Stories from Thursday, September 30, 2004

Recently, I spent time with our Early Childhood educators, who are doing a fantastic job working with approximately 75 preschool children in need of developmental assistance. The Early Childhood Program, housed in the Prairie View State School facility, offers developmentally-delayed 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds an opportunity to grow and learn in an educationally stimulating environment. ...

We are all born with the ability to be creative. A child's natural sense of curiosity and wonderment with the world around them is the beginning of a creative mind. At an early age a child believes he can be, become, or do anything he chooses. Unfortunately, the wrong environment, unthinking caregivers or lack of encouragement can crush this innate creativity and self-confidence...

Because of some health problems, I recently spent the better part of three weeks at home instead of at my desk. What I though might be a great time to get some writing done turned out to be time spent looking at the wonder and mayhem that has become modern day television programming...

John Wilbur Miller, 83, of Slater, died Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2004, at his home. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at Campbell-Lewis Chapel in Marshall. Rev. Pam Sebastian and Rev. Robert Sisney will officiate. Visitation will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. ...

The Saline County Commission had to make some last minute, but welcome, financial adjustments to close out the month Thursday. During the first meeting to be held this week, the commissioners announced the county had received nearly $69,000 in funding from the Bridge Replacement Off-sytem (BRO) program. The revenue will be used to defray the costs of replacing two bridges in rural Saline County...

Getting money from the hazard mitigation grant program is requiring jumping through more hoops for the Pioneer Trails Regional Planning Commission. The program provides federal grant money to states and local governments which implement long-term strategies to deal with major disasters such as floods or tornadoes. Though the RPC has gotten some money from the program into its coffers, there is still a hefty chunk, approximately $14,000, it anticipated having that has yet to be paid...

Meeting in special session Wednesday, the Marshall City Council approved budget adjustments and expenditures to finish out the fiscal year. Charlie Tryban, city administrator, said several factors came together to make the year-end budget wind up in the red...

Nearly seven years after its finances were reviewed by State Auditor Claire McCaskill's office, the town of Nelson has once again undergone a state audit. Following up on a petition from Nelson residents, McCaskill's staff conducted a review of the town's bookkeeping practices and adherence to the Missouri Sunshine Law. The results of that review were discussed at a public hearing Wednesday evening...

After several years of crawling toward becoming a reality, the proposed I-70 Medical Center in Sweet Springs recently took two skips and a jump toward completion, with a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan guarantee all but securing the funding needed for the project...

NCMC Boys' Soccer NCMC Overall School W L T W L T Fulton 4 1 0 8 4 0 Hannibal 4 1 0 12 5 0 Marshall 3 2 0 6 7 0 Moberly 2 2 0 6 6 0 Kirksville 0 3 0 2 9 0 Mexico 0 4 0 1 10 0 NCMC Volleyball NCMC Overall School W L W L T Marshall 2 0 6 5 0 Hannibal 2 0 5 7 0...

FULTON -- Before beginning its winter hiatus, the Missouri Valley College women's tennis team had a piece of unfinished business: Winning a dual match against head coach Ryan Carney's old school. The Lady Vikings notched a 7-2 victory Wednesday at Westminster. Although the Blue Jays (0-2) only had four players, thus defaulting three matches, Valley won four of the six court clashes...

FAYETTE -- Junior Eric Thomas won at the wire Friday to lead the Missouri Valley College men's cross country team to first place out of three teams at the Central Methodist Invitational in Fayette. Thomas -- a veteran middle-distance runner in track, but a college cross country novice -- covered the shorter-than-regulation 3.7-mile course in 20 minutes, 38 seconds to nip Highland Community College's Thomas Duncan by a second...

The Missouri Valley College women's soccer team started its Heart of America Conference campaign on a positive note Wednesday with a 2-1 decision over visiting Baker. The Valley men, however, lost to the Wildcats by the same margin, evening their league mark...

Both Missouri Valley College men's and women's rodeo teams began the 2005 season in second place in the NIRA's Ozark Region standings following the season-opening Viking Stampede last week at the Saline County Fairgrounds. The Valley men tallied 270 points, 70 points behind Tennessee-Martin. The Lady Vikings' 105 points was 80 shy of that collected by Murray State (Ky.)...

This week marking the midpoint of the regular season, conference play is in full swing. After a week's rest, Slater goes to defending Lewis and Clark Conference champion Paris in search of its first victory, Santa Fe is hoping to improve its winning streak to four games when it entertains Wellington-Napoleon and Sweet Springs is trying to recover from beatings inflicted by league powers during its Homecoming showdown with Concordia...