Stories from Saturday, October 24, 2009

Elvin Dean "E.D." Johnson, 53, Walker, Mo., died at his residence Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009, following a brief illness. He was born Jan. 7, 1956, in Anita, Iowa, to Leland D. Johnson and Margaret Louise McAfee Johnson. He was married in 1981 ti Teresa Monroe and to this union, three children were born...

Linda Marie (Gray) Platt, 50, of Nevada, Mo., died from complications of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) on Oct. 22, 2009. She was born to Wilbur and Josephine Gray on Aug. 12, 1959, in Pierre, S.D. She married William Earl Platt, of Wichita, Kan., on Aug. 20, 1977, in Rapid City, S.D. From this union three children were born: Andrew Thomas, Tabitha Michelle and Jennifer Julia. She would claim that these were the inspirations of her life...

Nichole Annette Laughlin, 33, of Rich Hill, died Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009, at her home in Rich Hill. She was born Nov. 25, 1975, to Ellis LaVern and Barbara Ann Davis McElwain, in Butler, Mo. Nichole, one of two children, grew up in Ballard and graduated from Adrian High School in 1994. ...

The restored Cato School is ready once again for the annual Cato Fall Tour scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7. The historic stone one-room schoolhouse is one of the highlights of the annual tour, which is organized by the Cato Historical Preservation Association. ...

Jigu! Thunder Drums of China will perform at Cottey College on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 8 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts. "Jigu" in Chinese means to "beat or touch the drum." Hailing from the Shanxi province in China, this world-renown exuberant company of drummers, percussionists, and musicians participate in an art form which can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (A.D. ...

A competitive half-time show is made up of many small steps, but the Nevada High School Tiger Pride Marching Band has taken small steps and turned them into great strides. The competition The marching band decided to take their competitive season to the next level when they traveled to Edward Jones Dome in St. ...

Announcement is made of the engagement of Mary Shankel to DJ Wyatt. Parents of the couple are Todd Shankel and Jeanie Mataya, Fort Scott, and Joe and Jeanine Wyatt, Fort Scott. The couple will be married at the Community of Christ Church in Fort Scott on April 24, 2010...

NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada Tigers varsity football team made their return to Logan Field Friday night for what head coach Jay Fleeman expected to be their toughest game of the season. The Tigers came into the game still searching for their first home victory of the 2009 season as they took on the Cardinals of Webb City. Webb City, on the other hand, hadn't lost a game at home or away in 23 games, dating back to Nov. 7, 2007, when they lost at Carthage by a slim, 23-22 margin...

WEBB CITY, Mo. -- The Nevada Lady Tigers finished their regular season in slightly disappointing fashion Thursday night as they dropped their final match to the Webb City Lady Cardinals by the final scores of 25-18 and 25-16. "They are a very good team. By far the best team we have played," Lady Tigers head coach Becky Lowery said of Webb City. "We did our best to take it to them."...

FORT SCOTT -- All there is now for the Fort Scott Tigers is pride. There will be no playoff games for them in 2009. Although there was some good play and a lead at the end of the first quarter, the Tigers were unable to hold on and lost to Anderson County, 41-13, in Kansas Class 4A District 6 play at Frary Field Friday night. The Bulldogs scored 20 points off Tiger turnovers...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Clay Crawford, Independence Community College freshman from Paola, Kan., shot rounds of 77 and 74 to capture medalist honors by one stroke and win the KCK Blue Devil Invitational with a Birdie on the final hole when ICC played Oct 12 and 13, at the Kansas City, Kan., Invitational on the tough Dub's Dread Golf Course...

UNIONTOWN, Kan. -- Uniontown clinched a spot in the Kansas Class 2-1A playoffs Friday night with a 14-0 victory over winless Northeast-Arma. The Eagles improved to 2-0 in the district and 4-4 overall. They will face Pittsburg Colgan, 2-0, 7-1, at Pittsburg Thursday night in a game that decides which wins the district title and hosts its first playoff game. The loser of that contest will have to go on the road in the first round...