Stories from Thursday, December 18, 2008

Dec. 15 An accident occurred at 7:30 a.m., on Cherry and Spring, involving a SUV driven by Byron J. Hamlett, of Nevada, and a pickup driven by Sarah L. Olson, of Milo. No injuries were reported. An accident occurred at 7:53 a.m., on Chestnut and Cherry, involving a car driven by David A. Thorns, of Nevada, and a car driven by Shelia K. Meritt, of Nevada. No injuries were reported...

Dec. 15 There were reports of a vehicle accident in the Richards area, an abandoned vehicle in the Nevada area, a theft in the Deerfield area, property damagei n the Richards area, a traffic hazard in the St. Clair County area, a controlled burn in the Deerfield area, a vehicle accident in the Sheldon area, a vehicle accident in the Sheldon area, a vehicle accident in the Milo area, a theft in the Richards area, a stranded motorist in the Sheldon area, a theft in the Sheldon area, a careless and imprudent driver in the Nevada area, a theft in the Sheldon area, a stranded motorist in the Nevada area, a stranded motorist in the Nevada area, a slide off in the Nevada area, a stranded motorist in the Nevada area, and a slide off in the Nevada area.. ...

Nov. 18 Poul M. Francini, Nevada, trespassing. Nov. 21 Landon L. Phelps, Walker, failure to stop at a stop sign. Dec. 2 Brett A. Abbott, Nevada, speeding 43/30. Linda D. Brooks, Nevada, seat belt law. Brenton C. Dahmer, Nevada, dog running at large, and no dog tags...

Fort Scott, Kan. -- SCC's new Construction Trades Program will soon have a new facility to occupy. The Construction Trades Program, which began at FSCC this fall after the award of a nearly $2 million grant from the Labor Department in the spring of 2008, teaches students many different trades that coincide with the construction trades field. The program held classes this fall in Bourbon and Crawford County schools...

Mother nature's winter wrath isn't over yet. According to the National Weather Service, small areas of light freezing drizzle were predicted overnight, with a 70 percent chance of freezing rain Thursday morning. However, Wednesday evening forecasters were expecting a rise in temperature Thrusday afternoon, changing the freezing precipitation into rain, dampening the threat of treacherous ice...

Wednesday's slick roadways led to more traffic crashes on state highways, according to reports from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Sara L. Burton, 28, of Rich Hill, suffered minor injuries in a crash that took place at about 7:30 a.m., on Route H, two miles north of Deerfield. ...

The Nevada Square is still the center of Nevada's Christmas celebration. Businesses still decorate their stores for the holidays; but these days the decorations are a bit more restrained. A photo from the late 1950s shows a large wreath, 14 feet in diameter, that used to be an annual feature on the front of Edmiston's store on West Cherry. It took more than 400 feet of real balsam fir garlands from Minnesota to wrap the wreath frame, store owner Jack Edmiston said...

After holding a two-hour budget work session prior to Wednesday's special council meeting the Nevada City Council voted 3-2 to pass on first and second reading an amended version of the budget included in the city council members packets and posted on the city's Web site. Tim Wells, Bill Gillette and Mike Hutchens voted yes and Jayne Novak and Joyce Wilson voted no...

The Northeast Vernon County music department presented its winter production, a Christmas-themed show called "Santa's Holiday Hoedown" on Monday, Dec. 15. Nearly half of the cast missed the performance due to illness, and inclement weather threatened to cancel the production altogether, but the show went on. ...

I just tried to write our annual Christmas letter. I know that people who are supposedly humorous writers should be able to get all the news of the year on one page in such a manner that people would actually want to read it. I have been inspired by many of the letters we have already received. They had pizzazz but still gave information that is needed to keep friends and family up to date...

Dear Editor: Christmas time is a time of refelction, a time to reflect on four little words, "In God We Trust." Many atheists are offended by those words and are working to remove them from all U.S. coins and currency. If they succeed, we will still trust God and He will still be there for us. However, I think about it in these terms. Those four little words could save a life or change a life...