Viewpoint

The news this week that Monett officials used a drone to discover the roof of the historic Frisco Hotel at Fifth and Front Streets had collapsed brought home how technology has great value in today’s world, particularly in seeing the unseen. The news about the Frisco Hotel was disheartening. ...

Fireworks in Monett has been a work in progress. Monett police officers stayed very busy last weekend and the preceding days responding to calls about fireworks. Part of the problem was people setting them off in the street, which nobody wants. The proliferation of fireworks prompted one officer to say, “It’s like a war zone out here.”...

The Fourth of July is a rather unique experience in Monett. You can go many places and get fireworks. That’s not what makes it special. “Everyone working together to have a community experience” makes it unlike any other time of the year. Reading The Monett Times from the 1930s, before there was an organized fireworks show, the big celebration was not on a community, but on a family level. ...

Kelly Creek flooding on Sunday was disturbing on a number of levels. The flood was not nearly as disturbing as what happened in Cassville on Wednesday night. No place is designed to withstand 8 inches of rain in an hour. Some places in Cassville endured more water than than any time in memory. We feel for them and would like to offer some advice, if we had any to give...

Dear Editor: Recently you carried an article about animal control in Marionville. As quoted: “We are also setting up volunteer meeting in Marionville, in order to get more volunteers, and we invite council members and the animal control officer to this meeting,” she said. “We want to help improve the quality of life of animals in our community, including the white squirrels, that are disappearing.”...

It’s been somewhat amusing watching the gyrations at various city councils around southwest Missouri in recent weeks as aldermen have looked for ways to keep out medical marijuana. It’s rather clear that despite their declarations to the contrary, the major effort of these machinations has not been finding a best location for this new business, but making sure it simply didn’t come to town at all. ...

The swimming pool in Pierce City is 50 years old this year. Like the Monett pool when it reached that age, the Pierce City pool is leaking badly, and city leaders only have theories as to why. During the demolition of the Monett pool, Parks Superintendent Russ Balmas said the evidence never surfaced as to just how Monett’s pool was leaking to the point of requiring daily refills. ...

This week, our thoughts have focused on service, both community and on a larger arena. The 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion recalls a moment that touched the lives of practically every family, then and for generations to come. My own father was in England that day, following the invasion force into LeHavre, where he deployed as a code man for a reconnaissance crew that ran in front of the Third Army under General George Patton...

Dear Editor: The Missouri Department of Conservation is planning to introduce more restrictive requirements on the issuance of Resident Landowner Hunting Permits, and to further require that said Landowners “register” their land. MDC claims public support for these changes...

Dear Editor: The beautiful Lee Cemetery is located in Verona along the Spring River, and the Cemetery has been around for generations, with headstones dating back as far as the late 1841. On June 1, a terrible discovery was made. Approximately 40-50 headstones had been knocked over, some of them broken beyond repair. The cowards that did this terrible deed have yet to be found. The outpouring of support was immediate and far reaching...

In this day of dysfunctional government, it’s particularly interesting to watch city councils return to basics and address what really matters — public services, and more specifically, services on public property. This week the Purdy City Council expanded its discussion about doing away with the Purdy Community Center, which has frankly become an albatross. The Verona City Council once again held an extended but indecisive exchange on how to manage its city parks...

The water is still flowing in Kelly Creek. Those of us who work beside Monett’s notorious stormwater channel are keenly aware of her moods and her dances. In case we forget, she raises her fist and swats at the disbelievers when she gets the chance. She did it again in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, leaving twisted pieces of branches tangled around street sign posts and electric boxes along Broadway...