Butler license office working through phone, internet issues

Office Closure Update

The Butler license office is currently still without internet and phone service. Our service ticket from Friday was closed due to a reported area outage; however, this did not account for a line that was accidentally cut. We are actively working with the provider to resolve the issue.

At this time, we will need to close the office again today, as we are unable to process transactions without internet access.

Nearby offices that are open today include Harrisonville, Belton, Clinton, and Nevada.

We will continue to provide updates here as new information becomes available. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

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Adrian Chamber presents special recognition to local businesses

Please help us in congratulating the Adrian Chamber of Commerce Award winners!! We appreciate all that you have contributed to the Adrian Community

Lifetime Achievement: Ed Horner

Business of the Year -Continuing the Vision: Be The Light Flowers & Coffee. Katrina and Wade Cumpton

Person of the Year: Cindy Kendrick

Business of the Year:

Ranch of Hope: Tammy Stone & Diane Olsen

Willow Creek: Christian & Ronnie Dennison

Four Seasons of Adrian: Emily Ledesma, Samuel Ledesma, Matt Wilkin, Jen Wilkin

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Discover Nature: Mushrooms

Discover nature this week with Missouri's mushroom. Late March and April showers bring… mushrooms? Yep!

Showers and warm nights make morels grow and send folks to their favorite mushroom-hunting spots.

In late spring, watch for morels growing on the ground. The top or cap looks something like a sponge, with a shape like a tiny Christmas tree. The stem is thick, and when sliced, the whole mushroom is hollow. Three species are commonly found in our area, so morels will vary in color from gray to tan or yellow. They come in a variety of sizes, but most average three to four inches tall.

Like all mushrooms, morels are a fungus; and the part we pick is basically just the fruit. The main structure grows underground, which is a net of fibers that lives on decaying leaves and wood.

And the crazy thing is, morels seem to pop up overnight! They usually grow in 24 to 48 hours. Look for them in moist woods, river bottoms, and on south-facing slopes every few days or so. They’re often found near dead elm trees, in old orchards or burned areas.

But as with any wild edible, be sure you can identify morels before eating them. Either tag along behind an experienced morel hunter or take a good reference book along on your hunt. And please, if you’re not 100% positive of the ID, don’t eat it! It’s like what my mom says when I call her to ask about long-lost leftovers I discover in my fridge: “When in doubt, throw it out!”

Here’s a few quick How-to’s for MUSHROOM HUNTING

• Look for them from early spring (morels) to late fall (oysters and lion’s mane).

• Morels have a short, specific growing season of just several weeks in spring, while oyster mushrooms can be found from spring clear through to the beginning of winter

• There is no test to determine edible versus poisonous mushrooms. Even seeing evidence of animals eating them won’t work here. The only sure-fire way to tell if a mushroom is edible is by positive identification.

More information about morels and mushroom hunting in Missouri can be found online at missouriconservation.org.

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Montrose Senior Spotlight Ruby Logemann

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Obituary - Irma Francis

Ima Jean Francis, 97, Nevada, MO passed away on Thursday, March 19, 2026 at Moore-Few Care Center in Nevada.  Jean was born on March 4, 1929 in Walker, MO to Frederick and Ruby (Palmer) Roof.  She was united in marriage to Donald H. Goins in 1947 and he preceded her in death in 1969.  She was later married to Roger Craig in 1972 and they divorced in 1984 but remained close friends.  In 1985 she married Glenn Francis and he preceded her in death in 2018.

    Jean was raised in Walker and graduated from Walker High School in 1947.  She was a farmer’s wife, helping to raise meat rabbits, poultry and always grew a big garden.  Jean worked for 27 ½ years for the State of Missouri; first in Marshall, MO and later transferred to the Higginsville State Hospital.  In 1968 she came to work at the Nevada State Hospital and continued there until her retirement in 1991.  Following retirement, she and Glenn enjoyed traveling with their camper and making new friends along the way.  She also made and sold porcelain dolls.  She enjoyed babysitting, spoiling the great-grandchildren, and going to garage sales and auctions.

    Jean is survived by her son, Don Goins (Diane), Walker, MO; grandson, Dustin Goins, Osage Beach, MO; great-grandchildren, Bryce Goins and Paige Goins, both of Osage Beach; and a niece, Cindy Spencer, Nevada, MO.    In addition to her husbands, she was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Ernie Roof; two sisters, Ida Lee Spencer and Peggy Butler; two brothers-in-law, Kendall Spencer and Elwyn Butler; and grandson, Jeremy Goins.

     Graveside services will be held at 11:00a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Dederick , MO with Ray Dean Scism officiating.   The family will receive friends from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening at the funeral home.

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Obituary - Alice Goddard

Alice Virginia "Ginger" Goddard, 84, has joined her husband of 67 years, Alva Goddard, on the other side. There to meet her, too, are her parents, Alice and Earnest Buck, with brother, JB Buck.

