Hello Branson. My name is AJ Meakins and I am the newest addition to the staff at the Branson Tri-Lakes News.
Last month marked my 20th anniversary in the journalism profession. It’s a little hard to believe.
I’m not much for making New Year’s resolutions. I’m not especially good at keeping them. I’m better at making life changes or keeping promises to myself if I make them at a time when it seems right, not on the date that just happens to start a new year.
OK everyone. We are officially in Christmas season.
I first arrived in the Branson area in 1988. I have been a permanent resident of the Tri-Lakes area since 1992 and a resident of Branson proper since 1998. One thing that has been evident is that Veterans Day is a little different here.
We are better than this.
The general election is a month away.
A high-profile murder case from the Tri-Lakes area was recently featured on a popular Podcast.
You never you know what you’re going to miss until it’s gone. Perfect example, the smell of popcorn at a movie theatre.
A wonderful thing happened on Tuesday, and if you were a part of it, thank you for your participation.
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Well Loyal Reader(s) my time as Entertainment Editor here at the Branson Tri-Lakes News has finally come to an end. Next week I’ll begin pre-show prep for my new career adventure as a radio man, co-hosting a new show on 106.3 KRZK called “The Upside,” along with Russell Willoughby.
White Water and Silver Dollar City. Easily two of my favorite places in Branson.
I’ve hesitated to write anything about the recent protests taking place across the nation, including here in Branson.
Well, this isn’t going to be a normal Memorial Day.
I’ve never been one to act as though I could predict the future. But the state of the current pandemic really has me throwing my hands up in the air even more than usual.
Beautiful. That was the first word that came to mind when I set foot for the first time at Dogwood Canyon Nature Park last Saturday.
I see a lot of posts online thanking this or that workforce, this or that entity, for the effort being put forth during this COVID-19 pandemic.
This is going to be an Easter to remember.
We can’t turn on our televisions without hearing about it, and we can’t walk into stores and see empty shelves without thinking about it – COVID-19, or the coronavirus, is seriously impacting our world.
It is strange sometimes to look around and realize there is – and for many years now has been – essentially no evidence that a tornado ripped through the heart of Branson on leap day 2012.
I saw a post that said since the year 2000, every professional sports franchise that is – or was – in Missouri has won a championship. The Rams in 2000, the Cardinals in 2006 and 2011, the Royals in 2015, the Blues in 2019 and now the Chiefs in 2020.
Winter is a wonderful time of year to be in Branson.
When I decided to study journalism in college, I did so knowing that I wanted to write articles that helped people.
Greetings Branson!
I’ve been putting off writing this goodbye-column for days now, not just because I don’t want to write it (but to be honest that has definitely played a role), but because I have so many things I am wanting to say.
“So long Branson, it was a blast.”
As always, the Tri-Lakes Area remains a terrific place to be on the Fourth of July and its associated weekend.
Shortly after storms hit the Tri-Lakes area on May 29, I was with someone who thought a tornado must of been in the area because a “tornado” siren sounded.
COLUMBIA – Reeds Spring High School sophomore Paige Rantz came into the Class 3 state track and field championships on Saturday with high hopes.
Ah, three-day weekends. We all live for them.
As the newest addition to the staff of the Branson Tri-Lakes News, I wanted to introduce myself to our readers. I will be interning as a staff writer for the paper this summer and am very excited to start this journey as a journalist.
The other day I noticed what looked like little piles of sand on the windowsill above my bathtub. I cleaned them up, but the next day they were back, along with some little worker bugs moving around them. I knew in an instant I had termites. I wasn’t pleased, but I wasn’t apoplectic either.
I was reminded recently that Sunday marked five years since I became the managing editor here at the Branson Tri-Lakes News.
Every generation has its “Where were you when?” moment.
What a long and dreary winter we had here in the Tri-Lakes Area! Thankfully, the days are getting longer and warmer, the birds are chirping and things are finally starting to bloom; Spring, or “selling season,” as I like to call it, is once again upon us!
It’s election time again – and this time, it’s personal.
If you’re familiar with the phrase “for all of us here in the News Room, I’m Tim Church,” then you’re already acquainted to my name or hopefully a few of my stories.
A new year offers an opportunity for new beginnings. That’s true for almost all of us, but it is especially true for a number of newly elected officials in the Taney and Stone counties.
This is the last edition of the Branson Tri-Lakes News for 2018. It’s been a great year in a lot of ways, and – being that this is the news business – a tragic year, too.
It’s that time of year, folks. If you are reading this, and you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping yet, maybe you should get up and go to the store – but only after thoroughly reading your newspaper, of course – and make sure you shop local as much as you can.
I am definitely not average.
It’s full-on Christmas season now.
The time has come for me to say goodbye to the Tri-Lakes Area, but I’m not going too far.
While covering an event Nov. 7, I witnessed something that I had never seen before: Two deer swimming across Table Rock Lake.
If you voted in Taney or Stone county on Nov. 6, pat yourself on the back. You took part in one of the greatest exercises of freedom in history.
On Wednesday I got to see one of the Tri-Lakes Area’s truly great annual events.
Winter is fast-approaching as we enjoy these few weeks of fall weather and the Taney County Road and Bridge department is already preparing for future snowy forecasts.
Halloween is here.
Whether they’re trying to sell us a new insurance plan or congratulating us on winning a free cruise, if you have a cell phone, you’re bound to have experienced some sort of spam call. Well, I got one such call, but it set itself apart from all the rest. You see, this caller stated I had a w…
Friday night might have been a revolutionary one for Branson. If so, it was a quiet coup.
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