Stories from Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Monett at Logan-Rogersville Reeds Spring at Cassville East Newton at Lamar McDonald County at Marshfield Springfield Catholic at Mt. Vernon Pierce City at Liberal Osage at Seneca California at Monett, 6-34 Cassville at Lamar, 0-50 Mountain Grove at Aurora, 35-21...

Football will be in the air in Cassville Friday night, as the Wildcats play their home opener. It will be a special recognition night for those who wore the Black and Gold 46-50 years ago as they will be recognized in pre-game activities and receive a replica football jersey with their old number on it. They will also be recognized in the program with the position played indicated...

The Cassville volleyball team travels to Clever on Monday.

A 22-9-3 volleyball season is alright for some teams, but the Southwest squad is used to reaching lofty heights. The Lady Trojans finished 4-2 in the Ozark 7 Conference a season ago, and with five returning letter winners, look to retake the conference top spot...

Even though Lamar is a five-time state champion, Cassville's football coach was not expecting to be defeated by a 50-0 scoreline. Coach Lance Parnell said going into the game, the Wildcats knew they could not give the Tigers many chances, and Lamar took advantage of minor Wildcat mistakes early...

Each week, Cassville Coach Lance Parnell puts together a scouting report and game plan for his Wildcats. On Monday, when Parnell passed out his report, he attached a "not" to the team. "I told them that week one is over and we needed to put our focus just on Reeds Spring," Parnell said. "I also told the players not to forget how that loss made them feel, and that we are going to work so that it doesn't happen again."...

His House Foundation is hosting the inaugural Buddy Bass Tournament on Oct. 22 at the Kings River Marina. His House Foundation serves the community by providing direct services to families in need and to serve as a catalyst for increased sharing within the community. ...

Beans is the Haven of the Ozarks pet of the week. She is a three-year-old Lab mix.

Treva Samuel, 11, of Cassville, did the mid-air splits at the Cassville YMCA.

The Drop-and-Go event was held for parents and children to drop off supplies and meet the teachers.

The Cassville school district announced its free and reduced-price meal policy for school children, in accordance with the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, for the 2016-2017 school year. Children from families whose current income is at or below the income guidelines are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals, including breakfast and lunch...

Eight new staff members joined the Purdy R-2 School district for the 2016-2017 school year.

Kids Fishing Day was held Saturday at Roaring River State Park Saturday.

Mornings can be an extremely busy time with traffic from parents dropping off their children to school.

Mercy Cassville was recently recognized as the recipient of several 5-Star awards for demonstrating excellent communication and responsiveness in several categories as a result of Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems surveys, in which patients reported their experiences with staff...

The 58th annual Wheaton Barbecue, sponsored by the Wheaton Volunteer Fire Department, will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. In alignment with its values of doing what's best for Wheaton and the surrounding Barry County communities, the fire department will once again offer a day chocked-full of traditional, family fun events, great barbecue, music bands, a horseshoe tournament, duck race, children's carnival rides, a car show, an arts and crafts show and a petting zoo...

Facing growing problems from lost water, the Purdy City Council entertained a revolutionary detection system proposed by Utility Services, the firm managing maintenance on the city's water towers. Tom Stechmann, water system consultant with Atlanta-based Utility Services, said his firm now offers two new services. ...

MoDOT and Branco, the contractor hired by the state transportation agency to complete a substantial sidewalk project making all sidewalks within their jurisdiction ADA compliant, recently began constructing new sidewalks along Main Street, near the Cassville school campus...

On the second day of school in Purdy last week, the school district faced one of those nightmare situations that all educators dread-- losing track of a child on the way home from school. Superintendent Steven Chancellor vowed the district would take steps to improve its response, and that he fully appreciated the anger of the parents involved...

Nearly one year after voters approved a sales tax for the South Barry County Ambulance District, the district's board has lowered its property tax rate by more than 60 percent. Ken Cieslinski, board chairman, said the property tax rate has been lowered from 0.0831 percent to 0.0331 percent, a 0.05 drop accounting for 60.17 percent of the total rate...

The suspect of a strong arm robbery at Ramey in Purdy on Aug. 16 has been apprehended after an associate in the alleged crime was caught at a home in Pierce City. Scotty Robertson, 31, of Pierce City, has been charged with second-degree robbery and is being held on a $25,000 bond. Also arrested was Dawn Kettner, 35, of Pierce City, who was charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery and posted a $15,000 bond...

Former FBI Agent Gary Davis said his decision to run for sheriff did not come quickly, and was not even on his radar until friends in the area helped convince him to throw his name in the hat. After a career in the FBI spanning 23 years, Davis returned to Cassville because he and his wife could not think of any better place to retire. When other candidates began to file for sheriff, he had decided he was not going to run...

A lifelong resident of Barry County, Sheriff's Deputy Justin Ruark said his decision to run for the office's top job did not come lightly, and required a lot of thought and a lot of prayer. Ruark has been with the Barry County Sheriff's Office since 2010, reaching as high a post as night shift sergeant during his tenure...