Mid America Live

Monday, December 29, 2025

Obituary - Larry Adams

Lawrence “Larry” Edward Adams, 77, passed away on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, at his home after a short illness. He was born April 1, 1948, in Barstow, CA to Burt and Rosella (Meeker) Adams. He served his country in the United States Army.

Larry later moved to Vernon County, where he married his wife Kathi (Fleener) Adams on July 19, 1982, and together they had a son, Justin Adams. He spent forty years as a truck driver, working for various trucking companies including D & D Sexton, Paschall Trucking, David Lloyd Trucking and Johnson & Baker Trucking, where he retired in 2023. Since his retirement, he would spend his days with wife Kathi and his cat, Pita, which he adored.

He is survived by his wife, Kathi Adams, of the home; mother-in- law, Barbara Diggins, Nevada, MO; sister-in-law, Martha Fleener, Bronaugh, MO; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son, Justin Adams, in 2007; his parents; and brothers, Norman Adams, Roger Adams, and Paul Corum.

A private family burial will be at Olive Branch Cemetery.

Obituary - John Freeman

John Freeman, 54 of Pleasanton, Kansas passed away Wednesday, December 24, 2025 at St. Luke's Plaza Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. A visitation will be held from 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm Saturday, January 10, 2026 at Mullinax Funeral Home, Drexel Chapel (816-657-4400). Graveside services will follow at 2:00 pm Saturday in Sharon Cemetery, Drexel. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society. Messages of condolence may be left for the family at www.mullinaxfuneralhome.com.

A complete obituary is pending at this time.

Bates County real estate transfers and marriage licenses

Raybourn, Straton to Raybourn, Straton Lee Jr Str 14-39-31 //Ne

Raybourn, Straton to Tucker Spousal Trust 02-21-2024 Str 14-39-31 //Ne

Hamilton, David Lee to Doody, Cassandra Jolynn Lt 1 Bl 12 Town Company's First Addn+

Gibson, Charles R to Howell, Paul Lt 7 Bl 112 Town Company's First Addn+

Hill, Gerold Claire to Hill, Gerold Claire Trust 12-16-2025 Str 32-42-31+

Colin, Dale to Colin, Dale & Debbie Trust 12-17-2025 Str 34-40-29 //Sw

Secretary Of Veterans Affairs to French, Andrew R Lt 1 Bl 4 William's Addn

Adrian Kreisler Drug, Inc. to Spe III LLC Lt 102 Adrian, Original Town Of

Arnold, Travis to Petty, Joe W. (Trustee) Lt 1 Maria Acres

Spry, Cathy to Heuser, Terry D Lt 11 Bl 171 Town Company's Second Addn+

Kauffman, Kolten to Jackson, Willie Lee Jr Str 22-40-31 //Sw

Lewis, Larry E to Lewis, Larry E Lt 39 Swaidner's Addn

Rich Hill, City Of to Koehn, Jerel Lt 4 Bl 86 Town Company's First Addn+

David Koch Family Trust 5-4-2018 to Koch, Sandra L Str 12-40-29 //Ne+

Chael, Brenda (Trustee) to Chael, Theodore & Brenda Trust 06-10-2024 Str 24-40-32+

Whitmore, Ellene Sander (Trustee) to Whitmore, Ellene S. Str 30-42-33

Deems, John Dillon (Trustee) to Mo Local Landlords, LLC Str 27-40-31 //Nw

Marriage license

Kellhofer, Jonathan Greggory II and Cruz, Yvette Paulina

Tolefree, Jermaine and Flores, Laney Virginia Cielo

White, Michael Edward and Triebel, Angela Michelle

Bates County Court News

Judge Julie Highley-Keutzer presiding
Fines do not include added court costs

St v Yovany Rodriguez- speeding, fine $80.50

St v Jimmy McEwan- no proper tail lamps, fine $50.50

St v John D. Walker- fail to void/attach deer permit, fine $74.50

St v Timothy Ryan Bowen- tampering with motor vehicle, SES, 5 years probation

St v Bryan Marroquin- speeding, fine $80.50

St v Avry Searles- speeding, fine $200.50

St v Gerald Baker- illegally possess or transport deer, fine $199.50

St v Sara Elizabeth Johnson- no working horn, fine $144.00

City of Rich Hill v Thomas R. Trammell- fail to stop at line, fine $60.50

City of Rich Hill v Anthony L. Miller- fail to stop at line, fine $60.50

St v Gharai R. Tyler- speeding, fine $60.50

St v Thao Nguyen- no working horn, fine $200.00

St v Robert M Hollingshead- seatbelt violation, fine $10.00

City of Butler v Samuel R. Gentry- nuisance violation, fine $68.50

City of Butler v Joseph A. Phelan- vicious animal, fine $175.00

St v Kurt A. Suchomel- speeding, fine $60.50

St v James M. Wadel- fail to register vehicle, fine $50.50

City of Butler v Lance E. Sargent- nuisance violation, fine $68.50

St v Kenneth W. Hazen- fail to yeild, fine $60.50

What's Up by LeRoy Cook

The Emergency That Wasn’t

Even if you could find the airport in the dense fog, there was no chance of flying on several socked-in mornings last week. The prevalent one-quarter mile visibility and 100-foot ceiling extended over much of the mid-section of the country. Butler was fortunate in that it usually cleared off by mid-day, but Kansas City stayed below minimums most of Christmas day.

The unusually warm weather presaging this week’s cold blast invited many aircraft to take wing. The advisory frequency was alive with radio calls and we saw several Skyhawks and Warriors on the local runway. Locally, Randy Miller and Lance Dirks had flights in the club’s Cessna Skyhawk and Will Cook and I had it out as well, Jeremie Platt flew to Fliars Club breakfast in his Grumman Tiger, I took the 1946 Aeronca Champ up and Jon Laughlin flew in from Foster with his Piper Cherokee 180.

A few weeks ago there was much cheering and congratulating over the first “save” recorded by a King Air turboprop equipped with Garmin’s Autoland emergency self-landing system. Supposedly the crew passed out due to pressurization failure at 23,000 feet and the Autoland came to life and took over, landing the airplane autonomously at Denver’s Rocky Mountain Metro airport. Last week, the truth came out; the pilots were on oxygen, not incapacitated, and decided to let the system go ahead and play out after it activated, rather than cancel it. There was no robotic save from certain death.

Last month’s 43-day government shutdown took a toll on the FAA’s air traffic controller training academy, when 500 trainees quit because they were not getting paid. The critical shortage of certified ATC controllers can ill afford that loss of replacement trainees, according to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, testifying before the Senate’s Aviation Subcommittee week before last. Working controllers were not getting paychecks during the shutdown either, so I guess going without is just part of the training.

On the Thursday evening before Christmas, one of the Air Force’s big C-17 cargo planes suffered a nosegear collapse during landing at Charleston, SC’s International Airport, closing down the runway and diverting traffic to the alternate strip. It took a while to get the big whale back on its feet to reopen the pavement. No airfield damage was found from the impact.

Earlier this month, a Boeing 737 pilot for Mexican tour carrier Magni Charters locked himself in the cockpit with a load of passengers on board, waiting to go from Mexico City to Cancun. He was protesting because he hadn’t been paid for five months and had been forced to buy his own navigation charts. The police broke in and took him to jail; the flight left late, hopefully with pilots who had been promised to be paid for the trip.

Our weekly question from last time concerned the definition of the Armstrong Limit of altitude. It’s the height at which humans cannot survive without a pressurized environment, about 63,000 feet, above which their blood boils away without atmospheric pressure. For next week, what are “decelerons?” Hint: found on B-2 Stealth bombers. You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.