Kyle Troutman

Kyle Troutman

Nunez spells his way to Joplin

On Friday, fourth- and fifth-grade classroom spelling bee winners competed in the Intermediate Spelling Bee. Fifth-grade student Ares Nunez finished in first place and will travel to Joplin on March 14 to represent Cassville in the Joplin Globe Spelling Bee.

Through the Years, Jan. 29

30 YEARS AGO: METHODS OF REMOVING SNOW — The order of the day beginning Thursday morning was getting snow from some unwanted places. In the instances shown here, the places were parking lots, entrances to businesses and sidewalks at county offices. In the photo at left, Lonnie Yarnall uses one piece of snow removal equipment that was made available for some of the smaller parking lots that contracted for the service. In the middle, John Starchman makes the wet snow fly with a snow shovel, accomplishing the entrances of a couple of businesses. At the right, Johnny Gautney of the courthouse staff, puts a new snow blower, belonging to the county, to the task of clearing side-walks. For large locations and heavier tasks, there was equipment of about every description and horsepower up and down the roads, streets and parkways of the area. Many of the earlier removal chores were accomplished while it was still snowing. Sunshine and traffic both hitting major roads and streets later Thursday morning helped eliminate much of the cover. Rural roads were another problem after they drifted to depths of six feet in some locations. Democrat file photo

4 Wildcats claim conference titles

The Cassville boys wrestling team turned in a 12-medal performance at the Big 8 Tournament on Friday, with four Wildcats standing atop the podium in first place. As a team, Cassville finished in second place behind Seneca, with 250 points to the Indians’ 292.5.

Donald Lee Henson

Donald Lee Henson, age 90, of Cassville, Missouri, passed away on January 15, 2025, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. Mr. Henson, son of Orville and Rosa (Lyall) Henson, was born on August 22, 1934, in the Mineral Springs community in Barry County. He was a U.S. Army veteran. He worked for Schreiber Foods in Carthage for 40 years and in 1973 received an Industrial Education Certificate through Franklin Technical School for training in Industrial Control Circuit. Following his retirement, he also was a member of the Shell Knob Eagles Lodge and Lions Club, both in Shell Knob. Donald had a long life enjoying the outdoors hunting and fishing. He especially enjoyed hunting turkey and deer. He also found peace driving through the woods hunting morel mushrooms. For a time, he made knives from saw blades, deer antlers and other materials. He passed down a couple of them to his daughter and great grandson.

Sheriff: ‘We’re fully staffed’

Following an election year with a new jail under construction, Sheriff Danny Boyd said his Office is hitting the ground running in 2025. Staving off challengers in a four-candidate race — ultimately winning the August Primary Election by 48 votes among more than 6,000 after a hand and machine recount — Boyd said for the next four years in office, transparency and increasing service are his key goals.

Barry County sales tax dips in January

Sales tax revenues for Barry County cities and county government entities got off to a slow start for 2025, with lower receipts for almost all recipients. The seven Barry County cities and the county received $1,398,694.40, a drop of 8% from last January.