Stories from Friday, January 2, 2004

Ray Garland Smith, 81, Nevada, Mo., passed away Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at Moore-Few Care Center, Nevada, Mo. He was born Sept. 14, 1922, in Harwood, Mo., to Claude C. Smith and Virginia Lee Francis Smith. He married Myrtle Ina Stueart on Sept. 14, 1947, and she preceded him in death on July 14, 1972. He later married Virginia Sue Rogers on June 24, 1973, and she preceded him in death on Jan. 4, 2003...

Gale A. Mullins, 69, Nevada, Mo., died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He was born Aug. 27, 1934, in Jerome, Idaho, to Archibald Thomas Mullins and Thelma N. Crother Mullins. He married Elaine Butterfield on Nov. 14, 1958, in Nevada, Mo., and she survives of the home...

Gifts that were given this Christmas would have astonished any of our parents or grandparents. The things that even little children are able to do with some of the new gadgets is beyond comprehension to those of us who hail from a few years back. The idea that a child could get a gift that would allow her to send a picture over the telephone to her grandmother across the state amazes us. ...

100 Years Ago -- January 2, 1904 The 21st anniversary of Woodcraft was appropriately celebrated by the Nevada M.W.A. camp last night. The Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors of the county were invited and about three hundred were present...

This fall a longtime Nevada landmark got a new look when the historic Stone monument was refurbished and rededicated. For years local resident Franklin Norman has urged government officials at the state and local level to refurbish the monument, which had turned green with age and neglect. After years of hounding government officials Norman was finally able to secure the funding needed to make the statue presentable again, despite some slight delays due to state budget problems...

Circuit Judge James Bickel, 28th District, saw the first fruits of the Drug Court program he helped put into place two years ago, when two participants graduated from the program in April and one graduated in August. When Drug Court, a diversionary program that gives first-time offenders facing court action on drug-related crimes, first started in July 2001 the goal was set to have the first graduation by 2003...

It's been a year since Nevada got the bad news about Show-Me ChalleNGe, the program for troubled youth that had been a part of Camp Clark for five years. Monday, Dec. 30, 2002, as workers began coming in for another week's work they were greeted with the Adjutant General of the Missouri National Guard, Brigadier General George Shull with some bad news, budget cutbacks ordered by Missouri Governor Bob Holden forced the closing of the program...

Walls that once held shelf after shelf of merchandise are bare now. Empty racks are in the back room, out of the way, unseen. The usually crowded floor has plenty of space for what little merchandise remains. Body and Sole looks very different now that the final day is here before the owners retire...

On Tuesday night a 19-year-old female, went to 15 Vernon County businesses attempting to buy package liquor. Some may find the outcome surprising -- she was able to purchase in six of them: Strangeland's Tobacco Shack, Cash and Dash on U.S. Highway 54 East, Ramey's Village Market, Fastrip on Highland and North Ash, Mr. D's Smoke Shop and Ricketts Southside Plaza...

A 26-year-old man was taken into custody by Nevada police early Thursday morning after a Bolivar man, who said he was visiting friends in Nevada, reported he'd been cut with a knife during a struggle with the suspect. According to a release from the Nevada Police Department, officers were called to 1103 N. ...

A special group of Christmas trees is now on display in the children's section at the Nevada Public Library -- more than a dozen trees created by students in Donna Garwood's art class. The students used a variety of media to make the trees, which will remain on display until another project is completed by the group. Garwood said students work with paints, papier maché and other materials throughout the course. Information about the class is available at the library...