Stories from Friday, May 22, 2009

Chad Dwain Nelson, 33, Nevada, died on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, in Nevada. Family information and funeral arrangements will be announced later by Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada.

The Joplin Football Officials Association will be holding it's first orientation meeting at Southwest Missouri Bank's Community Room located at Zora and Rangeline, Joplin, on May 20, at 6:30 p.m. This meeting will explain the procedures for becoming a high school football official...

Nevada Daily Mail The Perry Grizzle Insurance Agency will be hosting a three-person team tournament at the Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course on May 30 and 31. The tournament will be played over two days with the first day's action being played in a best ball format, followed by scramble on day two. The entry fee is $190 per team and includes green fees, continental breakfast, free range balls and cash prizes...

The Nevada High School track team held their year-end awards banquet Wednesday night. At the banquet, awards were handed out for top track and top field athletes, male and female, as well as "guts" and outstanding freshman awards. This year's top track winners were Todd Brier and Mariah Mock...

The Bushwhacker Entertainment Committee is pleased to announce finalized contracts on our opening act and main musical attraction for this year's Bushwhacker Days Festival. During the day -- on Saturday, June 13 -- there will be fun for everyone. At 7 a.m., the Bushwhacker 5K Run put on by Nevada Parks and Recreation will start the day of festivities. Next, the Bushwhacker Baby Show and the Toddler Swimsuit Show will take place...

Last week, our community lost a true leader, Bill Edmonds. This news rightfully made the front page of the Daily Mail. For myself and many others, this was a personal loss. The following is how I knew and plan to remember this good man. I first got to know Bill back in the '70s at the softball park out at the fairgrounds. Bill played second base for the Thornton National Bank men's fast pitch team. Runt Thomas and I umpired many of the games in which Bill played...

Bushwhacker Days Window Display Contest. Good luck and may the best window win! This year, the 45th Annual Bushwhacker Days celebration has added a business/retail window display contest. Businesses and retailers are invited to decorate their windows with this year's event theme, "Nevada.....Fun in all seasons!"...

The Vernon County Chapter of the American Red Cross is looking for a few good people. The chapter is conducting training for instructors during the month of June. The three-day class will be held on, Wednesday June 17, Friday, June 19 and Monday, June 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., each day. Candidates must be able to attend all the sessions. The cost for the classes is $150...

The passage of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Safety Act, requirng covers on pool drains to prevent swimmers from becoming caught in the drain has delayed the opening of the Walton Family Aquatic Center from the traditional Memorial Day, to tentatively Saturday, May 30 at 1 p.m.,with pre-season pass sales from 10 a.m. to noon...

Pittsburg High School is the winner of the Southeast Kansas League's Martin Rohde All-Sports Award for the second consecutive year, while Fort Scott High School finished fourth in points tabulation. Pittsburg, which won league championships in five sports, scored 91.5 points, the most scored by a Rohde winner since Fort Scott scored 100.5 points in winning the 2005 award. ...

EL DORADO, Kan. -- Although they are rivals, Fort Scott High's Cole Murrin and Chanute's Jeremy Gant won't be playing in the same foursome when the Kansas Class 4A State Golf Tournament is held at Prairie Trails Country Club Tuesday morning. Murrin will be in the third-from-last group of golfers that will tee off on No. ...

As we were discussing the recent spring turkey season and all the storms that have hit the area recently, we looked over the far side of my pond where, in the late afternoon sunlight, we saw dimpling rises next to the weeds. Bluegill, I thought. Brad said, "Those little rises usually signal some great fishing, so let's get after them."...

The Hume Hornets baseball team won three games this past week. On Tuesday, May 12, the Hornets defeated Archie 2-0 in eight innings. Senior Ryan Austin pitched the entire game, recording a no-hitter with 20 strikeouts. Austin and Eric Pruitt each had an RBI in the contest, while Austin and Kris Sears each scored a run...

Three Rivers League champion Uniontown had players selected to the All-TRL Softball Team, which was announced Thursday morning. Uniontown won its first league title in the program's second year of existence with a 7-1 record (11-7 overall). Altoona-Midway was second at 5-1 followed by Chetopa at 6-3, St. Paul 4-4, Marmaton Valley 2-7 and Oswego 1-9. Not all teams played a full league schedule due to rainouts, so winning percentage was used to determine the champion...

The Nevada Griffons will host a work day at Lyons Stadium in Nevada, tomorrow, at 1 p.m., rain or shine. On the list of priorities will be field work, cleaning the dugouts, bathrooms, locker room, garage, press box and various other tasks. Host families are still needed for Griffons players as well. Anyone interested in hosting a Griffons player for the summer is strongly encouraged to contact Joyce Wilson at (417) 667-0406 as soon as possible...

An unexpected visitor pedaled into Fort Scott on Monday. Flovian Hanusch, Nuremberg, Germany, rode his bicycle into the local area earlier in the week as part of a bike trip that began in Germany and will end in Australia. Hanusch said he began the United States portion of his journey in New York on April 1. Hanusch said he expects to end the United States portion of his trip in about six weeks, when he reaches Los Angeles, Calif...

Nevada, Mo. -- Joann Cash has a mission. It's not glamorous, but it is practical. Cash is heading an effort to remodel the bathrooms at the home economics building at the Vernon County fairgrounds. The plan is to expand the bathrooms and replace the old fixtures...

Following the Fort Scott City Commission's decision to deny the rezoning request for a new animal shelter, the Shirley Yeager Animal Friends organization is now looking in a new direction. "I was disappointed but not surprised," Shirley Yeager Animal Friends organization member Kathy Dancer said...

When Delbert and Xollie Buffer purchased the old Dave Arnold farm in Blue Mound Township, they discovered that there was an abandoned cemetery on it. They immediately began preparations to care for it. They fenced it from their cattle, cut away downed trees, straightened stones and are keeping it mowed -- all at their own expense. ...

Nevada, Mo. -- The Vernon County Arts Council will be having a Fine Arts Show May 29-31. The hours are Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. with a reception to be held from 4-6 p.m., Friday. The event will be at 320 E Austin (next to O Reilly's). This is a juried show and prizes will be given to the top artist. For information, call (417) 667-5289 or (417) 667-4695...

Sentencing continues for several local defendants, in federal court this week for participating in a conspiracy to distribute millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine in Barton County, Mo., and elsewhere, said Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman. Operation Buckshot was a multi-agency investigation into a large-scale drug-trafficking conspiracy that involved the distribution of methamphetamine from California through Kansas City, Mo., and into southwest Missouri. ...