Viewpoint

The first real test of our democracy in the age of COVID-19 (coronavirus) comes on Tuesday when local voters go to the polls. We hope it goes better than the Wisconsin primary on April 7, when the risk of infection ran much higher. People crowded in tight places against their will, or their better judgment, is a nerve-racking choice. It’s the question older citizens have been asking for the last two months, and they are the ones most likely to vote...

You don’t have to travel far these days — if you can find a group of people — to see folks shopping or standing around socializing without wearing face masks. The heavy social media campaign underway has made wearing face masks into a political issue. This part of the country, while historically more conservative, may be more inclined against policies that can be freely interpreted as liberal. But conservative also means being extra cautious. Somehow that hasn’t translated to this situation...

After the COVID-19 (coronavirus) delay, election time is upon us once again, as city and school elections are set for June 2. Candidates in contested races are no doubt excited, losing two months of a possible term to the virus that tranquilized the norm...

Editor’s note: This piece is printed verbatim from a post on Dr. Erik Martin’s personal Facebook page. It is being reproduced in print with his permission. I am worried. I have been worrying a lot recently. We all are, aren’t we? I’m worried about COVID, and the economy, and about school starting. Doctors worry about our patients too...

The innovations we’ve seen as our area high school have approached graduation have been interesting and worth noting. The parades of seniors, dubbed a caravan for Monett High School graduates, have been great fun. The Monett graduates in particular took advantage of the opportunity to wear their caps and gowns and ride down Broadway, Central and Cleveland in their purple and gold flashing in the evening sun. It was great for them to cheer and wave and hear the public hail them...

Dear Editor: It was with great dismay I read that the Monett School Board is seriously considering changing, excuse me, “ditching,” school logos that have been in place for over 50 years. As an “old lady” alumni of the great class of 1973, I’m going to express my opinion. Why would this even come up? Whose idea was it? Certainly not someone with a love of tradition. Perhaps the perpetrator of such nonsense, has no lasting ties to a hometown or alma mater...

Graduates, reality has slapped you in the face. Your senior year has ended unlike any other, with more uncertainty than has been seen since the Class of 1942. For years, your educators have been telling you your main goal was to “learn how to learn.” Technology, even entire careers, may come and go, leaving you to change careers several times over your lifetime. You may not have believed them, figuring surely that wouldn’t happen to you...

Depending on who you may be talking to, this whole COVID-19 nightmare may be over on Monday. At least that’s what you might think from the sight of a half dozen teens I saw grouped together inside a big box retailer in Monett this week. If social distancing is just for other people, or those “old” people and certainly not for “us,” then life will go on as it always has, without the inconveniences of a pandemic, as long as our favorite stores and restaurants and movie theaters open back up...

While voices in some corners are getting louder to “reopen the economy,” the exact meaning of that term varying from person to person, people are continuing to show more frayed nerves and edginess. For some time now, we have received reports of COVID-19-positive employees at businesses in operation. It is not unusual for people to bring gripes to us. We take reports seriously, and we pass them to the appropriate health authorities to investigate...

Dear Editor: Voting by mail can ensure the welfare of Missourians and make it easier to vote in our state. I disagree with the narrative that there is a higher potential for voter fraud with vote by mail compared with in precinct voting. Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah vote entirely by mail. ...

Dear Editor: We hear a lot of talk these days about “re-opening” the country and a “new normal.” Some might believe we will get back to things the way they were very soon. Others think it’s going to take a lot longer, and may never be the same. So in the midst of such uncertainty and waiting, I suggest we be very deliberate about something we can all be in charge of: our attitudes...

Driving around Monett this week on the way back and forth to the office, I noticed some days have looked like Christmas morning. Very few vehicles have been on the streets. Downtown there are still cars, which you don’t see on Christmas morning, but it’s definitely different from two weeks ago, at the start of Governor Parson’s stay-at-home order...

Adapting to the world with COVID-19 (coronavirus) has been new for everyone, and in the news world, it has led to a first for me. On Saturday morning, I was given the phone number of the second person who tested positive for coronavirus in Barry County and asked to call so this person could tell their side of the story...

Dear Editor: Writing from Nazareth, Texas, on Thursday, we got our fourth notice of a death in our family. The virus and its effects have affected all of us in one way or another. At this time, we are deeply grateful to our country raised parents who taught us that life and death went together. It seems that people who work on the land with animals and people understand a part of death that modern society tries to overshadow...

This week. the Monett community lost a great friend with the death of Margaret Holle. For decades, she was one of those quiet, unobtrusive figures working mostly behind the scenes, but her value was immeasurable. “I think you would like Margaret the minute you started talking to her,” said her old friend Doris Meyer. “She had an easy going personality. She was loved.”...

Dear Editor: This past week, it was brought to my attention that Mr. Duane Kaiser had retired from his part time service as Agricultural Instructor at the Pierce City High School. Mr. Kaiser is to be commended for his over 40 years of service to agricultural education...

Dear Missouri Congressional delegation: The move to vote by mail can give us a greater chance of litigation and fraud. I agree with President Trump that there is a higher potential for voter fraud with vote by mail compared with in precinct voting. What can go wrong with voting by mail? When you go to the precinct polling place, you meet face to face with poll workers who sign you in and then lets you cast a ballot that immediately joins the group of ballots to be counted after the polls close...