Column
EJ Adams: Will you be planting this fall?
Fall can be a great time for planting potted perennials. Nurseries may have some great deals on them as the growing season winds down, and fall is a good time to get a new plant established before the cold of winter arrives.

Drake Thomas: ‘So, God Made A Teacher’
And on the 8th day, God looked at those made in his image and said, “I need a caretaker.” So, God made a teacher. God said, “I need someone willing to get up before dawn, collect last night’s grading, kiss their family goodbye, teach all day at school, bring home more grading, eat supper, then go back to school and stay until 9 to watch a student’s basketball game.

Kyle Troutman: This election had everything
I’ve been telling saying it for months at this point — I could write a book about the sheriff race in the Republican Primary Election. I feel like Bill Hader’s Saturday Night Live character, Stefon.

Michelle Hilburn: Librarians are on the front lines of literacy
The school year is quickly approaching, which means children are enjoying their last days of summertime and parents are preparing to send them back to school. As a school librarian, this is a very busy time of year, and I have already returned to work.

Jeff Fugitt: Find the beauty all around you
This devotional and directory is made possible by these businesses who encourage all to attend worship services. I heard some scientists on the radio this week discussing how even animals have an appreciation for beauty.

Kyle Troutman: Why not you?
It’s hard being the only sports fan in my household. As the summer Olympics in Paris have played out over the last couple weeks, I have had to Greco-Roman wrestle away the remote from my group of gals to get any significant watch time in.

Merlyn Johnson: Anticipation building for new school year
The 2024-2025 school year will begin on Tuesday, August 20. We are excited to welcome our students and staff back for another great year at Cassville R-IV School District.

Dakoda Pettigrew: American Insights — a perennial choice
“America wept tonight, not alone for its dead young President, but for itself,” the journalist James Reston wrote in a special to The New York Times, which, on Saturday, November 23, 1963, bore the haunting headline “Kennedy is Killed by Sniper.”

Kyle Troutman: It’s in your hands
In six days, Barry County voters who select a Republican ballot in the Primary Election will have their say in 10 contested races for local, state and national positions. While all the state and national winners on the GOP ballots will have Democrat opponents — including our state house and state senate districts — for the three contested races locally, Tuesday represents the culmination of a long and arduous campaign season with no opponents waiting in the wings.

Kyle Troutman: Back in the swing
After nearly two months of being displaced, Jordan and I — as well as our staff — were beyond elated to get back into the swing of things at our office on Main Street. On the morning of May 26, we, like many of you, awoke to the hail-acious windstorm that caused millions in damage to property and homes in Barry County.