Local News
The Krewe of Ozarkians (also known as the Ozark County Chamber of Commerce) will host a Mardi Gras Social from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, at the Meeting Place, 434 Third St. in Gainesville. Everyone is invited to the free party, which organizers say will offer “a taste of New Orleans – Ozark...
Bakersfield and Tecumseh VFDs responded to put out the fire of this 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 truck belonging to Bakersfield fire chief Greg Watts and wife Zaylor Feb. 20. The cause of the fire was electrical, a fire investigator found.
Bakersfield Volunteer Fire Department chief Greg Watts and wife Zaylor lost their 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 truck to a fire early Wednesday, Feb. 20. Zaylor told the Times she had started the truck around 7:30 that morning to let it warm up before going to the store with her daughters.
“I usually let it...
Back-to-back district champs Members of the Class 1 District 3 champion Dora Falcons basketball team are, from left, (front row) manager Xavier Jewell, Dylan Martin, Mason Luna, Isaac Haney, Landon Luna, Evan Smith, Auston Luna, Robbie Luna, Trace Luna, manager Isaac Luna; (back row) assistant coach Joshua Strong, assistant coach Paxton Smith, Bo Collins, Cayden Peck, Colby Hoover, Waylon Masters, Korey Murphy, Bryson Luna, Jacob Freiman, Kyle Hambelton, head coach Rick Luna, manager Curtis Warren. Photo by Karla Smith
The Dora Falcons beat defending state champion Eminence Redwings 64-59 Friday, Feb. 23, to win the Class 1 District 3 championship. “I’m super proud of my team’s effort,” said Dora head coach Rick Luna. “Going up against the defending state champs was no easy task.”
The win marks back-to-back...
Using a $10,000 donation from the Leroy and Ovia Marie McGinnis Fund in the Ozark Community Foundation with other grant funding that’s been applied for, Gainesville High School is “reutilizing” its current library into a learning lab / media center. This architectural rendering by Sapp Design shows how the traditional library space will be remodeled.
Gainesville R-V School District is not getting rid of its library, says superintendent Jeff Hyatt, responding to recent social media posts that made claims to the contrary. “We’re relocating and remodeling the current junior high / high school library to become a combination computer learning lab...
Mark Twin presenter Don Nicholson
The Ozark County Historium will welcome a very special guest at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 7, when none other than the venerable Mark Twain visits for a morning of stories and conversation. Missouri’s famous native son will talk about his views on life, characterized by his well-known wit and wisdom....
Absentee voting for the April 2 general municipal election has begun. Registered voters in the Gainesville and Dora school districts, as well as a few Ava School District voters who live in Ozark County, who are unable to go to the polls on Election Day should contact the Ozark County Clerk’s...
The Lutie school board voted unanimously last week to transition to a four-day school week beginning with the 2019-2020 school year.
During its meeting Thursday night, Feb. 21, the Lutie R-VI Board of Education approved the district’s transition to a four-day school week beginning in August for the 2019-20 school year. The vote was unanimous in favor of altering the district’s schedule to fewer, but longer, days of instruction...
An Air Evac helicopter takes off from Haskins Ford Thursday morning about four hours after a vehicle carrying Ava-area residents Richard Corn, Casey Dawn Shelton and her six-month-old baby Chaseton floated off the crossing in high water about 6 a.m. The victims escaped from the car and then waited, too cold to walk for help. Area resident Dan Donley saw them while checking cattle about 9:30 a.m. and summoned help. Pictured, from left, Tracy Meal, Theodosia Area VFD; Gainesville VFD chief Ed Doiron; Dr. Aaron Newton with Ozark County Search and Rescue, and TAVFD EMS director Allen Edgington. Times photo / Amelia LaMair
Ava-area resident Casey Dawn Shelton says the Ozark County first responders who descended on Haskins Ford Thursday morning to rescue her and her baby, Chaseton, and her rooommate, Richard Corn, were “amazing and caring.” But she wants everyone to know that “God is the real hero. He made it all...
Retiring Ozark County Collector Bill Hambelton (above) works in the basement of the courthouse – below the office where his dad (below), the late Bill Hambelton, worked for 38 years as Ozark County Circuit Clerk and Recorder of Deeds.
Ozark County Collector Bill Hambelton is having a retirement party Thursday – whether or not he wants one.
Deputy Collector Darla Sullivan – who has worked with Hambelton for years and who steps into the job Friday, March 1, having been elected in November – said Bill warned her he didn’t want...
Ida Mae Huse, center, long-time Ozark County teacher and former Gainesville Elementary School principal, was presented with a 50-year membership pin Feb. 13 by Delta Kappa Gamma members Alice Neal of Eminence, left, and Caryl Feiler of Lakeview, Arkansas, who taught kindergarten in Gainesville while Ida Mae was principal. Delta Kappa Gamma is an international professional women educators society; the local Xi Chapter, which Ida Mae served as treasurer for many years, draws from a five-county area, including Ozark County. Photo courtesy of Alice Neal.
Hardenville resident Ida Mae Huse, who turns 90 on Feb. 25, was honored recently with a 50-year membership pin presented by fellow members of Xi Chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma, an international professional women educators society.
After 18 years of classroom teaching, in 1968 Ida Mae was unexpectedly...