united in marriage on Sept. ...

Calvin Clark Russell, 85, Nevada, Mo., passed away Saturday, May 26, 2007, at Nevada Regional Medical Center, Nevada. He was born Oct. 9, 1921, in Deerfield, to John Calvin Russell and Nellie Eunice Baynes Russell. He married Jeanette Pilcher from Milo, on Dec. 4, 1946. in Fort Scott, Kan., and she survives of the home after 60 happy years together...

James Allen Peterman was born Oct. 12, 1926, in Rich Hill, Mo., to Charles and Josephine Peterman, and departed this life on May 25, 2007, at the age of 80. He was a lifelong resident of the Rich Hill area. He is survived by his wife, Wanda, of 59 years; son Jerry and wife Bonnie of Lee's Summit, Mo.; son Terry and wife Sara, of Nevada; daughter Sheila and husband Jess Burrous, of Amsterdam, Mo.; son Kevin and wife Nancy, of Nevada; brother Charles and wife Beverly, of Nevada, and half-brother Louis Dungan and wife Linda, of Nevada; four grandchildren, six stepgrandchildren, four great-grandchildren and two stepgreat-grandchildren.. ...

Thomas R. Reedy Sr., 99, Nevada, Mo., died Sunday, May 27, 2007, at Moore-Few Care Center in Nevada. He was born Aug. 27, 1907, the third of 18 children in Vernon County, Mo., to Samuel J. Reedy and Martha Leland Mitchell Reedy. He was married April 19, 1941, in Vernon County, to Frances Marie Burris. She preceded him in death Dec. 22, 2003...

Annabelle Brooks, 97, Walker, Mo., passed away on Tuesday, May 29, 2007, at Cedar County Memorial Hospital, El Dorado Springs, Mo., following a brief illness. She was born July 2, 1909, in Nevada, to William Henry Harrell and Loretta Stout Harrell. On Aug. 15, 1947, she and Claude Brooks were married in Nevada, Mo. He preceded her in death in March of 1958...