Stories from Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Even after the disaster of a Cassville 8-year-old boy losing his life at the scene just recently, problems still exist on the Hungry Hollow Bridge over Flat Creek just north of Cassville. The crossing, once the subject of replacement, has been a source of difficulties for residents of the area who use the crossing to reach their property...

The 2016 Cassville Rotary Rodeo will be in Cassville on Friday and Saturday, beginning at 8 p.m. both nights, at the Bill Hailey Arena. Featured events include: Bareback, saddlebronc, bull riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling, cowgirl barrel racing and cowgirl break-away roping. ...

Officials at Cassville High School have released the names of students listed to the second semester honor roll for the 2015-16 academic year. Students are listed by grade level and achievement. Seniors: Alyssa Brewer, Brooke Cornell, Zachary Denton, Colton Dilbeck, Parker Dunker, Kourtney Greek, Lindsey Halterman, Jessica Haney, Andrew Hare, Jena Hilburn, Austin Holt, Dylan Klewer, Tawnie Nelson, Sydney Olbertz, Riley Wilson and Kiley Wolf...

This week's pet of the week at the Haven of the Ozarks is Rosanna, a pretty little girl, just over a year old and a likely a beagle mix. Rosanna arrived at the Haven pregnant and has finished raising her babies. She is now ready for a home of her own. ...

The Cassville girls basketball team recently held their annual summer team camp.

Cassville High School basketball coaches, led by Head Coach Barrett Milleson, hosted a youth basketball camp for kindergarten through sixth-grade students in the Cassville gymnasium.

A junior golf clinic will be held June 20-22 and July 18-20 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the Cassville Golf Course. The cost is $25 per clinic and covers the basics of grip, aim, setup, putting, chipping, pitching and full swing. Clubs are provided. For more information contact Susie Jacobs at 417-847-7482...

The Cassville Women's League played a simple scramble format on Thursday. First place was won by Sue Louk, Sue King, Janie Watson and Jeanette Skorupski with 69. Second place went to Deb York, Penny Hall and Carol Skarp with 74 and third place was won by Karry Lewis, Becky Ryder and Donna Richards with 75...

My grandfather used to say that good help was hard to find. He owned a plumbing business in Joplin for a few years, and winter and summer were his busiest seasons. Pipes would freeze in January and new construction peaked in the summer. In the spring, my grandfather would hire additional help to meet the growing demand for his services...

Softball honors and accolades continue to roll in for area players in Barry County. The Class 1, All-Region 3 team was released and contained six players from Purdy and Southwest. From Purdy, Hallie Henderson, Sami House, Morgan Schilly, Rion Boyd and Casey Ellison collected individual honors...

Starting in 2018, state activities association rules will change to implement an annual football classification system, instead of only once every two years. Seven of eight proposed amendments to alter high school sports rules passed during the current Missouri State High School Activities Association election process...

Barry County dominated is the best way to characterize this year's Class 1, District 10 All-District softball teams. Of the 26 total First Team and Second Team honors awarded, 15 went to athletes from Barry County. Purdy led the way with Morgan Schilly, Sami House, Rion Boyd, Hallie Henderson and Casey Ellison receiving First Team recognition. Zoe Brown and Breanna Keeler were named to the Second Team...

It did not take long for Cassville to select its next baseball coach. Brandon Cobb, a graduate assistant at Evangel University, has been selected to lead the Wildcats for the 2016-2017 season. "I'm excited for this great opportunity," Cobb said. "I've heard nothing but great things about Cassville and know that their program has a proud tradition. I hope to continue to build on that foundation."...

Volunteer Jaxson Winfrey helps assist a ventriloquist at the Cassville Branch Library last Thursday during an entertaining presentation with "Grandpa," a character in the Angela and Friends Ventriloquism act.

Roaring River Health and Rehabilitation cook Tammy Youngblood takes a break from work to find a bargain at a garage sale at the facility on Friday.

Student Noah Jordan takes a closer look at chickens, along with several other farm animals, that visited Exeter Elementary School this week as part of a themed lesson to teach children how food gets from the farm to the kitchen table.

The Missouri Department of Transportation will be giving some attention to local highways in coming weeks. According to the department, two projects will begin on the week of June 27. The projects will resurface, add shoulders and add rumble strips to the selected areas...

A Noel man was injured Friday in a wreck at 8:20 p.m. on Raining Road, 500 feet south of Pineville. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Yengshi Xiong, 27, of Noel, was driving a 2008 Honda Civic southbound when his vehicle failed to negotiate a curve, ran off the roadway and struck a guardrail...

The Cassville Main Street Association will be hosting Come Share the Vision, an event aimed at discussing the implementation of the DREAM Initiative for the downtown betterment project, a master plan that's been almost five years in the making. The meeting will be held on Thursday from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Barry County Museum on Highway 112 in Cassville...

An Eagle Rock man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the kidnapping of a Washburn woman in January 2014. Matthew Miller, 22, was sentenced on multiple charges Tuesday, including 18 years in prison for the kidnapping, 15 years for second-degree burglary and 7 years for first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle. He was also sentenced to four years for escaping the McDonald County jail in April and being captured in Texas. All sentences will run concurrently...

A Greenfield man has been charged with stealing and animal neglect, alleged crimes Barry County sheriff's deputies are investigating in multiple counties and possibly involving more people. Greg DeJager, 35, of Greenfield, was arrested in Lawrence County by the Missouri State Highway Patrol on June 2 on unrelated charges of passing a bad check. While he was being held in the Lawrence County jail, he was charged with felony stealing and animal neglect in Barry County...

A Cassville woman has been charged with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle after allegedly refusing to return it to its owner. Lesley Chambers, 25, of Cassville, is being held in the Barry County jail on a $10,000 bond, facing the lone felony charge...

An Eagle Rock man is facing three felony charges after allegedly being caught with 11 grams of meth and a stolen handgun. According to a probable cause report filed by Deputy Chris Hutson, with the Barry County Sheriff's Office, Alexander Barker, 26, of Eagle Rock, was located in the driveway at his home on Farm Road 2300, allegedly attempting to make a transaction with an unknown individual...

Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, Missouri students will be learning history and science in a different way than their parents and grandparents learned it. When the state dropped the federal Common Core initiative and created its own learning standards apart from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), it decided to change the way history, social studies and science classes were taught...

Roaring River Health and Rehab residents Shawn Erke and Fern Leach tend to produce plants in the new greenhouse.

Following a directive from President Barack Obama, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice, school districts in Barry County are evaluating policies and procedures regarding transgender students, and the five local districts have a mixed bag of approaches...

A Cassville man is facing multiple burglary and theft charges relating to two separate cases in Barry County court. Matthew Cox, 29, of Cassville, is charged with one count of second-degree burglary and one count of theft in a June 1 case, and another set of the same charges in a June 7 case...

Five months after Walmart announced it was closing a newly-built store in Seligman, the property will soon have a new tenant. Harps Food Stores Inc. announced Wednesday the Seligman location will be one of nine properties acquired from Walmart, and one of three in Missouri...