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Top stories

City mulls adult entertainment ordinance, sets date for downtown parking forum

Fayette city council members heard citizen support of a newly proposed ordinance regarding adult entertainment businesses and set a date for a public forum to discuss downtown parking plans during …
Rylan Roberts, Caroline Young, Julia Young, Lee Young, and Easton Roberts lower the time capsules into the ground.

Fayette Bicentennial Time Capsules buried in courthouse lawn

The Fayette Bicentennial Committee buried two time capsules on the east side of the Howard County Courthouse lawn on Sunday, February 25. They will remain there until Fayette celebrates its 250th …

FBI arrests New Franklin couple for attempted robbery of Exchange Bank

A New Franklin couple has been indicted by a federal grand jury for attempted bank robbery and illegally possessing firearms. Jacob Lowell Hessing, 25, and his wife, Tristen Nicole Hessing, 25, …

Fayette bands deliver ‘exemplary’ performances at CMU Music Fest

A beloved tradition on the campus of Central Methodist University, this year’s Music Festival once again brought dozens of high schools and middle schools to Fayette to show off their band and …

Music Boosters Dessert Auction rakes in $26,500

BAND AND CHOIR ENTHUSIASTS once again turned out for the annual Fayette Music Boosters Dessert Auction Saturday night at the high school. The event brought in $26,500 for Fayette school district …
Top Sports Stories
Central Methodist coach Pat Reardon discusses hitting strategy with senior Kelena Oots during a game in February.

Reardon passes 950 career wins, sets sights on 1,000

Legendary Central Methodist softball coach Pat Reardon is in rarified air. On Sunday, he reached 950 career coaching wins and is fourth on the all-time wins list by NAIA softball coaches. A …

Rockett signs to play baseball at DII Arkansas Tech

Higbee standout Derek Rockett inked a letter of intent on Thursday to play baseball at NCAA Division II Arkansas Tech University in the fall. The senior with a fastball touching the upper 80s was …

No. 1 Salisbury tops Bulldogs advance to state final four

Shooting woes against arguably the best team in the state doomed the Harrisburg Bulldogs against the Salisbury Panthers, 57-41, in the Class 2 state quarterfinals in Salisbury on Saturday afternoon. …

Building a new culture for Fayette baseball

The Fayette baseball team is coming off its most successful season ever after finishing above .500 for the first time last year, 12-11 overall. But the Falcons will be without many of the components …
Letters

How your donations help our young musicians

The Fayette Music Boosters are profoundly grateful for the unwavering support of our community and the generous offerings that raised an outstanding $26,500 at our recent Soup Supper and Dessert …

Support 1⁄4 cent sales tax for 911

To the editor:   The Howard County Commission will endorse the 1⁄4 cent sales tax for 911 services. If passed this will improve services throughout Howard County. The importance …

