Stories from Saturday, April 1, 2017

On the way to the lake, to get in on the good crappie, walleye and white bass fishing, I nearly ran off the road when I saw two big tom turkeys all fanned out near several hens. It's a sight that would get any turkey hunter's adrenalin going. It's like finding a big bunch of morel mushrooms or snagging a catching a limit of crappie...

Mike J. Hallam "Mikey," 56, Nevada, passed away on Thursday, March 30, at Nevada Regional Medical Center in Nevada following a sudden illness. Mike was born May 12, 1960, in Avon, Ill., to Claude Leroy and Patricia Ann (McDonald) Hallam. Mike lived in Illinois until 1974 then moved to the Nevada area and attended Nevada High School. ...

Clarence Raygene "Marty" Nichols, 46, Rockaway Beach, Mo., died Thursday, March 30, at Cox Medical Center in Branson, Mo. Marty was born April 18, 1970, in El Dorado Springs, to Robert Ray and Donna Rose (Newton) Martin. A private memorial service will be held at a later date...

gfranklin.nevadadailymail@gmail.com Vernon County's American Red Cross Disaster Action Team is looking for volunteers. "We respond to disasters," team captain Chad Bailey said. "A lot of our calls are fires -- house fires, apartment fires. We assist the families -- make them comfortable."...

jbrann.ndm@gmail.com While it was Judge David Darnold who wrote the state grant which established the first treatment court in the 28th Judicial Circuit, it was a 50 page paper by David Heumader which served as the blueprint for the court in the circuit's four counties...

ndmeditorial@gmail.com Two months ago it was an idea presented at a board meeting. Now Nevada and Vernon County have established a prescription drug monitoring program that will go in effect this summer. "This is proof that the people here are able to come together and tackle big issues," Alyson Harder, Heartland Behavioral Health Services CEO, said...

During the month of April, the Vernon County Sheriff's Office will be recognizing national tele-communicators week for our dispatchers in Vernon County. The job of dispatching is often overlooked and even taken for granted. When a person calls 911 they expect someone to answer and be ready to deal with their issue no matter what the circumstances. It can be easy to forget the person on the other end is a human being that can be affected by stress, emotions, and fatigue just like everyone else...

Hi neighbors. Happy April Fool's Day! I think Mother Nature pulled one on us since we've had a week of April showers before April even arrived. I suppose we can now look forward to May flowers -- unless they arrive a month early as well. It seems people have been celebrating one form or another of "Fool's Day" since the 1500s. The origins of our modern April Fool's Day go back to the 1700s but even that seems a little tricky...