Community News | West Plains Daily Quill

Lamar Johnson to speak at Lincoln School for Juneteenth event

The Lincoln School in West Plains, in collaboration with Privette Law Office in Willow Springs, has announced Lamar Johnson will be hosted as guest speaker for the schoolhouse’s Juneteenth celebrations. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. June 19 at Lincoln School, 1400 E. Pony Thomas St. more

By CHRIS HERBOLSHEIMER, CHRISH@WESTPLAINSDAILYQUILL.NET | 6/4/24

Old-Time Music Festival footprint, shuttle stops announced

The footprint for this year’s Old-Time Music, Ozarks Heritage Festival in downtown West Plains will change, encompassing vendors and activities from the east lawn of the civic center, up East Main Street and around Court Square, organizers announced. more

6/4/24

Domestic assault charge filed against woman accused of hitting boyfriend with stick

Harley D. Kerley, 31, West Plains, is scheduled to appear June 17 before Associate 37th Circuit Judge R. David Ray for a case setting as she faces a felony charge of third-degree domestic assault. more

BY KIMBERLY LANGSTON, KIMBERLYL@WESTPLAINSDAILYQUILL.NET | 6/4/24

WP R-7 board approves district staffing changes

Hirings, transfers and the acceptance of resignations were discussed and approved during closed session of the May West Plains R-7 School Board meeting. more

BY KIMBERLY LANGSTON, KIMBERLYL@WESTPLAINSDAILYQUILL.NET | 6/4/24

Liberty High School Senior Kaylie Foster, right, was the recipient of a one-time $2,000 scholarship from the West Plains Bank and Trust Company Employee Scholarship Fund. Foster, daughter of David and Jennifer Foster, Birch Tree, will attend the University of Missouri in Columbia to study study political science (pre-law). Presenting the scholarship check to Foster is West Plains Bank and Trust Company Liberty Branch Manager Stephanie Jester.

West Plains Bank and Trust Co. employees award six $2K scholarships

Three 2024 graduates from West Plains High School, and one each from Liberty High School, Willow Springs High School and Houston High School have been presented with one-time $2,000 scholarships by the West Plains Bank and Trust Company Employee Scholarship Committee. more

6/4/24

New 37th Judicial Circuit Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers were recently sworn by Presiding Judge Steven Privette, right, and promised to uphold their duties in helping neglected and abused children navigate the court system. CASA volunteers work with children that are often the subject of custody placements, and as their slogan says, "in the best interest of the child," in order to find the best long-term solution in those cases. To learn how to be a CASA volunteer, call 417-255-2100, or send an email to casa.office@37thcasa.net. Taking their oaths, from left: Sherrie Robinson, Gina Osborn, Michael Ross and Kara Howe, all of West Plains.

37th CASA welcomes four new volunteers

6/3/24

West Plains Public Library Children's Librarian Debbie Owens shows off some of the prizes to be given away during the summer reading programs for children, teens and adults. There are other activities for all ages, and the events will start with a kickoff event from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday at People's Park, 1135 W. Broadway. Learn about the summer reading program at the event and play with bubbles, oversized lawn games and spend time at the park. This year's theme is "Adventure Begins at Your Library."

WP Library set to kick off summer reading programs for kids, teens and adults

The West Plains Public Library is about to begin its summer programs, including the children's library story times and crafts, additional programming for children and teens to be held at the West Plains Civic Center and Galloway Park, and summer reading programs for all ages. more

BY KIMBERLY LANGSTON, KIMBERLYL@WESTPLAINSDAILYQUILL.NET | 6/1/24

Teacher salaries focal point of R7's May school board meeting

Teacher salaries were a big topic during the May meeting of the West Plains R-7 School Board meeting. more

BY KIMBERLY LANGSTON, KIMBERLYL@WESTPLAINSDAILYQUILL.NET | 5/30/24

Newton conviction upheld in appeals court

The 2022 conviction of Jonathan G. Newton, 40, formerly of West Plains, on three counts of first-degree statutory sodomy involving a victim younger than 12, has been upheld in Missouri's Southern District Court of Appeals. more

BY KIMBERLY LANGSTON, KIMBERLYL@WESTPLAINSDAILYQUILL.NET | 5/30/24

Richards rocketry teams place in top 20 of national competition

Richards School rocketry team members have distinguished themselves again during a national competition, placing 14th and 16th out of 100 teams that qualified. Participants represented 28 states and competed for a total of $100,000 in prize money and scholarships, competition organizers said. more

BY KIMBERLY LANGSTON, KIMBERLYL@WPDAILYQUILL.NET | 5/30/24

Korrie Vance named Zizzer Educator of the Year

The West Plains R-7 School District recently hosted its annual Faculty and Staff Awards Luncheon. more

5/30/24

The Ozarks Older Iron Club will be among the artisans and demonstrators on the West Plains Civic Center lawn during the 30th annual Old-Time Music, Ozarks Heritage Festival on June 7 and 8.

