Stories from Friday, March 17, 2017

Nevada High School tennis returns three seniors and a junior, while the rest of its roster is comprised entirely of freshman and sophomores. "We have 13 athletes this year that (went) out for the team," NHS tennis coach Clayton Wheeler explained. "Nine of the 13 are in ninth or 10th grades, so hopefully they stick it out and play through their senior year. They all have great potential."...

Lula Rebecca "Becky" (Ainsworth) Stukesbary passed away Tuesday, March 14, at the Ness County Hospital, at the age of 92. Born in Nevada, Jan. 1, 1925, to Joel and Lula (Hartman) Ainsworth, the second of two girls. Becky attended Nevada High School, graduating with the class of 1942. She worked for S.S. Kresge Drug Store in Nevada while in high school. She married Gomer Q. Stukesbary Nov. 27, 1947, at the home of Dewey and Hazel Stukesbary, by the Rev. John Noyes, Gomer's grandfather...

Ernest E. Nikodim, age 82, of rural Nevada, passed away March 15, at his home. Ernest was born Aug. 13, 1934, in Montevallo, the third son of Rudolph and Anna (Trecek) Nikodm. Ernest married Barbara Harding on Dec. 26, 1954. They were married for 53 years and to this union six children were born: Ernest Eugene, Darrell, Kathy, Susan, Debbie, and Mike...

Eva Grace Smith, age 91 of Butler, went home to be with the Lord, Monday, March 13, at Bates County Memorial Hospital in Butler. She was born July 6, 1925, to Samuel Jay and Martha Lela Mitchell Reedy in Harwood. Grace was one of 18 children. On April 9, 1947, she was united in marriage to Thomas Leon Smith in Fort Scott. ...

Ruby Pauline Yeats, Nevada, died Thursday, March 16. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 22, at Ferry Funeral Home in Nevada. Additional service and family information will be announced at a later time by Ferry Funeral Home...

The U.S. Congress has talked about changing the way Medicaid is funded federally, by making it into a block grant program, instead of the current program where the federal government matched state contributions, however, they are too busy working on ending Obamacare, they are not working on this yet, Jennifer Gundy, On My Own executive director, said during Thursday's Nevada Rotary Club meeting...

Vernon County Historical Society's Night at the Museum attracted more than 250 people and raised $5,500 for the museum and historic Bushwhacker jail. "I believe it was a huge success," museum director Will Tollerton said Thursday. The event featured a soup and pie supper, casino tables, a saloon that served root beer, silent auction and tours of the museum and jail...

Over the past couple of weeks we have experienced some early season storms, which reminded me again of my long association with a Midwest tradition, the household basement. Besides the protection from the dangers of tornado season, these underground facilities have provided me, and many others, with a variety of uses...

Steve Reed, Cottey College's director of public information, is traveling in Italy with approximately 70 members of the Cottey sophomore class and other faculty, as part of the Cottey International Experience held over the first week of spring break. He, along with his wife, Angie Casavecchia, public administrator for Jasper County, are reporting on the trip. Steve sends his reports as letters to his mother...

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and gasp, "I forgot to --?" Or, if that isn't the question maybe it is, "Did I remember to --?" Sleep disappears the instant you ask the question and you begin to think of all the dire scenarios that will occur if you don't get whatever it was taken care of immediately...

Dear Editor: The Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the businesses and individuals that helped make this year's Gala a success! Pacesetter Award Sponsors: Fidelity Communications, Max Motors, Metz Banking Company, Medicalodges of Nevada...

Bill Platt, the pastor of First Christian Church in Nevada, recently returned from a mission trip to Asia. He flew to China at the end of January, then continued to his destination where he spent seven or eight days. This was his fifth trip to the region as part of a group called Disciple Makers which trains local people to go into their communities as pastors to start churches...

During the 2017 gala and awards banquet sponsored by the Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce, Cottey College was presented with the Large Business Award. Dr. Jann Weitzel, president of Cottey College, accepted the award following the gala from Shéree Gayman, chamber executive director...

Mike Galimberto isn't the only new face around the Sheldon Lady Panthers' softball program, as the first-year head coach welcomes in nine freshman and a sophomore, while not returning any student-athletes from last season's roster. "We have the potential to do good things this season, considering we are basically starting from scratch," Galimberto told the Daily Mail...