Oct. 30, 1974

— PROPOSE TRAFFIC SIGNALS AT MAIN ST. INTERSECTION Establishing a new traffic pattern at the multi-highway intersection in the south part of Cassville’s business district was proposed by the Missouri Highway Department in a meeting here Thursday. Wilbur Stegner, district highway engineer, met with city government and Chamber of Commerce officials in review of preliminary plans. The officials said the Highway 112, 248, 76, 86 and Business Route 37 junction between Fourth and Fifth Streets in Cassville carried a 12-hour traffic count of 7,480 automobiles, with 905 vehicles in one noon-hour period. For this reason, the department has proposed signalizing the intersection and eliminating the pie-intersection used for several years. Stegner told Mayor Bill LeCompte and members of the C of C roads and highway committee that curbing and traffic islands would be proposed to channel vehicles into lanes for easier access. To handle anticipated increases with FASCO Industries’ arrival, the plan also calls for eliminating parking on the west side of Main between Sixth and Fifth streets. Similar redesign is proposed for the intersection of Sales Barn Road with Highways 248, 112, 76 and 86. No completion date could be forecast, pending design and funding. Future plans include magnetic sensors for latenight traffic control.

— BARRY ELECTRIC MAKES $42,000 BUILDING PLAN

Barry Electric Cooperative of Cassville will begin soon on a building program to enlarge vehicle and general storage facilities. Joe Preddy, co-op manager, said the board approved land purchase and contracts on the project costing an estimated $42,000. Included is the purchase of two lots from Mrs. Maxine Ferguson at Second and West Streets for $12,000. A 50×90-foot steel prefab building, expected to cost $30,000, will be installed for vehicle and material storage. Preddy said the cooperative hopes to begin concrete work immediately and finish before winter. The expansion will allow Barry Electric to maintain larger inventories of needed supplies.

— AIRPORT PROGRAM IN HOLD PATTERN HERE Cassville is in a waitand- see position on pending airport plans, according to local organizations involved. Federal Aviation Administration officials informed Mayor Bill LeCompte that funds had been exhausted. CASCO, Inc. and the Chamber of Commerce sent letters to Washington officials urging release of funds before year’s end to hold leases on 80 acres.

— STATE TOURISM PROJECTIONS FOR MORE GROWTH Tourism-related activities support 167,000 Missourians directly with a payroll of $800 million annually, and contribute heavily to the state’s economy. Gasoline tax revenue from tourism in 1973 was $33.2 million, with more than $100 million generated for general revenue. Despite its size, tourism in Missouri has room for growth. The Discover America Travel Organization estimates the $61 billion national travel business in 1972 will double by 1980. With Missouri’s central location and attractions, the Division of Tourism aims to expand in-state vacations and attract out-ofstate travelers.

Oct. 30, 1985

— WAL-MART SITE ZONING AT BOARD NOVEMBER 5 Cassville Zoning and Planning Board will be in session next Tuesday evening to consider a request by Mr. and Mrs. Marlett Sanders of Stillwater, Oklahoma to zone property recently annexed on the west edge of the city. The site, under contract for purchase by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, Arkansas, is under request for commercial classification. Decisions by the commission will be subject to city council action Nov. 11, according to Mayor Rolland Meador. Mayor Meador said the company’s initial land work at the location, which began last week, was to achieve getting “its facility open as early in 1986 as possible.” Douglas Sperber, company real estate manager, said, “To accomplish this, the sitework will have to begin this fall in order to get our footings in before weather prohibits.” Meador said the letter also stated initial work does not include hooking onto public utilities or items that require a building permit at this time. First excavation for the project includes moving considerable amounts of dirt for the building location.

— POSSIBLE ROAD SOLUTION AT SELIGMAN HIGHWAY 37 BRIDGE There is a possible solution to a highway problem in the City of Seligman, by making a temporary improvement at the Highway 37 bridge in town. That’s what Joseph Mickes, district highway engineer, told 150 persons attending a public hearing Thursday night at Washburn. Mickes said his people are investigating the possibility of making a fill at the bridge site and widening the hollow crossing to relieve congestion at the curve in Seligman. The hearing, called to reconsider a Seligman-to-Arkansas line bypass on Highway 37, was termed cordial by Mickes. Hearings last year produced mostly Seligman opposition to the bypass to the east. Mickes said the project, running 2.8 miles from the north edge of town and costing over $8 million, would probably go before the Missouri Highway and Transportation CommissioninDecember. Even though the project is back on drawing boards, Mickes said contract time would be delayed five or six years. Mickes said Mayor John Corn of Seligman had agreed to cooperate in investigation of improving the bridge situation. Due to location and angle, there are a number of accidents at the site, especially concerning heavy traffic. The engineer said his office would be back in contact with Seligman interests on the possibility of making the bridge area more safe for traffic. Mickes also said the Cassville-to-Seligman portion of Highway 37 improvement was in a stage that right-of-way was being purchased this winter. He said the department hopefully will have the project under contract by next summer.

