Stories from Friday, November 25, 2011

Local citizens are conducting a winter outerwear drive for needy persons in Joplin, or for those in or closer to Nevada in need as well. All sizes of new or gently used coats, scarves and gloves for men, women and children are being accepted, now through Dec. 15 at Lifestyle Real Estate, 319 N. Osage, Nevada, primarily to be distributed to Joplin tornado victims who lost everything...

An annual holiday tradition returns again this year as Nevada Regional Medical Center hosts its Holiday Festival, 1-4 p.m., Dec. 4. During this event, area children will have the opportunity to get their picture with Santa, hear a story from Mrs. Claus, make crafts, get a holiday tattoo, play games, and decorate cookies...

Business owners, investors and economists will be watching anxiously this weekend for important signals from shoppers about the slowly improving national economy. Black Friday has become retail's biggest day of the year and is seen by many as a harbinger for a season in which many retailers earn more than half of their annual revenue...

The Vernon County University Extension Center now has the order forms for seedling trees and shrubs. These seedlings, grown by the Missouri Department of Conservation, are sold to persons desiring to make conservation plantings. Plantings may be made for such purposes as Christmas trees, the production of wood products, wildlife food and cover, windbreaks, erosion control, nut production or beautification. ...

Editor's note: This is the first of a series of stories about how area cities got their names. Look for more stories in upcoming editions of the Nevada Daily Mail. There are notable dissimilarities between Nevada and the town it was named after, Nevada City, Calif., but the two municipalities have a number of things in common...

The scene of this accident at the intersection of East Austin Boulevard and Johnson Drive on Wednesday afternoon is hectic. Vernon County Ambulance District personnel prepare a passenger of one vehicle for transport, a Nevada police officer measures the scene, a Nevada firefighter talks to the driver of one vehicle and a wrecker driver cleans debris from the roadway while traffic is streaming by on both sides. ...

The annual Lights at the Lake drive through display opened Wednesday evening and will be open through Dec. 31 from 5:30 to 10 p.m. nightly, weather permitting. There is no charge, however, volunteers from various civic organizations will be on hand nightly to collect donations, which are split between the organization and the city. ...

The Nevada High School girls tennis team held its annual banquet recently to celebrate the 2011 season. From left to right, senior Lauren Phillips received the Four-Year Player Award; sophomore Jessica DeCocq received the Most Improved Player Award; senior Leah Creasy received the Most Valuable Player Award; and sophomore Lizzy Smith received the Tiger Cub Award. The Tigers went 7-8 for Coach Samantha Short and Assistant Ron Delrosario...