Demonstrators to showcase living history at Old-Time Music Festival

The Old-Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival will be held June 7 and 8, 2024. The annual event in downtown West Plains, Mo., celebrates Ozarks music and culture. Admission to all festival events is free. Festival hours are 10 a.m.-9 p.m. both days, with music beginning at noon. more

5/30/24

Riley Wheeler, age 10, of Pomona, was one of several scouts, veterans, veteran's service organization members and other volunteers who placed flags on the graves of veterans Friday evening at Oak Lawn Cemetery in West Plains ahead of Memorial Day. The 144 flags were donated by Ace Hardware, and the placement was preceded by comments from West Plains Mayor Mike Topliff, who is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and a longtime Scouts of America leader. Topliff talked about the servicemen and women who are buried at Oak Lawn, some of them going back to the Civil War era, and encouraged participants to think about the history of West Plains and the contributions of those citizens as they honored their memory. Wheeler is a member of Cub Scout Troop 248 of West Plains and the son of Aaron Black and Shaina Wheeler.

Scouts, volunteers adorn veterans' graves for Memorial Day

5/29/24

New instrumental music program will begin this fall at MSU-WP

Area high school students who participated in band or orchestra have a new educational opportunity available to them at Missouri State University-West Plains. more

5/29/24

Young Jack Sanders, now 13, plays hopscotch in the Children's Activity Area during the 2015 Old-Time Music, Ozarks Heritage Festival. He is the son of Cody Sanders and Julie Rackley.

Plenty for children to do at Old-Time Music Festival

The Old-Time Music, Ozarks Heritage Festival set for June 7 and 8 in downtown West Plains will have children’s activities and games and the popular bucket brigade will once again be featured. more

5/29/24

Heart of the Ozarks Fair starts on Tuesday

The Heart of the Ozarks Fair will be held Tuesday through June 8 at the Heart of the Ozarks Fairgrounds on North U.S. 63 in West Plains, announces West Plains Tourism Manager Melissa Wharton. The fair this year will feature entertainment, carnival rides, food vendors, and livestock, agriculture and fine arts shows. more

5/28/24

Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative reported a peak number of outages of 1,476 after multiple tornado-producing storms swept through the area Sunday morning and evening. As of Tuesday morning, power had been restored to all but 38 members in the co-op's eastern service area.

Sunday storms drop seven confirmed tornados across Quill coverage area

The National Weather Service offices in Springfield and Little Rock, Ark., have confirmed seven tornadoes touched down Sunday in Howell and surrounding counties, including Baxter County, Ark. Of those, two registered damage associated with EF3-strength wind speeds of between 136-165 mph, NWS survey team reports show. more

BY ABBY HESS, ABBYH@WESTPLAINSDAILYQUILL.NET | 5/28/24

Officials at Missouri State University-West Plains received plenty of help when they planted a sunset maple on campus April 26, in honor of Arbor Day. They were joined by students in Brad Vannada’s fourth grade class at Howell Valley School. Above, the Howell Valley group gathers around the tree, which was planted at Garfield Hall near the intersection of Garfield and Cass Avenues. The tree was purchased from West Plains Greenhouse. The first 50 people attending the event received a gray dogwood tree seedling.

Howell Valley students celebrate Arbor Day at MSU-WP

5/28/24

FFA Alumni Officer Shane Rhoads, center, presented Alumni scholarships to Ruby Hinds, left, and Hattie Patillo, right.

West Plains FFA holds 89th annual banquet

The West Plains FFA recently hosted its 89th annual banquet, celebrating the achievements of its dedicated members and unveiling a promising new leadership team. The event, held earlier this month, served as a platform to honor outstanding accomplishments in Career Development Events (CDEs), Leadership Development Events (LDEs) and Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) projects. more

5/28/24

Girl donates doll to ‘make grandmas and grandpas happy’

In a world often overshadowed by its challenges, it's the simple, heartwarming gestures that can offer reminders of the innate goodness in people. One such story unfolded recently in West Plains, where a small act of kindness from a 5-year-old girl has touched hearts. more

BY CHRIS HERBOLSHEIMER, CHRISH@WESTPLAINSDAILYQUILL.NET | 5/25/24