Application deadline approaching for Soroptimist International Live Your Dream Awards

(From Soroptimist International of Joplin)

The application deadline for the Soroptimist International of Joplin Live Your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women® is November 15, 2026.

The Soroptimist Live Your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women® provides women who serve as the primary wage earners for their families with the financial resources to offset the costs of pursuing higher education or additional skills. Most award recipients are single mothers or domestic abuse survivors.

Recipients can use the award for tuition, books, childcare, carfare, or any other education-related expense. Each year, over $2.8 million is provided in cash grants to women in need. Since the program’s inception in 1972, more than $35 million has helped tens of thousands of women achieve their dreams of a better life for themselves and their families—leading to stronger communities, nations, and the world.

The Live Your Dream Award® starts at the club level, where award amounts vary (minimum $1,000). Club-level recipients then become eligible for region-level awards granted in each of Soroptimist’s 29 regions. The first-place region recipients then become candidates for one of three $10,000 finalist awards.
Applications are available at www.joplinsoroptimist.org/awards, or by contacting Kristine Gustafson, Live Your Dream Award® Chair at 417.624.5500 ext.118, or at kristine@joplinclinic.org. Deadline is Sunday, November 15, 2025, and applicants must include written statements from two references.

Soroptimist International of Joplin is part of Soroptimist International of the Americas, a global volunteer organization that provides women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. The Soroptimist Live Your Dream Awards® is the signature project of Soroptimist International of the Americas. Soroptimist, a 501(c)(3) organization that relies on charitable donations to support its programs, also powers LiveYourDream.org—an online community offering offline volunteer opportunities in support of women and girls.

For more information about how Soroptimist improves the lives of women and girls, visit www.soroptimist.org, www.joplinsoroptimist.org, or www.facebook.com/SIJoplin.

Newton County Sheriff's Office Arrests

10/27/2026 1126 RYAN EDWARD MAGG

4968 Dolphin Dr

NEWTON COUNTY, MO 64804

WM 32

240 N. ADAMS AVE 250.00

2 `DRIVING WHILE REVOKED/SUSPENDED - 1ST OFFENSE

3 `OWNER OPERATE MV WITHOUT MAINTAINING FIN. RESPONS.-1ST OFF

1 DALLAS COUNTY: FAILURE TO APPEAR - FISHING WITHOUT PERMIT

10/27/2026 1652 JUAN A

SANDOVAL-GRAMAJO

1838 Ira Lane

GRANBY, MO 64844

WM 68

123 E MAIN ST 0.00

1 DOMESTIC ASSAULT - 2ND DEGREE

2 ABUSE OF ELDERLY, DISABLED OR VUNERABLE PERSON 

Three Aurora residents seriously injured in head-on collision on 39

Three Aurora residents were injured in a two-vehicle collision 3:34 p.m. Tuesday on MO 39 a half mile south of Mount Vernon.

According to the Highway Patrol report, a 2017 Toyota Highlander driven by a 35-year-old Ash Grove woman crossed the center line and struck a 2016 Honda Pilot driven by a 37-year-old Aurora man head on.

The Aurora man and a passenger in his vehicle, a 31-year-old Aurora woman, were treated for serious injuries at Cox South Hospital, Springfield.

Another passenger in the vehicle, a 63-year-old Aurora woman, was treated for serous injuries at Mercy Springfield. 

Highway Patrol Arrests October 26-28

Axel Y. Santiago Garcia, 21, Carthage, driving while intoxicated, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway, no driver's license

Taunya L. Diep, 49, Savanna, Illinois, Neosho Police Department misdemeanor warrants for failure to appear on driving under the influence, failure to register motor vehicle, no valid license, no insurance and failed to signal, passenger failed to wear seat belt

Larry D. Battieste, 26, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, driving while intoxicated (drugs)

 

Crowder Quill contest turns emphasis toward writing, digital arts

(From Crowder College)

The Crowder Quill, Crowder College’s literary-art magazine, is now accepting entries with revamped contest categories emphasizing digital art.

As the course that produces the Quill transitions into the Career and Creative Writing certificate at Crowder, 2D and 3D Art categories will be discontinued in order to align with curriculum, create more space for writing, and digital visual arts streamlined into one category: Digital Art.

"Artists working in traditional 2D and 3D are encouraged to enter the Digital Art category by adapting their work and exploring new creative skillsets," stated Latonia Bailey, Quill Adviser. For example, artists can scan a painting into editing software to add finishing touches.

