Stories from Saturday, April 3, 2010

William E. Palmer, age 67, of Springfield, Mo., passed away Wednesday, March 31, 2010, in his home. He was born Oct. 3, 1942, in St. Clair County, Mo., to Charles Edward and Fern (Potter) Palmer. His parents Charles Edward and Fern Palmer, brother James Palmer and a sister Mary Swopes preceded him in death...

Gregory F. Leonard, 64, of Nevada, died on Wednesday, March 31, 2010, at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. He was born July 25, 1945, in Chicago, Ill., to James Fox Leonard and Mildred Lucille McCaghy Leonard. Greg came to Nevada at age 15 to live with his aunt and uncle, Alice and Roy Hill. ...

Hazel Marie Maxwell, age 85, former resident of Presbyterian Village, and more recently of Medicalodge, died early Friday, April 2, 2010, at Mercy Health Center. Arrangements are under the direction of Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, Fort Scott.

Clinton and Robin Williams, of Nevada, Mo., and big sister Jacey, are proud to announce the birth of their daughter and baby sister Emrey Katen Williams. Emrey was born at 9:52 a.m., on Feb. 25, 2010, at Mercy Health Center, Fort Scott, Kan. She weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and measured 20.25 inches...

Chantel and Robert Barnard, of Nevada, and siblings Kain and Denise, are proud to announce the birth of their daughter and baby sister, Caydee Elain Barnard. Caydee was born at 2:33 p.m., on March 30, 2010, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and measured 20 inches...

Brian and Janie Conroy, of Nevada, and siblings Austin and Bailey, are proud to announce the birth of their son and baby brother, Jake Richard Conroy. Jake was born at 7:27 p.m., on March 28, 2010, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and measured 20 inches...

Samantha Spencer, of El Dorado Springs, is proud to announce the birth of her son, Jason Ray Spencer. Jason was born at 6:15 a.m., on March 26, 2010, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and measured 20 inches. Maternal grandparents are Ray and Glenda Spencer, of El Dorado Springs...

PLEASANT HILL, Mo. -- A stiff south/southwest wind on a flat, open course proved to be a major course of issue for the Nevada Tigers golf team Thursday afternoon as they took on Pleasant Hill at the Country Creek Golf Course. "Windy, windy and windy ... Then it was windy some more," Tigers head coach Brian Leonard said. "The course layout is flat and open, so the wind was a factor on every hole."...

INDEPENDENCE, Kan. -- Fort Scott High School's golf team finished sixth at a Southeast Kansas League designated tournament here Thursday in their first outing of the season. The Tigers finished with a score of 363, which was 31 strokes behind champion Coffeyville. Chanute was second at 342 with Pittsburg third at 343...

While heading for the lake to get in on the walleye and white bass run, I nearly ran off the road when I saw three big tom turkeys all fanned out near several hens. It's a sight to see and would get any turkey hunter's adrenaline going, like finding a big bunch of morel mushrooms...

INDEPENDENCE, Kan. -- Fort Scott High School's tennis team gained a win and a tie in four duals at a meet here Thursday. The Tigers tied Arkansas City 2-2 and defeated Labette County 4-0. They lost to Independence 3-1 and Parsons 4-0. Independence is a Kansas Class 4A state power year in and year out and Parsons will be up there with the Bulldogs many seasons. Add in to the fact that Arkansas City is a very good Class 5A program and the Tigers had a very strong test at this gathering...

Dick Booth came from a family of nine boys and three sisters and passed on his 87th birthday. His eight brothers were deceased so were most of the people he had taught with for 40 years. Who wasn't missing were the people he touched during that time. They came from far and wide to pay their respects. Stories abounded about the man who coached and taught for 40 years and had recorded the third most number of football wins in Kansas history, but that wasn't why they came...

To our customers: We have an opportunity to improve our water district by adding a fourth well and storage tower in the northeast quadrant of our district. The weakest point of our system for pressure and flow is this quadrant. These improvements will eliminate issues in that area and take the strain off of the rest of the district. ...

Dear Editor, I graduated from the Schell City school, eight of my siblings, and my own three children graduated from there as well. In regards to the new school at NEVC, I can't believe citizens worry more about the taxes than our children. One hundred years from now it won't matter how much in taxes one has paid, but it will matter if we build a new school, because we will always have children needing an education...

Dear Editor, I am currently a sophomore at NEVC and have attended this school all of my life. I began school in August of 1999 at the Schell City campus and if Proposition S passes my classmates and I will be the first graduating class from the new school. ...

Dear Editor, As we near election day regarding the NEVC Proposition S question, it would seem to me that all citizens of the Northeast Vernon County School District need to stop for a moment, take a deep breath, and give some thought to just what we've seen and heard in the last few months...

Dear Editor, We have two children, one child in the third grade and one who is 1 year old who will attend NEVC when he reaches school age. Our experience with the school has been a very positive experience. Our daughter has scored well above average on the national Terra Nova test (upper 99 percent in the nation) and has also been the winner of the spelling bee for the GVVC conference. ...

