And No One Came? Day
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DORA FALCONS Headed to the MAKE HISTORY! zark CounTy Class 1 Final 4! First time ever for Falcons basketball FRIDAY, MARCH 8 & team to play in state semifinals SATURDAY, MARCH 9 Times SEE PAGES 14-15 75¢ GAINESVILLE, Mo. www.ozArkcouNtytimes.coM wEdNESdAy, MArcH 6, 2019 Search team perseveres despite grim circumstances to find fisherman’s body By Sue Ann Jones, [email protected] By water, land and air, in temperatures that sank into the single digits, a team of determined Ozark Countians and Missouri State Highway Patrol Water Division personnel searched Saturday, Sunday and Monday for Mike Meidell, 52, of West Plains, who launched his fishing boat Friday onto Norfork Lake at Udall – and did Spring not return. MSHP officers found Meidell’s body and his overturned boat Monday morning on Bryant Creek about a half-mile north of Cook’s Landing, a Missouri Department forward of Conservation river access, according to an online MSHP drowning incident report. 2 a.m. The MSHP report says the accident occurred when the 2018 Lowe utility boat “side impacted” a debris pile in the stream, capsizing, and entrapping Meidell in the Sunday, debris pile, causing him to drown. The accident was investigated by MSHP Cpl. J. R. Roberts assisted by MSgt. B. D. Foster, Cpl. L. B. Monahan and Trooper C. P. March 10 Chatman. It was MSHP Troop G’s first drowning fatality of 2019. This week’s sheriff’s dispatch log (see page 12) shows that a call came in at 5:23 p.m. Saturday, March 2, saying Meidell hadn’t been heard from since Thursday, Voter when he had launched his boat onto Norfork Lake at Udall. (The Times was unable to confirm the date of Meidell’s departure to go fishing. Although the person who registration called the sheriff’s office on Saturday said he’d left on Thursday, members of the search team say a friend told them he’d had coffee with Meidell Friday morning, and deadline is Meidell had said he was going fishing later that day.) The sheriff’s dispatcher noted in the log that, at 8 p.m. Saturday, an attempt was today made to ping Meidell’s cell phone, but there was no response because it had been out of service too long. Today, March 6, is the Photo courtesy Todd Young Volunteer from Tecumseh and Bakersfield volunteer fire departments responded last day to register to vote with MSHP officers and Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed and deputies Saturday in the April 2 election. Ozark County Sheriff’s deputies, volunteer firefighters and first responders and Missouri State Highway Patrol evening to begin the search at Udall, where Meidell’s truck and trailer remained. The county clerk’s office “We didn’t know at all where he was. We were just looking everywhere,” Reed will be open until 5 p.m. Water Division troopers descended on Norfork Lake at today. Udall Saturday evening to look for a West Plains fisher- Absentee voting for man who had launched his boat there Friday – and See DROWNING, Page 13 the April 2 general didn’t come back. municipal election has begun. Registered voters in the Gainesville and Dora school districts, as Helping the helpers well as residents who live in northern Ozark County but vote in the Ava school district, should contact the Ozark County Clerk’s What if you called for help Office for the required absentee-voting applica- tion if they are unable to go to the polls on Election … and no one came? Day. Absentee ballots may then be voted by By. Jessi Dreckman mail or in person at the [email protected] clerk’s office from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday Editor’s note: Ozark County Times staff mem- through Friday through bers Jessi Dreckman and Sue Ann Jones con- Monday, April 1. tacted all 14 volunteer fire departments that For more information, serve Ozark County to gather information about contact the clerk’s office who they are, how they serve their communities at 417-679-3516. and what they need from the residents of their districts. This week’s report shares insights into six of Ozark County’s VFDs. The rest will be profiled in next week’s Times. Imagine it’s 3 a.m. and you’re pulled from sleep by the smell of smoke. You jump out of bed, run into the living room and find yourself Copyright Ozark County Times surrounded by smoke and flames. You run out- side and dial 911, urgently calling for help. Now, imagine no one comes ... That terrifying scenario could be the reality in Ozark County and the surrounding rural areas in the not-to-distant future if the desperate state of some of the volunteer fire departments here Times photo/Jessi Dreckman doesn’t improve. Many of Ozark