Stories from Thursday, August 18, 2005

Sept. 18-24 is National Farm Safety and Health Week, dedicated to heightening awareness of safety issues to help agricultural workers find safer, healthier work habits. Job safety and health are everyone's concern, the employer, the employee and any visitors to the job site. But what if the job is a family farm and the employer is the employee? The National Safety Council has help available from their Web site: www.nsc.org...

It's about taking a group of young men -- individuals -- and getting them to move in unison on the command of a central leader. It takes physical conditioning along with mental strength to react to split-second decisions, and it takes each person doing his job for the team as a whole to be successful. ...

A Stockton man was sentenced in federal court yesterday for possession of child pornography. Danny D. Williams, 49, was sentenced to three years and 10 months in a federal prison, without parole, by U.S. Chief District Judge Dean Whipple. According to Todd P. ...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Gov. Matt Blunt has announced that all flags at state facilities in Missouri will be flown at half-staff to honor the memory of Missouri State Highway Patrol Corporal John A. (Jay) Sampietro Jr. who was killed in the line of duty on Wednesday...

A blaze broke out in one room of a home at 217 E. Hickory early Wednesday morning, but no injuries were reported. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they found one room on fire, at the southwest corner of the house. Four fire trucks and 10 firefighters responded and the fire was extinguished a short time later. Firefighters also vented the smoke to the outside of the house, remaining on the scene for a total of one hour and 51 minutes...

Briannah Lanham stands under the Bryan Elementary sign so her mother, Ilene, can take her picture for Briannah's first day of kindergarten. Parents thronged to the school with their children on the first day of classes at Bryan Elementary School in Nevada, this morning. Many parents posed their children in front of the school's sign to commemorate the special day. Nevada schools expected a total of about 2,600 students this year...

Allene Opal Hiestand, 90, Nevada, died Aug. 16, 2005, at Christian Health Care in Nevada following a long illness. She was born Feb. 28, 1915, at Dederick, to John and Eva (Key) Folkner. Allene married Clifford Eldon Hiestand on Oct. 9, 1933, in Fort Scott, Kan. He preceded her in death in 1993...

There is something about walking down a hall in a school building that changes me. I never had any trouble at school. I got good grades. I had many friends. I liked most of my teachers. I felt that I got a good education. But now, when I am middle age plus and enter a school building all of my maturity leaves me. I am again a young person wondering if I look OK, if I remembered to bring everything I need for the day, and what will that person walking the other way think of me...

The Vernon County Historical Society can only be grateful to the Osage Tribal Museum and others responsible for bringing the latter institution's traveling exhibit to the Bushwhacker Museum, where it will be on public view till about mid-October. But the present writer is surprised and rather troubled by some of the written interpretation accompanying the exhibit...

I tuned in to catch some of the Kansas City Royals' game against the Seattle Mariners yesterday, not because I wanted to see how the Royals were doing, but because I wanted to see if they were going to get no-hit. You see, moments before I changed the channel to watch the RSTN version of baseball torture, I had heard on ESPN News that the Royals were not only in danger of losing their 3,000th game in a row, but that they had yet to collect a hit off Jamie Moyer...

Jennifer Hope, 22, of Nevada took home the silver medal on Saturday, Aug. 6, just outside of Columbia in the annual Show Me State Games. Hope completed the 25-mile loop with a time of 56 minutes, 48 seconds. Hope was the second youngest female competing with women that have ridden for more than 30 years. ...