Stories from Monday, May 22, 2006

ALMA -- As the cool of the air conditioning washed over the Santa Fe High School Class of 2006 in the brightly lit new Greg Prather Gymnasium on Sunday, May 21, the 26 graduates looked to the future. Both Class Salutatorian Danielle Sowers and Class Valedictorian Erin Niederjohn implored their classmates to be prepared for the ups and downs of that future...

We're fighting two wars, not just one, U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) told the Saline County Democrats Saturday, May 20. The salute to former President Harry Truman at the Marshall Senior Center drew 110 people, organizers said. Skelton, ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, said we're fighting one war in Afghanistan against the "genesis of the war on terrorism" and a second war against Iraq...

With the smell of pork loin and the sound of children's laughter filling the air and rows of colorful potted flowers filling the lawn, a little thing like overcast skies couldn't dampen the spirits of the people attending Spring Fling on the Marshall square Saturday, May 20...

In high-heeled pumps, polished dress shoes, tennis shoes, flip-flops and, yes, even barefoot, the Marshall High School Class of 2006 stepped boldly into the future following commencement exercises Sunday afternoon, May 21, at the MHS athletic complex...

Julie Olson, a veterans service officer with the Missouri Veterans Commission, will be in the Marshall Senior Center, 72 West Morgan, from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Olson is available to assist veterans, surviving spouses and their dependents in filing claims to U.S. ...

MEXICO -- It's only fitting that Marshall seniors Jeremy Glassmaker and Michael McCampbell will close their fine careers as distance runners at the MSHSAA Class 3 Championships this coming weekend. One or the other, and twice both, are involved in all five of the Owls' entries which advanced to state Saturday at the Class 3, Section 2 Championships in Mexico. The Marshall girls qualified in three events...

ST. PETERS -- The first appearance at the MSHSAA Championships was an instructive, if not entirely happy, one for the Marshall girls' swimming team. The Lady Owls didn't make it past the Friday preliminaries, with none of their three entries matching the best times posted this season. That wasn't going to produce any medals on a fast weekend at the St. Peters Rec-Plex, in which six state records would be set...

JEFFERSON CITY -- That Slater junior Dewayne Lewis won a gold medal Friday at the MSHSAA Class 1 Track and Field Championships was no surprise. That Santa Fe senior Kyle Geiselman did the same Saturday at Jefferson City was. A year ago, Geiselman fell more than a foot short of his qualifying mark and finished dead last in the long jump at state. ...

It doesn't count in the season points tally, but drivers compete just as hard to win the NASCAR Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge as they do any other race, either for the $1 million top prize or for bragging rights among winners from the past year. That was evident Saturday, when only half of the 20-car field was still running at the end of the 90-lap shoot-out at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte. ...

The number of turkeys checked during the 2006 spring turkey season dropped by 2,780 birds from last year for a season total of 51,018 state-wide. Low reproductive rates for the last three years and some of the worst turkey season weather combined for the decrease. Weather's biggest effect is on the hunter. Hunter comfort determines the amount of effort hunters put into the hunt. Turkeys, on the other hand, just keep on going with their business...

A year ago, the Marshall boys' tennis team didn't make it out of singles play during its contest against the St. Louis Priory School in the Class 1, Section 2 Tournament. During Saturday's rematch at MHS, all three doubles matches were in action before the semifinal tilt ended with the Rebels' 5-3 victory...

Bill Arndt, 56, of Glasgow, formerly of Marshall, died Sunday, May 21, 2006. Cremation. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Parker Funeral Home in Columbia. He was a U.S. military veteran and worked as a correctional officer for 20 years at Boonville before retiring from that position in 2000...

Dora Mae Burton, 87, of Marshall, formerly of Slater, died Monday, May 22, 2006, at Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall. Funeral arrangements are pending at Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home in Marshall.

Sue Case, 76, of Independence, died Saturday, May 20, 2006, at Independence Regional Health Center in Independence. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 24, at Chapel of Memories Funeral Home in Grain Valley. Visitation will be from 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Swan Lake Memorial Gardens in Grain Valley. Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society...

Anna Katherine "Katie" Davis, 69, of rural Napton, died Monday, May 22, 2006, at her home. Funeral arrangements are pending at Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home in Marshall.

Clinton A. "Tiny" Meyer, 73, of Marshall, died Sunday, May 21, 2006, at University Hospital and Clinics in Columbia. Funeral arrangements are pending at Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home in Marshall.

Francis Murray "F.M." Wilson II, 89, of Scottsdale, Ariz., died Thursday, May 18, 2006, in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he resided with his wife of 55 years, Mary Kay Winter Wilson, who survives of the home. Services will be held under the direction of Rollins Funeral Home in Platte City. ...