Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Branson

Jul 8, 2020

Rise in COVID-19 cases worries tourist destination Branson

A surge in coronavirus cases is proving worrisome in the popular southwestern Missouri tourist destination of Branson.

Jun 29, 2020

Virus cases jump in Branson area after tourists return

A jump in coronavirus cases after many businesses in the Branson area reopened to tourists has health officials concerned.

Virus Outbreak Missouri Tourism
Apr 10, 2020

Missouri tourism industry hopes to rebound after pandemic

Kimmswick Mayor Phil Stang looks out at his empty Missouri town, a tiny, scenic Mississippi River community normally bustling with visitors, and sees the economic ravages of the coronavirus. The artist shops and restaurants are closed, and there’s little chance the popular Strawberry Festival will go on in June. “Now I have no tax income […]

Branson duck boat
Nov 14, 2019

NTSB: Coast Guard ignored duck boat safety proposals

Federal transportation safety investigators criticized the U.S. Coast Guard Wednesday for ignoring suggestions over nearly two decades to improve tourist duck boats, changes they say might have prevented last year’s Missouri accident that killed 17 people. The National Transportation Safety Board released a “Safety Recommendation Report” on the July 2018 accident, when a Ride the [&helli[...]

Sep 20, 2019

‘Weaponized’: Chief Justice Draper excoriates influence of bias on Nonpartisan Court Plan

In his first speech before members of The Missouri Bar, Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice George W. Draper III excoriated what he called the “unprecedented weaponization” of judicial performance evaluations against minority judges. The issue is especially personal for Draper, whose wife, Judy Draper, was not retained as an associate circuit judge for St. Louis […]

Jul 19, 2019

1 year later: An account of the Missouri duck boat sinking

The morning of July 19, 2018, had that feel Midwesterners are familiar with: That still, sticky air hinting a stormy day ahead. The National Weather Service would confirm it when it issued a severe thunderstorm watch for southwest Missouri at 11:24 a.m., stretching until 9 that evening. About five minutes later, a weather monitoring service […]

Jul 19, 2019

1 year later: An account of the Missouri duck boat sinking

The morning of July 19, 2018, had that feel Midwesterners are familiar with: That still, sticky air hinting a stormy day ahead. The National Weather Service would confirm it when it issued a severe thunderstorm watch for southwest Missouri at 11:24 a.m., stretching until 9 that evening. About five minutes later, a weather monitoring service […]

Jul 18, 2019

A year after tragedy, Branson debates future of duck boats

One year after 17 people died when a boat sank on a Missouri lake near the tourist town of Branson, the question of whether the boats should return to the lake remains a topic of debate. Former Branson Mayor Karen Best had to inform the 17 victims’ families that they had died when the boat […]

Jul 18, 2019

A year after tragedy, Branson debates future of duck boats

One year after 17 people died when a boat sank on a Missouri lake near the tourist town of Branson, the question of whether the boats should return to the lake remains a topic of debate. Former Branson Mayor Karen Best had to inform the 17 victims’ families that they had died when the boat […]

Sep 17, 2018

Families of duck-boat victims oppose delay in lawsuits

The families of some of the 17 people who died after a duck boat sank in Table Rock Lake say federal prosecutors might delay their efforts to get answers about the July 19 crash. Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to halt the civil lawsuits related to the sinking near Branson until their criminal investigation […]

Sep 17, 2018

Families of duck-boat victims oppose delay in lawsuits

The families of some of the 17 people who died after a duck boat sank in Table Rock Lake say federal prosecutors might delay their efforts to get answers about the July 19 crash. Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to halt the civil lawsuits related to the sinking near Branson until their criminal investigation […]

Latest Opinion Digests

See all digests

Top stories

See more news