Stories from Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Ruby Ellen Kennedy, 91, Nevada, died Saturday, July 30, 2011, at Medicalodge in Fort Scott, Kan., following a brief illness. She was born May 8, 1920, in Dederick, Mo., to David Leroy Scott and Selma Imogene Jackson Scott. She was married May 15, 1937, in Nevada, to Lester Vernon Kennedy, and he preceded her in death Feb. 18, 1992...

Darwin Raymond Badders, 54, Nevada, died on Sunday, July 31, 2011, at his home in Nevada. A private committal service will be held at a later date. View obituary and send condolences on line at www.ferryfuneralhome.com

Virginia Mae Roberts, 78, Nevada, passed away on Sunday evening, July 31, 2011, at her home in Nevada. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 4, at Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada, with visitation Wednesday, Aug. 3, from 7-8 p.m., at the funeral home...

Nicole Blum and Gary Randall of Nevada, Mo., are proud to announce the birth of their son, Adrian William Randall. Adrian was born at 11:41 p.m., Friday, July 22, 2011, at Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and measured 21 and 1/2 inches...

Each year, local auctioneers and a host of behind-the-scenes volunteers band together to make the closing event of the Vernon County Youth Fair happen without a hitch -- or at least as close to without a hitch as possible. Jime Ernest has been coordinating the effort for 31 years in terms of the auctioneers, but he's quick to say there are a lot of people who really do a lot of work behind the scenes throughout the fair and in the auction; many of whose efforts are never apparent...

Grants will help ensure continued strength of Missouri's important multi-jurisdictional drug task forces, officials say.

Known as "The Biggest Little Fair," the 69th Annual Hume Fair and Rodeo will start with the serving of ham and beans and a draft horse pull at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., Tuesday. At 8 p.m. Friday, the first of two rodeos will be held, following a Wednesday night ice cream social and Gospel singing and Thursday night kiddie pedal pull and Hume Olympics in the rodeo arena...

Larry Cauthon, an On My Own, Inc. consumer, makes calls to encourage registered voters to exercise their right to vote on Aug. 2, on a city of Nevada 1/2-cent sales tax for parks. Cauthon also is working with On My Own in a grassroots advocacy effort to promote and raise awareness of ADA standards and toured Nevada and took pictures of a variety of parks, sharing them with Nevada City Manager, JD Kehrmann during a recent Lunch & Learn held at On My Own. ...

"We're home," Renee Benedict said during the dedication of her new home built by the Nevada, Missouri, Area Habitat for Humanity. "It's been a very long year. I've learned a lot about myself and the integrity of the people in town," Benedict said. During the year-long construction of the house for Benedict and her three children, Renee put in hundreds of hours helping to build the house...

The Nevada Griffons are off to a good start in the NBC World Series tournament now under way at the Lawrence Dumont stadium in Wichita, Kan. On Sunday, the Griffons took on the Derby Twins in the opening round, pulling out a 3-1 victory. Griffons pitcher Josh Malin recorded the win, keeping the Twins scoreless until the 8th inning, when a home run by Ryan Walterhouse plated the Twins' lone run of the night. Steve Kuligowski relieved Malin in the ninth and recorded the save...