Stories from Thursday, December 24, 2009

Dec. 18 There were reports of nine paper services in the Vernon County area, a farm animal in the roadway in the Vernon County area, a petty theft in the Vernon County area, a harassment in the Vernon County area, a request to speak with a deputy in the Vernon County area, an attempt to contact in the Vernon County area, and gunshots heard in the Vernon County area...

One of the oldest jokes I can remember was one I heard from a relative at a family dinner. I was very young, but the joke made sense to me then just as it still does today. Here is the joke as I remember it. There were two fellows who went to see a parade in their town. In the front of the parade was a marching band. In the first row of the marching band was a fellow playing a trombone. Neither of these two fellows had ever seen a trombone before...

The week before Christmas when you are getting ready for family coming in is not the best time to discover a leaking pipe. It is especially bad to discover one that has been leaking for several days before it was discovered. To make matters worse, the leak was in tubing running to the icemaker in the refrigerator, but the tubing ran through the extra closet in our great-granddaughter's room...

Every community in Vernon County has a population of wild animals. Aside from the waterfowl found on ponds and lakes, songbirds and squirrels living in the trees and shrubbery and rabbits and rodents in the weeds and gardens and, yes, the occasional deer, found in Nevada and the smaller communities of the county, there is a rising population of feral cats. Yes, cats! Not alley cats or stray cats, but wild cats...

A state law that goes into effect Jan. 1 will exempt some Missourians from having to get safety inspections for newer vehicles. Beginning Jan. 1, motor vehicles are exempt from the safety inspection requirement for the first five years following the model year of manufacture. For example, a car made in 2006 will be exempt from the safety inspection through 2011...