Sunday reads: Celebrating lives and prepping for April elections

Text from our SGF Sunday email newsletter, written by Rance Burger

Good Sunday, Springfield,

Grad School’s Full Ride hamburger left a legacy on Springfield’s restaurant scene, just as Danny Schlink leaves behind an undeniable energy, a sense of hospitality and a care for others. Schlink was 41 when he died on Dec. 22. As told in this extended obituary by Jack McGee, Schlink struggled when he was the one who needed care, but left “in a state of grace.”

A lawsuit against Springfield Public Schools could take months, if not years to resolve, reports Cory Matteson. A mother and daughter are suing over discrimination claims at Cherokee Middle School that include allegations of casual use of racist terms, prevalent harassment and a lack of response from teachers and administrators.

The Springfield City Council will take up some ballot language when it meets Monday night. If approved, voters will have a decision to make about Springfield’s hotel/motel tax, also called an occupancy tax, when they go to the polls in April. Read how the city’s administrator and tourism officials would like to turn a “three-layered cake” into a single 5-percent tax.

Three Missouri State Lady Bears are putting up double-digit scoring averages. Kennedy Taylor, Aniya Thomas and Sydney Wilson are scoring for a team that took a stumble forward rather than a step back, as Lyndal Scranton chronicles in sports.

In this week’s Lives Remembered feature, we celebrate Renaissance woman Cookie Dean. She was a singer, a convincing jewelry seller, a photographer, a rambler, a gambler and a race car driver.

Jeff Kessinger will be back in your inboxes Monday morning to drop the green flag on a new week.

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