Rich Hill FCCLA Mitten Drive‏

Chelsey Martinez, Renae Clark, and Brendan Ephland from the Rich Hill High School FCCLA Chapter are holding a mitten drive called “Magical Mitten Madness” for their  STAR Event. Their STAR Event is Chapter Service Project Portfolio and they chose to hold a mitten drive. We are trying our best to collect enough mittens, hats, gloves, and scarves for all the children in our community who cannot afford them. We would like it if you could contribute to this cause in our community. If you are able to help we need the items to the school by January 9, 2014. We would like to thank everyone in advance that donates for helping make a difference in our community!

Obituary - Marjorie Kathryn McMurphy

Graveside services for Marjorie McMurphy will be 1 p.m. Saturday, January 4, 2014 at Memorial Gardens in Warrensburg, Missouri with Scott Mallatt officiating. Visitation will be Saturday from 10-11 a.m. at Schowengerdt Funeral Chapel in Butler, Missouri. Contributions to Butler Public Library or American Heart Association.

    Marjorie Kathryn McMurphy, age 93 of Butler, Missouri, died Saturday, December 28, 2013 at Willow Lane Nursing Home in Butler. She was born November 15, 1920 to Ernest Winford and Minnie Bell Donaldson Smith in Warrensburg, Missouri.    Marjorie is survived by her daughter, Shirley Shreve and husband Jim of Butler, Missouri; one grandson, Tim Shreve and wife Debbie of Butler, Missouri; three granddaughters, Marjie Underwood of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Jackie Foote of Butler, Missouri and Robbin Carling of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; 10 great-grandchildren; 16 great great-grandchildren; and nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Claude in 1974; six brothers, Kenneth, Bill, Raymond, Richard, Lawrence and Bud; and two sisters, Lucille Shay and Pauline McMurphy.

Weather Update: Snow Arriving For New Year

Very cold temperatures tonight from around minus 5 degrees to around plus 10 degrees. The winds will be light which will keep the windchills about equal to the temperatures. A slight warm up over the next couple of days and then there will be a slight chance of snow Wednesday night but no significant accumulation is expected at this time.

Get your Butler Country Mart specials without waiting!

To see up to the minute sales and specials for your Butler Country Mart simply click on the link at the top of the Bates County Live home page! No need to wait to see them!

Prices shown are with your Country Mart card. Don't have one? Visit your Butler Country Mart and get one on short order!

Twelfth Night Celebration At Poplar Heights Farm

Twelfth Night celebrates the arrival of the Three Kings to the birthplace of Christ and it marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas. Poplar Heights Living History Farm invites you to attend their Twelfth Night celebration, Sunday, January 5th.

Bring your Christmas tree, a spring of greenery, wreath or other live greenery for the traditional burning of the greens. There will be the crowning of the King and Queen of Twelfth Night, reading of the story of the 4th Wise Man, inscribing of C,M,B on the front door of the Main House and, of course, refreshments and a bonfire. There will also be craft activities for the children.

The program starts and 2:00 pm and ends at 3:30pm. Poplar Heights Living History Farm is located 7 miles northeast of Butler, Missouri. From Butler, go east on H Highway to UU Highway. Turn North onto UU, at the sign, and follow the signs. For more information call 660-679-0764 or email info@poplarheightsfarm.org.

Weather Update: Cold Weather Returns Sunday

Hope you have the option of getting out and enjoying one more day of pleasant December weather (don't hear that very often do you!?). Late tonight a cold front will sweep through the region leaving Temps Sunday very cold and windy.

Advisory: ‘Cop Killer’ Manhunt Goes Nationwide

The manhunt for a “cop killer” was expanded today to a nationwide dragnet to find the suspected bank robber who fatally shot a Mississippi police officer two days before Christmas, according to the FBI.

Tupelo Police Department officer Gale Stauffer and another officer were hit by gunfire Monday when they confronted suspected bank robbers during their getaway in the city.

As the officers approached suspects in a vehicle, which was stuck in traffic at a railroad crossing, at least one of the suspects opened fire at close range, according to an account posted online at the Officer Down Memorial Page.

The suspects fled, leaving Stauffer fatally shot and another officer critically wounded.

Stauffer “has made the ultimate sacrifice for his community,” Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton said, urging the public to help “so that the criminal or criminals responsible for this horrendous act can be brought to justice.”

After reviewing bank surveillance video from the robbery of a BancorpSouth bank in Tupelo, authorities are looking for a thin, possibly African-American man with light complexion, standing between 5-feet-9 and 6-feet tall, according to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

The suspect seen in the surveillance video was wearing khaki or cargo-style pants, white Converse tennis shoes, a long-sleeved jacket and a blue ski mask, the state public safety department said. A charcoal-colored, medium-sized sedan might have been used as a getaway car.

As part of the investigation, authorities also released a photo (shown below) of a “person of interest” standing in what appears to be a convenience store minutes before the robbery at the bank. Police did not discuss any possible connection to the bank shooting.

More than 100 agents, officers, deputies and marshals worked through Christmas to track down the suspects, an FBI official said.

The FBI, BancorpSouth and others are offering more than $152,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI’s tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).

Bates County Memorial Hospital 2013 Employee Of The Year

Ed Hannon with EOY Karen Landers

An awards banquet was held by Bates County Memorial Hospital on December 19, 2013. Mr. Ed Hannon, Chief Executive Officer, announced that Ms. Karen Landers was voted by her peers as the 2013 Employee of the Year. Karen received an engraved plaque and a gift from the hospital. Karen has been employed as a Registered Nurse since 1994. She has worked as an Emergency Room nurse and is currently the RN Supervisor of the Outpatient Specialty Clinic. The hospital is honored to recognize Karen as its Employee of the Year.