The TIF Commission’s duties were to review the evidence, hold public hearings, and present the board of aldermen with eleven mandatory statutory decisions as an initial step before any tax increment financing can be put in motion.

How many of Branson’s tourism businesses or residents could function without splash pads, indoor swimming pools, artificial turf, etc. If 114 years of Branson history is any indication, all of them.

Great Britain was determined to end the revolution by the summer of 1777. Their strategy was to sever New England from the other colonies by converging three armies in Albany, New York.

Sarah Hession’s “My Last Goodbye” touched his heart and speaks gently from the heart of a departing soul...

A forty-two-minute takeoff delay from Newark Liberty International because of ground congestion threw the hijackers’ coordination and schedule out of whack.

As the Ole Seagull understands the definition of “seedy,” absolutely! Even though it’s only one man’s opinion, Webster defines “seedy” as “not respectable or decent; dishonest.” To an Ole Seagull, that perfectly describes what happened in Ward III during the April 2026 election. It’s about how, in an Ole Seagull’s opinion, one of the finest Aldermen ever to sit on the Branson Board of Aldermen (the “Board”), Ralph LeBlanc, was “swept” out of office. One who, not a few month

Under Missouri’s open meeting laws, in most cases, closing a session is permitted, never mandated.

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

There was nothing of a gift about it, nor any polite concession. The government had to be made to cede the right to vote; for over a hundred years it was of the mind that women had no place at the ballot box. One could be tempted to think of the Nineteenth Amendment as having been won by some stately parade of women in white. Still, the reality is of an entirely different order. It was a seventy-two-year marathon of petitions and protests, waged with banners, hunger strikes a

It takes one child, unburdened by the fear of looking foolish, to shout what everybody already knew: “He hasn’t got anything on!”

On August 4, 2026, voters in Missouri will make a very important choice about fairness at the ballot box. Amendment 4 asks citizens to change the basic rules for how the state constitution is changed. This debate has created a major tug-of-war between communities outside the heavily populated cities of St. Louis and Kansas City. A tug-of-war that does not seem fair to the rest of the state, since they always win because of their population. Supporters of Amendment 4, such a

In terms of Missouri's Amendment 5, elimination of the state income tax, on the August 4 ballot, it would be easy at first blush to take the position, “What’s not to like?” As a rule, the Ole Seagull believes that a retail sales tax is fairer than an income tax because just about everyone pays it, has some skin in the game, and the amount they pay is in accordance with the amount of and how they chose to spend their money. In buying a car one can choose to buy a vehicle tha

It all started with a major shift on July 2, 1962. Sam Walton was opening the doors to the first Walmart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas.

You can see it in the empty storefronts of many small-town down towns as you walk by; it is the telltale sign of customers defecting from local merchants to the cheaper wares of big chain brands. Branson’s historic district is a wonderful exception, but in many other small towns the trend is plain to see. In some ways, it is a modern ailment, but historically, one familiar to Americans who knew economic fear during the Great Depression. That is why, on June 19, 1936, FDR si

Every day, our Soldiers pay the price of war and do their duty. And what a price it is, a price not only in lives lost but bodies, lives and families maimed forever, both physically and mentally.

At the April 24, 2026, meeting, the Board was presented with a cooperative agreement, unanimously approved by the CID Board, for the city to provide services to the CID beyond the basic municipal services that similar businesses and residents in Branson receive, for its approval.