Moore, standing center, discusses the audit update with Mayor Delbert Crewse, seated center, and administrator Rick Outersky. With Moore are Donna Christian, left, and Ted Fugitt with the Auditor's office. (ORN Photo)
(Mountain Grove) – The Mountain Grove city council discussed the results of the 2011 audit with members of Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich’s office at a special meeting of the Mountain Grove City Council Thursday morning.
Darryl Moore, Chief Litigation Counselor for the State Auditor spoke with Ozark Radio News and said that the city has vastly improved on the issues that were found in the audit:
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Moore thanked the city for their cooperation. Ozark Radio News also spoke with Mountain Grove Mayor Delbert Crewse, who said that the city will continue to keep things in check with the audit’s findings:
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City Administrator Rick Outersky told the auditors at the meeting that the city remains within their yearly budget. The fiscal year ends for the city in June, with budget workshops to follow.
(Mountain Home) – Arkansas State University System President Dr. Charles L. Welch announced Thursday that four finalist candidates have been invited to the ASU-Mountain Home campus to formally interview for the position of Chancellor. The four finalists are:
- Dr. Pam Anglin, President of Paris Junior College
- Dr. Pat Bailey, Provost of Arkansas State University-Mountain Home;
- Dr. Robin Myers, President of Arkansas Northeastern College; and
- Dr. Parris Watts, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty of Graceland University.
The invitations to formally interview on campus come after recent meetings Dr. Welch conducted with the Chancellor Search Advisory Committee. The advisory committee, consisting of ten members representing faculty, staff, students, and community representatives, reviewed 64 applications for the position. After consulting professional references and receiving feedback and input from committee members, Welch extended invitations to the four finalists.
Candidates will interview on campus May 22, 23, 24, and 29. The finalists will meet with the advisory committee, faculty, staff, students, and community members during the interview sessions. Individuals attending the interview sessions will have an opportunity to submit feedback regarding each candidate to the Chancellor Search Advisory Committee. Following the final interview, the advisory committee will meet to discuss the candidates and provide feedback to Dr. Welch.
Dr. Welch has indicated a desire to have a new Chancellor named by early June. Dr. Ed Coulter will retire from the institution on June 30, 2012.
THE FINALISTS
Dr. Pam Anglin
Dr. Anglin has served as President of Paris Junior College since 2003. From 1996-2003 she served as Executive Vice President of Grayson County College, and she also served as Vice President for Business Services at Blinn College from 1994-1996.
Dr. Anglin received the Associate degree from Grayson County College, the Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Texas A&M University, the Master of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Texas Christian University, and the Doctor of Education degree in Educational Administration from Baylor University.
Dr. Anglin will be visiting ASU-MH May 23, starting with a community tour at 8 AM, a meeting with the Chancellor Search Advisory Committee at 10:15 AM, an open campus and community forum at McMullin Lecture Hall at 11:30 AM, lunch with Dr. Welch at 12:15 PM, and a faculty and staff forum at 1 PM.
Dr. Pat Bailey
Dr. Bailey has served as Provost of ASU-Mountain Home since 2009. She previously served as Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs at ASU-Mountain Home
since 1995. She was the Coordinator of Counseling and Testing Services at North Arkansas Community/Technical College from 1982-1995.
Dr. Bailey received the Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Psychology from Northeastern State University, the Master of Science degree in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern State University, and the Doctor of Education degree in Counselor Education from the University of Arkansas.
Dr. Bailey will be at the ASU-MH campus May 22, with a meeting of the Chancellor Search Advisory Committee at 10:15 AM, an open community forum at 11:30 AM at McMullin Lecture Hall, lunch with Dr. Welch at 12:15 PM and a faculty and staff forum at 1 PM at McMullin Lecture Hall.
Dr. Robin Myers
Dr. Robert “Robin” Myers has served as President of Arkansas Northeastern College (ANC) since 2005. He previously served ANC as Vice President of Instruction from 1998-2004, Dean for Community Education and College Advancement from 1996-1998, Associate Dean and then Dean for Continuing and Community Education from 1992-1996, and Coordinator of the Business and Industry Resource Center from 1989-1992.
Dr. Myers received the Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and the Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Arkansas State University, the Master of Science degree in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas, and the Doctor of Education degree from the University of Memphis.
