Stories from Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Dorothy Todd, 73, Nevada, passed away Friday, Aug. 15, 2008, at the Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio, following a lengthy illness. She was born Jan. 22, 1935,, in Little Rock, Ark. Mrs. Todd lived the last 37 years as a resident of Nevada. She spent her last days in Cleveland, Ohio, with her sister and great-niece, Janice Flauto. ...

Beulah Gertrude (Bear) Gill, of Rich Hill, died on Aug. 18, 2008, at the Bates County Memorial Hospital, in Butler. Funeral services will be held on today, at 3 p.m., at Heuser Funeral Home, with pastor Carl Covey officiating. Interment will follow at Greenlawn Cemetery, in Rich Hill...

Betty JoAnn Cooper, age 75, a resident of Richards, Mo., died Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, at her home in Richards, following a cancer illness. She was born May 12, 1933, in Richards, Mo., the daughter of Clyde Rye and Frances V. "Toss" Norris Rye. She married Thomas G. Cooper on Dec. 25, 1949, at Richards. In addition to being a homemaker, Betty had worked for Wal-Mart, in Fort Scott, as head of the clothing department. She was known for helping the elderly of her community...

Not long ago, making room for new accessions in the Bushwhacker Museum's crowded, rather chaotic. archival and library space, this writer unearthed a thick sheaf of manuscript, reminiscent of a papyrus roll right out of the Great Library of Alexandria...

The Missouri Farm Bureau Straw Poll's track record is 100 percent accurate in forecasting the rural vote in the November elections and 80 percent accurate in forecasting the entire state. Missouri Farm Bureau again conducted a Straw Poll at the State Fair to determine who fairgoers would support for election. The Straw Poll included the race for the U.S. President and Missouri Governor...

Nevada's Walton Aquatic Center will be closing for the summer on Sunday, Aug. 24. The will be open for regular business hours every day through Thursday, Aug. 21. The Aquatic Center will be closed Friday, Aug. 22 -- the first day of school for students in the Nevada R-5 School District -- but will re-open for the weekend. Passes and coupons will be valid through this date...

The "2008 Missouri Beef Tour" is set for Vernon and Barton counties, Saturday, Aug. 30, according to Rex Ricketts, coordinator of the University of Missouri Extension Commercial Agri-culture Program. Car-tour groups will gather at 12:30 p.m. at the first farm, which is located about nine miles east of Nevada, Mo., off Hwy. K. The tour ends with a barbecue beef dinner served by the Liberal, Mo., FFA chapter...

The Nevada City Council deadlocked 2-2 Tuesday night on a resolution to start the process of allowing the city to sell beer at the Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course. And the council is also planning to consider either strictly enforcing the current ban on liquor consumption at the golf course, or get rid of the current ordinance...

The Nevada R-5 School district has approximately 375 employees -- teachers, administrators, maintenance and custodial staff. Nearly three-quarters of them signed up for a health fair the district's health insurer co-sponsored Tuesday. Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Freeman Hospital Screen Team, the Nevada Regional Medical Center and the Vernon County Red Cross had a variety of health care specialists on hand to give employees screenings and advice on managing their health, even a massage therapist was on hand to relieve back pain and tension.. ...

Former Nevada Daily Mail sports editor Kelly Bradham died at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Tuesday, at the age of 61. Bradham had spent 30 years as sports reporter and editor at the Daily Mail; and according to his sister, Cam Owens, was "a Nevada favorite." He was also a lifelong member of the Baseball Writer's Association of America...