Butler Teen Arrested on Multiple Charges

On Wednesday July 24th at around 2:49 a.m. the Missouri State Highway Patrol arrested 18 year old Layne A.Webb of Butler, Missouri.

Mr. Webb was arrested on the following charges 1.) Driving while intoxicated. 2.) Failed to drive on the right half of the roadway resulting in accident. 3.) Failed to display valid plates. 4.) No insurance.

Layne A. Webb was arrested and booked into the Bates County Jail in Butler. Missouri and was later released.

View arrest report below:
https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/HP71/ArrestDetailsAction?TW01REPORTNUMBER=I493620A

Disclaimer: Arrest records are public information. Any indication of an arrest does not mean the individual identified has been convicted of a crime. All persons arrested are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Fatal Crash in Barton County

On Wednesday July 24th at around 1:35 p.m. the Missouri State Highway Patrol along with Barton County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a two vehicle accident at Missouri Route T 6 miles West of Golden City.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the accident occured when the southbound 2022 Chevrolet Malibu driven by a Aubren D. Dudley of Rogersville, Missouri failed to yield and struck the side of an eastbound 2020 Freightliner Cascadia driven by a Patrick L. Wright of Houston, Texas

Aubren D. Dudley was pronounced dead at the scene of this accident by the Barton County Coroners office and she was taken to Chapel Casket Company in Webb City, MO. This fatality is the 53rd in 2024 in Missouri Highway Patrol Troop D. The next of kin has been notified.  

View crash report below:

https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/HP68/AccidentDetailsAction?ACC_RPT_NUM=240376334

Obituary - Betty Jean (Garrett) Pitts

Betty Jean (Garrett) Pitts, 89, Nevada, MO went home to meet the Lord on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at Nathan Richard Health Care in Nevada. Betty was born January 31, 1935, the daughter of Robert Glenn “Blue” Garrett and L. Inez Folkner Garrett.

Betty grew up in the Montevallo area. She attended rural schools and Olive Branch Baptist Church. She graduated from El Dorado Springs High School in 1953. After high school she worked as an operator for the telephone company in Nevada. She met the love of her life, Alfred Leon “Throck” Pitts and they married on October 20, 1953.

Betty loved God, her husband, her family and her friends. Betty was full of life. She always had a project of some sort to work on. Shuffling 5 kids to events, volunteering to be home room mother for multiple kids at the same time, growing and canning vegetables, cooking meals for any “strays” that showed up at the dinner table, crocheting a wedding dress because a son asked her to for his future wife, sewing quilts, crocheting baby blankets and afghans for everyone she knew, sewing suits and formal wear, baking specialty cakes, and being a 4-H leader for years. She started the 4-H Dairy Goat project in Vernon County in the 1970s.

In 1983, Betty started a whole new career in life. She and Throck had dreamed and planned to go on the road together when the kids were raised. So, she became an over the road team drive with Throck: 16 years, 24/7 together they spent driving all over the United States. It gave them the opportunity to see the country and to also visit some old friends in California and family in Florida. When they decided to quit taking the coast to cost runs and Betty decided to stay home, she still didn’t “retire”. Betty volunteered at the church to help answer the phone and send notes of encouragement to older members or anyone suffering a hardship in their life.

Betty was also a member of community clubs over the years and a long-time member of the First Baptist Church. Betty was loving and nurturing to every living being, exception of snakes.

Betty is survived by her children: Terry and Judy Pitts of Springfield, MO, Nick and Sheryl Pitts of Kirksville, MO, Alfrenita Pitts of Walker, MO, and Marjeana and Mike Smith of Milo, MO; daughter-in-law Nancy Thomas Pitts Wallace of Moundville, MO; grandchildren: Thomas Pitts, Travis Pitts, Tabitha and Brian Matthews, Suzanne and Kyle Riddle, Garrett and Stephanie Pitts and Benjamin Pitts; five great-grandchildren: Katherine and Christopher Pitts, Elaina and Eden Pitts and Leon Matthews.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband of 50 plus years, Alfred “Throck” Pitts; son, Tracy Pitts; infant son, Dustin Pitts; her parents; her sister, Doris Keener and brother, Marvin Garrett.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, 2024 at Ferry Funeral Home, with Pastors Dr. Kevin Daugherty and Hubert Fox officiating. Interment will follow in Milo Cemetery. The family will receive friends at 10:00a.m. prior to the service. The family requests memorials to the Nevada R-5 Foundation for the Pitts Family Memorial Scholarship in care of Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada.