Digital Art also includes computer-generated artwork and heavily edited photographs that use special effects. Examples include graphic designs created in Adobe Illustrator and creative photo edits made in Photoshop. For more information, read “Contest Opens with Altered Categories” at CrowderQuill.com.

Starting with the 2026-27 contest, the Quill will accept entries in six categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, color photography, black-and-white photography, and digital art.

“This move to a new program allows the magazine to continue its 45-year tradition of supporting and celebrating creativity at Crowder College and in the surrounding community,” Bailey said.

Entries should be submitted digitally through the online portal at www.CrowderQuill.com under the “To Enter Contest” tab. Participants may submit up to four entries per category by the Feb. 1 deadline. Full guidelines and details are available on the website.

The contest is open to Crowder College students, area high school students, and community members. High school entrants are also eligible to win a $500 scholarship for top placement in each category.

Entries are eligible from within a 100-mile radius of any Crowder College campus. The Crowder Quill is a nationally award-winning publication.

Winners will be notified by mid-March with the publication available in May. The magazine is distributed free on campus, throughout the community, and online.

Begun in 1980, the Crowder Quill is a free literary/art magazine published at Crowder College in order to encourage and showcase the creative abilities of local writers, artists, and photographers, as well as provide a cultural link between Crowder College and our surrounding communities.

The Crowder Quill course is produced by students in COMM 215 Publication and Production in which students gain hands-on experience in publication production and promotion, content selection, professional design, and editing as well as self-publication.

For more information, contact the program coordinator/instructor: LatoniaBailey@Crowder.edu.

 

Crowder College Foundation schedules 24th annual Festival of Wreaths

(From Crowder College)

Crowder College Foundation 24th annual Festival of Wreaths takes place Tuesday, November 10th. The event begins at 5 pm with a silent auction in Longwell Museum located inside the Elsie Plaster Community Center on the Neosho campus. A live auction will begin at 6:30 pm in the auditorium. Last year’s event raised over $103,000 for scholarships & program support.

Now in its 24th year, the event has grown into an electronically integrated silent auction of nearly 300 items as well as a live auction of 20 plus items. While holiday wreaths and décor will always be a mainstay of Festival of Wreaths, auction merchandise at the event includes everything from gift baskets and apparel to gift certificates, electronics, and household items. Guests will see items that range in value from $20 to several thousand dollars and everything in between.

Changes that will continue to be implemented include in-person and online bidding on silent auction items as in past years. This year guests are asked to register for the event, even though it is still free to attend. Registration may be done at: onecau.se/fow26

Raffle tickets for a winner’s choice of one of three items: Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones valued at $359, Blackstone 28 Inch Omnivore Griddle with Hood valued at $369, and a Segway Pro Electric Scooter valued at $350! Tickets are available for $5 each or 5 for $20. Drawing will be held the night of the event. Tickets available at onecau.se/fow2026

Notable live auction items this year include authentic Persian rugs donated to the college through a family estate, beautiful diamond earrings & necklace set, custom furniture by Jack Divine, Chiefs tickets, and a Doug Hall print – along with many more fantastic items.

Bidding on live auction items may be done via proxy bid. Proxy bids must be established by noon on Monday, November 9, by calling 417.455.5646.

 

MSSU, Ozark Center partnership to help athletes handle stress featured on Newsmakers

(From KGCS)

Athletes are routinely under pressure to perform in their sport. But they also face the stresses of student life such as paying for school, classwork and grades, and life away from home. Missouri Southern State University and Ozark Center have developed a partnership bringing a performance coach physician and therapist to campus and that is the focus of the next Newsmakers.

Ozark Center Chief Executive Officer Vicky Mieseler and MSSU Athletic Director Rob Mallory explain how the program has embedded Performance Coach Dr. Brett Miller and Performance Therapist Morgan Cristy into the athletics department so students see them as part of the regular training team. Coach Atiba Bradley shares how the program is opening up conversations about the anxiety and stress athletes feel and the importance of caring for one’s mental wellness. 

Newsmakers is airing nightly at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. the week of November 1st on KGCS-TV and will air at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, November 7th on KOAM-TV. It is also posted on the station’s YouTube channel: KGCS – Missouri Southern State University.

KGCS-TV programming can be seen on channel 21 and is also available on regional cable television systems such as Sparklight, Mediacom and Suddenlink Communications. The station operates as a service of the Department of Communication at Missouri Southern State University.