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Aug 19 - 20, 2020 • Vol. 1, Issue 124
Face mask bill fails in Ozark
INSIDE...
Grand Opening:
New shop lets you create custom designs. Page 3
Volunteers prepare backpacks and school supplies to give to area students. (Photo by K.D. Michaels)
Lions Make Donation: Gift allows Elevate Branson to serve kids. Page 3
Disabled Sportsmen: MDC creates hunting opportunities. Page 14
WEATHER...page 17
Sunny and dry over the next five days. Highs in upper 80s to low 90s.
The show must go on: Back-to-School Bash changes to drive-through event By K.D. Michaels, Staff Writer Families lined up early for the 14th Annual Back to School Bash, hosted by Branson’s First Baptist Church. Held at Branson’s Rec Plex, this year’s bash on August 16 was a drive-thru event.
“Under normal circumstances, the entire Rec Plex campus is taken over by kids,” said First Baptist Church Lead Pastor Jeremy Thomas. “There are usually kids swimming in the pool, there is face painting, tons of
big bounce houses. There’s just a lot that goes into it. This year with Covid-19, we’re under a lot of restrictions. We decided, if we were going to do it, we were going to have to modify it.” SEE BASH, PAGE 7
Heeding mother, lawmaker helped women gain vote
Staff Reports One hundred years ago this month, women in the United States were guaranteed the right to vote with ratification of the 19th Amendment — secured by a 24-year-old Tennessee legislator’s decisive SEE VOTE, PAGE 17
By Rance Burger, Christian County Headliner Alderman Jason Shaffer’s refusal to vote means Ozark residents will not be required to wear masks in public places. After more than an hour and a half of debate, Shaffer abstained from voting on a bill that would have required face mask use in certain public settings. Aldermen Nathan Posten, Heather Alder, and Bruce Galloway voted for the bill. The vote came up on Aug. 17, as the Ozark Board of Aldermen met in a mixed format at the Ozark Community Center and on the Zoom teleconferencing platform. The vote also followed a four-hour public hearing conducted on Aug. 10. R.J. Flores and Ted Smith voted, “No,” and Shaffer abstained. “I think that’s a shame to put so much attention on masks when there are other things that we should be paying attention to, and we don’t care about that now. All we care about is masks,” Flores said. Had Shaffer voted in opposition, which appeared to be his intent up until the vote, it would have created a 3-3 tie and put a tying vote into the hands of Mayor Rick Gardner. “If this had been a tie, I would have voted against it, because I agree with R.J. that the bill is flawed,” Gardner said. “There is too much inconsistent studies of SEE OZARK, PAGE 12
