Stories from Monday, October 18, 2004

With the third and final presidential debate on the books, the race for the White House seems closer than ever. The conventional wisdom is that President Bush did increasingly better from one debate to the next -- pulling himself from the apparent funk of the first encounter and, in the eyes of some, scoring an upset victory in the final...

Emmit Dee Foltz, 77, of Wheatland, died Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004, at his home. Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, at Hermitage First Baptist Church. Rev. Jeremy Hostettler officiated. Burial was in Clark Cemetery in Hermitage. Arrangements were under the direction of Hathaway-Peterman Funeral Home in Wheatland...

Dorothy Willa Ford, 84, of Marshall, died Saturday, Oct. 16, 2004, at her home. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, at Campbell-Lewis Chapel in Marshall. William W. Harlow and Dan Fahnestock will officiate. Visitation will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, at Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home in Marshall. Burial will be in Ridge Park Cemetery in Marshall. Memorials are suggested to the family's choice...

Minnie Irene Gaddy, 89, of Marshall, died Sunday, Oct. 17, 2004, at Warsaw Health and Rehab in Warsaw. Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, at Campbell-Lewis Chapel in Marshall. Ernest Whittington will officiate. Pallbearers will be Doug Nowlin, Dale Nowlin, Rusty Bellamy, Jeff Bellamy, Steven Gaddy, Jason Goring and Chad Simpson. ...

Ruth Nadine Green, 61, of Moberly, formerly of Saline County, died Saturday, Oct. 16, 2004, at Moberly Regional Hospital in Moberly. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, at Old Lamine Cemetery near Lamine. William W. Harlow will officiate. Visitation will be from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home in Marshall. Memorials are suggested to the family's choice...

Lillie "Patsy" Hall, 59, of Sweet Springs, died Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004, at her home. Funeral services were held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 18, at First Baptist Church in Sweet Springs. Rev. Charles R. Ahlemann officiated. Pallbearers were Mitchell Jenkins, Marty Ballenger, Dale "Tooter" Riley, Jeff Ballenger, Bobby Evans and Matt Ballenger. ...

Benjamin Franklin Reed, 9 months, son of Brad and Gina Reed of Marshall, died Monday, Oct. 18, 2004, in Bolivar. Arrangements are pending at Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home in Marshall.

Velma L. Skouby, 90, of Marshall, died Sunday, Oct. 17, 2004, at Mar-Saline Manor in Marshall. Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, at Campbell-Lewis Chapel in Marshall. Soloist Dale Sassmann will sing "How Great Thou Art," "Beyond the Sunset" and "The Old Rugged Cross," with accompaniment by pianist Julie Lewis. ...

Presenting a traditional Siouan tale, Ioway-Otoe storyteller Jimm GoodTracks related some universal beliefs of human nature. During the presentation at the Van Meter State Park visitor center Saturday, GoodTracks told portions of the "Twin Holy Boys" story from American Indian lore...

With the Nov. 2 election looming, Democrat James "J.E." Durham of Slater and Republican Norvelle "Brownie" Brown of Marshall, candidates for the Northern District county commissioner spot, have been making the rounds, visiting homes and putting up signs across the county...

Representatives of Saline County brought a list of area transportation concerns to discuss with a Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) representative last Thursday at the regular meeting of the Pioneer Trails Transportation Advisory Council (TAC)...

A Nelson teen suffered moderate injuries in a crash early Saturday. According to a report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the crash occurred just before 1 a.m. on Route O, just south of Farmers City Road in Pettis County. The report states that 17-year-old Katie J. ...

At the monthly meeting of the Sweet Springs Board of Education, councilor Jim Reid presented the scores from Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) testing conducted near the end of the 2003-04 school year. Preliminary reports from last month had been excellent, and Reid's official presentation to the board Thursday did not disappoint...

In a brief meeting Monday morning the Saline County Commission approved an agreement to allow for a water supplier to cross county rights of way. Mike Dillon, Southern District commissioner, said the agreement with Public Water Supply District No. 1 of Pettis, Johnson and Saline counties will allow the supplier to use Saline County rights of way in two locations...

