The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page 21

The News-Leader ACROSS THE OZARKS 7b Wednesday, January 25, 1989 CEDAR COUNTY TEXAS COUNTY Hearing set In brother's shooting I HOUSTON A March 20 preliminary hearing hair been set for a Cabool man accused of shooting his brother earlier this month. Richard Thacker, 32, is charged with first-degree assault in the Jan. 2 wounding of Bobby Thacker, 37, Houston. 2 Police say Richard Thacker shot his older brother in-: the chest during an argument at Richard Thacker'C Cabool home. I Bobby Thacker was taken to a Springfield and is recovering from the gunshot wound.

Richard Thacker is free on a reduced $10,000 pending his preliminary hearing before Texas County' Associate Judge John Beeler. i WEBSTER COUNTY Six candidates file for Diggins board DIGGINS Voters will have at least six candidates to consider for four seats on the Diggins Board oK Aldermen in the April 4 election. Glen Dickson, Pam Dickson and Ann Smith filed fori two terms of two years each. Filing for two terms of three years each were Dennis, Mabel Ragsdale and Jean Bowers. Residents have until Jan.

31 to submit their names, for the offices. School pay to remain same next FORDLAND Employees in the Fordland School District will operate under the existing pay scale during the 1989-90 school year. The Fordland Board of Education recently approved; the salary schedule for 35 certificated personnel, mostly teachers, and 15 others, including cooks and bus-drivers. Superintendent Robert Wallace said the base salary for certificated personnel will be $18,000, the mum mandated by the state. Also, the school board extended contracts for WaU-lace and Dan Neal, elementary principal, through the -1991-92 school year.

Wallace will start his 10th year with the districts-April 3. Neal joined the district in August 1979. To report news across the Ozarks, call The News-Z Leader regional editor at 836-1277. $47,670.75. Also bidding: Don Stewart of Spokane, $73,502.05.

Christian Construction of Willard, $73,382.85. Rummel Construction Inc. of Springfield, $77,923.30. Joe Stewart Construction of Galena, $79,296.73. The bids were recently submitted to the board.

The project will involve replacing a deteriorating stone culvert that was built under Walnut Street in the early 1900s. The firm will lay a corrugated steel pipe 76 feet long and 11 feet wide, among other tasks. The project will be funded by the town's 1-cent sales tax. HICKORY COUNTY Show features ex-teacher In Urbana URBANA A former Urbana teacher will be featured on tonight's NBC television show "Unsolved Mysteries." Francis Murphy, who taught science at Skyline High School, was the last child to ride the "orphan trains" from New York to the Midwest in 1929. An estimated 150,000 people were moved on the trains, which took homeless New York children to the Midwest for adoption.

Murphy's teen-age mother couldn't take care of him, so the Children's Aid Society of New York sent him west on the train. Murphy was never But he continued attempts to locate his half-sister, who was born just before he was sent to the Midwest. Murphy never found his sister. He finished taping the NBC show last month, said he had to lie down and suffered a fatal heart attack. The show airs at 7 p.m.

LAWRENCE COUNTY Man accused of evidence tampering MOUNT VERNON A rural Lawrence County man will be arraigned Feb. 10 on a charge he tampered with evidence in connection with the August accidental death of a Verona man. Steven Charles Jensen, 25, is accused of concealing a syringe and vials "with the purpose to impair its availability in a death investigation" of Randy J. Welty, 33, according to the charge. Welty's body was found Aug.

26 on the floor of his home by a hay crew, including Jensen, police said. Autopsy results showed Welty apparently died of an accidental cocaine overdose, then-Lawrence County Coroner Don Seneker said. It took authorities several days to determine a cause of death. Police said at the time that the cause of deah could have been determined sooner if evidence at the scene hadn't been removed. Jensen waived his preliminary hearing on the charge.

