Stories from Friday, May 27, 2011

Jean LaGuire, 87, Nevada, passed away on Wednesday, May 25, 2011, at Mercy Health Center, Fort Scott, Kan. She was born Jan. 1, 1924, in Fairfield, Neb., to J. Walter Thornburg and Ivy Main Thornburg. She married Dean Whitworth on Nov. 11, 1943, in the Bronaugh Parsonage home. ...

Ronald Clive Smith, 94, Wenatchee, Wash., passed away on Wednesday, May 25, 2011, at the Rehabilitation Center of Independence, Independence, Mo. He was born April 8, 1917, in Butler, Mo., to Howard W. Smith and Martha Estella Wix Smith. He married Laudell Dahmer on Feb. 14, 1943, in Kansas City, Mo., and she survives of the home in Wenatchee...

State officials ask Missourians to help locate friends, loved ones.

The Vernon County Relay For Life Committee has announced the 2011 Cancer Survivor Dinner for cancer survivors and their guests will be held at 6 p.m., June 6, at the Nevada Eagles Lodge. "Invitations have been sent and the RSVP's are coming in," stated Linda Chesnut, survivor chairperson. ...

Joplin, Mo. -- St. John's Regional Medical Center patients who have questions about scheduled physician appointments, tests, surgeries, prescriptions or other medical needs should call (417) 781-2727. Hospital officials also have released information about vehicles on St. ...

Some focus on the conflict between Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers.

At a news conference held this morning in Joplin near the site of St. John's Regional Medical Center, Mercy President and CEO Lynn Britton and St. John's President Gary Pulsipher pledged to the community that Mercy will rebuild. "The Sisters of Mercy came to this community in 1885 and opened the hospital in 1896. They've been through hard times before -- perhaps nothing quite on the magnitude of this -- but our commitment to Joplin remains strong," said Britton...

More than 80 community briefings across the state are now under way and additional briefings are being scheduled to explain the Missouri Department of Transportation's recently announced plan to reduce staff, facilities and equipment. The right-sizing actions will save $512 million that will be used for vital road and bridge projects...

Declaring themselves ready to put a stop to looting and enhance security at the tragic, other-worldly scene of Joplin tornado devastation, 100 members of the Missouri National Guard's 1139th Military Police Company stopped in Nevada to refuel Thursday afternoon...

Quade McKennon, one of the Griffons regular catchers for this summer gets in some work behind the plate Wednesday night. Photos by Ralph Pokorny/Daily Mail.