JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.---Warmer weather often inspires outside projects that require excavation work like building a deck, planting a tree, or completing a large project. The Missouri Public Service Commission reminds everyone that Missouri law requires anyone digging underground to notify Missouri 811 (by calling “811” or placing a locate request online at www.missouri-811.org) before excavation begins. more

Nixa Journalism earned eight awards from the Language Arts Development of Southwest Missouri. The Wingspan magazine staff won both the first and second place awards in the School Magazine category. more

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest will lose an estimated $3 million worth of food this year due to USDA cuts. more

The Nixa Fire Protection District (NFPD) responded to three house fires on Friday, April 4. more

On Saturday, March 22, Zan Fugitt, a 2023 Nixa High School graduate, won All-American honors when he came in fourth at the NCAA National Wrestling Tournament in Philadelphia, becoming only the second person from south of I-44 to win All-American honors in wrestling. Less than a week later, he was back in Nixa to lead a wrestling clinic at his old high school. About 60 kids attended the clinic. more

One week of April is behind us, and we had every kind of weather this past week. I feel for all the folks whose life had been destroyed by floods, tornadoes, fires, or just plain old heavy winds. The water went across my pasture in three small streams. It didn't take the fences out like it had in the past. more

Once upon a time, I was nearly famous. more

A Nixa Middle School student paid a visit to his former kindergarten teacher on Friday, April 4, and read his book to the students in her class. Carter Zoromski, 14, read his book, PJ Pirate, to the students in Leigh Berry's kindergarten class at Century Elementary School, capping off their Pirate-themed week. more

The Utopia Club held the First Annual Spring Market at the Ozark Innovation Center on Saturday, April 5 in Ozark. The event featured almost 100 vendors who offered a large variety of hand-crafted items for sale, including pottery, crocheted items, body products, clothing, plants, jewelry, and more. Funds raised by the Utopia Club will be used to benefit seniors and youth in Ozark. more

Ruth “Allene” Hicks more

As embarrassing as Ozark's season-opening 16-0 loss was, the only finger-pointing afterward was aimed at a whiteboard in the Tigers' clubhouse. more

Bradley Keith Behrens more

Abigail Conrad of Nixa was among 225 University of Nebraska-Lincoln undergraduate students officially admitted to teacher education programs during the 2024-25 academic year who were recognized at the second annual Teacher Education Convocation on April 4 at Carolyn Pope Edwards Hall. Conrad is a sophomore in the elementary education program. more

You may be making plans to clean up the physical clutter in your house this spring, but what about the digital clutter on your devices? Better Business Bureau® (BBB®)’s tips for digital spring cleaning can help protect your important files and personal information. more

NIXA, Mo. With tooth decay remaining the leading chronic disease affecting children1 and 29% of Missouri third graders having untreated cavities,2 establishing essential oral health habits at an early age has never been more vital. Delta Dental of Missouri, the state’s leading dental benefits provider and a non-profit organization, is tackling this issue through its popular Land of Smiles® dental education program, teaching kindergarten through third-grade students essential oral health habits. Since 2002, this free, interactive program – featuring superhero Captain Super Grin® and his sidekicks – has impacted 1.2 million kids across 113 Missouri counties through in-person and virtual elementary school performances. This winter and spring, an additional 30,000+ kids at 150+ schools statewide will participate, including those most recently at Epsy Elementary School in Nixa. more

After months of counting down the days to meet the new professional therapy dog, Ozark East Elementary students were excited when they walked through the doors after spring break and were greeted by Spice, a yellow Labrador retriever. more

Ozark School District is proud to announce that the Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA) named Assistant Superintendent of Learning Dr. Craig Carson as the Southwest Region’s Outstanding Assistant Superintendent. This honor is part of MASA’s 2025 Spring Conference, where individuals are recognized at both the regional and state levels. more

Ozark School District is proud to announce that the Springfield Business Journal named Ozark North Elementary Principal Dr. Zeb Wallace to the 2025 40 Under 40 list. This recognition honors 40 outstanding professionals under the age of 40 who have demonstrated excellence in both their careers and community engagement across southwest Missouri. more

Ozark, Mo. — Capital Holding Group, a construction and material production company, announced today that it will expand in Ozark, investing more than $29.5 million and creating 29 new jobs. The company’s expansion includes the construction of a new asphalt plant on its existing property, allowing its adjacent rock quarry to grow and modernize while staying in its current location. This will enhance efficiency and enable the company to serve a larger market. more

The Missouri State Highway Patrol, a leading law enforcement agency, is now accepting applications for troopers. The Patrol encourages qualified law enforcement professionals to apply and will conduct testing at nine locations throughout Missouri. Those who successfully complete the testing process will be eligible to advance in the selection process for the 125th (Accelerated) Recruit Class. The application deadline is July 1, 2025. more

SPRINGFIELD — It started with fewer than 20 students in 2015. This summer, about 140 teenagers will go to work at sites across the Springfield metro area to gain training and experience they have never had before. more

There’s nothing like a friendly March Madness competition to get middle school students — and staff — reading more books! more

The Child’s Smile Center Board of Directors marked the beginning of the construction of their new children’s dental clinic during a groundbreaking ceremony in Nixa on Friday, March 28. The new facility will be located on Ridgecrest Avenue, behind the Kum & Go convenience store. more

Earlier this month, the Christian County Headliner reached out to the candidates in the contested races for the Tuesday, April 8 Election and asked them why the residents in Christian County should vote for them. As a service to the voters in Christian County, the newspaper ran their responses in the March 26 issue of the newspaper. Unfortunately, not all of the candidates’ replies were included as the paper did not have enough room to run the amount of content received. This week, the Headliner is running the responses not included in the March 26 issue. Also, the complete profiles of all candidates may be viewed online at www.ccheadliner.com. more

Earlier in March, I reached out to the candidates running in the contested election in Christian County with a series of questions, with the intent of creating profiles on each candidate to be run in the Christian County Headliner News. Unfortunately, when we started to put the paper together, we saw that the amount of content we had received would not fit within the space we had available. To make sure everyone was included, I trimmed down the profiles, including only the candidates’ names and their arguments for why the voters should choose them. more