Kyle Troutman

Kyle Troutman

Kyle Troutman: Part III — The new normal

How much time a day do you spend on a smart device? This question was posed to grade 6-12 Cassville students in a voluntary poll recently, receiving more than 350 responses. According to the results, 20% of students are on a device more than 6 hours a day, 31.9% are at 4-6 hours, 34.6% are at 2-4 hours and only 13.5% are under 2 hours.

Trojans reflect on successful season

In the summer of 2023, the Southwest boys basketball team declined to set any expectations. Coming off its first district title in 57 years, the Trojans had lost half the team to graduation and had yet to find an identity.

Kristina Atwood: Stay scam savvy

Every week, it seems like we hear about a new scam that we need to keep our eye out for, whether it comes in the form of a person going door-to-door, a phone call, text message, mail, or email. We have to pay attention to mail that looks official, but isn’t, text messages, phone calls, and email that appears to come from an official sounding number or uses official sounding and sometimes threatening messages which aren’t true, and people who come to the door that look official and may not be.

Through the Years, March 27

40 YEARS AGO: AMPLE WATER PROVIDES FALL--Spring moisture in the area makes every runnable stream flowing at near full tilt these days. One example is a 90-foot waterfall from atop the spring bluff at Roaring River State Park. This photo Monday shows a healthy stream of water cascading past well worn rock bluffs. Merle Rogers, park naturalist, said the stream is flowing about 35 million gallons of water daily. Average for the spring is 22 million. Contributing to the water situation is the 7.07 inches of rainfall and snow moisture measured in March. Thus far in April, readings Monday were 1.11, says Mary Ann Thomas of the U.S. Forest Service. For the year rainfall stands at 12.55 inches. This March was the wettest since the 7.48 inches recorded in 1978.

DNR: PFAS may be present in sludge

There is still time for public comments to be submitted in response to the DNR’s proposed permits for the application of human biosolids from Arkansas and slaughterhouse-sludge from inside and outside of Missouri to Barry County farmland. If approved, permits proposed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will initially allow the application of the waste materials to some 9,800 acres in the county.

Barry County Sheriff’s Office calls for service and reports taken

March 11-17 The Barry County Sheriff's Office responded to 232 calls for service for the week of March 11-17. The CAD events created by central dispatch are the Calls for Service Barry County Officers respond to every day, included in those calls are alarms, assaults, burglaries, domestic disturbances, DWI's, stealing, harassment, medical issues, paper service, prisoner transports, suspicious persons, traffic stops and warrant service. Reports are not generated on all the calls for service. The following reports were generated from the above 232 calls:

Kegan John Robinson

Kegan John Robinson, age 21, of Cassville, Missouri passed away Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at his home. He was born September 14, 2002, in Monett, Missouri the son of Anthony and Calista (Skelton) Robinson.

Vernon Dale Underwood

Vernon Dale Underwood, 82, of Shell Knob, Mo., passed away Friday, March 22, 2024, at Mercy Hospital Cassville in Cassville, Mo. He was born March 19, 1942, in Cypress, Calif.

Unpaid lunch balances spike

The Cassville school district is determining how to handle a dramatic increase in unpaid food service bills, up 300 percent since April 2022 and 50 percent since the start of this school year. Merlyn Johnson, Cassville superintendent, said balances have been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, during which federal funding provided free meals at the district.