Local News
Members of State Senator Karla Eslinger’s family were on hand to congratulate her following the Tuesday, Dec. 5, announcement of Eslinger’s appointment as Missouri Commissioner of Education. Pictured with Eslinger, center, are her son-in-law, Gainesville R-V School superintendent Justin Gilmore, and her daughter, GHS business teacher Chelsey Gilmore. Eslinger’s youngest daughter Katy Chapman, not pictured, has also made education her career and currently serves as the Ava Elementary School principal.
The Missouri State Board of Education announced Tuesday, Dec. 5, that Senator Karla Eslinger will assume the role as the state’s next commissioner for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) effective June 1, 2024, after concluding her work in the Missouri Senate during the 2024...
Those interested in filing for seats coming open on Ozark County’s school boards and municipality boards can do so now through Dec. 26. File at the respective school or city/village office during regular hours. Filing will not be held at schools when inclement weather leads to a school day closure...
The Ozark County Commissioners accepted a bid for culvert pipes during their Dec. 4 meeting.
Viebrock Sales and Service from Sedalia was given the contract to furnish culvert pipes for the county. The accepted bid for 16-gauge aluminized pipe is $54,048 and $74,331 for the ADS storm drain dual wall...
Ozark County government was given a “fair” rating the audit released in November by Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick.
Though the Ozark County Commissioners and County Clerk have said they are happy with the “fair” rating, they also recognize there are certain areas that the county can...
Charlotte Holmes
Editor’s note: In memory of Charlotte Holmes, who died due to a heart attack Nov. 28 at her home in Mammoth, we’re reprinting, from the Dec. 25, 2019, edition of the Times, the story about Charlotte’s visit to heaven while a medical team worked to restart her heart when it stopped for 11 minutes in...
Times photos/Jessi Dreckman Gainesville Elementary Principal Ben Hopper is pictured here with students, from left, Bentley Rodrigue, Valerie Moseley and Kobi Adams, in front of the elementary school’s front entrance. The doors have been outfitted with a new school safety window film that prevents those outside the school from seeing inside the building. The film appears transparent when a person is inside the building looks out. The same security film-covered door in the photo above is pictured from the inside below, showing that it is nearly invisible when standing inside looking out.
This year the Gainesville School District has installed a few new physical security measures to help make the school a safer place for students and staff, Superintendent Justin Gilmore said. The upgrades have been funded by a $100,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary...
Antler Motel and Thomas & Douglas CPA took home the second place float prize during hte 2022 Jingle Bell Parade with a Home Alone-movie themed float.
This year’s Jingle Bell Parade, set to begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, is shaping up to be one of the biggest and best yet!
Parade coordinator Paula Rose told the Times that as of Monday afternoon, she had 12 floats, 20 festive vehicles, numerous classic cars, the Gainesville High School band and...
The Festival Committee of Bakersfield and the Bakersfield Auto Club are organizing this year’s Christmas festival and parade, to begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, in the parking lot behind Century Bank in Bakersfield.
Parade line-up for the “Sweetest Christmas Parade” will be at the Bakersfield...
Allisa West, the booth and vendor coordinator for the Wonders of Christmas on the Square event in Gainesville, says she’s excited that almost three dozen vendors are signed up to attend this year’s event, to be held at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1.
West gave the Times this current list of vendors who are...
Photo by Sue Ann Jones Bobby Grisham, shown here sitting at his peanut-sales table at Gainesville High School during the red-and-white chili supper scrimmage on Nov. 16 with his daughter Greta Bradley, has been named Jingle Bell Parade marshal in Friday night's Wonders of Christmas event in Gainesville. He was honored during the Nov. 16 event for his many years of fundraising on behalf of the Masons in Robert Burns Lodge by selling popcorn or peanuts at Gainesville and Dora schools' sports events. Through his efforts, more than $40,000 has been raised for the schools' backpack programs, which sends supplemental food home with students in need.
Ninety-year-old Gainesville resident Bobby Grisham, this year's Jingle Bell Parade marshal, is a familiar face not only to his friends and relatives in town, but also to the students at Gainesville and Dora high schools. And for good reason: For 20 years, Bobby has been the local driving force that...