Local News
On New Year’s Day in 2018, Lick Creek Volunteer Fire Department, with mutual aid from Tecumseh, Gainesville, Caney Mountain, Timber Knob and Clarkridge (Arkansas) VFDs, battled a fire that destroyed an older rock-faced rental home on the Howards Ridge farm owned by Stan and Janet Taber of Almartha. The firefighters worked several hours in bone-chilling, sub-freezing temperatures to contain the fire and keep it from spreading to nearby hay barns and other structures. Times file photo / Sue Ann Jones
Editor’s note: Our recent two-part series outlining the work, and the needs, of Ozark County’s volunteer fire departments inadvertently left out Lick Creek Volunteer Fire Department in Howards Ridge. We apologize for the omission.
Lick Creek VFD
Current roster: 11 active firefighters. Five work...
The American Red Cross is hosting two upcoming blood drives in Gainesville: on Monday, March 25, at Gainesville High School and on Wednesday, April 3, at the First Baptist Church.
The GHS blood drive will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the school, and the blood drive in the basement of the First...
The Gainesville R-5 School Board will host an informational open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, at the high school. Parents and community residents are invited and encouraged to attend. Board members and administrators will be available to give tours of the existing facility and answer...
Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed, and fire chiefs across the county, urge area residents to call the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office at 417-679-4633 before doing any type of controlled burn. Notifying the sheriff’s office reduces confusion and prevents local VFDs from needlessly responding. The Ozark...
Times photo / Amelia LaMair
At their Monday meeting, the Ozark County commissioners accepted a bid from the James H. Drew Corporation of Sedalia to rebuild guardrails on the G & B Bridge on County Road 503 over Lick Creek, known locally as the Cheese Plant Bridge. The company’s $46,246.50 proposal was the only bid...
Plans are underway for the Gainesville Lions Club’s 32nd annual auction and sportsman raffle, to be held Friday, April 12, at Gainesville High School. This year’s raffle, held in conjunction with the auction, includes 14 firearms, a gun safe, a kayak, a utility trailer, flying drone and other...
Owners Jacinda Hurst and Gesse Scheinert
A new Theodosia diner, JWray’z Family Restaurant, is serving up all-day breakfast and lunch at its location in front of Cash Saver Pantry on Highway 160 in Theodosia. The restaurant opened Feb. 21 and is currently open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The name JWray’z came from a...
Nathaneil Davis last week continued his volunteer work of sweeping litter and cigarette butts from the sidewalks and parking spaces on the Gainesville square. He has been working for the last two months cleaning trash and litter from the shoulders of Highway 160 and other Gainesville streets.
Gainesville is a lot cleaner than it was a couple of months ago, thanks to Gainesville resident Nathaniel Davis and his loyal canine companion Hitachi. Davis can be found most days walking alongside Highway 160, around the Gainesville square or on various side roads with a trash bag in tow and...
Ozark County native Winsor “Verd” Morrison retired in Hollister after a career that included serving in World War II, owning a West Plains ice cream shop and practicing medicine took him from Alaska to Mississippi – and several points in between.
Editor’s note: This two-part story about Ozark County native Winsor “Verd” Morrison is reprinted with permission from the Ozarks Alive! blog by Kaitlyn McConnell. Part 2 of the story will be published in next week’s Times. To read more of McConnell’s posts, visit ozarksalive.com
HOLISTER – Only an...
Lick Creek Volunteer Fire Department volunteers, along with firefighters from Gainesville, Tecumseh, Caney Mountain and Timber Knob, fought a January 2018 fire in an apartment building at Highways 160 and J. The firefighters’ efforts impressed the fire marshal, who inspected the burned structure. Lick Creek VFD chief Jerry Rowlett said the fire marshal told him, “You guys actually saved the building. I doubt most big city fire departments could have done what you guys did here.’” Ozark County fire department volunteers undergo regular training and learn how to respond to a wide range of fires and other emergency incidents. All 14 FDs that serve Ozark County say they need more volunteers. Times file photo / Sue Ann. Jones
Editor’s note: This is the second story in a two-part series by Times writers Jessi Dreckman and Sue Ann Jones reporting on the status of Ozark County’s volunteer fire departments. The first part of the series, profiling the Bakersfield, Brixey-Rockbridge, Caulfield, Cloud 9, Dora and Gainesville...