News

Ozark Festival Orchestra to hold Pops in the Park concert April 14

The Ozark Festival Orchestra, based in Monett, will conclude its 2023-24 season with its annual Marty Beckwith Memorial Pops in the Park concert, slated for Sunday, April 14, at the Monett City Park Casino, located east of the park entrance at Highways 37 and 60 in Monett. The concert is a benefit for the orchestra to help raise funds to cover annual expenses.
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From super to admin

After 29 years in education, mostly at the Cassville school district, Richard Asbill is excited to return home. The current superintendent of the Bolivar school district, Asbill is set to retire on June 30 and assume an entirely new role — but with a similar skillset — replacing City Administrator Steve Walensky on July 1.
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Barry County Sheriff’s Office calls for service and reports taken

The Barry County Sheriff's Office responded to 215 calls for service for the week of March 18-24. 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 215 calls:
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7 streets to be repaved

The city of Cassville has determined seven streets to be repaved this year, some of which were necessitated by a prior project. David Brock, Cassville public works director, said several street segments were disturbed by the sewer project, which led the city to substitute those segments in for residential streets that will be repaved next year.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Read MoreCity requests renewal of capital improvement sales tax