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Hay Hollow YCC Years: All-girl camp described as ‘pigtails - and hard hats’ - SEE PAGE 3 Ozark COunTy Colorful quilts exhibitTimes generations of talent at the Historium - SEE PAGE B1 75¢ GAINESVILLE, Mo. www.ozArkcouNtytimes.coM wEdNESdAy, AuGuSt 1, 2018 New Ozark Voters head to the polls to elect prosecutor, judge, County emergency representative – and decide Gainesville school levy management director hired The Ozark C o u n t y Commision has hired Stephen A. Ator as the coun- ty’s new emer- Ator gency manage- ment director. Ator and his wife, Janeen, moved to the Tecumseh area eight years ago, and he immediately joined the Tecumseh Volunteer Fire Department. Ator is a certi- fied emergency medical responder and holds several certifications in firefighting, law enforcement and emer- gency medical response. He also serves as a reserve dep- uty with the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department. “We’re extremely fortunate to have him,” said presiding Times photo / Sue Ann Jones commissioner John Turner. Ator replaces Brent Meints, A large crowd filled the main dining room and the two side rooms Friday at The Center in Gainesville, where the who resigned last month. Ozark County Farm Bureau hosted an after-lunch “Candidates Meet-and-Greet” session. Most of the candidates in the locally contested races made brief presentations; circuit clerk / recorder Becki Strong, running unopposed for re-election, also spoke to the audience. A spokesperson at The Center said about 130 fried-fish lunches were Clerk’s office open served before the political event, up from the average 80 lunches usually purchased on Fridays. extra hours for absentee voting The Ozark County Primary election is Tuesday, Aug. 7 Clerk’s office will be open By Sue Ann Jones Deputy county collector Darla Sullivan including a “hardened” addition at the special hours – from 8 a.m. [email protected] is running unopposed for the collector’s elementary school that would serve as a to noon Saturday, Aug. 4 – job, to replace retiring county collector storm shelter that could withstand winds and from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. Voters from Ozark County – and Bill Hambelton. of up to 180 to 200 mph. The higher Monday, Aug. 6, to accom- throughout Missouri – will go to the Ozark Countians will also help elect levy would also pay for roof repairs on modate absentee voting in polls Tuesday for this year’s primary the state representative for District 155, the high school and replacement of fail- the Aug. 7 primary election. election. Election judges will welcome which includes all of Ozark and Douglas ing floor and ceiling tiles and lockers at For more information, call voters at 10 poling places throughout County and half of Taney County, as the middle school and high school. the clerk at 679-3516. the county from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Poling incumbent Lyle Rowland is retiring due Funds would also be applied to places are listed with the sample ballot to term limits. Candidates for the posi- efforts toward recruiting and retaining on page B7 of this week’s Times.) tion are Karla Eslinger of Wasola, Mike qualified and talented faculty members. Commissioner Locally, voters will decide who the Lind of Thornfield and Jack L. Clemans Gainesville superintendent Jeff Hyatt Donley says he county’s next associate circuit judge of Brown Branch / Bradleyville. says the district will work hard to use and prosecuting attorney will be as only No Democratic or other party candi- the funds efficiently so that, after these won’t run again Republican candidates have filed for the dates have filed for any of these posi- updates and other maintenance and when term ends positions. John Russo is challenging tions. repair work are completed, the district incumbent John Garrabrant for the pros- Residents in the Gainesville R-V may be able to build a new gymnasium Ozark County Western ecutor’s job, and Raymond Gross is School District will decide whether to sometime in the near future. Commissioner Greg Donley challenging incumbent Cynthia approve a 75-cent school levy increase Statewide, voters will decide major told the Times last week he MacPherson for the associate circuit from the current $2.75, the state mini- party candidates who will run in the has decided not to run for judge position. mum, to $3.50 per $100 assessed valua- Nov. 6 general election for U.S. Senator re-election when his term Two names will also appear on the tion. Those wanting to know an esti- (the seat currently held by Claire ends in 2020. “I will have ballot in the race for presiding county mate of how their taxes will change if McCaskill, who has filed for re-elec- served for 12 years then, and