Stories from Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Betty Jean McCoun, 70, Sheldon, Mo., died Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011, at her residence following a brief illness. She was born Feb. 16, 1940, in Butler, Mo., to Louis Schepeler and Elise Zumbrunner Schepeler. She was married July 20, 1958, in Prairie City, Mo., to John H. McCoun and he survives of the home...

Dorothy Hamilton, 75, Nevada, passed away on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011, at St. John's Regional Medical Center, Joplin, Mo., after a short battle with cancer. She was born Jan. 14, 1936, in Claflin, Kan., to Anthony Straub and Mary Kimpler Straub. She married Harry Hamilton on Sept. 20, 1954, in Decatur, Ind., and he survives of the home...

January 13 Mary Scarbrough was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. Bond is $100,000. Joshua Boysen was arrested for child molestation. Bond is $2,500. Jail population: Total census, 46; state, 8; Vernon County Re-entry program, 4; Bates County, 2; Barton County, 1; Cedar County, 1; and Crawford County, 1...

Local public safety officials, the local chapter of the American Red Cross, the Missouri Department of Transportation, city street crews and crews from Kansas City Power and Light all say they're ready for the winter storm of "historic" proportions that's bearing down on Missouri...

Weather permitting, the Nevada City Council will be holding their first meeting of February at 7 p.m. in the council chambers in the Public Safety Building, 120 S. Ash St. to consider among other items the first reading of a lease-purchase agreement for a new fire truck...

On Monday, Jan. 31, Nevada Police Chief Graham Burnley announced that Nevada Police Sergeant Jeff Baker will be heading up a cold case investigation into the disappearance of Cheryl Ann Kenney from the Working-Man's Friend convenience store on Business Route 71 on the night of Feb. 27, 1991...

When the Evergreen Memorial Chapel in Nevada ceased operations in September 2010, it left about 80 customers holding policies for pre-paid burial plans, and C.K. Warden of the Konantz Warden Funeral Home in Lamar wants to assure holders of the policies that they will be honored...

Nevada Regional Medical Center's Cardiac Rehab will be closed today due to inclement weather. In Joplin, Freeman Health System has implemented its disaster plan. All nonessential departments will be closed today; however, Freeman Hospitals, Freeman Emergency Room, Freeman Urgent Care, and QuickMeds Pharmacy will remain open...

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has mobilized the Missouri National Guard in support of severe winter storm response. "Your Missouri National Guard is once again ready to support the needs of Missouri citizens," said Maj. Gen. Stephen Danner, adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard. ...

A crowd gathered in the parking lot adjacent to the First Christian Church at Washington and Austin, Nevada, at noon on Monday, to see a massive flag unfurled in a ceremony of remembrance and honor. Known as the Patriot Flag, the 30-by-58-foot American flag was flown between two fire trucks -- one from Nevada and one provided by the city of Fort Scott...

The leadership team at Nevada Regional Medical Center has been meeting routinely to plan for the blizzard conditions. The team determined to close all "non-essential" (to patient care) departments of the hospital. Essential staff includes direct and indirect patient care employees such as: housekeeping, nutritional services, doctors and nurses...

Editor's note: This is the first article in a short series on the reappraisal by the county assessor's office of all of the commercial property in the county as mandated by the state tax commission. By Rusty Murry Nevada Daily Mail Property owners sharing information with the assessor's office is important right now because Vernon County Assessor Cherie Roberts and her staff are in the process of reappraising every commercial property in the county. ...

Nevada Daily Mail Snow fell heavily over Vernon County on Tuesday, making travel treacherous everywhere. Slide-off accidents and stranded motorists were reported on highways, side streets and parking lots. Motorists and public safety officials hoped the storm wouldn't live up to the "historic" forecasts announced Monday. But it did...

By Lynn A, Wade Nevada Daily Mail Robert Patzius walked forward slowly, stunned by the sound of his name. He'd just won first place in the Missouri Welding Institute welding competition for high school students, held Saturday at MWI's Nevada facility. Robert won more than bragging rights and a great big trophy -- he'll get a full scholarship to MWI, a Lincoln welder and other prizes...