Dr. Myers will visit the campus of ASU-MH May 29 and will take a community tour at 8 AM, a meeting with the CSAC at 10:15 AM, an open campus and community forum at 11:30 AM at McMullin Lecture Hall, lunch with Dr. Welch at 12:15 PM, and a faculty and staff forum at 1 PM.
Dr. Parris Watts
Dr. Watts has served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty at Graceland University since 2009. From 2006-2009, he served as Dean of the College of 
Graduate and Continuing Studies at Drury University. He has also served as Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at MacMurray College from 2003-2006, and as Dean of the College of Graduate Studies at Austin Peay State University from 1999-2003.
Dr. Watts received the Bachelor of Science in Education degree in Health Education from Northwest Missouri State College, the Master of Arts degree in Health Education from Indiana State University, and the Doctor of Health and Safety degree in Health Education from Indiana University.
Dr. Watts will visit ASU-MH May 24, starting with a community tour at 8 AM, a meeting with the CSAC at 10:15 AM, an open campus and community forum at 11:30 AM at McMullin Lecture Hall, lunch with Dr. Welch at 12:15 PM, and a faculty and staff forum at 1 PM.
(Licking) – A Licking resident was seriously injured after falling out of the vehicle he was riding in on Thursday.
The accident happened on Kimble Road north of Licking. 21-year-old Sean Edwards was taken from the scene of the accident to Mercy Hospital in Springfield by Missouri Air EMS.
A report from the Highway Patrol says the accident happened at 6:08 PM, and the driver was tested for illegal substances as required by law.
(Little Rock) – Over much of the past two years, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have been working together to collect public input on a proposed stocking plan that would enhance the striped bass fishery in Bull Shoals Reservoir along the Arkansas-Missouri border. The proposed stocking plan has been put on hold.
The proposed striped bass management plan calls for stocking a limited number of striped bass fingerlings in Bull Shoals to improve a quality striped bass fishery and complement the existing game fish population in the lake, stocking 22,000 fingerling striped bass in Bull Shoals every other year as well as aligning white bass, hybrid striped bass and striped bass regulations between Missouri and Arkansas in Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes.
The MDC recently approved regulation changes set to go into effect on March 1, 2013 to better align the fishing regulations between the two states for white bass, hybrid striped bass and striped bass. Both agencies will collect community information and public input on the proposal.
Striped bass are native to the Atlantic Coast, but have been stocked in numerous lakes around the country, including a select few in Arkansas and Missouri. Because of their size, their fighting qualities and their well-flavored meat, striped bass provide a popular “bonus” fishery where they are introduced.
Bull Shoals, Norfork and Lake of the Ozarks currently comprise the striped bass fishery in Missouri. The current Norfork Lake striped bass population is maintained through annual stockings on the Arkansas portion of the lake by the AGFC. The current Bull Shoals striped bass fishery is the result of an AGFC stocking in 1998.
Representatives with the AGFC and MDC say they will continue to work together to manage border waters like Bull Shoals for the citizens of both states. A final decision on stocking will be a part of these future efforts.
(West Plains) – The promise of an endowed professorship in the William and Virginia Darr Honors Program at Missouri State University-West Plains has come to fruition.
At Thursday’s Missouri State University Board of Governors meeting in Springfield, Missouri State-West Plains Chancellor Drew Bennett announced that university officials had received the minimum amount needed in donations and pledges, $250,000, to create the William and Virginia Darr Endowed Honors Professorship.
The announcement fulfills a promise made in 2008 when members of the Philanthropic Women for Education organization pledged an annual gift for five years toward the professorship while university officials sought to fully endow the position. Donations collected from individuals, businesses and organizations recently reached $250,000, enough to endow the professorship, which is currently held by the program’s founder, Assistant Professor of Letters/Director of the Darr Honors Program Dennis Lancaster.
The professorship was named in honor of William and Virginia Darr, Springfield, long-time supporters of the program who contributed the greatest amount to the professorship fund.
Others who have donated to the fund include Philanthropic Women for Education, the Vivian H. Drago Trust, Dr. Marvin and Bettye Fowler of West Plains, Jeanette K. Grisham of West Plains, Beard Law Firm, Elizabeth Grisham and the late Sam Grisham of West Plains, James and Leanne Albritton of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, Joe and Amanda Driscoll of Nixa, Brad and Trish (Ruiz) Pearson of Springfield, and Rogers and Anne Taylor of West Plains. Leanne Albritton, Joe Driscoll, Trish Pearson and Rogers Taylor all are graduates of the Darr Honors Program, university officials pointed out.
