Stories from Thursday, March 9, 2006

Christine Deis Summers, 93, of Gilliam, died Tuesday, March 7, 2006, at Big Bend Retreat in Slater. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 12, at Gilliam United Methodist Church. Rev. Jess Spurgin will officiate. Bethany Weiker, organist, will accompany Betty Moore as she sings "How Great Thou Art" and "The Old Rugged Cross." Pallbearers will be Bud Summers, Joe Summers, Brent Summers, Adrian Summers, Greg Meyer and Evan Summers. ...

Mae Hinnah Mae Hinnah, 95, of Marshall, formerly of rural Slater, died Wednesday, March 8, 2006, at Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 10, at Campbell-Lewis Chapel in Marshall. Rev. David VanHorn will officiate. ...

It was a simple question on one of those "you give me your answers and I'll give you mine" types of surveys. It said, simply: Favorite Book? I had to think for a while. It was a question that necessarily had to be analyzed. What kind of book were they asking about? What genre of literature might they mean? What type of answer were they expecting?...

The sign entering the Burns Athletic Center hyped the match: the Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team was "Playing for No. 1" against Lindenwood. Unfortunately, the goal of leading the Tachikara/NAIA rankings remained elusive, as the Lions swept the contest. After dropping a close first game, 33-31, the third-rated Vikings went on to lose 30-23 and 30-26 in the next two sets...

FULTON -- The Missouri Valley College softball team had run into a rough stretch early this season, but shook off a five-game skid Monday by taking the second game of a non-conference doubleheader at William Woods. The Lady Owls got a solid pitching performance from senior Nicole Devenport, the former all-stater from Westran, for a 6-2 victory in the opener. However, the Lady Vikings countered with a four-hitter by sophomore Sandra Huth in the nightcap, winning a 3-1 decision...

In a brief meeting Thursday, the Saline County Commission reported the latest sales tax figures and made several announcements. The sales tax receipts for March were encouraging, according to Southern District Commissioner Dick Hassler, $113,132 this year versus $105,047 last year...

The Missouri Department of Transportation is planning a record number of road improvement projects thanks to voter approval of Amendment 3. Two projects are slated for Saline County along Interstate 70, said Tammy Wallace, MoDOT community relations manager for District 2, during a visit to Marshall on Wednesday with Mike McGrath, area engineer for District 2...

Building permits issued in Marshall during the month of February were down from the extremely high pace set in this year's first month, and also off somewhat from February a year ago, when one large commercial project made up almost 20 percent of the total value of new construction...

Becky Allred has been using newspapers in her classroom since the Newspapers in Education (NIE) program began in Marshall five years ago, first at Bueker Middle School and now in her fifth and sixth grade classes at St. Peter Catholic School. "We're always looking for ways to get students reading," she said. "And this helps expand their horizons."...