We were just hot more

Summer is usually hot, humid, uncomfortable weather. For an outdoors guy like me, staying inside in the air conditioning is hard to do. more

Yesterday, I drove past a house a few doors down from ours and noticed that new neighbors had just moved in. For the past several months of renovation, that house has been a blur of contractors, carpenters, and tile deliveries. But yesterday, I spotted the king of the renovated castle — a small bulldog sitting a few feet outside the new front door, surveying his freshly mowed empire. more

What a fun and awesome day we had (Tuesday, July 1) celebrating and showing appreciation for the Ozark Chamber Ambassadors Team! more

The Sam Appleby Jr. Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7628 in Ozark will celebrate its 40th year in Ozark with a fish fry from 5-8 p.m. on August 15th at our VFW Hall, 104 S. 1st Street in downtown Ozark. The event is open to the public. We hope members of the community will join us for all-you-can-eat fish and sides, cake, and fellowship. more

I got a new baby quilt finished for a friend of mine. Now, it put me in the mood for being creative, even though there are too many projects going on around me. more

No matter how broken you feel, how far you have wandered, or how long it has been, healing is still possible. There is hope for you. more

I’m not sure what to think about the Missouri Department of Transportation plan to put two roundabout intersections on US 65 in Buffalo — one at Truman Road and the other at Mo. 73. more

My name is Richard Rice. I live (on) ... E. Stoneridge Drive. I am a 72-year-old Vietnam Veteran with a service-connected disability that makes sleeping difficult. I walk our subdivision streets (Stoneridge), sometimes numerous times at night to relieve my pain. Over the past year, more and more of our streetlights have become defective to the point where more of them don’t work than do. I have visited with neighbors and our HOA about the issue. The HOA and several neighbors have called the City of Ozark, only to be told that Liberty Utilities is responsible for the lights, call them. Calls to them do not result in the lights being repaired, and we as residents have no leverage to change that. We don’t pay for streetlights with our monthly Liberty Utility bill, but the City of Ozark does. We do, however, pay our taxes which are designed to provide us with fundamental services such as streets, sidewalks, and STREETLIGHTS. more

Recently, I was thinking about the front porch at the old farmhouse where I grew up. One of the things I remembered was the big front porch. We spent lots of time there when I was a kid. There was no air conditioning back then. During the summer, we spent time out there at the end of the day after chores were done. more

“F1: The Movie” takes viewers inside the exciting world of Formula One auto racing. The more

My older brother was one of those guys — a fireworks guy. Do you know one? A guy who loves fireworks so much that the 4th of July becomes more like Christmas — the most wonderful time of the year. For fireworks guys, "wonderful" goes "boom." more

I feel so sad for all the many folks who have been in the huge flood in Texas. Those can happen so quickly and without warning. Swan Creek can get dangerous sometimes, but nothing compared to the Texas Flood. more

As another Independence Day approaches, I am mindful of the patriotic foundations and shared heritage of our celebration. more

Being a professional writer has a few perks, like knowing when “i” comes before “e” and eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations in the name of “research.” But being a writer does not, unfortunately, come with a cure for procrastination. Our inner 15-year-old still puts things off, just like we did with that term paper in 10th grade. And every time we wait too long, we feel tremendous guilt for being lazy. Then we wonder what’s wrong with us — why we can’t just be a grown-up who gets things done. more

There have been many contributions to astronomy that have moved forward the true nature of how the universe works. Many new discoveries have come from bold, radical departures from the established view. more

Another day, more money spent. I may need to spend more time off the road. Of course, I spend the most money on the farm ( a place I love). more

Sometimes, this feeling comes over me, and I know I must get away for a while, by myself. Some place where I cannot do much of anything. I feel that urge coming on. It has been building for a few months, and I must go. more

Summertime has sure come, and the wind has made the heat feel worse. It doesn't help that my air conditioner stopped on Friday evening, and they can't get here to fix it until early Monday morning. Oh well, I lived without an air conditioner for many years, and a few days won't hurt me. It will make me appreciate it more when it gets fixed. more

One thing is for certain: now that I’m a white-haired old man, none of my neighbors will likely call to see if I can help haul in a few hundred bales of hay. more

It has been 23 years (not 28, somewhat frustratingly) since British audiences were first introduced to the mind-and-body-ravaging Rage virus in “28 Days Later.” The virus turned everyone it affected into zombies, known as The Infected, obsessed not so much with feeding as with turning more people into zombies. The film’s heroes had a hard time evading The Infected, and then just when it looked like they were safe, they had to deal with the degenerate humans who had appointed themselves to power after the collapse of civilization. The Infected were still at large five years later in “28 Weeks Later”, and humanity was more monstrous than ever. Nothing interesting must have happened 28 months later from the events of that film, because the series skipped right over it. Instead, it jumps to 28 years later, when older children and even adults have never known a world not affected by The Infected. more

It is early on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The sun is rising over the forested hills surrounding the lake. Birds are singing. Deer are at the edge of the water for a drink. On a distant hill, a turkey gobbles. more

“Thunderbolts*” certainly scared off the competition in its second weekend at the domestic box office. This sometimes happens the weekend after the opening of a huge blockbuster. Other studios will know that they can’t compete against the powerhouse, so they hold off on releasing anything that they think has the potential to be a big or even midsize hit. When that happens, I have to review either a holdover or a newcomer that can only hope to become, at most, a tiny hit. “Clown in a Cornfield” definitely falls into the latter category. This thing is cheap even by horror movie standards, yet in a minor victory, it managed to open in fifth place for the weekend. I’d admire its pluck, but there’s no sleeper hit here, just a movie that didn’t fail too badly when it was sent out to die. more

A year ago, a tornado hop-scotched through our town. It was past midnight, and I was watching a movie at home with our teenagers. When our phones screamed a long, loud beep, we switched to local news to see a meteorologist — sleeves rolled up to the elbows — urging viewers to get into a safe place. A tornado had been spotted in the heart of town. more

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – State Rep. Jamie Ray Gragg (HD-140) is issuing the following statement to express concerns with the City of Springfield regarding the upcoming 2025 Ozarks Pridefest. This event is taking place in downtown Springfield on June 14th featuring drag performances that will have detrimental effects it will have on children and families in the Ozarks community. more