He is free on $5,000 bond pending arraignment. POLK COUNTY SBU takes top spot in speech contest BOLIVAR The Southwest Baptist University speech and debate team brought home the top prize in the individual events competition from a tournament held Jan. 20-21 in Warrensburg. The SBU speakers competed against 17 colleges and universities in debate and individual events during the two-day contest at Central Missouri State University. In Individual events such as poetry interpretation and persuasive speaking SBU advanced 18 entries to the final rounds to take the sweepstakes prize.

In debate competition, SBU finished second behind Kansas State University. The team also brought home four best overall speaker awards. No overall sweepstakes prize combining individuals events and debate was awarded at the CMSU tournament. STONE COUNTY Preliminary hearing delayed for test GALENA Preliminary hearing has been delayed for a Galena man accused of murdering a Reeds Spring woman and then allegedly telling authorities the death was a suicide. Stanley Hay, 29, is charged with second-degree murder.

Police say he shot to death Sherry Thomas, 27, on Nov. 6. The death was first ruled a suicide, but the Missouri State Highway Patrol entered the case and declared it a homicide. Hay was arrested four days later. Hay's attorney requested a psychiatric evaluation for his client, and his preliminary hearing has been rescheduled from this month to April 19.

Drug store robbery nearly solved JjTOCKTON The Jan. 9 robbery an El Dorado Springs drug store is close to being solved, the Cedar C6unty Sheriffs Department said Tuesday. Sheriffs officers and El Dorado Springs police say thiey began unraveling the case when Nevada police reported a drug overdose in their city, according to a sheriffs department statement. -That was about a week after Cooper's Drug Store was robbed at gunpoint of drugs and money, police said. While investigating the overdose, police said they received a tip from someone wanting a reward for turning in the robber.

Further investigation by the two police agencies resulted in a warrant being issued for a Nevada man suspected of robbing the store. The man's name isn't being released "so as to not jeopardize the case," the statement said. details are expected within the next several days, police said. New judge named for murder case STOCKTON A new judge was appointed Tuesday hear the case of a Nevada man accused of murder. Taul Taylor is charged with second-degree murder in the July death of Frederick Grinzinger, of Louisburg, Kan.

Police say the two men got into a fistfight while camping together at Stockton Lake. Grinzinger died the next night at a Kansas City hospital of an apparent cerebral blood clot, police said. Circuit Judge Theodore Scott was named Monday to preside over the case. He replaces Circuit Judge C. David Darnold, who disqualified himself from hearing the case earlier this month, a spokeswoman for the Cedar County Circuit Clerk's office said.

arraignment date has been set for Taylor, who remains free on $10,000 bond. Christian county Springfield firm apparent low bidder 'OZARK The Ozark Board of Aldermen is expected Feb. 6 to select a Springfield firm to complete the Walnut Street culvert project, administrative assistant Steve Horton said. Clyde Stewart Construction submitted the low bid of Environment committee endorses Republican for department post keep an open mind on," MehafJ said. The other Democrat who voted; against Mehan was Sen.

Edward Quick of Kansas City. Two other Ashcroft appoint- ments have come under fire in the Senate John Ford as superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Fred Brunnerto the souri Public Service Commission AV Paternity leave, minimum wage bills discussed The Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY Missouri companies would have to let employees take time off to care for newborn infants and also would have to pay a minimum wage under separate bills heard Tuesday by the House Labor Committee. A bill by Rep. Sue Shear, D-Clay-ton, would require employees to give workers up to 12 weeks unpaid paternity leave to take care of a newborn. No vote was taken.

said either parent could take the leave. It would apply only to companies with more than 25 employees. There is no state law requiring employers to give such leaves, she said. I The committee also considered a till by Rep. Quincy Troupe, D-St.

Louis, to create a state minimum wage in Missouri, but also took no Vote on that measure. The state has do minimum wage. Under his bill, the minimum wage would be $3.65 an hour in August and increase to $4.35 per rtour at the end of 1992. The federal tiourly minimum wage is $3.35. Troupe said many workers, espe-ifially those in restaurants, earn only tips and receive no minimum wage.

