News

Barry County’s active COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases have leveled for a week, with a few less new cases than last week and a few less active cases, as well. According to the Barry County Health Department and Barry County Office of Emergency Management, there have been 4,808 (+65 from Nov. 17) confirmed positive cases of COVID-19...

We asked Cassville fourth-grade students what they are thankful for.

The serenity prayer is a key focus in Celebrate Recovery, because after all, God is involved in every step of the journey to recovery. Sharon Sater, co-ministry leader of Cassville Celebrate Recovery (CR), has been involved since the very beginning, 12 years ago...

Bundle up and head into town — the Christmas parades are on their way. The hot chocolate, the music and the lights, and the Main Streets are festive and exciting with Christmas spirit. Don’t worry, there are more than enough Christmas parades in Barry County to keep families invested in the holiday tradition...

Miracle Week is just around the corner, and the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals at CoxHealth is aiming to make a difference for local kids and their families every single day. Miracle Week is an opportunity for community members to make donations that will provide medical care and assistance when they’re needed most...

The Seligman Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad are teaming up again this year to bring the Santa Train to Monett on Dec. 20. The hour-long journey starts at the soccer fields on Waldensian, just off Dairy Street and meanders through the countryside to Exeter and back. Guests will have the opportunity to visit with Santa Claus, eat sugar cookies and drink hot chocolate. Train ornaments will be available for purchase...

The Barry County Health Department has received a limited quantity of the Pfizer COVID-19 child dose vaccine for administration children ages 5-11. The child dose is 1/3 of the adult dose and is a two-shot series. Pfizer is currently the only COVID vaccine approved for use in children 5-and-older...

Alene Swadley enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner served at the Cassville Senior Center on Thursday. The meal was sponsored by Barry County Ready Mix and the Jenkins Quarry.

Herrin Animal Hospital is hosting the 22nd Annual Herrin Toy Drive, accepting toys through Dec. 15. People may drop a new, unwrapped toy off at 93 Smithson Drive in Cassville, or call to have a toy donation picked up. Toys are distributed by the Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation’s Barry County Neighborhood Center. For more information, people may call 417-847-5888...

A Golden man was injured on Nov. 17 in a wreck at 2:35 p.m. on Route J in Golden. According to a Missouri State Highway patrol report, Barry Tidwell, 61, of Golden, was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Uplander southbound when his vehicle failed to negotiate a curve, traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck the ground, a cable box and a tree...

The Barry County Commission has made a couple of moves recently in an effort to bolster the county’s law enforcement and jail. Official language has yet to be submitted, but the Commission is planning to propose a 1/2-cent law enforcement sales tax in April 2022. Separately, the Commission has also purchased a 25.42-acre tract of land on which it plans to build a new county jail...

Barry County’s active COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases have continued to rise, with 72 new cases reported in the county in the last six days. According to the Barry County Health Department and Barry County Office of Emergency Management, there have been 4,743 (+72 from Nov. 11) confirmed positive cases of COVID-19...

A Seligman man was arrested following a wreck Tuesday at 11:55 p.m. on Highway 37, 1.5 miles south of Washburn. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Matern was driving a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu northbound when his vehicle ran off the roadway, striking a fence and a tree...

A Cassville man was injured on Tuesday in a wreck at 3:50 p.m. on Highway 248, three miles east of Cassville. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Michael Nash, 48, of Cassville, was driving a 2021 Harley Davidson Sport Glide westbound when his vehicle struck debris in the roadway, forcing the bike to travel off the right side of the roadway and strike a culvert, overturning and ejecting the driver...

For more than 10 years, Valerie Speer ran a successful business near the Cassville square — Forever Yours Embroidery. She opened on May 3, 2011, on her son’s birthday. Speer said it all started with a personal hobby. From a few loyal local customers to a multi-state presence, Speer has grown her business over the last decade with a special quality of product, as well as relationships with her clients...

