Stories from Thursday, May 1, 2008

Meghan Tymeson and Lane Blankenship, of Nevada, and siblings Jana and Chaunda Blankenship, Tara Barker, Russel, Derek, Brayden and Clifford, Blankenship, J.R. Maggard, and Nathan Bumbaugh, are proud to announce the birth of their son and baby brother David Alexander Blankenship. David was born at 8:09 a.m., April 28, 2008, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces and measured 19 1/2 inches...

Gale Boatman Owings, age 76, of Springfield, Mo., formerly of Nevada and Jenkins, Mo., passed away Monday, April 28, 2008, in his home. He was born March 12, 1932, in Oak Grove, Mo., the son of Charles and Mary Ethel (Blucher) Owings. On May 24, 1964, he was united in marriage to Lavonne Wilson, who preceded him in death on Jan. 9, 2003. He was also preceded in death by his parents and two brothers...

April 27 There were reports of a traffic stop in the Nevada area, a traffic stop in the Nevada area, a careless and imprudent driver in the Lawernce County area, an alarm in the Nevada area, a theft in the Nevada area, a civil matter in the Sheldon area, a check well being in the Nevada area, a found item in the Schell City area, a controlled burn in the Milo area, a suspicious vehicle in the Moundville area, a vehicle rollover in the Montevallo area, and a traffic hazard in the Compton Junction area.. ...

No wonder Americans are so hungry for change. We are being squeezed by record gas prices that are also driving up the costs of food and anything else that is transported to stores. Home energy bills are rising. Oil companies continue to reap record profits and get huge tax breaks from the U.S. government. We continue to rely on foreign countries for oil. The economy is tanking and people are losing their jobs...

Weekends are looked forward to by most persons as a time to relax or do something entertaining. Another value of weekends is a chance to catch up on work you didn't get done during the week. Family visits also often happen over the weekend. I'm not sure what category I fit into. The last two weekends have been a mixture of work, pleasure, visiting, excitement and stress. I know each time I was glad to see Monday come with its routine...

An obscure bill regulating corporate finance was the subject of an educational insert in the Nevada Regional Medical Center's board of directors information packets. Sarbanes-Oxley was created in response to several corporate accounting scandals such as Enron and WorldCom but did touch on not-for-profit entities as well...

Results from the WEMO conference meet -- Boys' team is the 2008 conference champion -- 4x200 meter relay 1. Tony Rich, Tyler Ryser, Ryan Brocka, Sam Steiger, 1 minute 37.90 seconds 4x100 meter relay 1. Tony Rich, Tyler Ryser, Ryan Brocka, Rusty Thomas, 46.30 seconds...

Cottey basketball added its sixth recruit for the 2008-09 season with the signing of Amanda Sanders, a 6-foot point guard from Bentonville High School in Bentonville, Ark. Sanders averaged 11.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, with a career high of 26 against Cabot in the first round of the Arkansas state playoffs. She received three post-season awards in her senior year and was the Northwest Arkansas Fellowship of Christian Athletes Female Athlete of the Year...

Hume baseball made short work of Montrose Monday evening in an 18-0, five-inning run rule victory. Junior Ryan Austin recorded his second no-hitter of the season, allowing three walks with 13 strikeouts. Austin has allowed only four earned runs in 30 innings this season with 61 strikeouts. He was a unanimous selection as the No. 1 pitcher for the all-district team of Class 1, District 13...

Ruth Prewitt, daughter of Wayne and Teresa Prewitt, Walker, has been accepted into a summer program at the University of Missouri-Columbia's Missouri Scholars Academy. The academy is an intensive three-week program offering a variety of courses for students to take. Only 330 of Missouri's best students participate in the program per year...

At younger and younger ages, children and teens in the juvenile justice systems of many states are condemned to long terms at large youth detention centers and adult prisons. They languish in cells surrounded by walls and razor wire. Often they are locked down for long periods of the day with no real opportunities for rehabilitation, treatment or education. ...