News briefs, April 3
Barry County Clerk Joyce Ennis will conduct an election certification with the verification team for the April 2 General Municipal Election. It will be held at 1 p.m.
Kyle Troutman
Jig On the Water
March 31, 2024 Water is still mostly clear. We had a bit of rain last week, but it didn’t really mess the water up much.
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.
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.
City requests renewal of capital improvement sales tax
The city of Cassville is proposing a renewal of its capital improvement sales tax on the April 2 Municipal Election ballot, aiming to use the funds for a multitude of projects in the future. The 1/2-cent tax was first passed in 2005, and all revenue had been used to pay the loan for the city’s wastewater treatment plant, funded by a 2002 bond for $2,935,000 that was paid in full in July 2023.