Created in 1998, the Darr Honors Program has had remarkable success; 100 students were enrolled in the program this past year alone. Graduates have pursued careers in law, accounting, pharmacology, nursing, business and the military, high school or college instructors or staff members, ministers, and even a film screenwriter.
University officials said donations to the professorship are still being accepted to increase the fund beyond the $250,000 minimum.
(Sikeston) – MoDOT has scheduled a number of projects in the region to start next week.
Howell County
Route 17 in Howell County between Independence Drive and Missouri Avenue in West Plains will be closed as crews replace a pipe under the roadway Monday, May 21 starting at 7:30. The road will reopen on Thursday, May 24 at 4 PM.
Westbound Highway 60 in Howell County, from The Eleven Point River Bridge to the Texas County line, will be reduced to one lane as crews perform concrete replacement Monday, May 21 through Thursday, May 24 from 6:30 AM to 5 PM.
Shannon County
Route YY in Shannon County from Route JJ to the end of state maintenance will be reduced to one lane Thursday, May 24 from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. as crews perform drainage work.
Route A in Shannon County between Route CC and the Dent County line will be reduced to one lane as crews replace a pipe under the roadway Monday, May 21 through Tuesday, May 22 from 8 AM to 4 PM.
Route 19 in Shannon County from Highway 60 to the Oregon County line will be reduced to one lane as crews partially overlay the roadway Monday, May 21 through Thursday, May 24 from 6:30 AM to 4 PM.
Texas County
Route KK in Texas County from Route K to the end of state maintenance will be reduced to one lane while crews continue to perform drainage work Monday through Wednesday from 6:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
Wright County
Route AM, from Route 95 in Wright County to the end of state maintenance in Texas County, will be reduced to one lane while crews perform chip seal work Monday through Thursday from 8 AM to 3:30 PM.
Route 60 at Route 60 and 95 in Mountain Grove will be reduced to one lane as crews replace the traffic signal loops Wednesday from 8:30 AM to 3 PM.
The work zones will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near these areas.
Employees and past and present patients celebrated 20 years of physical therapy and other services on Wednesday at the West Plains location of Physical Therapy Specialists Clinic. (ORN Photo)
(West Plains) – Physical Therapy Specialists celebrated two milestones this week, with an anniversary celebration held at both the West Plains and Mountain Grove locations.
Ozark Radio News spoke with PTSC CEO Mary Sheid at the 20th anniversary celebration in West Plains on Wednesday. She talked about the history of the clinics, and says that she and the others at PTSC are blessed to be where they’re at, and working with who they work with:
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The 15th anniversary for the Mountain Grove location was Thursday.
A 15th anniversary celebration of PTSC was held Thursday in Mountain Grove. (ORN Photo)
(West Plains) – A major project is underway in the city of West Plains that will benefit those utilizing the Larry Hilburn baseball complex. Public information officer Laurel Thompson says Eagle Scout candidate Jacob Hess has undertaken the project:
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The West Plains city pool will open at noon on Saturday, May 26.
(West Plains) – The Howell Valley School Board of Education will meet in a regular session on Monday, May 21 at 6 PM in the tech building.
Items on the agenda include a review of the minutes of the last meeting, a review of the cash report and general ledger work, payment of bills, and updates on the finances, buildings and grounds.
The board will also review health insurance for the upcoming school year, discuss and approve program evaluations, and review and adopt the 2012/2013 school budget. The board will also review and approve the summer school budget.
The board will also set the dates and times for the June, July and August regular board meetings before adjourning.
(Mountain Home) – The 2nd annual Art Odyssey tour is starting on Friday and continues through Sunday. The tour is a self-guided tour of artists’ studios celebrating art in the Arkansas Ozarks.
Kim Crow Sheaner with the Donald W. Reynolds Library in Mountain Home spoke with Ozark Radio News and told us more about the event:
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Kim continued and said that over 30 artists will be displaying their works throughout the weekend.
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She also says that people can visit The Art Odyssey Sneak Preview Exhibit at the Donald W. Reynolds Library in Mountain Home through the rest of the month. The exhibit features work from all of the artists showcased in the Odyssey.
For more information on the Art Odyssey, visit www.theartodyssey.com