Stories from Saturday, December 29, 2007

Elsie Marie Jennings, age 88, Overland Park, Kan., passed away Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007, at her daughter's home in Colleyville, Texas. A celebration of her life will be 2 p.m., Monday, Dec. 31, at D. W. Newcomer's Sons Johnson County Chapel, 11200 Metcalf, Overland Park, Kan. A gathering of family and friends will be held 3 to 5 p.m., Sunday at the chapel. Graveside services will be 1 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 2, at Uniontown Cemetery, Uniontown, Kan...

Hi neighbors. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Now is the week to just sit and digest all that food, play with all those new toys or gadgets and prepare yourself for New Year's Eve. It might be a good time to ponder our years past and plan our years to come. Sip some coffee or hot cocoa and let your memories bring to life people and beloved pets from your past...

By Sanho Tree Institute for Policy Studies With every passing year the drug problem seems to get worse. The U.S. government responds by pumping billions more dollars into the war on drugs. Federal spending for this "war without end" is more than twenty times what it was in 1980 and still the drug traffickers appear to be winning. Despite more than six billion dollars spent on "Plan Colombia" alone, cocaine production has actually increased in that country...

Some thoughts recently received from a Texas friend:...

Nevada, Mo. -- The Nevada Parks Board is trying to find a way to get the best community center they can for the $3 million that will be available for that purpose from the city's 1/2-cent parks and recreation capital improvement sales tax. Unfortunately, that is not enough money to build a new facility like the one the city currently has, let alone one that is larger, with more gym space and other amenities...

Nevada, Mo. -- As the holidays come to a close, this time of year often brings a family's financial picture into clarity. The end of the year looms and realization strikes that the family budget, if there is one, is in tatters. Debts have piled up until they threaten to overwhelm you. What to do?...

Nevada, Mo. -- A reduction of bond was denied Thursday for a Harwood resident who is accused of sex crimes against a young girl. Phillip Miller, 24, stood before Judge Neal Quitno in the Vernon County Circuit Court facing 2 Class C felony charges. The charges consisted of second degree statutory rape and second degree statutory sodomy...

Nevada, Mo. -- After nearly 28 years in Nevada, Dr. William Turner is calling it quits -- sort of. After Jan. 1, Turner will no longer be doing surgeries. Instead, he will concentrate on working in the Nevada Regional Medical Center Wound Clinic. Turner started at the Nevada Medical Clinic in August 1980 and currently serves as the chief of surgery and medical director of the Wound Clinic. He also sits on the NRMC board of directors...

Fort Scott, Kan. -- All banks, city, county and federal offices in Fort Scott will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1, in observance of New Year's Day holiday. All city of Fort Scott offices will be closed but reopen at 8 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 2. The Bourbon County Courthouse and the county transfer station will be closed, as well. It will reopen at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 2...

Nevada, Mo. -- The Vernon County Historical Society members are always busy at the Bushwhacker Museum and Old Jail. Although the official season is over, there are always people hard at work getting the museum ready for the next season. It isn't just the artifacts and exhibits that require work, but the maintenance of the physical buildings as well...

August is brutal in Wichita, Kan. The sun beats down through cloudless blue skies and the hot, dry wind blowing across the dry brown prairie offers little relief from the 100 degree temperatures, other than to evaporate the sweat dripping from the young and not-so-young bodies toiling on the green field preparing to do battle with other armored opponents in the coming weeks...

While fishing at Mutton Creek on Stockton Lake last week, Dan Howard, pointed out a bald eagle perched in a tall tree near the marina. "We are starting to see a lot of bald eagles around the lake this month," he said. Just in time for the 12th annual Eagle days tour that will be held on Jan. ...

Nevada, Mo. -- Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman reported Saturday that 29-year-old Matthew Young of Nevada died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Friday. At approximately 11:51 a.m., dispatchers received a call of a potential suicide. Deputies Miller and Kent responded to the call, a short distance north of Nevada at Young's home. ...