commissioner – incumbent John Turner the school levy passes – along with the tion), and for state auditor. I’m giving it my best shot. and challenger Seth Smith of Isabella. ambulance sales tax increase approved The race for U.S. representative for But I’ve decided to take a However, Smith has told the Ozark earlier this year and, for some landown- the 8th District is also on the ballot, but break then and let someone County Times that he is withdrawing ers, recently reassessed property values, incumbent Jason Smith is running else run,” he said, adding from the race for personal reasons. At can call the collector’s office at 679- unopposed on the Republican ticket; on that he’s announcing his press time Tuesday, Ozark County 4448. Nov. 6 he will face Jonathan L. Shell, decision early “to let other Clerk Brian Wise said Smith had not yet School officials say the increased who is running unopposed on the people think about running.” signed paperwork officially withdraw- levy is needed to repair, renovate, Democratic ticket. He said he has “enjoyed ing from the contest, and his name will update and make improvements on the The only statewide issue to be voted serving the people, and I still appear on the ballot. 55-year-old high school building and on is Proposition A, which asks voters may come back and run for These candidates are running unop- also replace the 25-year-old heating- to decide whether to adopt “Right-to- something else sometime in posed in next week’s primary: incum- and-cooling system at the elementary Work” legislation that prohibits employ- the future.” bents county clerk Brian Wise, circuit school. The increased funds would also ees to belong to and/or pay dues in a clerk/recorder Becki Strong and county be used to improve student safety and union if they don’t choose to. Find us on treasurer Phyllis Gaulding Turner. security measures at both schools, Facebook Watch ozarkcountytimes.com and the Times’ Facebook page for Tuesday’s election results The Ozark County Times goes to press at 1 p.m. Tuesdays, so we won’t be able to include election results in next week’s edition. However, we’ll be working Tuesday night to provide election results as they come in. Meet us online at ozarkcountytimes.com or on the Ozark County Times Facebook. We’ll have complete results, including a breakdown of the vote counts, in our Aug. 15 edition. MO sales tax holiday is this weekend Copyright Ozark County Times Aug. 3 marks the beginning of Missouri’s annual “Back-to-School” Sales Tax Holiday – a time for shoppers in Missouri to save money on computers, clothes and school supplies. By state law, the sales tax holiday begins on the first Friday in August and continues through the following Sunday. This year, the three-day holiday begins at midnight Friday, Aug. 3, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 5. During this time, the state’s 4.225 percent sales tax will not be assessed on certain purchases made in Missouri. Local governments can participate in the tax holiday and increase the savings for shoppers, or opt out of the holiday and maintain local tax revenue during the weekend. Ozark County has opted out. County sales tax will still be collected by Ozark County merchants during the holiday, but state sales tax will not. Out-of-state residents can also save. The key is that the purchase has to be made in Missouri between Aug. 3 and 5. The state sales tax will not be charged on the following items during the holiday: • Clothing that does not have a value of more than $100. Eligible clothing includes footwear and standard items of apparel worn on or about the body. It also includes fabric to make school clothing. It does not include accessories such as watches, jewelry, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands and belt buckles. • School supplies, not exceeding $50 per purchase, that are used in a standard classroom for educational purposes. School supplies include textbooks, notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, handheld calculators, chalk, maps and globes. School supplies do not include CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable telephones, copiers or other office equipment. • Personal computers that don’t cost more than $3,500 and computer peripheral devices that don’t exceed $3,500. A per- sonal computer can be a laptop, desktop or tower computer system that consists of a central processing unit, random access memory, a storage drive, display monitor, keyboard and other related devices. Peripheral devices include items such as a disk drive, memory module, CD drive, microphone, modem, motherboard, mouse, speakers, printer, scanner, sound card or video card. Computer software is considered a school supply and is free from sales tax if its value is less than $350.