Stories from Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Billy Joe Owens, 77, of Joplin, Mo., passed away Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, at his home. He was born on Aug. 18, 1938, in Vernon County, Mo., the son Margaret "Brown" Owens. He graduated from Bronaugh R-7 High School, and then the National Association Joint Trading for Electrical IBEW...

Billy Bruce Stroud, 83, of Nevada, Mo., died Feb. 15, 2016, at Freeman West Hospital in Joplin, Mo. Graveside services with military honors will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Milo Cemetery in Milo, Mo. Full obituary to follow later. View obituary and send condolences online at www.ferryfuneralhome.com...

Nevada Daily Mail The Sheldon FBLA prepared for the celebration of National FBLA Week, which ran Feb. 8-12. Plans were made by the members to do something special each day of the week. President Zoey Bray had several suggestions and with the approval from the members, special events for the week were:...

Nevada Daily Mail In a fairly fast-paced school board meeting at Sheldon R-8, the school board set dates for graduation and other end of the year activites. The senior class sent a letter to the board, requesting the school board consider graduation on Saturday, May 7, at 5 p.m. ...

Nevada Daily Mail The Nevada Police Department will continue to have a career detective who is dedicated to investigating violence against women, with the acceptance of a $70,031.85 Stop Violence Against Women grant from the Missouri Department of Public Safety. The grant pays 75 percent of the cost of an officer for a 24-month period, with the city providing $23,343.95, or 25 percent of the cost. The city first received this grant in 2014...

Nevada Daily Mail Week before last on Tuesday and again on Friday, homes were endangered by grass fires driven by high winds. On Feb. 2, a fire on K Highway near Dederick came within one foot of a house. On Feb. 5, a fire on the south side of Whitworth Road, west of 1725 Road, endangered at least three houses and jumped across one road setting the field on fire on the north side of Whitworth road...

Nevada Daily Mail Due to the dry and windy conditions, the Nevada Fire Department has suspended all outdoor burning within the city limits until further notice. This ban includes individuals who utilize a burn barrel for outdoor burning. Until a substantial amount of rain is received and the forecast wind speeds are within the fire department's policy guidelines outdoor burning is prohibited...

The Top-seeded Nevada Tigers seventh-grade basketball team rolled to a 43-25 victory over No. 5 seed Joplin North, in the semifinals of the Tri-County Tournament Tuesday evening in Webb City. The Tigers were led by Logan Applegate, who finished with a game-high 19 points, followed by Ben Hines who tallied 14 points and nine rebounds. The Tigers advance to Thursday's championship game to face the winner of the (No. 2 seed) Webb City vs. (No. 6) seed Joplin South matchup...

Coming off a tough double-overtime defeat in Warrensburg Friday night, the Nevada Tigers varsity basketball team was back on the road, this time matching up with Butler, where they fell 58-39. The Tigers led 12-7 at the conclusion of the first quarter and 20-14 at halftime. ...

The Northeast Vernon County Lady Knights topped Ballard 42-30 in the Golden Valley Vernon County Conference third-place game, Friday night in Sheldon. The fifth-seeded Lady Knights opened the tournament Monday evening with a 40-32 defeat of fourth-seeded Miami. The Lady Knights followed up Wednesday night with a hard-fought battle against No. 1 seed Bronaugh, falling 52-42...

The Nevada Lady Tigers girls basketball team was dealt a 55-35 defeat by the El Dorado Springs Lady Bulldogs Tuesday night in Wynn Gymnasium. The non-conference loss drops the Lady Tigers to 8-15 overall. Nevada's primary concern entering the contest was containing Lady Bulldogs senior guard Kameron Schaaf. That game-plan did not come to fruition as Schaaf erupted for 17 first-half points, single-handedly outscoring Nevada by five...