Wonderbooks, produced by Playaway Products, are a curated collection of print books, each accompanied by its own audiobook right inside; kids can simply press “play” to read along with their favorites.

I point this out because this is the time of year that bass fishing can be very good if you have a bucket of crawdads and a gentle wind.

Sneezing is a curious thing of which I never paid it much mind until my significant other asked me to research the why’s and how’s of it. So, I will do this one—for him. A sneeze is merely a mechanism of clearing the nose of foreign bodies such as pollen, dirt/dust or smoke and any manner of foreign objects. This can irritate the nostrils as well as the entire breathing apparatus so the sneezing tries to nip it in the bud and retard further irritation or damage. As well, we

While a teenager, she took on a weekly newspaper column in the Taney County Republican as the Kirbyville correspondent.

Summer was also once the space of afternoons that soared on forever, a place of dreams and strange, childlike spaces dangerous only in that such spaces allowed us to get to know ourselves too well.

A company comes along and makes a deal with the restaurant owners for the name of the place. They pretend they’re reopening the closed business, but they only hire back the maître d’, one waiter and Bill, the prep cook. So, basically, they started a new business using an old name, brought back a few token employees, and pretend it’s not something new.

Continuing my study of the minor prophets, I find those guys exceptionally relatable in light of current events. A few days ago, though, a verse jumped out at me as not only meaningful in context of biblical prophecy, but in personal context as well. That verse was Habakkuk 2:2, “Write down this vision, and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it” (BSB). If you’re not familiar with Habakkuk, his prophetic writings were in the context of waiting. T

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 1 Peter 4:12-13 As August slowly sets in, I hopefully anticipate the end of the dog days of summer. That sticky, nauseating heat that makes you want to stay in the air conditioning all the time and creates

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. As second-quarter earnings season comes to a close, the financial media continues to focus almost exclusively on artificial intelligence and the handful of mega-cap technology companies driving the market higher. While those businesses remain impressive, they are no longer the most interesting story. What has caught my attention is the growing number of companies outside the technology se

Branson’s live entertainment scene has changed dramatically in the last ten years. The era of the out-of-town celebrity, which fueled Branson’s 1990s “boom,” has largely exited stage right. The marquee names that once defined the town—Andy Williams, Roy Clark, Mel Tillis, Ray Stevens, Mickey Gilley, the Osmonds, Glen Campbell and Box Car Willie—are gone, leaving a vacuum for other shows to fill. Branson’s roots lie in the “Hillbilly Jubilees” of the Baldknobbers and Presle

Pay for Dad's life insurance policy?

But as a pet columnist and a devoted pet parent myself, I recently had a sobering reminder that what we see on the outside doesn't always tell the whole story.

Whatever the case, we can grab onto Isaiah 40:29: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. On Monday morning, my wife dropped our 10-year-old son off at church camp. It’s his first time spending four nights away from home. Throughout the day I kept thinking about all the things I couldn't control. Would he make friends? Would he remember to put on sunscreen? Would he sleep well? As parents, our minds naturally drift toward every possible scenario.Then it hit me: investing often

As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday this year, Branson has its own signature way of commemorating that occasion. Not only do we consider ourselves the most patriotic city in America but we also know a little something about being a music town as well. When you think about all the things that make America special, its songbook, those almost civic hymns that we all know and cherish stand out to me. In fact, I have always had this contention that the very American s

A long time ago, the Ozarks tourism campaigns leaned into the whole “Ozarks as magic” thing, crafting a unique, hillbilly “other” with wild, folkloric ways and granny women and healing waters.

What if today was about the day your pet saves you? It may sound like something out of a movie, but remarkable stories happen every year involving ordinary family pets doing extraordinary things.

Rufous said the worst time to be in the woods in Arkansas, if you were worried about timber rattlers, was September and October.

As I write this, the headlines change daily, or even hourly, regarding the situation in the Middle East. Add to that the almost-daily stories of people taking their frustration out in tragic shootings; the complicated situations as elected officials in some states and cities openly declare stances that contradict America’s founding values; and the fuel prices that haven’t dropped nearly as quickly as they rose, and this column is off to a depressing start, right? Oh, y

To me, what you described is a lot different than her lying and hiding stuff. The truth is you weren’t plugged in.