Stories from Sunday, February 17, 2008

Hi neighbors. Is it spring or winter? This weather has me more confused than ever...and that's pretty confused! At least we are having a few warm days here and there and that's always good. Nice weather makes us all think of having a few more days off of work...

For many southwest Missouri producers the hay stack looks a lot smaller this year than it has in years past. But unless a producer is planning on getting out of the business they might want to consider how they're going to stretch that hay stack until spring...

Save the date of Saturday, March 1 for a Grandparents' Resource Fair in Vernon County. Learn more about children's literacy, how to be involved in children's schooling, legal issues, tax assistance, and more! This free fair will be held from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. ...

Who becomes the next sheriff of Bourbon County won't be decided until the general election in November. But judging by the number of people who have already filed, there seems to be much interest in the chief law enforcement position in the county. Three people have filed for sheriff. ...

Facing 12 charges involving illegal hunting activity and receiving stolen property, a Vernon County man fired his attorney with a plea bargain already on the table. Brian Barnett, 31, Metz, is facing 11 class A misdemeanors and one class C felony for his alleged role in the illegal hunting, tagging, transporting, labeling, possession and checking of several deer, failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, possessing marijuana and the theft of $1,000 worth of aluminum irrigation pipe...

Hope is a theme that resonates in today's headlines. For soldiers of the First Kansas Colored Infantry, the hope of freedom inspired them to join the ranks of the Union Army in Fort Scott during the Civil War. These warriors marched to glory, as they became the First African American regiment to defeat the Confederate Army in combat, according to a statement from the Fort Scott National Historic Site...

Chandler and Janette Troupe, of Bronaugh, and siblings Kiarra Leann Wallace and Isabella Raylene Troupe, are proud to announce the birth of their daughter and baby sister, Ariana Paige Troupe. Ariana was born at 7:11 p.m., on Dec. 11, 2007, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. She weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and measured 20 1/2 inches...

Jason and Kelly Ast, of El Dorado Springs, are proud to announce the bith of their son Alex Wayne Ast. Alex was born on Jan. 31, 2008, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces, and measured 23 inches. Maternal grandparents are Terri and Dick Meyers, of Nevada...

Iva Florence Reeder, 99, of Uniontown, passed away Friday, Feb. 15, 2008, at the Mercy Health Center. She was born Dec. 15, 1908, in Golden, Mo., the daughter of James Thomas and Sarah Elizabeth (Wright) Tackkett. Her family came to Kansas in 1914 by covered wagon, to the Dry Ridge area near Uniontown. She married Clyde Adron Reeder April 6, 1932, in Nevada. He preceded her in death Sept. 17, 1982. She was a member of the Sunshine Club of Dry Ridge...

Frances Rebecca "Becky" Murn, age 88, former resident of Fort Scott and more recently of Country View Nursing Home, in Prescott, died Friday, Feb. 15, 2008, at Fort Scott Mercy Health Center. She was born June 15, 1919, in Big Sandy, Tenn., the daughter of Perry and Stella Greer. ...

Since roughly age 11, I've had an incorrigible attraction to books. My father's Heritage Club selections; my mother's hardback Harper mysteries. In my teenage years, the first thing I bought with my first paycheck, for running various errands around New York City on my first big-time summer job, for American Oil Company, in 1957, was, of course, a book: The Wapshot Chronicle, the recently-published, award-winning novel by The New Yorker magazine's John Cheever. ...

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Kori Page Rienbolt and Elizabeth Meech must have had some sort of mental connection going Friday night. In the overtime period of a battle for second place in the Southeast Kansas League battle with Iola, Rienbolt found Meech for easy layups on a couple of occasions as the Tigers went on to a 62-59 victory...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- After 28 total matches against 51 schools, Nevada's hopes of bringing home a state finals championship trophy lays in the hands of two Tiger wrestlers. Ryan Herda and Spencer Daniels are the final two Nevada High School wrestlers with an opportunity to bring home the championship...

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Alex Barner paced Fort Scott High's attack with 24 points as the Tigers rolled over Iola, 58-36, in Southeast Kansas League play at the FSHS gymnasium Friday night. This was the Tigers' 36th consecutive victory over Iola, which hasn't beaten the Tigers since February 1985...

Friday's games GIRLS Southeast Kansas League Chanute 48, Pittsburg 44 Coffeyville 41, Parsons 33 Labette County 62, Columbus 30 Fort Scott 62, Iola 59 Southwest Conference Carthage 60, McDonald County 43 Webb City 58, Nevada 40 Three Rivers League Uniontown 45, Crest 33...

Learning to use a fish locator. Like a lot of anglers, I'll never forget my introduction to fish locators. A fishing friend, Jim Campbell, had his 18-foot fishing boat tethered in a slip at the Mutton Creek Marina on Lake Stockton. Along with a lot of fishing gear and assorted electronic doohickies and doodads, Jim had a state-of-the-art fish-finder...