He said with his bill, workers Vould receive whichever minimum wage was higher. keep the post. "I'm not confident but I'm hopeful," Mehan said. Last week, the Energy and Environment Committee questioned Mehan for nearly two hours about his experience and positions on environmental issues. Democratic senators also questioned his links to Ashcroft.

Mehan worked on Ashcroft's 1988 re-election campaign. Sen. Jay Nixon, D-Hillsboro, one of two Democratic senators who voted against Mehan, said he was not yet satisfied Mehan had come forth with his stands on environmental issues. "There are a myriad of other issues important to this state that we haven't been able to hear his position on," Nixon said. Mehan has said administrative and political skills are more important to run the complex agency than a background on specific environmental issues.

He said he was consulting with division heads and lawmakers before outlining all his positions. "There are issues that 1 want to For all the GOOD TIMES See Friday's News-Leader The Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY Tracy Mehan cleared his first hurdle toward confirmation as director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Tuesday when a Senate panel voted 5-2 to endorse his appointment. Republican Gov. John Ashcroft's Jan. 3 appointment of Mehan, a St.

Louis County attorney and longtime GOP activist, sparked skepticism among some Democratic senators who say Mehan lacks experience and has close political ties to Ashcroft. The Senate Committee on Energy and Environment, consisting of four Democrats and three Republicans, recommended Mehan be confirmed. However, the committee also suggested that a separate Senate panel the Gubernatorial Appointments Committee inquire further into Mehan's positions on environmental issues before sending a recommendation to the Senate floor. "I'm happy," Mehan said after the vote. "There's a few more hoops to jump through." The DNR enforces environmental laws as well as managing state parks and historic sites.

Mehan is serving as acting director but needs Senate confirmation by Feb. 2 to The Associated Press Tracy Mehan waits to hear from a Missouri Senate panel regarding his appointment as director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The panel endorsed him 5-2. Advertisment Slow Drains? You'll never have a slow running or clogged drain again! The secret? Clean drains don't run slow. Slow drains are signals your pipes are choked with "gook." This gook coats the entire length of your pipe-from sink to sewer septic.

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Farm economy continues recovery despite arougni i in IQfl in THE PREMIUM MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT FROM COMMERCE BANK. Our numbers say it all. the Associated Press strong crop markets 1988. Cuts in corn, wheat and soybean production accelerated a drawdown in crop inventories that was well-established as the year began. Crop prices peaked in mid-summer before softening as some rains fell," the report said.

"Still, crop producers enjoyed much higher prices than the previous year, and the much smaller grain stocks have set the stage for strong prices entering 1989," it said. Drabenstott and Barkema said lingering effects of the drought will play a big role in agriculture's outlook for 1989 even with the expected return of normal weather. "But overall, the farm outlook for 1989 remains bright," they wrote. I KANSAS CITY U.S. agriculture shrugged off the worst drought fti a half-century last year with the Kelp of strong crop prices and continued federal assistance, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City says.

A report in the bank's economic eeview by Mark Drabenstott, assistant vice president and economist, and Alan Barkema, a bank economist, said agriculture started 1988 i the midst of a strong financial recovery. It was the best financial ihape of the industry in the 1980s, the authors said. "That financial strength was weeded as agriculture encountered f)ie worst drought in the last 50 years," the report said. 4 "Overall, the drought led to rVmnt in fuumi. rr Vrt'Ulll I'll VA'IIIIIIV I vv K.ili-j arc subied In change without ixftn paid on illn iw) balance, only and compound! monthly.

fccntrd iiilrftM may be (nrfeilnl lor clostd during a stahtiuiit ode On am pwn day. If tlv total (alls Mow IVmO. no iiiti-rvst will bf paid for th.it day. Then' no srtMce chaw on this account. Individuals and not kir pniflt ormiaiions eli)hk' mmjf tent January Clearance cult rtbiti They say I'm rarely undersold FMilr till it mi.r -f a 5 -wi mssmm Rclrifffitw it low ts 24" I ffirrtrr, Built-in deep refrigerators Built-in ranges, dishwashers, cook-tops, wall ovens L-mi' el1 i a in mmnm.