Stories from Friday, March 11, 2011

Funeral services for Robert E. "Bob" Saathoff, 72, of Lawrence, Kan., will be at 10 a.m., Monday, at the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home with the Rev. Dan Norwood officiating. Burial will follow at the Memorial Park Cemetery. Mr. Saathoff died Tuesday, March 8, 2011, at his home. He was born May 11, 1938, in Nevada, the son of Benjamin L. and Edna Belle Hart Saathoff...

Collene Rebecca McLean, 87, Springfield, Mo., formerly of the Nevada /Deerfield areas, died Wednesday, March 9, 2011, in Springfield, following a brief illness. Collene was born Jan. 31, 1924, in Harwood, Mo., to Chancy and Elsie Knowlton. She moved to Deerfield as a child and attended Deerfield Village School and later Nevada High School. ...

William Henry Fanning, 77, Nevada, passed away on Wednesday, March 9, 2011, at Landmark Hospital, Joplin, Mo., following an illness of several months. He was born on Sept. 23, 1933, in Lamar, Mo., to Troy Harvey Fanning and Nellie Pearl Taylor Fanning. He married Phyllis Harper on Sept. 25, 1957...

Misty and Travis Blurton of Nevada, and older brother and sister, James Howard Blurton and Abbygail Rhea Laafenberg, are proud to announce the birth of their baby son and brother, Jesse Leon Blurton. Jesse was born at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 8, 2011, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces, and measured 21 and 1/2 inches...

Funeral services for U.S. Army Specialist Christopher G. Stark, killed in action in Afghanistan on Feb. 28, will be held Saturday in Monett. Stark, a 2007 graduate of Monett High School, was flown to the military base in Dover, Del., on March 4. The body will be brought to Monett, where visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., today, at Buchanan Funeral Home...

Editor's note: Second-year students at Cottey College are taking part in the school's "international experience," in which students visit another country and learn of its culture, history, and more through educational modules and experiences along the way. This year, the group is visiting France. Following is the third in a series of columns through which Cottey College Public Information Director Steve Reed shares the experience with readers...

Area school elections will take place April 5, and Rich Hill R-4 School District has a lot riding on a proposed bond extension to enable the construction of a half-dozen new classrooms. Superintendent Glenn Niffen said Thursday that the initiative was prompted by Rich Hill's 50-student increase this year and the prospect of more new enrollments to further stress its K-12 building just over the Vernon County line in Bates County...

As Missourians "spring ahead" this weekend by advancing their clocks one hour early Sunday morning, State Fire Marshal Randy Cole reminds them to change the batteries in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors as well. "The two time- change weekends each year are great reminders to change the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors," said State Fire Marshal Randy Cole. ...

A town hall meeting addressing the issue of underage drinking that was held in Nevada in March of 2010 led a group of community members, educators, law enforcement officers and others to begin brainstorming about ways to get high school age kids involved in something else, something positive...

The Nevada Police Department is asking for assistance in locating Corwin B. Rogers, a white male, 5'10" tall, weighing about 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Rogers is wanted in Vernon County for warrant for felony burglary and for misdemeanor theft...