Stories from Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Larry Wayne Murphy, 50, Independence, Mo., passed away on Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, at his residence following a lengthy illness. He was born on June 22, 1965, in El Dorado Springs, Mo., to Jesse Burl Murphy and Ruby Joanne Woodling Murphy. Larry was raised in El Dorado Springs and Nevada and attended high school in Nevada. He has lived and worked in Kansas City for the past 20 years. He was an avid fisherman and loved spending time with his grandchildren...

Valner "Ray" O'Dell, 69, Nevada, Mo., passed away on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, at his home in Nevada, following a period of declining health. Ray was born May 14, 1946, in Midland, Texas, the son of Lowell and Wanda (Early) O'Dell. Ray graduated from Tampa College in Tampa, Fla., with a degree in criminal justice. He was a Vietnam veteran and married Donna Jean Maxson on Aug. 9, 1990, in Spring Hill, Fla...

Nevada Daily Mail The gym at the high school at Northeast Vernon County has received an upgrade over the summer. A group of theater seats, fully padded on the seat and back, complete with cupholders, has been installed at center court for patrons. These premium seats will be available starting this month with the varsity volleyball and junior high basketball season...

Nevada Daily Mail How long has this been going on and how did this get started? This is the third RESPECT Day. It began as a result of the Crisis Intervention Team having the desire to educate the community about the specialized training that local law enforcement officers have been completing to ensure that people in the community who are experiencing crises related to their mental health get the appropriate treatment...

Nevada Daily Mail The Hume School Board set the tax levy at the 2007 voter approved rate of $5.2592 at its August meeting, then voted unanimously that the levy be rolled back to $5 for the 2015-16 school year. Superintendent David Quick told the board that the district's July payment was "well above the estimated projection. We are in good shape and ready for the upcoming school year," he said of the school system's finances...

Nevada Daily Mail The Nevada City Council is looking at a short agenda for its first regular meeting of September at 7 p.m., in the council chambers in the city hall, 120 S. Ash St. Among the items under consideration will be the first reading of bills setting the dates for the 2016 council election and the filing dates for candidates, as well as a measure to reduce the number of parks board members from seven to five. ...

Nevada Daily Mail This summer the Terra McFarland the community center supervisor at the Franklin P. Norman City/County Community Center decided to expand on the Super Heroes program it operates with St. Mary's preschool to offer a similar program open to the community to do random acts of kindness around the town...

The veteran coaching tandem of Marsha Hooper and Gail Wilson will again lead Nevada's Middle School girls' volleyball teams this fall. Hooper will guide the seventh grade while Wilson will lead the eighth. For Hooper, this is her 34th year coaching; the last 11 at the seventh-grade level. For Wilson, it's her 32nd year coaching; the last seven at the eighth-grade level...

Robert Miner, entering his 13th year in coach, will be in his first season as head coach guiding this year's Nevada Middle School seventh and eighth grade football teams, with assistant coaches Brent Bartlett, Luke Clark, and Jake Stevenson. "We have great team chemistry and the boys love playing together," said Miner as he assessed this year's team...

Cottey opened its volleyball season with a tri-match split in Lexington, Mo. In their first match, the Comets fell to Wentworth in four sets 25-19, (25-16), 25-11, and 25-16. In game one against Wentworth, the Comets hitting percentage was 23 percent, game two 26 percent, while games three and four were both -3 percent...

Nevada Daily Mail A grand total of 91 cars signed-in Saturday to compete for cash and points as a full moon illuminated Nevada's I-49 Speedway dirt track. The exciting Mod-Lite division made its first ever appearance at the track, putting on a great show for race fans in attendance...

Nevada Daily Mail Kylie Boyd's complete-game gem lifted the Nevada Lady Tigers to a 3-1 road win over the El Dorado Springs Lady Bulldogs. The Monday evening victory improved Nevada to 5-4 overall. Boyd has looked increasingly sharp in the games following her recent freshman-debut last week against a tough McDonald County squad...