Stories from Thursday, May 9, 2002

Despite the cancellation of a park tour due to torrential rains, the Marshall Park Board was given an update Wednesday of the many projects under way. Mel Smith, director of parks and recreation, reported on the work during the board's regular meeting yesterday evening. Among the items discussed were the construction of a new restroom on the golf course, progress on a new shelter house and implementation of projects funded by the sales tax increase approved last year...

BOONVILLE -- The Slater Wildcats won a bronze medal in the seventh- and eight-grade boys' division of the Show-Me State Games/Diggit Graphics 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, held Saturday and Sunday at Boonville. Coached by Bill Leimkuehler, the squad of Colter Doherty, Marco Falls, Dewayne Lewis, Scott Leimkuehler and Nolan Townsend placed third behind the Boonville Storm III and Linn Wildcats...

SEDALIA -- The Kimberlings of Slater were strong in the preliminaries, but Marshall's Jake Morris had the top finish among Saline County drivers in feature races Friday at State Fair Speedway in Sedalia. Morris couldn't catch the winner of the Third National Bank Modifieds Division, Chad Lyle of Lone Jack taking the lead on the fourth lap and staying in front the remaining 16 circuits, but held firmly in fifth place after coming in third in the "B" feature and tenth in the first heat...

LAMONI, Iowa -- The Missouri Valley College track and field team won eight medals at the Heart of America Conference Championships in Lamoni, Iowa, on Friday and Saturday. For all but two of the Vikings, however, the outdoor season ended. Junior Marissa Hunter of Kansas City, Mo., won the discus with a throw of 146 feet, giving her an automatic bid to the NAIA Championships with the eighth-ranked mark nationally. ...

SPRINGFIELD -- It was fun while it lasted. Actually, the NAIA Region V Tournament at Springfield went one day longer than the Missouri Valley College softball team wanted. On Tuesday -- when the event was scheduled to be completed -- the Lady Vikings had their top pitcher, 19-game-winning sophomore Leslie Footlick ready to go, on a roll with 10 victories in her last 12 starts...

NORBORNE -- The thunder was off in the distance, but the lightning was on the track Tuesday in the form of the Sweet Springs girls. The Lady Greyhounds' sprinters blitzed the field to win the championship of the Norborne Invitational, their 104 points putting them 14 ahead of second-place Hardin-Central. Meanwhile, it was balance across the board which led Santa Fe (78 points) to the boys' title by 19 points over Hardin...

ST. CHARLES -- Try as it might, the Culver-Stockton baseball team has yet to find a way to beat head coach Elliott Sampley's Missouri Valley squad. The Vikings extended their winning streak against the Heart of America Conference regular season champions Wednesday with a 2-1, 10-inning victory in the first round of the NAIA Region V Tournament at St. Charles...

190 billion dollars. That's a huge number to try and get your mind to grasp. That $190 billion figure is the estimated price tag for the new farm bill advanced by the U.S. Senate Wednesday, and critics have argued the bill threatens to return us to the days of federal deficit spending...

Beryl R. White, 67, of Marshall, died Thursday, May 9, 2002, at the Lutheran Good Shepherd Home in Concordia. Arrangements are pending at Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home in Marshall.

Affordable housing at Valley Southwest Apartments will soon be available for families and individuals wanting to rent a two-bedroom or three-bedroom apartment. The 48-unit apartment complex is located in the southern part of Marshall along U.S. Highway 65, with the main entrance off Route YY on Atchison Avenue. ...

Moms are a special lot. They really are. Have you ever noticed: How moms can be rough as a gravel road one moment and as smooth as the scent of lilac in spring the next? How they can, at times, dole out strict discipline and unwavering love in the same breath?...

Patricia Gilman, a retired art teacher from St. Peters, has been chosen to kick off the annual visiting artist series in Arrow Rock this weekend. Gilman has been showing her skills on the boardwalk in Arrow Rock for the past 15 years and will be the only artist doing pencil portraits in the historic village, although many other artists will display their talents throughout the summer...