Stories from Thursday, September 4, 2003

Author's note: The following is submitted in the spirit of camaraderie and fun. Top ten reasons why Harley riders don't wave back 10. Afraid it will invalidate warranty. 9. Leather and studs make it too hard to raise arm. 8. Refuses to wave to anyone whose bike is already paid for...

Nearly 3,000 people came to Indian Foothills Park Wednesday to see a performance by music legend Willie Nelson. As his tour buses rolled through town local residents came out to welcome him. Rachael Woodring, Debbie Wallace and Linda McDaniel (left) held up signs as two buses approach the intersection of Yerby and Odell. Although unsure if Nelson was a passenger on either bus, traffic stopped while the fans addressed the country music legend with their signs and salutations...

Steve Wooden, Saline County's district conservationist for the U.S. Department of Natural Resources, said work done by the county to clear a log jam near the Nichols Bridge on County Road 215 is complete, the Saline County Commission reported Thursday...

A Houstonia man was injured in a one-vehicle crash early Thursday morning. According to a preliminary report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Curtis W. Cornine, 23, was northbound on Pettis County Route H north of Elliott Road a little after 2 a.m...

Alyx Chevalier and Jean Thompson got to start the 2003 season at home. However, it wasn't necessarily a happy homecoming for the juniors from the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kan. Chevalier and Thompson, former members of the only Marshall girls' soccer team to reach the playoffs -- a 1999 Class AAA-A quarterfinal appearance -- were on the receiving end of an 11-0 blowout at the hands of Missouri Valley College...

Vladimir Simic is making a transformation that not everyone has been able to pull off. Before he came to Missouri Valley College in 2001 as an assistant coach, the native of Belgrade, Serbia, was a teammate at the now-defunct Mount Senario College (Wis.) of four players who are still active on the squad for which he is now head coach...

ALMA -- For the fourth year in a row, Santa Fe and Tipton clash in the season opener -- although now the roles are reversed. The first two meetings were controlled by the Chiefs, including a 42-7 rout in 2001. Last year, though, the Cardinals -- coming off their first playoff appearance since '92, a run to the Class 1 state semifinals -- whipped a revamped Santa Fe squad, 49-0. ...

AKRON, Ohio -- It was a bumpy trip to and through the Little League Softball Central Regional Tournament for the Missouri Junior League champions. It took 14 hours to reach Akron, Ohio, thanks to a balky bus, for the LaCoMo East All-Stars to begin play on Aug. 2. However, after dropping two of three games -- with a one-day rain delay in between -- the 13- and 14-year-old girls' group had to head back home...

With Mayor Andreé Petersen recuperating after heart surgery, Councilman Stephen Allegri presided over the regular semi-monthly meeting Tuesday evening and will serve as acting mayor while Petersen recovers. "She's doing better," he said. "I told her we're eagerly waiting for her to come back."...

Only one person was arrested during the Willie Nelson concert Wednesday and he was asking for it. Saline County Sheriff Wally George reported that 35-year-old Mark Russell Depriest, of Marshall, was arrested for disturbing the peace before the first band took the stage. George said Depriest caught the attention of officers at 6:55 p.m. when he and a woman were arguing...

A number of Willie Nelson's fans, and even some of the Mid-Missouri Fine Arts Council members who planned the concert, stood amazed that the country music legend was really in Marshall Wednesday night. An estimated 2,900 people attended the concert at Indian Foothills Park, covering the slope of the hill as they danced, cheered and sang along to some of their favorite songs...