Stories from Saturday, May 28, 2011

Beverly Earlene (Pettibon) Davis, 74, Richards, Mo., passed away on Thursday, May 26, 2011, at Freeman Health System West, Joplin, Mo., following a lengthy illness. She was born Feb. 22, 1937, in Deerfield, Mo., to Norman L. Pettibon and Lucille Anna Pilcher Pettibon...

Melissa Anne Allman, 29, Nevada, passed away on Thursday, May 26, 2011, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. She was born Oct. 26, 1981, in Independence, Mo., to Carroll Richard Higgins and Sharon Lea King Higgins. She married Jason Wayne Allman on Nov. 8, 2001, in Alaska...

Lewis James Allen, 78, of Fort Scott, Kan., died Friday morning, May 27, 2011, at the Medicalodge of Fort Scott. Services will be held 11 a.m., Wednesday, June 1, at the First Christian Church, Fort Scott, Kan., with burial following at the Crawford County Garden of Memories Cemetery...

Nevada, Mo. -- Local Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts worked together in a drive for donations for Joplin tornado relief for five hours and gathered $850 and about two truckloads of items they took to the Vernon County Ambulance District headquarters Friday morning, where they'll be sorted and transported to Joplin...

Residents of Nevada, Mo., and Fort Scott, Kan., and surrounding areas are being called on to donate new and used Bibles in good condition for Joplin, Mo., tornado victims, a news release said. Missouri Southern State University posted a need for Bibles on Facebook on Wednesday, May 25, for families that lost Bibles in the storm. A church staff member at Abundant Life Church, Neosho, Mo., verified on Friday that people in shelters were asking for Bibles...

Cancer is a devastating diagnosis for far too many people. Relay for Life teams work hard each year to come up with a variety of fun ways to raise money for local chapters of the organization. Fundraisers commonly include bake sales, drawings and auctions. This year, the Nevada Regional Medical Center Relay team wanted to do something different to raise money for cancer research...

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Fort Scott Municipal Airport has been awarded funding through the Kansas Department of Transportation to protect the airspace for aircraft use to take off and land. The department will put $34,675 toward creation of the ordinance, while the city would chip in about $2,000. The ordinance would protect the airport's entry and exit paths -- its approaches...

Retired United States Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Barrett Jr. is scheduled to deliver the keynote address during a Memorial Day service at 10:30 a.m., Monday, at Fort Scott National Cemetery. The ceremony is held to honor and pay tribute to all of the American soldiers who have died defending their country during military service. Barrett, a distinguished military graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, was commissioned into the infantry in 1972...

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Country Cupboard will host a double book signing party featuring friends and authors Sally Freeman Jadlow and Margaret Humphrey from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 4, during the 30th annual Good Ol' Days street festival. Jadlow, a former Fort Scott resident and 1960 graduate of Fort Scott High School who now lives in Overland Park, will sign copies of her latest book, "God's Little Miracle Book." Humphrey, a longtime Fort Scott resident, will be signing copies of her first book, "I Sure Can.". ...

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Public Safety today reported progress in the effort to determine the status of individuals who were unaccounted-for as a result of Sunday's devastating tornado in Joplin. On May 26, the department released a list of 232 people for whom an official missing persons report had been filed...

Nevada, Mo. -- Entries for the 2011 Bushwhacker Days baby contest, to be held at 9 a.m., Saturday, on the Square in Nevada, are now being accepted at Belles and Beaus children's boutique, 121 North Main St., Nevada. This year, there is a $5 entry fee for the show with age divisions for contestants age 0-24 months...

Saying that "Jake embodies all the good things about young people here in Nevada," City Manager J.D. Kehrman, left, and Chief of Police Graham Burnley, right, present Nevada High School graduate Jake Brasfield with a certificate recognizing his accomplishment of being chosen as the first "Chief for a Day." Brasfield was chosen to shadow Burnley during a day's work from a long list of students that submitted essays. Brasfield said he enjoyed being around the chief and learning what he does...

Joplin High School was devastated in the storm.

Gregg and Shelly Wilson of The Woodlands, Texas, announce the engagement and approaching marriage of their daughter, Hilary Laine Wilson, to Patrick David Gorman, son of Philip and Julie Gorman of Fort Scott, Kan. The bride-elect is a 2007 graduate of The Woodlands High School and received a bachelor's degree in nursing from Pittsburg State University in May of 2011...

The big Memorial Day weekend is here and thousands of water-minded people will be in, on or around the area lakes, streams and pools across the state having fun. For the anglers the timing isn't bad. "Usually the fishing has slowed down by the big weekend," said Tom Roberts, Independence, Mo. ...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Senior Emily Aikins will be seeking to end her high school athletic days of competition with a State medal as she competes in the 100-meter preliminaries this morning, hoping to qualify for this afternoon's final at the Kansas Class 2A State Track and Field Championships...

WICHITA, Kan. -- There were no medalists in finals or qualifiers from the preliminaries for Jayhawk-Linn's teams at the Kansas Class 2A State Track and Field Championships here Friday. The Jayhawks will have three competitors today. Senior Shelby Krull will compete in girls' pole vault at 8 a.m. Freshman Megan Leavitt will run in the 1,600 meters at 1 p.m. And Austin Coleman will be in boys' discus competition at 1:15 p.m...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Sophomore Lindsey Conn advanced to two finals in the Kansas Class 1A State Track and Field Championships here Friday and hopes to reach another this morning. Conn had the third-best time of the eight qualifiers in the 200-meter dash. She was second in her heat in 27.22 seconds, trailing last year's State runner-up, Taylor Kisner of Victoria, who wan 26.50. Stephanie Caro of Satanta, who had the best time in Regionals, won the other heat with a 27.02...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Defending Class 4A State high jump champion Griffin Knopp of Fort Scott was again able to jump the highest as he set out to defend his title at the Kansas State Track and Field Championships here Friday. However, Kerry Graber, a senior from nearby Maize South, was also able to clear the same height, 6 feet, 8 inches, and was declared the 2011 State champion on the tie-breaker -- it took him at least one fewer attempt to clear 6' 8" than it did Knopp -- while the Fort Scott senior had to settle for second.. ...