Stories from Thursday, February 12, 2009

Golda Mattie Ames, 100, Nevada, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009, at Christian Health Care in Nevada. She was born July 11, 1908, in Sullivan County, Mo., to James Russell Ogle and Maggie Ethel Clabough Ogle. She married Lyman P. Ames on May 1, 1926, in Sullivan County, Mo. He preceded her in death on July 11, 1993...

Gloria Jean Snowden (Blackwell), age 64, of Kingsville, Mo., passed away at the home on Feb. 6, 2009, after a long battle with cancer. She was born to Dorothy Warren and Jack Farmer on June 12, 1944, in Casa Grande, Ariz. Jean lived in Nevada, most of her life, retiring from the Nevada State Hospital after 25 years of service. She worked as a developmental assistant for 10 years at a local group home and provided child care services for family services for a number of years...

Rudy Ernsbarger Downey, age 86, died Jan. 7, 2009, at the Santa Anita Convalescent Home, in Temple City, Calif. She was a former resident of Monrovia, Calif. Graveside memorial service will be 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 18, at the Oak Hill Cemetery, in Butler, Mo. Online condolences may be sent to www.schowengerdtchapel.com...

Feb. 9 An accident occurred at 5:26 p.m., at the city hall parking lot, involving a pickup driven by Eric A. Chadd, of Milo, and a parked pickup owned by David A. May, of Sheldon. No injuries were reported. Feb. 10 An accident occurred at 12:31 p.m., at Adams and Maple, involving a car driven by Peggy L. Butler, of Nevada, and a pickup driven by Gary L. Jones, of Nevada. No injuries were reported...

The Nevada Police Department has released the crime statistics for 2008 and the numbers are mostly down for just about all categories of offenses. "There's not much I can say that I haven't said for years," Nevada Police Chief Gary Herstein said. "They look good again this year. I think most are down except for stealing, and that's only up one."...

The Community Council on the Performing Arts is giving us a musical love fest this week with their current production. "Love Is In The Air" is a delightful assortment of love songs that will set the mood for Valentine's Day along with filling us with pride for the talents displayed by our local choir...

The Bronaugh R-7 School District has achieved the designation of "Accredited with Distinction" in performance for the fifth year. To qualify for the honor the district must meet all required performance areas on the Missouri Assessment Program test and must earn 13 points on the Annual Performance Report. Bronaugh earned 14 for the fourth consecutive year...

Standing just 5 feet 2 inches tall, Trixie Byersis a small woman with a big past. You see, Trixie used to be a cattle rustler. Yep, a bona fide cattle rustler, and she was good at it, too! In a career stretching from the late '70s to the early '90s, Trixie personally made off with more than 500 head of cattle and a fleet of equipment that put more than a quarter million dollars in her designer jeans pocket...

The Bronaugh Lady Wildcats varsity basketball team added a strong victory to their record as they defeated the Sheldon Lady Panthers Tuesday night. Katlyn Douglas led the offensive effort for Bronaugh with 20 points as the Lady Wildcats took a 59-52 victory. Ashley Cox was also able to break into double figures on the night, as she finished the game with 12 points...

The Cottey College Comets suffered their fifth loss of the year in a tough contest at Penn Valley Community College Tuesday night. The Comets had a strong offensive night, shooting 50 percent, but it proved to be not quite enough as Penn Valley took a 68-64 victory. Cottey missed seven of their 23 free throws in the game and that ultimately turned out to be more than enough for Penn Valley to pull out off the win...

When Lester and I came to Vernon County in 1956 for Lester to be one of the Extension agents, I was happy to be back with friends I had known most of my life. But just down the road was the young mother of three children about the age of our two, who I had not known before. Lula Pratt married Gene Welborn after they met at college and they came back to his home county to establish their home...

Richard Gates Maus, born Sept. 3, 1914, Sioux Falls, S.D., died Nov. 1, 2008, Anaheim, Calif. Married to Eula Dennis, of Walker, Mo., on Feb. 14, 1935, in Nevada. Richard was active in Meals on Wheels of Anaheim, and Orangethorpe Christian Church. He is survived by his daughter Lauren Ficaro and her husband Ron, five grandchildren, six great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by Eula and their son Richard in 1999, and his second wife Darlene in 2004...