Stories from Wednesday, January 9, 2019

James Kenneth Shelton, born Sept. 28, 1931, passed on the eighth day of January 2019, at his home after a brief illness. He was 87-years-old. Mr. Shelton was born outside Richards, Mo., to James Jacob Shelton and Myrtle Mae (Lively) Shelton. He had seven brothers and sisters, Earl, Everett, Charles, Sheridan, Gilbert, Mildred and Margie. ...

Bobby Gene Blurton, 73, Sheldon, Mo., died on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019, in Joplin, Mo. Bobby was born July 5, 1945, in Mack’s Creek, Mo., to Marvin Frank and Lela Bell (Brown) Blurton. Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m., Friday, Jan. 11, at Ferry Funeral Home in Nevada...

John Elmer Phipps, 81, Nevada, Mo., died on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019, at his home in Nevada. John was born Aug. 19, 1937, in Nevada, to Leonard Elmer and Hazel Francis (Ames) Phipps. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 12, at the United Methodist Church in Nevada with the Rev. Sharon Freeman officiating. Friends may call now and until the hour of service at Ferry Funeral Home in Nevada...

Nevada’s City Council met in regular session on Tuesday evening with councilmen Ryan Watts, Blake Hertzberg, Carol Gallgher, Lyndon Eberhard and Mayor Brian Leonard in attendance. Also present were City Manager JD Kehrman and City Clerk Johnna Williams...

Meeting on a different night and time, the school board for the Sheldon R-8 district discussed food service, learned of a preliminary state report on the performance of the district, and discussed a number of smaller items. All seven members of the board were present for the shorter than usual, 30-minute meeting. The board approved the minutes, payment of bills and learned the balance of funds and the state of the budget...

The Nevada High School junior varsity wrestling squad was in action at Saturday’s Seneca JV Tournament, as several Tiger wrestlers collected medals. “The guys got some good mat-time in at a very competitive tournament,” noted Nevada head coach, David Hawks. “Luke Weber shook off a first-round loss, and ran the table for the remainder of the tournament (placing runner-up at 160 pounds).”...

Editor’s note: Joplin High School’s full team did not participate in the event. In their lone home meet of the season, the Nevada High School girls swim team placed first at the Lady Tiger Invitational — held Jan. 3 at the Osage Prairie YMCA. Nevada defeated Joplin H.S., 100-37, and bested Lamar 84-70. In the other head-to-head match, Lamar toppled an undermanned Joplin squad, 79-51...

Lights out long-range shooting lifted College of the Ozarks to a convincing 84-47 victory over the Cottey Comets Tuesday evening at Hinkhouse Center. COO, the No. 6 ranked team in NAIA D-II women’s basketball was unconscious from beyond the arc, drilling 14-of-22 (64 percent), including eight in the first half as COO opened a 44-26 lead at the break...

A 16-0 fourth quarter run resulted in an emphatic 67-49 victory for the Nevada High School boys basketball team over Lamar Tuesday night. The Big 8 Conference West division road victory moved the Tigers to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in Big 8 West play. “Our kids played with a ton of energy and enthusiasm,” said Nevada head coach Shaun Gray. “They played together, and had fun together — this was a fun one to be a part of.”...