Stories from Wednesday, December 18, 2002

Tuesday was a busy night for the Marshall Board of Education, which took action on items ranging from the creation of a vocational internship program to approving a worker's compensation insurance policy. Vocational internship created Greg Nolting, Saline County Career Center director, and Joan Clouse, SCCC counselor, made the presentation for the creation of the internship program and said it would be beneficial to both the students who take part and local employers...

BOYS Lewis & Clark Paris 58, at Slater 36 at Salisbury 76, Marceline 65 at Westran 68, Fayette 59 CAC Cairo 57, at Malta Bend 44 at New Franklin 49, Glasgow 36 at Brunswick 69, Keytesville 26 Non-conference at Orrick 70, Norborne 41 Windsor 57, at Sherwood 39...

MALTA BEND -- Neither Malta Bend team was able to come up with its first CAC victory Tuesday during a doubleheader sweep by visiting Cairo. The Lady Tigers were disposed of by the defending league champions, 71-28, and the Malta Bend boys couldn't catch up to the Bearcats, 57-44...

SLATER -- It's hard to come up with a winning hand when the deck is short a few cards. That's especially true when a young girls' basketball team like Slater's is going up against a quality veteran club, as shown during Tuesday's 58-26 Lewis and Clark Conference loss to visiting Paris...

SLATER -- It doesn't take Phil Jackson to see why a Slater boys' basketball team which pushed Glasgow Tournament champion Westran into overtime two weeks ago was bombed by Lewis and Clark Conference rival Paris on Tuesday, 58-36, for its fifth loss in a row...

Marybelle Laughlin, 67, of rural Marshall, died Monday, Dec. 16, 2002, at Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 20, at First Presbyterian Church in Marshall. Rev. Pam Sebastian will officiate.

Elza Smith Bridges, 86, formerly of Saline County, died earlier this week. Funeral services will be held Thursday, December 19, 2002, at Pitts Chapel, Bolivar, MO, with Bro. Leon Meadows will officiate.

The Saline County Commission hired a new county health office administrator during its regular meeting Wednesday morning. The commissioners voted without dissent to hire Gayle Thomas to the position at a starting salary of $25,000. She will take over administrative duties from Jill Hieronymus on Jan. 2, 2003. Hieronymus announced her resignation in November, but stayed longer to allow the commission time to find her replacement...

The Marshall post office expected an influx of mail to demand its attention as Christmas approaches, but plans were made beforehand so workers would be able to deal with the seemingly endless stream of letters and packages. Monday was predicted to be the peak day of the holiday mailing season, but Postmaster Steve Vanderhoof said the local post office has been delivering an abundance of mail since Dec. ...

The Marshall High School Orchestra will perform its winter concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, in the MHS Little Theater. Directed by Kevin Lines, 25 orchestra members will share a variety of music, from seasonal pieces to classic and contemporary. ...

Notable quotes "The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." -- Burton Hillis A word from the director Have the last minute gotta-buy-a-gift blues got you down? Go to the library! "The Greatest Gift Guide Ever" by Judith King is loaded with ideas. ...

A day after reaching a decision on their recommendation, members of the Marshall Public Schools Facility Committee presented their report to the Marshall Board of Education. Committee Chairman George Clemens said the group had been meeting for 18 months, meaning its members had been through about 60 hours of meetings...