On the agenda for the November Wheaton City Council meeting, under new business, there was a list of nine city ordinances to be updated. JoGina Park, Wheaton city clerk, said over the summer, the city of Wheaton changed the city attorney. “We were trying to update the wording,” she said. “Some of the city ordinances could be found online and some were in the books. While updating them, we are putting all of the ordinances in both places.”...

The city of Cassville has announced it has secured a $40,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to construct a new playground surface using recycled vehicle tires. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Solid Waste Management Program administers this grant program to divert scrap tires from landfills and illegal dumps by promoting end-uses for scrap tires...

Mackenzie Lay is a familiar face to many families in the area.  As a labor and delivery nurse at Cox Monett, where she has spent the last six years, Lay has been a part of helping hundreds of moms bring the amazing miracle of new life into the world. ...

John Leuckenhoff accepts the folded American Flag from Cassville JOTC student Brennen Cieslinski at Cassville's Veterans Day assembly. For more from the event, go to: https://www.cassville-democrat.com/gallery/39639.

Purdy students gathered Thursday to honor local veterans with the school’s annual Veterans Day assembly, which included the fight songs for each branch of the military, colors presented by the Scott Tech JROTC and testimonials from faculty discussing the impact Sept. 11, 2001 had on them...

Watson Neal, left, with Broken Window Creations, talks to Barbara Phillips, center, of Cassville, about personalized ornaments offered by the company.

Derek Acheson, Cassville assistant fire chief, stands at the control center for Stone County’s fire training trailer.

OATS Transit is open for regular transportation service. OATS Transit follows Federal Transit Administration requirements, which means face masks must be worn on public transit due to COVID-19 through Jan. 18, 2022. Please call the OATS Transit office at 417-887-9272 or 800-770-6287 to schedule a ride or find out about service in the area. ...

A Seligman man died on Friday following a wreck reported at 9:30 a.m. on Route F, six miles southeast of Cassville. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Bradley Hufford was driving a 2008 Dodge Caliber eastbound when his vehicle traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a rock bluff, causing the vehicle to overturn...

A Cassville woman was injured on Thursday in a wreck at 8:45 a.m. on Highway 76, half a mile south of Cassville. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Jerod Bundy, 44, of Cassville, was driving a 2007 Ford F150 westbound when his vehicle pulled into the path of a northbound 2006 Jeep Wrangler, being driven by Heidi Godsey, 33, of Cassville...

Three people were injured on Tuesday in a wreck at 7:50 a.m. on Farm Road 2275, half a mile east of Seligman. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Heth Johnson, 28, of Seligman, was driving a 1996 Chevrolet 1500 northbound when his vehicle crossed the center line and traveled into the path of a 2001 Ford F350, being driven by Michael Wood, 57, of Seligman...

Barry County’s active COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases jumped up slightly after multiple weeks of falling figures. According to the Barry County Health Department and Barry County Office of Emergency Management, there have been 4,671 (+48 from Nov. 2) confirmed positive cases of COVID-19...

For a woman in the military, it can be a longer and much harder road paved with opportunities that don’t match up — that didn’t stop Elaine Boles. The nurse now at Cassville High school, Boles served in the Army from 1980-1989. “I grew up in the Neosho area and graduated from high school in McDonald County,” she said. “We traveled a lot when I was a kid, and we spent some time overseas in Iran. My dad was an aircraft engineer.”...

When it was time to join up or be drafted, a freshly turned 18-year-old decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and signed up to spend four years of his life to serve in the Air Force. Jim Chadd, a Cassville retiree, said he was a personnel specialist from 1965-1969...

Whether having marked off most of a Christmas shopping list or just getting started, a new holiday shopping event in Washburn is offering some holiday purchasing opportunities. On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the First Baptist Church Activity Center in Washburn, more than 40 vendors will set up booths for a one-stop shopping Holiday Bazaar...

First Baptist Church in Cassville and New Site Baptist Church in Monett will be two of more than 4,000 locations to collect Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts for the Samaritan’s Purse project. Volunteers are preparing to collect shoebox gifts during National Collection Week, Nov. 15-22...

