Stories from Friday, August 31, 2001

Charges against a truck driver involved in a fatal accident on Interstate 70 last weekend were amended early Friday after reports surfaced that a preliminary blood test was in error when the presence of illegal drugs in the trucker's body was reported...

Last night the nightmares came before even going to bed. Working late Thursday evening, my eyes hit on the item in the Associated Press digest, "the wire" in newsroom lingo, titled "Five Dead Error." The "Five Dead" part matched earlier stories about Sunday's tragic fatal accident on Interstate 70 near Sweet Springs, so I knew the item was worth checking out...

Missouri library fact More than two-thirds of Missouri residents have library cards. A word from the director I recently got, via our anonymous suggetion box, a note which made me realize that not everyone understands how our library is funded, and whose taxes are responsible for our operation. The message read "Out-of-town people should be able to check out books, too. You should not discriminate."...

SLATER -- Just when the Slater softball team was mounting its strongest offensive threat of the young season, lightning forced players off the field. A torrent of rain followed, forcing suspension of the Lady Wildcats' non-conference contest against visiting Keytesville in the bottom of the third inning...

Veteran amateur track coach Chris Moreno is now running the Missouri Valley College cross country program, the sixth head coach since '96, and he isn't looking back. Moreno, most recently in charge of the Longview Community College program has extensive experience -- having eight years ago ago begun Laraza Athletics. ...

ALMA -- The Santa Fe volleyball team got the season off to a solid start with a 15-2, 15-10 non-conference win over visiting Higginsville. The Lady Chiefs played strong defense and got their serves in at a 98-percent clip to sustain pressure on the Lady Huskers (0-2). Senior Bobbi Gibson had two of Santa Fe's four kills -- half of the total points notched by aces, of which both senior Aimee Bredehoeft and junior Lindsay Utlaut had three...

The start to the '01 season is unlike any other experienced by Dan Stanley during his six years as Missouri Valley College head football coach. Except for '99, when the Vikings played in the Wheat Bowl to begin their Heart of America Conference championship run, they had opened with MAIA member Missouri-Rolla. Valley played the Miners that year, also, before beginning league play -- in each meeting after UMR already had a game under its belt...

aul Thomas hasn't been getting a lot of sleep these days, and not because he's a night Owl. Neither is the Marshall head football coach unduly worried about his young team. Rather, it is his excitement and enthusiasm over the Owls' prospects as they head into tonight's opener at NCMC rival Mexico that's keeping Thomas awake...

Mary Dennis, 89, of Bridgeton, formerly of Marshall, died Friday, Aug. 31, 2001, at the Life Care Center in Bridgeton. Funeral arrangements are pending under the direction of Sweeney-Reser-Wills Funeral Home in Marshall.

During Friday's regular meeting of the Saline County Commission, commissioners reported building of the new box culvert on County Road 314 at Finnis Creek is still being conducted and the road will be open by approximately Sept. 10. County Auditor Kathy Austin reported that at 2 p.m. ...

After more than 30 years with Marshall Municipal Utilities, Larry Webster is calling it a day. Webster, the MMU underground facilities superintendent, announced his resignation at Wednesday's meeting of the Board of Public Works. Webster began his employment at MMU with a stint from 1963 to 1966. He returned in 1972 and has continued working with the local utilities until now...

At the Saline County Inter-Agency Council's regular monthly meeting this week, John Carton of Butterfield Youth Services discussed the Village Cellar second hand store's present budget situation, asking those representatives present to assist in the store's continuing operation...

Excel Corporation stated Friday that its Marshall facility will reopen Tuesday, Sept. 4, as a case-ready meat plant. Excel reported the last hog was processed at the local plant Aug. 26, and 55 employees will be added to the plant's labor force Tuesday to go with the 50 people who have been working during the conversion...

Missouri Valley College's eighth consecutive enrollment increase wasn't a huge gain, but that's the way they like it. For the 2001-02 academic year the MVC has 1,352 students enrolled, up from 1,348 last year. MVC President Chad Freeman said the college had a smaller freshman class this year, but retained more upperclassmen coming into the fall semester...

Kat Van Buren was having a little trouble Thursday afternoon. She couldn't stop smiling. Van Buren had purchased a winning Powerball ticket worth $100,000 earlier this week at the Texaco 65 convenience store in Marshall. Van Buren has been buying the tickets for just over a year for herself and 28 coworkers on ConAgra Frozen Food's first shift. ...

HILL CITY, S.D. -- It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it! And besides that, it's another fun thing the family can do together. All it takes is a couple of pitchforks, some shovels, a bunch of hay and a pair of wheelbarrows. During our stay here in the Black Hills we found that we could actually VOLUNTEER to muck out the stables a couple of evenings during the week. ...

At 2 p.m. this Saturday, archeologist Tim Baumann will present "Made in Clay: 19th Century Pottery Production in Arrow Rock, Missouri" at Arrow Rock's State Historic Site Visitors Center. Sponsored by the Missouri Archaeology Society, Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Missouri Association of Professional Archeologists as part of Missouri's Archeology Month, which lasts through the month of September, this event is a lecture and slides presentation on a recent Arrow Rock summer dig conducted by Baumann, said Friends of Arrow Rock Executive Director Kathy Borgman.. ...