Column

Dakoda Pettigrew: American Insights — The right to resist

June 25, 2024

Born at Cape Cod and educated at Harvard, the Reverend Samuel West was a patriot. But above all, he was a devoted servant of God who sought to live in accordance with God’s Word.

Kyle Troutman: Becoming a dad all over again

June 18, 2024

My sixth Father’s Day snuck up on me this year. With the recent storm damage to our office and upcoming trip to the annual International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors conference, it wasn’t until Friday or Saturday that I realized Sunday would be my day.

Dakoda Pettigrew: American Insights — The Mighty Endeavor

June 18, 2024

On Wednesday, June 5, 1944, the president spoke to the American people through a common and comforting medium: the fireside chat. “Yesterday,” Franklin Roosevelt began, “Rome fell to American and Allied forces.” In a voice ringing with optimism, the president added, “The first of the Axis capitals is now in our hands. One up and two to go!”

Jeremiah Buntin: Photographic memory

June 11, 2024

While walking the Cassville Greenway Trail near the ball fields one evening a few weeks ago, I noticed local photographer and Barry County Museum board member Chuck Nickle out taking photos of the kids in their baseball uniforms.

Drake Thomas: Rules in summer aren’t a bummer; the beauty of keeping a schedule during off seasons

June 11, 2024

Reading that title may give you pause. Summer is a time for respite, rejuvenation — and most importantly, no alarms — right? Why in the world would anyone want to keep their rigid normal schedule when the days are longer, and cookouts, ball games and pool parties seem to jump out from every direction? It is difficult to convince little minds that it is bedtime when the sun sits low and fat on the horizon boasting perfect playing light, before disappearing completely and giving the stage to twinkling fireflies that hover at the perfect height to be cupped and observed by tiny hands.

Jeff Fugitt: God’s love more powerful than storms

June 5, 2024

One of the interesting things about raising kids is their fresh eyes on the human experience and how the world works. Sometimes, their questions can challenge our settled thinking and spark our own dormant curiosity.

Kyle Troutman: The ides of May

May 28, 2024

The saying goes, “Beware the Ides of March,” but fore the last two years, it has been the “Ides of May” bringing the bad to Barry County. At this time last year, we as a community were dealing with a lot, most significantly the disappearance and death of Dr.

Dakoda Pettigrew: American Insights — The Tragedy of B. F. Randolph

May 28, 2024

On Wednesday, January 15, 1868, Benjamin Franklin Randolph opened the second day of the South Carolina Constitutional Convention with a prayer. Brief but moving, Randolph exhorted God to “fill our hearts with love for the general welfare” of all South Carolinians. “Help us in our work here, and when we finish our earthly course, receive us into that welcome abode in heaven.”

Kyle Troutman: A worthy and colorful cause

May 22, 2024

Inever ceased to be amazed by the extent and variety of our local philanthropic organizations. From the Cassville Education Fund’s support of our school teachers to the Cassville Community Foundation’s support of all things Cassville and Roaring River and the Soroptimist Club’s support of local women to the Cassville Rotary Club’s support of the Cassville community — and many, many more organizations I don’t have all the space to name — there is no shortage of neighbors helping neighbors in our slice of southwest Missouri.

Dakoda Pettigrew: American Insights — Lincoln at Independence Hall

May 22, 2024

The president-elect reached Philadelphia at 4 p.m. on Thursday, February 21, 1861. In response to warm greetings, Lincoln told a crowd that he hoped “to restore peace and harmony and prosperity to the country.” He added, however, “I shall do nothing inconsistent with the teachings of those holy and most sacred walls” of Independence Hall. “I have never asked anything that does not breathe from those walls,” Lincoln said. Paraphrasing Psalm 137, he added, “May my right hand forget its cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I ever prove false to those teachings” of the Constitution and the Declaration.

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