Ruby Knight, front left, as Marmee, and M’kena Propps, front right, as Jo, talk during the play “Little Women” on Saturday.

A large, colorful cast is set to take to the stage in a SKITS community theater presentation of “The Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon.”

The Cassville Cruisers will host a Cruise-In on Saturday, weather permitting, with the theme, “Honoring Our Veterans.” The Cruise-In will be held 3-5 p.m. at the Barry County Museum, south of Cassville on Highway 112. Monthly meetings are the Tuesday prior to the Cruise-in at Sho Me Plaza on Highway 248 in Cassville at 7 p.m. For more information on the car club, people may visit www.cassvillecruisers.com...

Barry County’s active COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases are hovering around 50 in the last two weeks, and three more people have died from the virus. According to the Barry County Health Department and Barry County Office of Emergency Management, there have been 4,623 (+29 from Oct. 26) confirmed positive cases of COVID-19...

Two people died and three more were seriously injured in a wreck at 7 p.m. on Tuesday on Highway 37 in Purdy. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Taylor McGlothlin, 18, of Monett, was driving a 2013 Chevrolet Cruz northbound when his vehicle crossed over the center line and struck a southbound 2011 Chevrolet Malibu, being driven by Maria Haros, 33, of Cassville...

Sales tax revenue to the Barry County area continued its post-pandemic surge in October. With receipts up for the fifth consecutive month, the run of monthly gains that started in May 2020 has had only one interruption since local shopping gained new meaning. Some cracks in the pattern have started to show more prominently, as a few smaller towns with fewer shopping options have seen more defections to nearby bigger cities, more typical of shopping in normal times...

The lady at the lake, new Shell Knob Chamber of Commerce Director Kellie Davis, is introducing herself to Shell Knob and the surrounding communities. “Originally I am from Kansas City,” she said. “I grew up coming down to the lake. My dad has a house in Shell Knob, but I have lived in San Diego for the past 30 years.”...

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks has selected the Cassville Community Foundation (CCF) as an Affiliate of the Year, recognizing excellence in leadership among its 53-member affiliate network. The award comes with a $3,000 prize for the CCF’s community grant-making endowment...

  Dollar General has announced its store in Washburn is now open.  “DG stores are proud to provide area residents with an affordable and convenient store location to purchase household essentials including food, cleaning supplies, paper products, over-the-counter medicines, hygiene products, baby items and more through its mission of serving others,” a press release said...

Because of their efforts to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations in Barry County, the Monett Area Community Foundation and the Cassville Community Foundation have won a $10,000 challenge grant through the Coover Regional Vaccination Initiative. From July 26 to Sept. 20, the percentage of Barry County residents ages 12-and-up to receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine increased by 8.6 percent...

It´s almost time for the magic of Christmas, and the SKITS community players will present a hilarious parody on the Hallmark movie genre. This zany, comical performance, dubbed the “Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon,” takes elements from six Hallmark movies and combines them into an evening of laughter, hope, romance, sadness, delight, disdain and surprise, almost every human emotion that embodies the Hallmark movie theme, all portrayed by a colorful cast of characters...

Reece Newman, 5, of Cassville, collected candy instead of Mario’s typical coins while attending the Halloween event at Corinth Baptist Church on Sunday.

Austin Selee, of Seligman, held Jordyn Selee, 1, as the pair walked with Lealand Selee, 7, through the lit up Trepidations Haunted Attraction in Seligman on Sunday.

Cassville Primary School held a vocabulary parade on Friday, where students chose a word, then made a poster to define it and donned a costume to represent it.

Cassville High School will host its 33rd annual Veterans Day assembly on Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. The event will be located in the high school gymnasium and is open to the public that would like to attend. The assembly will include performances from the Cassville Mass Choir and Concert Band, a reading of essays written by Cassville students about the meaning of heroes and freedom and a performance by the JROTC demonstrating the Thirteen Folds of the American Flag. Seating for the event will begin at 8:30 a.m. Any veterans that will be in attendance are invited to sign in at the registration table upon arrival so that they can be recognized for their service during the ceremony. ...