Stories from Friday, January 9, 2009

Donald Eugene Leatherman, age 81, former resident of Vernon County, Mo., and more recently of Fort Scott, died Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, at the Mercy Health Center Emergency Room. He was born Sept. 2, 1927, in Arcadia, Kan., the son of Otis Leatherman and Pearl Lahman Leatherman. ...

Raymond "Cairl" Mills, 84, of Lamar, died at 12:15 p.m., on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, at Barton County Memorial Hospital, in Lamar. Funeral services will be held today, at 2 p.m., at Konantz-Warden Funeral Home Chapel, with Lonnie Pennell officiating. Interment will be in Lake Cemetery, in Lamar. Memorials may be given to the donor's choice, or the Arthritis Foundation...

Leslie Craig Hill, 56, of Springdale, died Jan. 6, 2009, at Washington Regional Medical Center, in Fayetteville, Ark. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 10, at Sisco Funeral Chapel, in Springdale, with the Rev. Stacy Billins officating. Burial will be at a later date...

Johonna Blocher and Jeff Courtney, of Nevada, are proud to announce the birth of their son Jayden Wayne Courtney. Jayden was born at 9:58 p.m., on Nov. 14, 2008, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 9 pounds, 6 ounces, and measured 23 inches...

Republican Sen. Kit Bond announced Thursday that he won't seek re-election in 2010, saying he does not ''aspire to become Missouri's oldest senator.'' Bond, 69, made the announcement while addressing state legislators at the Missouri Capitol. He was ushered into the House chamber as a special guest, ascended the dais and delivered a speech urging bipartisanship and recounting his career priorities...

An organizational meeting for the Vernon County 2009 Winter Point In Time Homeless Count will be held at the Crawford House, 1117 N. West St., Tuesday, Jan. 13, at noon. All volunteers and/or organizations interested in participating in the annual count are asked to have representation at the meeting...

With the Missouri General Assembly convening today, MoDOT announced its top priority for 2009 is to save 90 lives per year by strengthening Missouri's safety belt law to allow for primary enforcement. Of more than 500 Missouri traffic laws, the current safety belt law is the only one that has a secondary enforcement provision -- a driver must break another law first before they can be cited for a safety belt violation...

Well they are at it again in the Middle East. Just when many Americans felt that we were going to spend our time and energy trying to fix our economy, this historical battle flared once again. I am very uncomfortable in thinking about what I am about to say, but the times require it. I think it is time we begin treating these people like the Amalekites of ancient history...