Stories from Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Above, a carnival worker prepares inflatable toys that will serve as prizes for a game at the corner of Walnut and Washington, while a construction crew carefully assembles the carnival rides before the beginning of Bushwhacker Days. The rides range from the old favorites like the Ferris wheel and the octopus to a miniature roller coaster. Crews also finished constructing rides on the corner of Hunter and Main. Bushwacker Days begins today and ends on Saturday...

Nevada Daily Mail The city plans to close Washington Street to traffic between Hunter Street on the north and the TeamBank driveway at 5 o'clock tonight and at 5 p.m. Thursday. The downtown street will also be closed beginning at 5 p.m. Friday and remain closed until Bushwhacker Days activities end on Saturday night...

Local impact of new fees is hard to estimate. By Steve Moyer and Marc Powers Nevada Daily Mail After six years of failed efforts by Missouri lawmakers and sheriffs, legislation intended to bolster local law enforcement funding is finally poised to become law...

By Ralph Pokorny Nevada Daily Mail Between 1990 and 2000 the population of Vernon County grew by 7.4 percent, while the population of Nevada remained essentially unchanged and few new housing developments were built inside the city limits. To encourage developers to build new housing in town, the city has established several incentives such as extending sewers to a development and setting up Neighborhood Improvement Districts to allow the streets to be paid for by an assessment on each new house sold in a development. ...

Contributing to the community Anthony Lawson paints Santa's House on the Square in preparation for Bushwhacker Days. Lawson is one of a handful of volunteers from the Vernon County Adult Drug Court, a diversionary program aimed at giving first-time offenders found guilty of committing drug-related crimes the opportunity to choose the path toward a drug-free lifestyle. ...

Danforth's new task

Parade will make 'A Tribute To Our American Heroes'

Deaths Carl Allen Steffan Carl Allen Steffan, 46, Rose Hill, Kan., formerly of Nevada, died June 12, 2004, at St. Francis Hospital, Wichita, Kan. He was born Feb. 18, 1958, in Nevada to Dr. Fred L. and Virginia Marie Nofftz Steffan. On Aug. 12, 1977, he married Pamela Sue Thron. He graduated from Nevada High School in 1976. He received an associates degree in business from Wentworth College. He then attended Fort Scott Community College where he became an L.P.N...