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Volume 103 • Number 245 • Wednesday, December 18, 2013 • PO Box 188 • 111 E. Jenkins • Maryville, MO
75¢
(KEVIN BIRDSELL/ DAILY FORUM)
Police officers and the FBI are still searching for the unidentified suspect and an apparent accomplice who robbed the South Main Bank Midwest branch on Nov. 13. The robbery was the first such crime committed in Nodaway County since 1986.
Investigation continues in bank robbery
By KEVIN BIRDSELL Staff Writer
On the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 13, Maryville witnessed the first bank robbery committed in Nodaway County in 27 years. The unarmed male suspect reportedly got away with less than $2,000 after entering the Bank Midwest branch on the corner of
Main Street and South Avenue and demanding that an employee hand over cash. He remains at large. According to police, no weapons or notes were used in the holdup, which authorities described as a “verbal robbery.” In addition to Maryville Public Safety, the FBI remains involved in the ongoing investigation, since bank robbery is a federal
crime. “With any FDIC facility, the FBI is automatically involved,” Public Safety Director Keith Wood said. “They actually responded that day as well and worked the initial case with us. They also continue to work along with us on any leads as they come in.” The suspect was described as a white male, approximately 40 years
old, and between 5 feet, 10 inches and 6 feet tall with an average build and a short, dark beard and mustache. He fled the scene in a four-door white sedan driven by an apparent accomplice. “There are several things that we have looked at and that we are continuing to look at,” Wood said. “Ideally we will have an arrest soon, but I can’t really in-
dicate whether that will be the case or not.” A credit union in Blue Springs was robbed Nov. 20, exactly a week after the robbery in Maryville, but the two incidents are believed to be unrelated. “We do not think they are connected,” Wood said. “That’s one of the resources that the FBI brings to the table. They have the ability to look at different bank
robberies and are able to look at similarities or dissimilarities.” The robbery was the first at a Nodaway County bank since 1986, and police say they have no plans to change how they will handle similar crimes in the future. “We have procedures in place with the banks, especially for alarm purposes See Robbery, pg. 3
Old clothes give new hope to youngsters By TONY BROWN News Editor
Jim Fall
Rudy Wright
Mayor bets Northwest won’t fall in title game STAFF REPORT
Maryville Daily Forum
When you’ve got a winner, you ride it as far as you can. That philosophy held true for Maryville Mayor Jim Fall when he was challenged to a “friendly little wager” by the mayor of California, Mo., before the R-II Spoofhounds traveled south for the semifinals of the Missouri Class 3 football playoffs. The result was all Maryville, as was the following week’s title game in St. Louis. Now Fall is pushing his
luck again. “Well, not really,” the mayor said Monday by way of expressing confidence in a similar wager on the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats, who are on the verge of their fourth NCAA Division II national football championship. Fall’s new “mark” is Hickory, N.C., Mayor Rudy Wright. The two non-partisan community leaders struck a bet for local barbecue products, which Fall believes he is certain to win. “I’m sure Lenoir-Rhyne is a respectable foe, but let’s See Wager, pg. 3
Want to be a Christmas hero for an at-risk boy or girl? Clean out your closet. Executive Director Lynette Harbin said Tuesday that’s one of the best ways to help out her agency, the local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter, which matches volunteer adult mentors with children from single-parent and other non-traditional families. The Nodaway County Big Brothers Big Sisters clothes collection operation will soon enter its fourth year, and Harbin said donations of old clothes and shoes dropped off at the trademark blue bins around town represent a growing chunk of the organization’s $60,000 annual budget. Harbin said income from such donations, which are sold for cash to a recycling company, has grown about 25 percent in each of the last three years. Total agency revenue from blue box drop-offs is expected to reach $15,000 in 2013, up from $12,000 in 2012. “One of the biggest ways Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nodaway County receives funding is through
OFFICE NUMBER
660-562-2424
INSIDE
(TONY BROWN/ DAILY FORUM)
Local Big Brothers Big Sisters Executive Director Lynette Harbin stands beside one of the organization’s clothing donation bins on the west end of the Maryville Walmart parking lot. Proceeds from selling recycled clothing brings in about 25 percent of the youth mentoring agency’s $60,000 annual budget. the donation of clothing and household items,” she said, adding that donors can either use the blue bins or arrange for home pick-up by calling (660) 562-7981. “The increase we’ve seen in the last 12 months has been tremen-
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dous,” Harbin said. “Placing the bin at Dollar General north added a significant increase and met an obvious need on that end of town. Last November our clothing donations came in at about $900. This NovemSee BBBS, pg. 3
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