Columns
Every election season, men and women tear down each other's dignity. And for what? Fleeting positions of power? Self-importance? I don't know why. 2026 is the year I’ve seen more election-time nastiness than ever before.
I have some things to say about that.
But first, please...
CLICK HERE for a time lapse video of the making of the big mural.
I’ve seldom been more grateful for the freedom an opinion column offers. Today, I will make no effort to conceal my absolute delight and deep gratitude to Tammy Schulz, whose talent and loving effort elevated a simple playground to...
In the second installment of our series on the new Bailey Legacy Park, I want to talk about all the details that have come together to make a pleasing whole.
From the earliest planning stages, a sensory board has been part of the vision for the park. Immediately, we approached Children’s...
It’s June, and the sunflowers are finally blooming.
Bailey Legacy Park is in daily use by families and teens. Millennials really seem to love the Willow Wings mural. The finish line of this massive project is in sight, and I’m going to devote the next three weeks to highlighting all the...
As a seventeen-year old freshman at School of the Ozarks College in the mid-60s I studied fishing mostly! With Tablerock Lake so close and my having a key to the gate and boat on the school's property at a place called Clevinger Cove, you knew where I would be on the weekends. If I couldn't get...
“Hometown” is a weighty word in Willow Springs. I’ve never been anywhere with such well-developed sense of identity. Hometown pride, school pride, and family pride exist in this town with a fierceness that is cushioned by hospitality and goodwill.
That pride shoots through everything in...
On Saturday at a beloved uncle’s funeral, I listened to a room full of my cousins say Uncle Ralph made us each feel like his favorite. After I was done coping with the reality that I, alone, am not the favorite -- I remained fascinated and astonished at the very idea someone could be so full of...
Like it or not, taxes are the theme of this election cycle. In Howell County, there are multiple taxation questions on the ballot next week. We were talking about new taxes in Mountain View Saturday morning at our candidate event. We also have school board elections and city government elections...
In my travels across the county this election season, the question I’m answering the most is not WHO the candidates are, but instead- HOW to vote.
Two of our most interesting races this year are school board elections. These are first-past-the-post elections, which means that no one...
Regular readers will know, and all other readers can check out THIS LINK for details, but Willow Springs Schools is hosting a candidate forum for school board candidates on March 10. Because this publication has hosted such a forum for the last three school board elections, I feel I owe you, my...