Stories from Friday, July 22, 2011

As sweltering hot weather continues, the city of Nevada and Vernon County Ambulance District are urging citizens to make a special effort to check on neighbors regularly -- especially those who may be more vulnerable to heat-related illness, such as senior citizens, young children and people with special needs...

Missouri's 8th Annual "Back-to-School" Sales Tax Holiday begins Aug. 5, providing all shoppers the opportunity to save money on clothes, computers and school supplies. By state law, the sales tax holiday begins on the first Friday in August and continues through the following Sunday. ...

Successfully running a hospital in this complex era boils down to being innovative to develop good information and being assertive without fear of mistakes, area managers were told at a Thursday seminar in Nevada. William "Bill" Ward, an administrator at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, urged officials to spend 25 percent of their time on accountability and 75 percent on improvement. "Management is about doing stuff," Ward said...

Workers for APAC construction of Springfield brave the 100-degree temperature to resurface streets in Nevada, Thursday afternoon. During the morning hours the crew worked on Walnut, Olive and Lee streets. Here they are at Sycamore Street where it intersects with Spring Street. ...

Otis Clyde Rider, 88, Nevada, died Wednesday, July 20, 2011, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., following an illness of several months. He was born Jan. 10, 1923, in Coldwater, Kan., to Clarence Percy Rider and Anna Belle Wait Rider. In 1945 he married Wilda Crawford and she preceded him in death in 2004...

Rebecca Sue "Becky" Blaser, age 56, of Lamar, passed away Wednesday, July 20, 2011, at Freeman Hospital West in Joplin. Becky was born Jan. 3, 1955, at Fort Scott, Kan., to Buzz and Juanita (Davis) Sinn. She graduated from Nevada High School in 1973 and earned a bachelor's degree from Missouri Southern in 1986. ...

July 13 Ricky Foster was arrested for shock incarceration. No bond. Christopher Bailey was arrested for hold. Bond is $172.50. Aaron Laur was arrested for probation violation. No bond. Pamela McRae was arrested for failure to appear. Bond is $1,588.08...