Stories from Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The Nevada City Council has a number of items on its agenda for tonight's meeting; however, the most contentious item to face the council in recent years will be the first reading of a proposed contract to have Alliance Water Resources, Columbia, take over the management of the city's water and sewer operation...

It began over beers at AmVets Post No. 131 and soon escalated into home invasion and a cross-country kidnapping escapade that may keep four Vernon County men in prison until around 2040. Local construction contractor Roy Slates had put up $525,000 in a failed attempt to secure an $8 million line of credit some 10 years ago, and the trouble heightened when Slates aired his complaints to Doug Stangeland at the AmVets in September 2009, according to court records...

Alvin W. Dunn III, 39, of El Dorado Springs, Mo., was arraigned in the Associate Circuit Court of Vernon County on Monday, Dec. 20 on a single class C felony charge of making a terrorist threat. Dunn was read the charges against him and advised of his rights during the arraignment...

The muzzleloading portion of the 2010 deer season is under way and the Conservation Federation of Missourihas announced that they will pay the full processing costs on Share the Harvest deer that are harvested by muzzleloader methods during the upcoming muzzleloading season...

A fatal accident occurred one mile east of Metz on Thursday, Dec. 16. Peggy L. Westerhold, 79, of Rich Hill was killed when she lost control of the 1999 Buick Century she was driving westbound on Dalton Road. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol online crash report, Westerhold lost control of the vehicle in loose gravel and exited the left side of the roadway. ...

Members of Elks Lodge No. 564 prepare 111 Christmas gift baskets to be delivered Saturday morning to families that qualified through Community Outreach. The lodge raised $5,000 for the project on Thanksgiving and accepted donations from throughout the Nevada business community. From left are Jodi Bond, Jody Norcross, Tim Holmes, Connie Hartline, Sally Jones, Larry L. Brown, Jim Overton, Brett Meisenheimer, Chairman Blaine Diehl and Van Lechman...

About 100 people came into the Nevada Senior Center on Friday, Dec. 17, and gathered to say goodbye to Earl and Sylvia Ackley during a farewell luncheon held in the Ackleys' honor. Sylvia Ackley has been the Senior Center coordinator for five years and Earl has been there for six years as the coordinator for Disaster Services. ...

Sheldon and Bronaugh students are learning more about other parts of the United States and foreign countries when they come to Nevada to participate in Cottey College's international and cross-cultural SUCCEED curriculum. Inaugurated three years ago by the college's late VISTA volunteer services coordinator Linda Platt, the initiative has Cottey students writing lesson plans, planning arts and crafts projects, teaching languages, music and dancing and doing PowerPoint presentations...

Dorothy Mae Schulze, 66, Nevada, passed away Friday, Dec. 17, 2010, at St. Luke's Hospital, Kansas City, Mo., following a lengthy illness. She was born June 21, 1944, in Mulberry, Kan., to Fred W. Prettyman and Annabelle Portwood Prettyman. She was married Sept. 2, 1961, in Arcadia, Kan., to David E. Schulze, and he preceded her in death Aug. 29, 2010...

Dorothy Carole Warren, 87, Nevada, passed away on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, at her home in Nevada following an illness of several weeks. She was born June 8, 1923, in Mammoth Springs, Ark., to Ewing Hogan Kirby and Alice Owens Kirby. Dorothy was born in Mammoth Springs, Ark., and grew up there and in Nevada. ...

Virginia May (Bartkoski) Binder, 58, of El Dorado Springs, Mo., passed away Dec. 15, 2010. She was born Feb. 3, 1952, to Joe and Betty Bartkoski in Nevada, Mo. Virginia was the third child born in a family of 15 children. Virginia excelled in high school sports as well as academics and graduated from Alhambra High School in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1970. ...

Carl G. Belcher, 86, Nevada, died on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, at Culpepper Place in Nevada. Family information and funeral arrangements will be announced later by Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada. View obituary and send condolences on line at www.ferryfuneralhome.com...

Dear Editor Imagine you're six years old. Plucked from home for your own safety by badge-wielding strangers. Separated from siblings. Fate unknown. And it's Christmas. Nearly 10,000 Missouri children will spend Christmas in foster care. It's heartbreaking. ...