Stories from Tuesday, November 19, 2013

COLUMBUS, Kan. -- The Nevada Middle School wrestling team saw its first action of the season Saturday, competing in the Columbus Tournament. Head coach Robert Watts' squad fared very well on the day, finishing in fourth place or better in seven different A-bracket weight classes. Two of those seven finishes were championships, won by Colton Shepard, at 95 pounds, and Caleb Longobardi, at 180...

NEOSHO -- The Cottey College Comets basketball team entered the Crowder Classic tournament, Friday and Saturday, hoping to keep up their winning ways and get above the .500 mark for the season. That didn't happen, however, as the Comets simply couldn't find their rhythm and ultimately lost both of the games they played in the tournament...

ST. PETERS, Mo. -- The Nevada High School boys' swim team entered the opening day of the 2013 Missouri State High School Activities Association Boys' Swimming and Diving Championships with high hopes, but at the same time, a lot of questions. Though the Tigers were able to qualify every member of the five-man team for the state meet, in two different events, two of those five swimmers were freshmen. ...

Laura Alverda (Edwards) Weak, 75, went to walk with Jesus on Nov. 17, 2013. She was born on June 8, 1938, to Robert (Bob) and Melissa Viola (Jones) Edwards. After a short time in Kansas City, the family returned to the Osceola area in 1945. Alverda attended Red Rock and Lewis grade schools and the Osceola High School...

Donna Anne (Barnes) Ellis, 58, of El Dorado Springs, Mo., passed away at her home Friday, Nov. 15, 2013. Donna was born Feb. 16, 1955, at Camp Crowder, Mo. Donna graduated from Walker High School in 1973. She moved to El Dorado Springs, Mo., in 1980, and worked at Tri-County Bank for 20 years. She then worked at KAMO Power for eight years, up until her passing...

Christi Marie Sutton, 45, of El Dorado Springs, Mo., passed away at Mercy Hospital, in Springfield, Mo., on Friday, Nov. 15, 2013. Christi was born Dec. 26, 1967, to Gene and Louise Lasley. She attended El Dorado Springs High School and after graduation went on to Northwest Missouri State University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in agriculture marketing...

Nominations are being accepted for the January election of the Vernon County University of Missouri Extension Council members, according to Council Chairman Virginia Habjan. Council members are elected or appointed to two-year terms and may not serve more than two consecutive terms. Nominees must be at least 18 and must reside in the district from which they are selected. Nominations must be made prior to Dec. 11...

The University of Missouri Extension Council in Vernon County is cancelling its annual holiday open house. The event has been held annually every year, except for one, since 1989. Reduced funding the past several years has resulted in the council using reserved funds and those funds are being depleted with office expenses, noted Pat Miller...

A Kansas City Power and Light spokesperson said that a squirrel got into the system and shut down power for nearly 4,300 customers in Nevada on Monday morning. The outage lasted less than an hour.

Nevada Daily Mail Lou Steele donated $10,000 to Bronaugh School District R-7 science department at the Board of Education meeting Thursday. "We've ordered lab tables and equipment," superintendent Lyle Best said. In other business, the board members were presented the 2013 audit with revenue up 2.8 percent...

Editor's note: During Hicks time in El Dorado Springs, he spent several years working at the Nevada State Hospital. By Kate Prengaman Courtesy Yakima Herald-Republic Back in February 1945, Yakima, Wash., resident Muriel "Merle" Hicks, a resident of El Dorado Springs from the 1970s until 2010, spent three days hiding in a hole outside of the German city of Duren, while hundreds of German soldiers set up position in trenches around him...

Nevada Daily Mail The 2013 street construction went pretty well, although the bids were higher than expected, Roger Beach, public works director, told the infrastructure committee during its meeting Thursday evening. "The hot mix was really good," Beach said...

Nevada Daily Mail The Nevavda City Council will be considering the first reading of an ordinance accepting the $3.8 million bid from R.E. Smith Construction Co., Joplin, for the construction of a new fire station at the northeast corner of Adams and Cherry streets and adding a new police station to the west side of the city hall and adding a new municipal court facility and council chambers on the south side of the city hall when it meets at 7 p.m. ...