Dear Friends and Neighbors of Nixa, more

A general municipal election will be held in Christian County on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Christian County Headliner staff have reached out to the candidates in this upcoming election, offering an opportunity to explain their platform to their constituents. more

It might not have been the typical groundbreaking with shovels moving dirt in the sunshine, but the rain didn’t damper the excitement as Ozark School District officially broke ground Mar. 23 on the Ozark Middle School (OMS) storm shelter and new entrance — a project that is part of the $19 million no-tax-increase bond issue voters approved on the April 5, 2022, ballot. more

Ozark’s Historic River District (HRD) released a 2022 Year in Review. Here are some of the things the HRD accomplished last year. more

On Mar. 27, 2023, Ozark Police Officers, Ozark School Resource Officers and Christian County Sheriff’s Deputies investigated a false report of an active shooter at Ozark High School. The investigation confirmed the report to be false and no threats were identified. First responders from law enforcement, staff from the Ozark Fire Protection District and the Christian County Ambulance District spent nearly two hours on site until the threat was proven to be false. more

Ozark School District is thankful to be a part of such a supportive community. The Kiwanis Club of Christian County recently donated $2,250 to Ozark School District’s Operation Half Pint. Operation Half Pint allows students who qualify for free/reduced lunch to have an extra milk or snack milk even when they don’t have the money on their school account to pay for it. more

Nixa Public Schools is announcing the retirement of Patti Arnold as associate principal for Nixa High School after 31 years of working at Nixa and 33 in education. Arnold has served a total of 19 years as associate and assistant principal at Nixa High School. Prior to that, she served as a teacher, a counselor and coach. more

A former Harrisonville man was convicted at trial last week, Mar. 23, after his testimony in a previous trial for Social Security fraud resulted in an additional charge of perjury being filed against him. more

The 2023 edition of Missouri Beef Days will feature several new activities this year, including one very special pastime among midwestern cattlemen — Cowboy Church. more

The Christian County Commission has placed a question on the April 4 ballot asking voters to decide whether or not the County should collect a 3 percent sales tax on adult-use (recreational) marijuana. The language on the ballot will read as follows: more

The 27th Annual NIXPO Business and Community Expo was held this past weekend on Mar. 18 at the Nixa High School. more

The Ozark Board of Education, during a special board meeting Mar. 10, voted to hire Karen Capen as East Elementary principal for the 2023-24 school year. more

The Ozark Board of Education, during a special board meeting Mar. 10, voted to hire Dr. Zeb Wallace as the Ozark North Elementary principal for the 2023-24 school year. more

It was announced on Mar. 17 that Johnny Morris’s not-for-profit Wonders of Wildlife (WOW) National Museum and Aquarium was voted “America’s Best Aquarium” by “USA TODAY” readers. This is the fifth time that WOW has received this title. more

WGU Missouri announced earlier this month the return of its “Fund My Classroom” initiative, issuing a call for K-12 teachers across the state to nominate their proposed classroom projects for the opportunity to receive full or partial funding. The fully online, nonprofit university is pledging up to $100,000 in grant money across four states for K-12 teachers who have innovative ideas that will further engage their students but need funding to help bring these ideas to life. Teachers can submit their proposed projects online at wug.edu/fundmyclassroom through April 14. Selected classroom projects will be announced during Teacher Appreciation Week, which runs May 8-12. more

A former Missouri State representative was sentenced in federal court on Feb. 28 for a nearly $900,000 COVID-19 fraud scheme, as well as a separate $200,000 fraud scheme in which she made false claims about a fake stem cell treatment marketed through her clinics in southern Missouri, and for illegally providing prescription drugs to clients of those clinics. more

Xaniyah Williams, a 5th grader at Sparta Schools, received accolades from the Christian County Lions Club on Mar. 8, 2023, for the Lions Club International Peace Poster contest. more

Expect to see some green and flowers popping up soon in the custom moveable cedar planters recently installed on the Ozark Square. more

On Mar. 3, members of the Historic River District Design Committee and resident artist Larry Waggoner met with members of the Ozark Senior Center to discuss ideas for painting a mural on the long white wall at the Senior Center on the west side of NN across from Finley Farms. The group came up with an idea that will be presented at a follow-up meeting on Mar. 20 at the Senior Center. more

The Ozark Chamber of Commerce, with input and assistance from partnering Chambers of Commerce throughout the region, is spearheading a county-wide Under-40 program. more

Freedom’s Rest Family Violence Center has announced the upcoming move of its Neat Repeats Boutique Thrift Store location in Ozark. The organization operates a second location in Springfield, which opened in the fall of 2022. more

Christian County has been awarded federal funds made available through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program. more

Students attending Tiger Paw Early Childhood Center may be small — age 5 and younger — but they are learning big things. In fact, Early Childhood Principal Elizabeth Dawson said preschoolers are in the midst of their biggest developmental growth. more

Children learn and develop — academically, socially and physically — at different paces. That’s why having your child participate in kindergarten screening is so important. Kindergarten screening is free to any child in Ozark School District who will be 5 years old on or before July 31, 2023. Register by calling the elementary school your child will attend. more

On Saturday, Mar. 4, Nixa students put their culinary skills to the test in the Culinary World Showcase competition. more