January 2026
McDowell Gold Jubilee keeps music kickin’
You could hear the music seeping through the doorway as you approached on the barely lit gravel driveway.
Fire destroys home near Wheaton
A home near Wheaton was a total loss following a fire on Jan. 5, with one resident of the home suffering injuries.
Former resident’s passing leaves questions
Thirty-year-old Springfield resident, Britney Carlo Shurtz — a former Purdy area resident and a 2005 graduate of Purdy High School — spent Christmas of 2017 in the hospital, recuperating from emergency surgery two days before.
Man charged with meth possession, sexual misconduct
A Mountain Grove man has been charged with five counts in two separate cases after allegedly leaving a lewd note on a vehicle near the Greenway Trail in Cassville, as well as alleged possession of methamphetamine, and for allegedly performing sexual acts on himself in a Cassville business.
Pedestrian killed in crash near Purdy
A Monett woman was killed and Purdy woman arrested following a single-vehicle wreck at 6:19 p.m. on Dec. 29, 2026, on Farm Road 1090, two miles north of Purdy.
Woman charged with theft of purse from bathroom
A Shell Knob woman is charged with three counts of felony stealing after allegedly taking a victim’s purse from a bathroom at a Cassville business.
More than $16K raised for Share Your Christmas
Through the efforts of Merry Christmas candidates and community donations, $16,299.91 was raised this year for Share Your Christmas, the local effort to provide gifts for families in financial need Bri Still, left, was crowned Merry Christmas Queen recently.
Kyle Troutman: Charting new territory
As we wrap up the first week of 2026, there’s a pep in my step. Maybe it’s enjoying the last bit of fall weather brightening my days. It could that the kids went back to school this morning and routines can fall back into place. Or, better yet, it’s more likely I’m excited about what’s to come in the next 359 days.
Jon Horner: Creating opportunity together — A new year’s vision for our community in 2026
Here we stand at that annual strange feeling each year as we start to say goodbye to the year before, reflecting upon what has filled the past 365 days of our lives and beginning to see the possibilities which come with the shifting of the calendar to a new year.
Dakoda Pettigrew: American Insights — Liberty or death
He rose, a Baptist clergyman recalled, “with an unearthly fire burning in his eye.” It was Thursday, March 23, 1775, and the fate of American liberty was on the patriot’s mind. To Thomas Jefferson, he was “the greatest orator that ever lived.” To Roger Atkinson, a spectator, he was “a son of thunder.” To his enemies, he was an insolent traitor to king and empire, a man as infamous for his utterances as the Apostle Paul when he stood on Mars Hill and preached to the people of Athens.