Marshall High School will host its annual College and Career Night from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, in the commons area of MHS. Approximately 38 colleges, universities and technical schools have indicated they will participate in this year's program...

MEXICO -- Compared to where it was a year ago, or even a fortnight past, the Marshall football team is showing considerable gains. It took a touchdown with 55 seconds remaining Friday for Mexico to pull out a 20-13 NCMC decision over the visiting Owls. That's a far cry from the 25-7 licking the Bulldogs laid on them last year or the 27-7 rout by Kirksville two weeks ago, both the product of opponents' dominance on the line...

LAMONI, Iowa -- There was no fourth-quarter heartbreak Saturday for the Missouri Valley College football team. Instead, the disappointments began early and continued throughout the Vikings' 42-11 Heart of America Conference loss at 24th-ranked Graceland. While the defense broke instead of bent, Valley's offense moved the ball all over the field -- except into the end zone -- before coughing it up to the Yellowjackets six times...

ORRICK -- The battle of top-10 teams from which many believed the I-70 Conference champion would emerge lived up to its billing Friday. Eighth-ranked Santa Fe and No. 9 Orrick traded punches throughout the game, with the end result being even closer than the pair of two-point games which preceded it the last two years: a 21-20 Chiefs victory...

VERSAILLES -- The Marshall volleyball team won one match easily, split another and then dropped two close, hard-fought contests Saturday at the Versailles Tournament. The Lady Owls opened by breezing past Clinton, 25-16, 25-12, but then ran into a 24-1 Green Ridge squad -- pushing it to the edge before the scoring cap stopped the first game with a 27-26 loss and then dropping the second set, 25-18...

The private schools from St. Louis bounced both NCMC teams out of the girls' tennis playoffs Saturday during the Class 1, Section 2 Tournament at Marshall. Mary Institute/Country Day School avenged an earlier dual loss to Metro Women's League rival Visitation Academy -- which handed Kirksville its first dual loss of the season, 5-2, in the semifinal round -- by a 5-1 score to reach the MSHSAA Class 1 Team Championship Thursday at Springfield. ...

FAYETTE -- When two of the Heart of America's hottest women's volleyball teams met Thursday at Fayette, two days earlier than originally scheduled, one would have to be cooled. It was Missouri Valley College, which saw its three-match league win streak stopped by 22nd-ranked Central Methodist -- claiming its sixth HAAC victory in a row, 30-26, 30-20, 28-30, 30-19...

Jimmie Johnson led the final 16 laps for his fifth victory of the season, but first during the 10-event Race for the Nextel Cup, Saturday in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. Johnson's lead over second-place Jeff Gordon wasn't nearly as close as was the outcome of the Democrat-News' "The Race is On" contest, which came down to a five-way tiebreaker -- 29 players having at least two of the top three drivers, including third-place Dale Earnhardt Jr., on their ballots.. ...

Friday, Oct. 15 NCMC at Mexico 20, Marshall 13 Moberly 47, at Fulton 12 Hannibal 13, at Kirksville 12 Lewis & Clark Marceline 56, at Westran 14 Salisbury 34, at Paris 12 I-70 Santa Fe 21, at Orrick 20 at Wellington-Napoleon 32, Sweet Springs 13 at Concordia 47, Windsor 6...

Saturday, Oct. 16 Heart of America at Graceland 42, Missouri Valley 11 Baker 19, at Culver-Stockton 15 at Lindenwood 45, Avila 0 at William Jewell 24, Central Methodist 7 MidAmerica Nazarene 45, at Benedictine 17 Idle Culver-Stockton HAAC Overall School W L PS PA W L PS PA...

Friday, Oct. 15 BOYS' SOCCER Lebanon Tournament (Round Robin) Spg.-Parkview 5, Fulton 0 SOFTBALL MSHSAA Class 1 Sectionals Hermitage 4, Dadeville 0 MSHSAA Class 2 Sectionals Benton-Kelly 4, Elsberry 0 Purdy 5, Pleasant Hope 4 (8) Richland 8, Fatima 2...