Stories from Saturday, January 7, 2012

Charles Wayne Thomas, 66, Nevada, Mo., passed away on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012, at Kansas City Hospice House, following a brief hospitalization as a result of a major stroke. He was born Dec. 7, 1945, at home in Jerico Springs, Mo., to James Hubert Thomas and Mary Elizabeth Malcom Thomas. He married Donna Johns in 1964 and she survives of the home...

Raymond Junior Reno, 72, former resident of Deerfield, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, at his home in Casa Grande, Ariz. He was born March 18, 1939, in St. Joseph, Mo., the son of Raymond T. Reno and Frances Marie Rainey Reno. Raymond had served with the United States Navy. He married Margaret Anne Ransom on Oct. 15, 1982, at Miami, Okla. She preceded him in death on Dec. 5, 1998. Mr. Reno had retired from 3M in Nevada...

Juanita Pearl Decker, 91, resident of Fort Scott, Kan., formerly of Hepler, Kan., died Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012, at Fort Scott Manor. She was born Sept. 24, 1920, in Fort Scott, Kan., the daughter of Allen Rhodes and Stella Pearl Young Rhodes. She graduated from Fort Scott High School in 1938. She married Robert Jack Decker on Aug. 2, 1939, in Nevada, Mo. He preceded her in death...

Yarala Genene Sims-Arnold, 59, passed this life on Jan. 2, 2012, at her home in Sheldon, Mo. Yarala was born to Howard E. and Velma Flo Woods-Rardin-Sims in Picher, Okla. Funeral services will be held at Daniel Funeral Home in Lamar, Mo., Saturday, Jan. 7, at 9 a.m. The family will receive friends Friday from 5 until 6 p.m., at Daniel Funeral Home. Burial will be in G.A.R. Cemetery in Miami, Okla...

In early March, Mercy Health Center will be getting a new, but familiar name -- Mercy Hospital Fort Scott. That's what it was called before it moved to its location at 401 Woodland Hills Blvd. The name change is taking place system-wide with the objective of having consumers know the system as Mercy, Mercy Health Center Spokeswoman Tina Rockhold said. ...

Enough evidence has been presented in the case of Larry Joe Gier to bind him over for trial, officials said Friday. The 41-year-old Redfield man is accused of one count of second-degree murder in connection with the 1998 murder of 49-year-old Fort Scott resident Gregory O. Hines...

El Dorado Springs police officers on Dec. 28, responded to 901 S. Grand St. in El Dorado Springs concerning a report of animal abuse. The investigation revealed that four goats were left on the softball field of the El Dorado Springs R-2 School. Two of the goats were dead when officers arrived, apparently due to physical injuries, according to a press release...

A Jan. 21 gun auction in Kansas City will bring back memories of 1930s desperadoes Bonnie and Clyde and a Joplin police detective's death at their hands. Historians say Det. Harry L. McGinnis, son of former Vernon County Sheriff William B. McGinnis, accompanied four other Joplin officers to what they thought was a bootleggers' hideout on April 13, 1933...

Working with a search warrant issued Thursday night, Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman and a deputy, investigators for the Humane Society of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Agriculture's district veterinarian seized 16 malnourished horses and two donkeys from the rural Vernon County farm of Tom Reardon on Friday...

UNIONTOWN, Kan. -- Even quarters were odd for Uniontown's offense Friday night in a 41-28 loss to Erie in a non-league contest. While the Eagles performed well offensively in the first and third periods, Uniontown scored a total of 2 points combined in the even periods...

UNIONTOWN, Kan. -- The offense gave Uniontown's boys a big lead after three periods here Friday night. The Eagle defense allowed them to hold off visiting Erie in a 59-50 non-league victory. Uniontown (6-1) led 53-41 after three periods but managed only 6 points -- one field goal -- in the fourth quarter. However, though Erie (2-6) did manage to gain some ground at the free-throw line, the Eagles held the Red Devils without a field goal in the period, which allowed them to survive...