50 years ago
Dec. 11, 1974
— JAIL OPEN HOUSE
An open house is scheduled throughout the day Saturday at the new Barry County jail, according to Sheriff Vernon Still. Tours of both the new and old facilities for comparison will be offered by staff members. Refreshments will also be served.
— GAS SERVICE REFUND DUE AREA CUSTOMERS
Kansas City Gas Service Co., customers can expect a $5.2 million refund plus interest from two gas suppliers of the utilities due to a decision by the Missouri Public Service Commission. The commission has authorized the utility to make the refund with most customers receiving it by credit to their bills. M. C. Baum, district manager for Gas Service co., said the refunds would be shared by approximately 1,450 customers in these communities, Cassville 840, Exeter 185, Butterfield 89 and Purdy 336. Baum said credits on bills would be issued in January. Total amount of the refund has not been determined. Baum said an average for residential customers would run about $4. He said it was impossible to pick an average for business or industrial users in the service area. The money was paid to Gas Service by Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co., and Cities Service Gas Co., on order of the Federal Power Commission. Residential and small commercial customers will receive about $2.7 million plus 6.43 per cent interest, the rest will go to large commercial and industrial customers.
— ROUTE DESIGNATION CHANGES IN COUNTY
The Missouri Highway Department this week announced a number of changes in state road designations in Barry County. According to Wilbur Stegner, district engineer, there are a total of five changes involved in four roads. This change of road letters is part of a plan to provide continuity in signing of supplementary roads across county lines and provide better signing where they intersect major numbered routes. Changes in this area will include the following: Route M, from Route 86 to Arkansas line changed to Route H. Route M, from Route 86 north to Table Rock Lake, changed to Route J. Route F, from Route 86 to Route M, changed to Route E. Route V, from Route 248 to Stone county line, changed to Route D. Route FF, from Wheaton west to Newton county line, changed to Route A. Work in the program will be supervised by Bill Maroney, maintenance area super-visor. Stegner said changes affected for this area will appear on the 1975 official highway map of Missouri.
40 years ago
Dec. 12, 1984
— DISTRICTS FUSS OVER ANTENNA USE
Two levels of government in Barry County are fussing about use of an antenna located atop one of Cassville’s water storage towers. The apparent disagreement came to light this week in Circuit Court action. South Barry County Hospital District is the plaintiff in legal action against the South Barry County Ambulance District. The hospital district seeks an injunction permanently enjoining the ambulance group from disconnecting the radio transmission apparatus from the tower. The case is scheduled for hearing before Judge John Baty in associate circuit court here on December 18, 1 o’clock p.m. Hospital action in the case alleges the district had obtained a license from the Federal Communications Commission for the operation of a base radio station and had placed a transmission tower on the water tank of the city of Cassville. The action states the ambulance district has appropriated the same to its own use, has disconnected the tower from use by the plaintiff without just cause or excuse. The hospital says they are the owners of the tower and as such entitled to its use and operation. The ambulance district currently contracts emergency services for the area through Cassville Area Ambulance Service, headquartered in Cassville. Holder of the contract is Naugle Ambulance Service of West Plains. Naugle also operates similar contract services throughout this section of the state. Hospital district requests were before the Cassville city council Tuesday night for permission to install an antenna, apparently a second one, atop a water tower. Permission was granted from the request by Ed Browning, administrator, with the north tower to be used. City will not permit installations of antenna on the south tower.
— GARRETT MFG.WILL INCREASE EMPLOYMENT
Garrett Manufacturing Co. of Cassville will begin an employment increase that possibly will add 40 to their payroll beginning after mid-January, according to general manager Jerry Greuel. Garrett is a wholly owned subsidiary of MASCO Industries of Taylor, Michigan. Greuel said this week current employment at the custom machine operation stands at 120 persons. The additional staff will begin reporting in mid-January and will be added in our forecasts steadily after that period, Greuel indicated. Contracts for measuring devices in natural gas pipelines will be a contributor for the increased employment here. Garrett and MASCO, which purchased the local business in 1981 from Glen Garrett, is also negotiating an additional 5,000 square feet of storage floor space with the Cassville IDC. Greuel said the addition would be placed near the 15,000 square feet at the west side of the Garrett location. In their prime location on County Road, the firm has 40,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
30 years ago
Nov. 30, 1994
— PILOT AVOIDS CRASH WITH FIELD LANDING
Nick White, Rogers, Ar., pilot, successfully landed his single engine airplane in a field adjacent to Highway 39 in Barry County near Madry Friday. White told officers he was flying from Springfield to Arkansas when he thought he had fuel problems. Attempting to switch tanks the engine stalled and he was unable to perform a restart. Sheriff Ralph Hendrix said White first thought he would make the landing on Hwy. 39 but traffic was excessive at the time. The landing gear was slightly damaged in the landing, the pilot not hurt.
—182 FARMS IN POULTRY CONSIDERING PERMIT PROCESS
“Large turkey and broiler producers will need permits, not letters of approval from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources,” says area University Extension agricultural engineering specialist Ed Browning. The effect of 182 farms in Barry County is being assessed. Between DNR and EPA full regulations aren’t clear, said one source. Browning told producers at a recent tour that DNR has moved agriculture from non-point to point sources of pollution. Non-point is a runoff situation, most farms consider this source. Point services apply to manufacturing using a waste water system. The change means larger producers will need permits to dispose of wastes. Permits will be required by turkey producers who have at least 250,000 pounds of birds on the farm and by broiler producers with 100,000 or more birds at one time. These are listed as class one permits. Turkey growers who have 33,000 tom turkeys will have more than 250,000 pounds of birds on their farms any day, while those with 35,000 hens will have less than 250,000 pounds of birds, he said. Browning said a general permit will cost $150 every five years. Producers who have faced earlier pollution violations and some others will need a site specific permit that costs $3,500 a year. “I encourage producers to get permits. It can be cheap insurance if you need to go to court,” he said. Permits are also required of class one dairy herds of 150 animals. Aerial photographs of the county provided by DNR cite 675 poultry growing houses in the county, including broiler, turkey and layer flocks. That number gets a concurrence from assessor Glen Nicoll, who notes his office put 135 hours on the tax books this past year. Extension service director Tony Rickard says current statistics place 3.7 houses on each farm, providing the 182 individual farms being involved in the poultry growing process currently in Barry County. Soil Conservationist Dan Philbrick said about 30 of these were definitely in the class one status. Out of the total number of houses in the county, 20 percent of 135 are turkey or layer operations. Firms involved in the grow-out operations, George’s, Inc., Tyson Co., Hudson Foods and Simmons, do not report to any government agency the number of growers under their contracts. Poultry producers who do not want to feed bird litter to cattle can use it for plant fertilizer, said area extension agronomist Rick Mammen. Phosphorus and potassium in litter bonds to the soil and increases through the years. Nitrogen, however, can be lost in the air or dissolved in water. Litter should be applied when plants need the nitrogen. “The only way to know what you are doing is to first test the soil and then the litter,” he said.