Ginger dearly loved, and is survived by, her children: Annette Goddard (Keith), Shelly Sensing (Andy), and Ed Goddard (Sheri). She is also survived by her sisters: Ardell Watts and Verla Riley; as well as, her 7 grandchildren and spouses; 11 great grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

Ginger lived most of her life in Archie, MO, briefly in Harrisonville, MO, and her final years in Ashland City, TN, with Shelly and Andy. Anyone who remotely knows Ginger knows how much she loved her Iris Gardens. She spent many happy days (and years!) in the sunshine with dirt under her fingernails. Ginger will be remembered for her years of service to the American Legion Auxiliary especially enjoying her time participating in the Missouri Girls State program, and her enjoyment of participating in the garden City choir's Easter cantata for as many years as possible. Having worked many years in the toy department at Walmart, her favorite job was as assistant to her master carpenter husband, Alva.

While we are sad for our loss, we are happy for Ginger's peace and freedom.

There are no services planned but will have a memorial picnic on Oct 3, 2026, at Ed and Sheri's at 1005 Maple Ln in Harrisonville, MO. In lieu of flowers, donations to Suncrest Hospice in Clarksville, TN, are much appreciated. https://lhcgroup.com/foundation/

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Big night for annual Butler Chamber of Commerce banquet

Those who attended the Butler Area Chamber of Commerce banquet on Thursday were treated to a delicious Mexican buffet as well as home made appetizers and some very special desserts courtesy of Butler High School students. Following dinner and a program by Crystal Narr of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, some very special recognition was paid to local businesses including Don LeNeve, seen here with Butler Chamber Executive Director Samantha Stump as he received accolades for 70 years of business as LeNeve's TV & Appliance.

Others honored for years-in-business included Bates County Memorial Hospital, 65 years; West Central MO Community Action Agency, 60 years; Bates County Health Center, 50 years; Corner Hardware, 45 years; The Computer Aisle, 25 years; Crosco Electrical Services and Butler Abstract & Title Co., 20 years; Gail's Graphics, 5 years.

Business of the Year honors went to C&S Graphics, seen below.

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What's Up by LeRoy Cook

Get In Line

Making up for lost time, general aviation airports quickly filled up with airplanes after the warm-up last week. It is the smoke season, however, as burning off of winter residue filled the lower atmosphere with brown haze; Friday morning was particularly soupy, with visibility restricted to five miles or less. 

Visitors noted on the Butler runway were a 1963 Mooney M20C, a Piper Warrior, a Cessna 172 and a Piper Archer from Springfield’s Ozark Tech school fleet. A nice Cirrus SR22 was over St. Louis and a Beech Bonanza A36 out of Nebraska visited.

Local trip-takers were Randy Miller and Gerald Bauer, each flying the Cessna Skyhawk, Jim Ferguson giving rides in his Cessna Skylane, Layne Anderson in his Darter Commander, Jerold and Steve Koehn in their Cessna 172 and yore faithful scribe in the 1946 Aeronca. Jeremie Platt made a family trip in his Grumman Tiger and Christian Tucker did a couple of sorties in the Mooney M20C.

On the regional and national scene, Sen. Cornyn of Texas has introduced a bill in Washington to forbid politicians from dodging the TSA checkout lanes when riding the airlines. Under his proposal, they would have to wait in queue with the rest of the rabble, rather than getting favored treatment as they do now. Sounds reasonable, and it might encourage budgetary action. Meanwhile, Elon Musk is offering to pay the TSA screeners who are having to work without compensation while Homeland Security funding is shut off. Better than putting out tip jars for the baggage checkers. 

Everybody is asking how the Iran War is affecting the price of aviation fuel, which is rising like other petroleum products as the price of crude oil surges. As of last weekend, 100-octane low lead gas is averaging $6.50 per gallon nationally, up from around $5, with Jet-A at $6.85. If you want to fill your jet with “sustainable” biofuel, it’ll cost you $9.31 a gallon to fly green. 

Atlanta, GA’s DeKalb-Peachtree airport is going to impose landing fees on transient airplanes as of April 1, collected by contract toll-taker Vector Services. Aimed initially at airplanes weighing over 9,000 pounds, the county will collect $4 per thousand pounds, $6 for those over 20,000 pounds. KPDK is the second busiest airport in Georgia, after Hartsfield International, with 230,000 movements annually. Historically, these fee schemes are only money makers for the slick-talking sales people, and will discourage visitors to the area. 

One of the USAF’s not-so-stealthy F-35 multi-role fighter jets took anti-aircraft fire last Thursday and had to divert to an undisclosed location, where the plane and pilot are undergoing repairs. So much for the announced air superiority over Iran. We are grateful that the pilot didn’t have to eject over hostile territory, or worse.

Reader Rodney Rom cracked the code for last week’s brain-teaser question, wherein we wanted to know if Piper Aircraft had ever built a jet airplane. Yes, back in the early 2000’s during the light-jet craze, Piper built a one-off prototype with a single fanjet stuck midway up in the tailfin, like a miniature DC-10. The canted thrustline was tricky to engineer and it was abandoned in 2011. For next week, our question is “what brand of engine is used to power the Sonex series of kit airplanes, made in Oshkosh, Wisconsin?” You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.

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