Obituary - Michael Lane Johnston

It was the wishes of Michael Johnston to be cremated with no public services at this time Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Schowengerdt Funeral Chapel (660-679-6555) in Butler, Missouri. Online condolences www.schowengerdtchapel.com.

Michael Lane Johnston, age 68 of Springfield, Missouri died Friday, July 19, 2024 at his home. He was born March 29, 1956 to John Milton and Irma Lorene Bitner Johnston in Kansas City, Missouri.

Michael is survived by three children, Theresa Lorene Johnston of Springfield, Missouri, Randy Crigger and wife Jessica of Fayetteville, North Carolina and Ericka Crigger and husband Daniel Wallingford of Peculiar, Missouri; two step-sons, Darrell Weichert and Jeremy Weichert both of Springfield, Missouri; eight grandchildren; and a brother, Milton Johnston of Archie, Missouri. He was preceded in death by his parents; and his wife, Terri Johnston.

Appleton City JH/HS Registration Information

 

Obituary - Travis Michael Smith

    

Travis Michael Smith, 40, Nevada, MO passed away on Monday, July 22, 2024, at his home in Nevada. Travis was born on January 18, 1984, in Muskogee, OK to Michael Q. and Brenda (Saylor) Smith.

Travis grew up in Muskogee, OK and graduated from Muskogee High School in 2002. He loved all things entertainment. His music interests varied from slow jazz to R&B to pop. You knew he really liked a song if he got up and started dancing, it didn’t matter if he was at home or in a crowded restaurant. 

 Travis loved to groove. His family loved listening to him sing in the car. He quoted many movies and TV shows but his favorites included Happy Gilmore, the Blues Brothers, Cheers, Frazier, and the Adam’s Family. You knew he liked you if he gave you a celebrity nickname. Travis’ laugh was infectious and he had a unique sense of humor that was hilarious to those around him.

Travis loved going on car rides with his dad and their dog, Hank, playing games at the arcade, and bowling. He always won the most tickets and got the best prizes. He always made sure that he got his nephew and niece something from the prize store. Although he did love his alone time, he loved his family.

Survivors include his father, Michael Q. Smith, of the home; two sisters, Madelyn Smith and Kayla B. Ware, both of Smyrna, TN; nephew, Chase Ware; niece, Katelyn Ware; and several aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Travis was preceded in death by his mother, Brenda, and an infant sister, Christina.

A memorial service will be held at a later date in Muskogee, OK.

Obituary - Tommy D. Baldwin

Tommy D. Baldwin, 70, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, passed away peacefully at his home on Friday, July 19, 2024 surrounded by his family. Memorial services will be held at 12:00 PM (Noon) on Saturday, July 27, 2024 at Atkinson Funeral Home in Harrisonville, MO, with the visitation starting at 11:00 AM.

Tommy “Tom” was born September 23, 1953 in Fort Knox, Kentucky, son of Allen Dean and Peggy Ann (Harper) Baldwin. Tom was a lifelong Lee’s Summit resident and was a 1971 graduate of Lee’s Summit High School. He was united in marriage to Connie Lynn Sherman on December 26, 1981 in Quincy, MO.

Tom was a truck driver, a member of the Teamsters Union, and had worked for a number of trucking companies in the area before his retirement in 2014. Tom loved working on older cars, was a dedicated Chevrolet Man, and a member of the Mid America Chevelle Club.

Tom is survived by his wife, Connie; two sons: Dean and wife, Sydney Baldwin, Greenwood, MO; and Billy Baldwin, Dunnegan, MO; a daughter, Llyndsey, and her husband, Adam Vogel, Kingsville, MO; his mother, Peggy Ann Baldwin, Lee’s Summit, MO; two sisters: Debbie Kitahara, Pleasant Hill, MO; and Annette and husband, Kevin Barringhaus, St. Louis, MO; five grandchildren: Jack Jagow, Cash Jagow, Aurora Vogel, Quincy Baldwin, and Mack Baldwin; and many other relatives and friends.

From the Barton County Sheriff's Office