FORT SCOTT -- The First Presbyterian Church, 308 S. Crawford, will hold Easter activities for the entire family Sunday morning beginning at 9 a.m. First, at 9 a.m., is "Walk Through Holy Week," where it will be shown what it was like for Jesus as he was welcomed with palms waving and shouts of praise, eat the food at the Last Supper, help the disciples stay awake as they try to pray with Jesus in the garden, witness Peter's betrayal in the court yard, follow as Jesus is led away to be crucified and celebrate the beauty of Christ's empty tomb.. ...

Vernon County Prosecutor Lynn M. Ewing III, recently appointed to Missouri Southern State University Board of Governors, traveled to Jefferson City on Wednesday, March 31, to attend a Senate confirmation hearing and was informed by the office of Sen. David Pearce on Thursday that he was confirmed to the position by the Missouri State Senate...

Nevada Regional Medical Center is taking steps to weather the current economic storm and continue providing consistent, top-quality health care to the Nevada community. "High unemployment and uncertain incomes cause people to postpone medical treatment," said Cindy Buck, chief financial officer at NRMC. "Declining insurance and government reimbursement have also taken their toll on the bottom-line."...

In a move that Missouri Department of Mental Health spokesman Bob Bax called "part of the effort by the state to close a $500 million gap in the budget," the Missouri Department of Mental Health announced on Wednesday, March 31, that it plans to close the Nevada Habilitation Center by the year 2012...

Bourbon County residents could get some financial assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture through a disaster recovery program. The Disaster Set-Aside program is available to Bourbon County residents who have suffered losses as a result of a natural disaster and cannot pay all expenses such as debts to other creditors and Farm Service Agency farm loan payments, according to the USDA...

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- The Retired Senior Volunteer Program at Tri-Valley Developmental Services will benefit from a grant the program has received from the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program. The program recently received a $22,765 grant from SEK-CAP which will be used to pay two part-time RSVP coordinators; one in Tri-Valley's Chanute office, the other in the agency's Fort Scott office, for the next six months. ...

Nevada, Mo. -- The weather did not cooperate and did not allow the parking lot at the Franklin P. Norman City-County Community Center to be completely paved Friday, but Robin McHugh, parks and recreation director said Friday afternoon that the paving company plans to be back Monday morning to finish the parking lot and the community center will open for business Saturday, April 10, at 9 a.m., as previously planned...

Rod and Connie (nee Henke) Sommer of Kearney, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Anna Marie, to Kevin Timothy Quinn, son of James and Kathleen (nee Penn) Quinn, of Lenexa, Kan. Grandparents of the bride are Julie Sommer and the late William Sommer, St. ...

Patrick and Arlene Morgan and Mick and Rhonda Barth announce the engagement and upcoming marriage of their daughter, Megan Jo Barth, to Johnny Lynn Combs, son of JoAnn Fowler and Terry Combs. Megan is a May 2003 graduate of Pittsburg State University with a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and is currently employed by Pitsco Education...

Don and Judy Epperson, of rural Collins, Mo., recently observed their 50th wedding anniversary. The Eppersons were married in a private ceremony on March 6, 1960, in Humansville, Mo. Don has worked at Deem's Implement for a number of years and Judy was employed at Citizens' State Bank and McDaniel Auto Mall...

Darrell and Mary O'Hair, Deerfield, Mo., will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday, April 17, 2010. Their children, Darla and Ron Chandler, Angie and John Haller, Cathy and Jerry Grewell and Christen and Dan Dowell, would welcome the presence of family and friends at an open house to share in their celebration...

Michael Scott Umphenour and Bethany Kathleen Ianno were married on Jan. 2, 2010, at Lincoln, Neb. The bride is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Ned Ianno, Lincoln, Neb. The groom is the son of Monique and George Danley, Mapleton, Kan., and Brian and Karen Umphenour, Moundville, Mo., and is the grandson of Marilyn and Richard Yazel, Nevada, Mo., and the late Larry Bowles, Karl and Sharon Umphenour, Fort Scott, and Lawrence and Una Bowles, Mapleton...

Monica LeAnn Compton and Johnny B. Lewis exchanged wedding vows at The Olde Saint Andrew's Church in Fort Scott, Kan., on June 20, 2009. The 6 p.m. wedding was officiated by the Rev. Jeanette Hawkins. Organist Martha Cubbage provided musical selections. ...

Tiffany Shaffer and Michael Pommier exchanged wedding vows on June 27, 2009, in Pittsburg, Kan., at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. The 3 p.m. marriage celebration was officiated by the Rev. Tom Stroot. The church was decorated with candles and pink flowers in the window seats and pink and green bows at the ends of the chapel pews. ...

Dr. Manjula Mittal, on behalf of herself and the late Dr. Anand K. Mittal, along with Marsha and Leigh Hudson announce the marriage of Alka Mittal and Ryan Hudson. On July 4, 2009, the couple were married at the Four Seasons Resort and Club, Dallas, at Las Colinas, Texas; the reception followed in the Grand Ballroom. Alka and Ryan currently live in Dallas, Texas...