In case you haven't heard...

Fire at Ozark County prosecutor's house was arson
by KY3 News

Published: Feb 24, 2009 at 4:14 PM CST

By Gene Hartley
GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- The Ozark County Sheriff's Department says a fire last Friday night at the home of a prosecutor was arson. There's a reward fund set up to try to help investigators find the arsonist.

The fire at the home on County Road 607 near Pontiac was reported just before 9:30 p.m. It's the home of Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Cline. Pontiac is about 15 miles southwest of Gainesville at the end of Highway W next to Bulls Shoals Lake.

The Missouri Advisory Committee on Arson Prevention is offering the reward, which is for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone connected to the fire. The number at the sheriff's department is (417) 679-4633.

This story is from ky3.com.

Missouri fishing permits expire Saturday

Just a reminder that your Missouri fishing license expires on Feb. 28. That's this Saturday. If you have already purchased your '09 license, then you're good until next February. If not, be sure to renew that before March 1. We now have the 2009 hunting and fishing regulation booklets at the dock. As far as I know there aren't any major changes - correct me if I'm wrong. Just wanted to let you know in case you'd like to pick up the latest literature.

Quick Update

The lake is about back to normal now - it's off the lower road anyway. We're still in the office every day from 8 to 10 a.m. if you're looking for us. Through the week the dock is often open most all day. Just call ahead before you come over to make sure we're there if you need gas or to pay a bill or pick up ice or whatever you need. Starting around the first of March we will be staying open later daily - weather permitting. I'll keep you posted when the hours officially change. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Save the dates...

SATURDAY, APRIL 4
Texas Hold 'Em Tournament benefiting the Ozark County Food Pantry. Hosted by the Pontiac Ladies Club at 6 p.m. at the Pontiac-Price Place fire house. $20 buy-in. Anyone welcome to play. Ladies will provide refreshments. Call Vita Curvey at 417-679-4688 or Mary Beth Roberts at 417-679-3609 for more information.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18
3rd Annual Verne D. Cubbage Memorial Fishing Tournament. Take off at 7 a.m. from PCM. Weigh-in at 3:30 p.m. at PCM. $100 entry fee; $10 per boat for Big Bass pot. Winners receive cash prizes; a portion of the proceeds will go to Gainesville High School's extracurricular activities programs. Pizza buffet afterward at Just Jackie's. Call 417-679-3676 for more information.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25
4th Annual Blessing of the Fleet. The official kick-off of the 2009 boating season! Blessing will take place around 2 p.m. Picnic in the park to follow, with a fish fry to raise money for the Pontiac Fireworks. Live music. Call 417-679-3676 for more details.

SATURDAY, JUNE 20
Pontiac Spearfishing Tournament. Sign up from 7 to 9 a.m. at the marina. Take-off at 9 a.m. Weigh-in from 1 to 3 p.m. Location TBA. Cash prizes awarded to winners. Pizza buffet afterward at Just Jackie's.

FRIDAY, JULY 3
Pontiac Fireworks. Don't miss it!

Boating Safety Course

Just a reminder that anyone born after January 1, 1984, must complete and pass the Missouri Boater Education course/test before operating any motorized vessel, included personal watercrafts. This applies to both Missouri residents and non-residents.

Click here to see a list of upcoming classes in your area. There is no fee to take the course in person with an instructor. You may also take the course online for a $15 fee. There is also a $15 fee to receive your new boater's safety card once you pass the test - $10 for a replacement card.

Visit the Missouri State Water Patrol's website at www.mswp.dps.mo.gov for more information. If you have questions about the course, you can e-mail the water patrol education coordination at Education@mswp.dps.mo.gov or call 573-751-3333.

It's not too early to start thinking about this now. Boating season is just around the corner!

Fishing is Good

Matt Wade and Josh Barnum (from Ava) each caught a limit of largemouth and kentuckys today.

Catchin' some white bass

Looks like the white bass are running! Thank you to Jessica Blackburn for sharing these photos from a couple nights ago at Gulley. Above left: Matt Wade and Gabe Blackburn; Right: Jessica Blackburn.

Here we go again...

The lake is creeping across the lower road again. If you drive down here you'll notice we have the blue truck parked at the top of the lower road. Please do not try to drive around it, as the cable below it is loose, and we do not want anyone driving over it. You can drive along the upper road and back down the hill, if you want to park on the lower road. Our apologies for the lower road being such a mess - it rained so much in such a short period of time Tuesday night that it washed all kinds of rocks and mud down the hill. As soon as the lake is back to normal, we'll clear it off. As of this morning, the Corps had not updated its lake level forecast page, so I'm not sure how much more it's going to come up - right now it's at 657.4, which is about 3 1/2 feet above normal pool.

Birthday Wishes

Happy birthday to my mother, JOHNNA LEE MORGAN. She's 144 years younger than Abe Lincoln today. Eeeeeek! She might kill me for that one.

Sad News

Ross Iseminger passed away yesterday. For those of you who did not know Ross, you may know his wife, Micky. She is our Pontiac postmaster. Ross's mother, Joan, owns Blue Top - the residential area above the Pontiac-Price Place Fire Station #1. There will be a memorial service at 5 p.m. Thursday at the fire house. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, please make any donations to the Pontiac-Price Place Fire Department.

Monday

Just wanted to write a quick update. Things are fine at the dock. Folks are still cleaning up their yards and property and probably will be for a long time. I know some people on the Arkansas side got power back on Friday - others were still out over the weekend, and I'm not sure what the status is today. The past weekend was another gorgeous one - it wasn't very sunny, but it was so warm, we broke out the flip-flops. :) It's currently raining steadily in Pontiac. The forecast for tomorrow is nearly 70 degrees with a chance of severe weather tomorrow night. It's always something!

A call for volunteers

Volunteers are arriving from out of town this weekend to help Ozark Countians in need of assistance clean up after last week's ice storm. If you're interested in volunteering this Saturday, call 417-679-3002. Or, if you or someone you know need help, call the number. Volunteers are meeting at the Gainesville courthouse around 8 a.m. Saturday. A crew from Americorps (see http://www.americorps.org for more info about the organization) are currently stationed in Ozark County to help organize volunteers and connect them with folks who need assistance. All types of volunteer are welcome, whether you have equipment (trucks, trailers, chainsaws) or none at all, it doesn't matter.

I know a lot of people are still busy cleaning up their own yards, etc. Just don't forget to check on your family, friends and neighbors - especially older folks and others who might be in need of some help.

Lending a Hand

A big THANK YOU goes out to Joe Lewis and his family, who spent the weekend helping Pontiac residents get a jump start on the cleanup after the ice storm last week. The Lewis family is from Seymour, but can call themselves part-time Pontiac residents, as they own a houseboat and cabin here. You may have seen Joe running up and down the road in his big green tractor this past weekend. He was a tremendous help to us, as he pushed some of our biggest downed limbs into huge piles to burn - a job that would have taken Matt and me a whole day or more took him less than an hour. Joe's wife, Cary, also stopped by on Saturday and helped Matt pick up limbs for quite a while.

It was a gorgeous weekend, with temps in the 60s both Saturday and Sunday. The sunshine seemed to bring everyone out of their homes, and everywhere you turned you could hear chainsaws fired up. It's amazing how a community - especially Pontiac - comes together to help one another in a time of need. Keep up the great work, everyone! And don't forget about our neighbors to the south - all those folks in Arkansas remain without power still today.