County’s Ken Burnett, one of the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department dispatchers, manages infor- VFDs are operating with bare-bones rosters mational and emergency calls, including all 911 calls in the county. In response to emer- these days as well as limited funding. Tasked gency calls, the dispatcher often “tones out” one or more of the county’s 14 volunteer fire with covering more than 755 square miles and departments, and those firefighters and first responders are frequently the first on scene, ahead of deputies and the Ozark County Ambulance. But many of those departments See VFDs, Page 16 have fewer than 10 trained personnel on their rosters, and sometimes no one is available to respond. Most departments say more volunteers are urgently needed. DON'T FORGET TO ATTEND Gainesville Classmates & Friends, Ozark County retirees COME HAVE LUNCH WITH US All Classes and Everyone Invited! MONDAY, MARCH 18 (every third Monday) • 1 pm Golden Corral • South Glenstone • Springfield, mO For more info call 417-719-4508 please come, as we always have a good time! Page 2 • OZARK COUNTY TIMES • Wednesday, March 6, 2019 Fourth and fifth elk poaching cases since 2011 MDC seeks information in elk poaching cases The Missouri Department of Conservation continues to seek information in the case of two adult elk shot Friday, Feb. 8, near the Log Yard area of Shannon County. One of the elk was a 10-year-old bull that was brought to Missouri from Kentucky in 2011. The other was an adult cow that was born in Missouri. Conservation agents note that no parts of either animal were removed. As is the case with most poaching incidents today, says MDC, these actions had nothing to do with providing meat for a family. “It appears these poachers simply wanted to shoot elk for fun or out of spite, and that’s abhorrent,” said MDC’s Protection Division chief Randy Doman. Doman said this marks the fifth known elk poaching incident since the elk population was restored in 2011. Elk poachings in the state also include an adult bull in December 2015, a two-month-old calf in August 2018 and a bull calf this past January. In the 2015 case, the poachers removed the bull’s antlers with a chainsaw and left it otherwise untouched in the woods where it fell. Doman said it’s important to note that poaching is not hunting, and poachers are not hunters. “These poaching incidents are ethically wrong and represent unacceptable moral con- duct,” he said. “We know Missourians care about conservation, wildlife and the laws that protect their wildlife resources. These actions don’t represent the values of Missourians and hunters here.” When elk restoration began in Missouri in 2011, one of the projected benefits was an increase in tourism to the Missouri Ozarks. Visitor surveys conducted at the two self- guided driving elk tours at Peck Ranch and Current River conservation areas determined the elk brought nearly $1.3 million in increased economic activity to the region in 2016. This data included regional economic impacts such as food, lodging and transport expenses of more than 11,000 visitors that toured these areas in 2016. “The restoration of elk is appreciated by many people, businesses and organizations in the area,” Doman said. “The citizens here take great pride in their hunting traditions and their wildlife resources. A healthy, growing elk population brings significant economic and cultural benefits to these communities, and the senseless waste of the people’s resources should not be tolerated.” MDC photo MDC announced in 2018 that plans for a limited elk hunting season may soon be forth- This is the carcass of a 10-year-old bull elk that was shot and left near the Log Yard coming. However, poaching cases may impact both elk tourism and the timing of an elk area of Shannon County. An adult cow elk was also shot and left in the area, hunting season. according to MDC. Anyone with information on this poaching case is asked to call Anyone with information that could help with this investigation is encouraged to call 1-573-226-3616, ext. 226, or Operation Game Thief at 1-800-392-1111. 573-226-3616, ext. 226, and leave a detailed message along with contact information. Or call the Operation Game Thief OGT hotline (1-800-392-1111), which is managed 24 hours a day and callers may remain anonymous. Rewards are available. For more information about elk in Missouri, visit MDC’s website at https://bit.ly/2EvwvDK. J Highway bridge will close in 2020 during replacement The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to replace the J Highway bridge over Lick Creek, about 3 miles south of Highway 160 in Ozark County, in 2020.