Local News
Howard County Economic Development Council Chair Amber Overfelt (standing) and MAEDC board member J. B. Waggoner (seated left) deliver a presentation to the city council about the importance of Fayette’s annual contribution to the HCEDC.
City renews membership with county economic development
The Fayette Board of Aldermen last week voted to renew the city’s $15,000 annual commitment to the Howard County Economic Development Council (HCEDC). The city council tabled the matter …
Kyle Elliott, Cameron Byrd, Cole Horstmann, and Molly Lyons.
Commercial Trust Financial Services opens new office in Salisbury
Commercial Trust Financial Services, a local financial services firm, is opening a new office in Chariton County at 501 East Highway 24, Salisbury, MO 65281.   Commercial Trust Financial …
Nathan Truesdell
Award-winning documentary filmmaker to deliver Geist-Yancey Lecture
The second annual Geist-Yancey Lecture on the arts will take place on the Central Methodist University campus on March 6, with filmmaker Nathan Truesdell slated as the featured speaker. …
CMU Music Fest is Friday, let us be good hosts
From the Editor : Middle and high school students and their families will descend upon Fayette this Friday for the Annual Central Methodist University Music Festival. While many locals find …
AWE to host school board forum March 19
The Association of Women for Education (AWE) will host a forum for school board candidates on Tuesday, March 19.   Three candidates have field for two open seats on the Fayette school …
Sheriff Oswald to seek second term
Howard County Sheriff Jeff Oswald announced that he will seek a second term. A Republican, he was elected in November 2020, defeating two-term Democratic incumbent Mike Neal. Before he was …
Two running for seat on city’s Southwest Ward
Two candidates have filed for election to the City of Fayette’s Southwest Ward city council seat.   Southwest Ward incumbent Bekki Galloway declined to seek a second term. As has …
CMU Theatre Dept. surprises Rohlfing with scholarship honor
The Central Methodist University theatre department, part of the Division of Fine and Performing Arts, has announced the naming of its grand prize full-tuition scholarship, the Terri Rohlfing Theatre …
City to require lead inspection forms from all property owners
Property owners in Fayette will need to fill out mandatory forms declaring whether or not water lines have lead in them. The city must have all properties surveyed to submit to the Missouri …
Obituaries
Frances Eaton
Fayette resident Frances Eaton, age 92, passed away peacefully at the Lodge in Fayette, Mo., on March 6, 2024. Frances F. Eaton was born in Fayette, Mo., on August 1, 1931. She was the only …
Phyllis “Jeanie” Doyle
Phyllis “Jeanie” Doyle, 76, of New Franklin, passed away on Sunday, February 18, 2024, at Boone Hospital Center surrounded by family. A Celebration of Life service will be held on …
Irene Rudloff
Irene L. Rudloff, 96, Jefferson City, died February 10, 2024. Irene was born July 17, 1927, to Otto and Hilda (nee Schwartz) Klusmeyer in her parent’s farm home in the Missouri River bottoms …
Phyllis (Jeanie) Doyle
Phyllis “Jeanie” Doyle, 76, of New Franklin, passed away on Sunday, February 18, 2024, at Boone Hospital Center surrounded by family. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at 3 p.m. at H.T. May and Son Funeral Home in Boonville. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the funeral home. Phyllis “Jeanie” Doyle was born on December 8, 1947, in Fayette, Mo., the daughter of Forrest and Marjorie Miller and stepdaughter of Cecil Amick. Jeanie was full of life and never met a stranger. She was open-hearted to all that she came into contact with. She loved to dance and was the life of the party. She loved cooking for her family and spending time with her grandchildren. She loved to look at water, especially at the Lake of the Ozarks. She had a huge stuffed animal collection. She loved jewelry and watching JTV, considering herself quite the jewelry aficionado. She would teach you anything you wanted to know. She spent most of her life working at New Franklin City Hall and Exchange Bank. She leaves to cherish her memory her children Jana Gilpin of New Franklin, Krista Doyle-Reed (Jeremy) of Tipton, Randy Doyle (Shanda) of New Franklin, and soul daughter Sherry Jackson-Sowers of New Franklin, soul sister Linda Catudal (Mike) of Sunrise Beach, Mo., several cousins, eleven grandchildren Elizabeth Brown, Kara Chipley, Kelsie Vollmer, Aaren Vollmer, Lynzey Hannah-Kee, Alex Hannah, Jacob Carver, Haley Robinson, Abbigail Robinson, Gabe Gander, and Samuel Gander, and nine great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Forrest Miller, Marjorie Amick, and Cecil Amick, her grandparents, George and Dee Dougherty, and her aunt and uncle, Warren and Betty Allen.
Mary Elizabeth (McGowan) Holmes
Mary Elizabeth (McGowan) Holmes passed away February 10, 2024. She was born June 13, 1932 in an Irish neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. She retained a Brooklyn accent, a quick wit, an Irish charm …
Rita Louise Hillman
Rita Louise Hillman, 64, of Boonville, passed away on February 3, 2024, at the University of Missouri Hospital and Clinics in Columbia. Rita was born in Fayette on August 11, 1959, a daughter of …