— BARRY COUNTY NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER HELPS 1,566 A total of 1,566 persons, 42.2 percent of the county’s poverty population, have been helped by Barry County Neighborhood Center during the program year. Una Henderson, director, said the percentage was slightly above the 10-county area average of 41 percent. The center now operates out of new offices, 200 East Fifth, in the McGrath building.

— DOCTORS FLANARY AND FERRIS OPENING CASSVILLE PRACTICES The medical services field in Cassville increased by two this week when a pair of physicians arrived here to begin practices. John Ferris, M.D., and J. Clark Flanary, D.O., will practice out of local clinics and South Barry County Hospital. Dr. Flanary will practice with Dr. W.G. Barnes in a clinic owned by the hospital district adjacent to the hospital. He is returning here, having practiced previously with Dr. Barnes from 1976 to 1979. Six years ago, he returned to Flint, Michigan to continue his education in a residency program in internal medicine. He completed this program and has been in practice since. Dr. Flanary was accorded temporary privileges at South Barry County Hospital last Friday, according to administrator Edward Browning. Full approval is pending the next regular board of directors meeting. Dr. and Mrs. Flanary and son J.C. have moved to this area at their home in Roaring River Hills, which they constructed during their initial time in Cassville. Dr. Ferris, who previously announced his intentions to practice in Cassville upon release from active duty in the U.S. Air Force, will begin when clinic spaces across Gravel Street from the hospital are ready. Dr. and Mrs. Ferris and five children are residing in Wildwood Estates. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma in 1979, he has done family practice residency and Air Force flight surgeon school. Also holding a psychology degree from Oklahoma State, he served seven years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear power engineer in submarines. Dr. Ferris’ last assignment was at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, for armed forces personnel, families and emergency room duties. His Cassville practice will include obstetrics and pediatrics. Addition of the two doctors increases Cassville’s full-time medical staff to six. Included are medical doctors Herman Sardjono and Ricky Kime. Osteopathic physicians include Barnes, Gerald Johnson and G.A. Purves.

30 years ago

Oct. 25, 1995

— ELEMENTARY CLASSES SET TO MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST’S NEW SCHOOL BUILDING Southwest students in third through fifth grades will be moving into the district’s new upper elementary building next month. Superintendent Jim Roe said the move would take place on Nov. 22 and 24. The 13,000-square-foot facility, located to the south of the current campus, is now in the last stages of completion. When the move is finished, there will be four separate buildings: one for preschool through second grades, one for third through fifth grades, one for sixth through eighth grades, and one for ninth through 12th grades. The vacated third grade rooms will be used for pre-kindergarten and additional kindergarten through second grade rooms. The former fourth and fifth grade rooms will be occupied by seventh and eighth grade classes. Elementary Principal Judy Randall will continue to oversee preschool through sixth grade students. Bob Borman serves as the middle school and high school principal. Roe said next year the district might look into hiring another administrator for middle school. Contractor for the project is Dalton Killinger of Joplin. The building will cost the district $690,000 to construct. Roe said $520,000 of the project will be paid for through lease purchase, and $170,000 will come from the district’s reserve funds. The lease-purchase certificates will be paid off over 13 years at a rate of about $67,000 a year. The new school includes nine classrooms, a large commons area, offices and restrooms. The announcement of the move was made during the Southwest R-V Board of Education’s Oct. 16 meeting. In other business, the school board:

• Discussed the purchase of bus radios for emergency situations.

• Approved a policy calling for alcohol and drug testing for employees beginning Jan. 1, 1996.

• Reviewed the school’s self-evaluation, and approved the 1995-96 professional development plan and the 1995-96 board policy updates.

• Employed Loretta Tilford as the new school custodian, Curtis Griffis as the gym custodian, Debbie Hall as school secretary and Shirley Lawrence as a cook. The next meeting of the board will be Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the superintendent’s office.

— FOREST KEEPERS GROUP FORMS IN SHELL KNOB TO OPPOSE CLEAR CUTTING A group of concerned citizens wanting to protect the Mark Twain National Forest have formed an association they call the Forest Keepers. The group of about 20 people met for the first time on Oct. 21 at the CCC camp in Shell Knob, according to Cheri Hutton, one of the organizers. Barbara Williams of Shell Knob was elected chairperson. In a news release, Williams wrote that Forest Keepers was formed to monitor forest management projects in the lake area. Citizens who gathered at the first meeting were responding to the U.S. Forest Service’s Northside Project. One of the project choices favored by the Forest Service is Alternative No. 3, which calls for 212 acres of forest to be clear-cut, along with glade and savannah restoration. Williams stated that the association strongly objects to clear cutting because of the area’s heavy recreational use. “The group is hopeful that the Forest Service will keep the best interests of the forest, the wildlife, the environment and the users of the forest at heart,” Williams wrote. Citizens attending the meeting included Shell Knob residents, landowners and visitors. People came from as far away as Carthage and Conway, Ark., to voice their opposition to clear cutting. Area residents say very few of them were notified about the Forest Service’s plans until after the public comment period had ended. A portion of Piney Creek Wilderness Area will be clear-cut under the plan.