Stories from Tuesday, March 1, 2011

June Barttrum, 77, of Independence, Mo., passed away Feb. 23, 2011, at her home. June was born Dec. 2, 1933, in Walker, Mo., to Henry and Lola (McMillin) Belcher. She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 57 years, Elmer William "Bill" Barttrum; two sisters, Jessie Olive and Mae Neal; and her grandson, David Wayne Barttrum...

Charlene (Vogt) Smith, 60, formerly of Kansas City, Mo., and Rich Hill, Mo., and now of Sunrise Beach, Mo., died on Feb. 25, 2011, in Columbia, Mo. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, March 2, at 2 p.m., at the Heuser Funeral Home, Rich Hill, Mo., with family receiving friends from 1 p.m. until service time. Burial will be in the Balltown Cemetery, Horton, Mo...

Danny and Candaleah Creech of Nevada, and big sister Olivia Louann Creech are proud to announce the birth of their baby son and brother, Thomas Alexander Creech. Thomas was born at 11:05 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 9 pounds, 1 ounces, and measured 21 inches...

Des Dehon, 85, Nevada, was born in Arma, Kan., Feb. 26, 1926, and left his earthly home on Feb. 27, 2011. Des was the only son of Desire Sr. and Zoe (Vilet) Dehon, French immigrants. His parents both came to the United States as very young children, settling first near West Mineral, Kan., joining family working in the coal mines. After they were married, they moved to Arma, Kan., where Des and his three sisters attended school and his father continued to work in the mines...

Gary Yokley, 66, of Liberal, Mo., died Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011, at Barton County Memorial Hospital, after a sudden illness. Gary was born May 2, 1944, to Jake Orville and Fern Pauline (Short) Yokley at Nevada, Mo. He was a graduate of Liberal High School in 1962. ...

The National Weather Service and Vernon County Emergency Management are hosting the 2011 Vernon County Storm Spotter Training on Thursday, March 3, to promote severe weather safety and spotter awareness, at the 3M Clubhouse, 2120 E. Austin, beginning at 6:30 p.m...

The Nevada City Council will be looking four new ordinances dealing with the purchase of a variety of goods and services when they meet at 7 tonight in the Council Chambers in the Public Safety Building, 120 S. Ash St. The council will be considering the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the city manager to enter into negotiations with the three engineering firms being considered for the project to build new sidewalks between the Nevada Square and the High School. ...

On Sunday several dozen family members, friends, community members and representatives of a missing persons advocacy group held a rally in the parking lot of Nevada Auto Credit on East Austin Boulevard to honor Cheryl Ann Kenney, who disappeared from the Nevada convenience store next door to the car lot 20 years to the day before the rally...