Opinion

Merlyn Johnson: Safeguarding our children — Navigating the digital landscape
As educators and parents, we are entrusted with the monumental task of working together to guide our children to achieve a bright and fulfilling future. In today’s digital age, where the internet pervades every aspect of our lives, this responsibility takes on a new dimension.

Kyle Troutman: Part III — The new normal
How much time a day do you spend on a smart device? This question was posed to grade 6-12 Cassville students in a voluntary poll recently, receiving more than 350 responses. According to the results, 20% of students are on a device more than 6 hours a day, 31.9% are at 4-6 hours, 34.6% are at 2-4 hours and only 13.5% are under 2 hours.

Kristina Atwood: Stay scam savvy
Every week, it seems like we hear about a new scam that we need to keep our eye out for, whether it comes in the form of a person going door-to-door, a phone call, text message, mail, or email. We have to pay attention to mail that looks official, but isn’t, text messages, phone calls, and email that appears to come from an official sounding number or uses official sounding and sometimes threatening messages which aren’t true, and people who come to the door that look official and may not be.

Dakoda Pettigrew: American Insights — Lincoln in Peoria
With the flourish of his signature, President Franklin Pierce set America down the path toward civil war. On May 30, 1854, the fourteenth president signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, repealing the Missouri Compromise and opening the territories to slavery through popular sovereignty.

Kyle Troutman: Part II: The new normal
A couple weeks ago, a panel of five brave high school students answered some uncomfortable questions in front of about 50 adults gathered at the FEMA Event Center.

Jeremiah Buntin: Roaring River’s other ‘Mountain Maid’
Most residents and vacationers in the Ozarks region are familiar with the story of Jean Wallace, the clairvoyant recluse living in her Roaring River cabin in the hills south of Cassville until its destruction by fire in 1940, claiming the life of the Mountain Maid of Roaring River.

Sheila Harris: Feces by another name
My heart is a little bit broken. With the proliferation of land-applied industrial processing waste in Barry County, I’m already seeing, firsthand, the degradation of the natural resources for which the Ozarks are known.

Jeff Fugitt: Thoughts and prayers
As someone who studied religion in a state university, I am accustomed to hearing a wide variety of criticisms of Christians and Christianity. Many of those criticisms have been well deserved by Christians, and some of the disagreements are understandable differences of perspective.

Trout Tales, March 13
The house was packed and some mules were Eeore-ly morose after taking to the court on Saturday for the Exeter FFA Booster Club’s donkey basketball games.

Kyle Troutman: Part I: The new normal
The future of our youth is at stake. No, this is not hyperbole. If you’re reading this, chances are you remember a time in your life when the internet did…