Stories from Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Lucille Nelander, 90, St. Joseph, Mo., formerly of Walker, Mo., died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at Saxton-Riverside Care Center in St. Joseph. She was born Oct. 3, 1913, in Dederick, Mo., to Charles Hargrove and Bertha Hawkins Hargrove. She married Jerry Nelander on April 17, 1938, in Vernon County, Mo. He preceded her in death on Sept. 17, 1985...

Mary Lorraine Cole, 76, Butler, Mo., died Thursday, Dec. 25, 2003, at Bates County Memorial Hospital in Butler. She was born June 6, 1927, to Joel Edward and Rose Della DeVol Burger in Kansas City, Mo. Mary grew up in Kansas City where she graduated form Central High School. ...

Ray Garland Smith, 81, Nevada, Mo., died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at Moore-Few Care Center, Nevada, Mo. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Jan. 2, at Ferry Funeral Home. Interment will follow in Green Mound Cemetery, Harwood, Mo. Friends may call now and until the hour of service and the family receives friends Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m., at the funeral home...

There will be several segments on TV today, tomorrow, and perhaps some additional days on rewinding 2003 and bringing to you the good and the bad things that have occurred. In September, I received an email from Don Henderson, executive director, Missouri 4-H Foundation, which provided information about the year of 1903; this information ought to boggle your mind...

100 Years Ago December 31, 1903 AROUND THE COUNTY- A number of Nevada people will watch the old year pass out and the New Year ushered in tonight. There will be watch services at the Centenary, First Presbyterian and All Saints Churches. New Year services were held last night at the Baptist Church. Tomorrow will be the first day of the year...

Maybe it is the authoritative symbolism they represent, or how they are associated with adults, or perhaps it is simply the destructive power and loud boom. Whatever the reason, youngsters are attracted to firearms. However, sometimes parents of children interested in guns may not know where to turn for safety instruction. In Vernon County, an increasing number of parents are turning to the Vernon County 4-H Shooting Sports program...

Despite record high cattle prices in 2003 Vernon County ranchers have been casting a worried eye on the ongoing COOL saga. Early in the year some cattle producers and most meat packers were vehemently opposed to the idea but as things developed, and the Canadian border was shut down because of a single case of BSE, the mood shifted...

A four vehicle wreck on 54 Highway just west of Deerfield caused the deaths of five people in April 2002. John Weeter, 37, of Fort Scott, Kan. was charged with the wreck. Weeter was found guilty of driving his Mustang under the influence of marijuana, methamphetamine and opiates when his car crossed the center line of the highway and struck another automobile, starting a deadly chain reaction on April 14...

For 30 years Nevada has been looking -- mostly unsuccessfully -- for new industries to locate facilities in town, but in 2003, all that changed. During the last two or three years the city has been making headway in attracting the attention of potential new businesses and in 2003 those efforts were rewarded with a number of manufacturing companies looking to locate new operations here, a couple of new retail businesses in the offing and a major expansion of an existing business...

As the summer reached its zenith and temperatures soared so did tempers as Vernon Countians argued over a 1/2 cent law enforcement tax, placed on the Aug. 5 ballot, that would have provided money for a new jail and a county wide E911 system. The law enforcement facility was to be located at the corner of Austin and Centennial on a 6-and-a-half-acre parcel. ...