News

  Ozark Countians will have the opportunity to vote in three elections this year, including  the General Municipal Election, which was originally set for April 7 but due to COVID-19 concerns has been rescheduled to June 2.  The other elections are the Aug. 7 primary and the Nov. 3 general election...

While incarcerated in the old Ozark County Jail, Howards Ridge native Roscoe “Red” Jackson and a fellow inmate inadvertently caused the town’s hotel to burn down. Jackson later was convicted of murder and was executed by hanging in 1937.
  In parts one and two of this Ozark Journey, we touched briefly on the structure of Ozark County’s old stone jail that still stands near the foot of Harlin Drive in Gainesville and a few memorable incidents that occurred there. During the 30 years this facility was in service, the crimes of...

Bakersfield School Bakersfield School principal Doyne Byrd, right, and secretary Jennifer Bridges prepare instructional review packets for student pick-up Tuesday morning. Bakers-field is providing the work packets and meals that can picked up or delivered via bus routes. Super-intendent Amy Britt said meals will be provided to students until school is back in session.
  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ozark County schools extended last week’s spring break or adjusted their schedules just in time for Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s statewide social distancing order, which closed Missouri schools until at least April 6. The order was issued Saturday during the...

Justin and Christina Hannaford and their children, David, 15, left, and Angelia, 10, live in northern Italy attached to Aviano Air Base, where Justin serves with the U.S. Air Force. The family is coping with government restrictions after more than 6,000 deaths have been linked to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.
  In Italy, where the COVID-19 pandemic had caused 6,077 deaths as of Monday night, a former Ozark Countian and his family are adjusting to a new normal in a country where language and cultural differences already require a necessary adjustment.   “It’s hard, but we’re OK,” Christina Hannaford,...

Steve Schmekel, general manager of the Theodosia Mountain Mushrooms organic mushroom factory, stands in one of the two grow rooms that are currently operational. The factory usually operates with 11 grow rooms filled with hundreds of shiitake and oyster mushroom logs.
  Mountain Mushrooms, a certified organic mushroom factory in Theodosia owned by Robin and Sheila Williams, was in many ways at the top of its game this year.  “Our production levels are some of the highest we’ve seen since I’ve been working here, and I’ve been here for seven years,” factory...

PPPVFD chief Arthur Streigle
Pontiac / Price Place Volunteer Fire Department chief Arthur Streigle died Saturday of stage 4 lung cancer, less than a month after responding to his last emergency call, a fatal car crash on Highway 5 near the state line, where he and assistant chief Khristie Sansone-Jacquin managed traffic...
Twenty percent of Ozark County’s registered voters – 1,408 of 7,037 – voted in the March 10 Presidential Preference Primary. Incumbent president Donald Trump swept the Republican race while challenger Joe Biden got the most Democratic votes.    These 408 votes were cast on the Democrat Party...
A new Facebook page, “Fill a Need in Ozark County,” has been created to help local people in need of assistance.  Gainesville resident Brandi Dunnermann started the page in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she says the page “doesn’t have to just be for COVID-19. It could for anything,...

Thornfield residents Dean and Joanne Knapp, shown here in a Christmas photo, recently enjoyed their eighth trip on a Princess Cruise line ship – right up until they were close to docking in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and endured an anxious day-long wait and a chaotic re-entry due to a COVID-19 virus scare.
The eighth delightful Princess Cruise that Thornfield residents Dean and Joanne Knapp had enjoyed – this one in the eastern Caribbean – was coming to an end Sunday, March 8, when it seemed for awhile that their ship and its 3,500 passengers and 1,800 crew members were going to become the next...

Gainesville Volunteer Fire Department chief Ed Doiron, far left, cuts a hole in the roof of a Tecumseh-area home on March 10 to reach the fire burning between a layer of shingles and a metal roof. Lick Creek VFD chief Jerry Rowlett is standing, far right. Also pictured are LCVFD firefighters Frank Lang, second from right, and Logan Edwards, second from left. The fifth firefighter’s name isn’t known. Gainesville, Bakersfield and Lick Creek VFDs responded in mutual aid to Tecumseh VFD.
A double-wide manufactured home on County Road 530 near Tecumseh was damaged in a fire March 10.  The call was first reported just before 7 p.m., according to the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department call log.  Tecumseh Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched as the primary responder, with...

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