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Ozark Police Reporting Ongoing Scame

Police in Ozark are warning residents that scammers are “spoofing” the police department’s phone number.

Authorities say the caller asks for personal information so they can pay an outstanding bond or fine.

Ozark PD says it does not ask people to pay fines over the phone.

This article is provided by Ozarks News – 93.3 KWTO
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Property Tax Law Under Question by Greene County Collector

Greene County Collector Allen Icet says a new law allowing counties to freeze property taxes for senior citizens needs clarification.

Senate Bill 190 allows counties to freeze property taxes for people eligable for social security, own a home, or pay property taxes on a home.

Icet says the bill has no guidelines to determine who is eligible or what happens if property taxes decrease. Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon says the law does not have the details necessary to implement it.

The law is scheduled to go into effect August 28th.

This article is provided by Ozarks News – 93.3 KWTO
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Can Taylor Swift’s ‘Speak Now’ Hold Off Morgan Wallen a Second Week?

The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week (for the upcoming charts dated July 29), the two best-performing artists of 2023 battle again for the top spot, while new sets from a late rapper and a hip-hop star recovering from a near-death experience could make big bows.  

Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (Republic): Taylor Swift is in the midst of a Billboard 200 week for the history books. Not only does her Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) debut at No. 1 with a 2023-best 716,000 units – the highest first-week number since her own Midnights last November – but it’s one of four Swift albums in the chart’s top 10 this week, along with Midnights (No. 5), Lover (No. 7) and Folklore (No. 10). The last living artist who had that many albums in the top 10 at the same time was Herb Alpert, way back in 1966.  

Now, Swift will try to do something she’s yet to do with one of her Taylor’s Version re-recordings: hold at No. 1 for a second straight week. Though both her Fearless and Red redos debuted atop the chart with massive first-week numbers, both were deposed in the next frame: Fearless by YSL’s label showcase Slime Language 2 and Red by Adele’s much-anticipated 30. (Fearless did return for a second week on top months later, following its release on vinyl and signed CD.)  

Swift’s primary competition will be – of course – Morgan Wallen, still at No. 2 with his 15-week chart-topper One Thing at a Time. The album continues to post weekly units in the six digits, and will likely have the streaming advantage over Swift with its 36 tracks (including the long-reigning Streaming Songs No. 1, “Last Night.”), as Swift’s massive first-week sales numbers take the usual second-week drop. However, Swift is following her biggest Taylor’s Version debut yet, and a second week even 15% as strong as her first week would still have been enough to get past Wallen’s most recent One Thing total.  

IN THE MIX 

King Von, Grandson (Only the Family/Empire): Chicago rapper King Von only released one album during his lifetime, 2020’s No. 5-peaking Welcome to O’Block, but he was well on his way to hip-hop stardom when he was shot to death that November. He’s already released one posthumous album with 2022’s No. 2-debuting What It Means to Be King, and he may hit the top 10 a third time with last Friday’s (July 14) Grandson, featuring guest appearances from hitmakers like Polo G, Lil Durk and Moneybagg Yo. 

Lil Tjay, 222 (Columbia): New York rapper Lil Tjay’s promising career was derailed in June 2022 when he was shot multiple times during an attempted robbery. He survived the shooting, and on Friday released his first album since getting out of the hospital, 222. The album includes features from Summer Walker, The Kid LAROI, YoungBoy Never Broke Again and more, plus the first-person narrative “June 22,” named after the day of his ‘22 shooting.  

Lauren Spencer-Smith, Mirror (Republic): The early-2022 viral breakout of teenage singer-songwriter (and former American Idol contestant) Lauren Spencer-Smith‘s heartbreak ballad “Fingers Crossed” earned her Olivia Rodrigo comparisons, and a deal with Republic Records. Subsequent singles haven’t fared as well, but Smith hopes to make good on that early promise with debut album Mirror – which she released on Friday as a “Fan Pack” (with vinyl and a shirt), as a boxed set (CD and shirt) and as a signed CD. 

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Kelsea Ballerini to Screen & Discuss ‘Rolling Up the Welcome Mat’ Short Film (Exclusive)

On Feb. 14, Kelsea Ballerini released a salve for the brokenhearted via her surprise EP and short film release, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, which chronicled the complex emotions circling the dissolution of her previous marriage and the intense public scrutiny that surrounded it. Music fans fell hard for the project’s unvarnished vulnerability and cathartic songs, singing them back boldly to Ballerini during every subsequent concert she performed.

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Rolling Up the Welcome Mat followed swiftly on the heels of Ballerini’s previous project, Subject to Change, which fueled her current Billboard Country Airplay chart hit “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too).” But according to Ballerini in a press release, “There’s never been a moment to stop and talk about what the response to Welcome Mat has meant to me. Everything moved so fast after the release, and I never really got to just be in the moment with this film, these songs – but I heard you all loud and clear every night onstage, I promise! So, while Subject to Change was out there doing everything it’s supposed to do, you supported me with this project that I needed to make for me in that moment. I can’t thank you enough.”

Ballerini will soon open up about the short film and project directly with fans, when she hosts three intimate conversations and screenings for her short film Rolling Up the Welcome Mat in August.

The trio of events launches Aug. 1 at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where she will screen the short film that she wrote and directed. Ballerini will take fans behind the scenes, through her vision and process of crafting the film. She will also discuss the writing and recording process for her Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP, from the incisive opening track “Mountain With a View” to the clean-slated denouement “Leave Me Again.”

From there, Ballerini will host another screening/discussion at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame on Aug. 8, followed by a final screening/conversation at New York City’s Whitby Theater on Aug. 10.

The events will lead up to Ballerini’s Today show Citi Concert Series performance on Aug. 11 at Rockefeller Center, where she will sing her current country radio single, “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too),” as well as select songs from Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.

“Sometimes I write songs to figure out where I am, how I feel,” Ballerini, who just closed a sold-out headlining run as well as being the sole support on Kenny Chesney’s 2023 tour, continued in her statement. “I write to honor my feelings and get them out because that’s the purest way I know how. The purpose of this EP and short film was to release those very naked, honest feelings in hopes anyone feeling similar highs and lows would have a few songs to feel not alone to. Every step of this Rolling Up the Welcome Mat chapter has been a new experience, which you helped make feel not scary by being alongside me every step. Now, I need to move on now – and maybe you do, too – but before we do, these three events are all about being in one space, together, sharing all of it. I want to bring you deeper into how it all came to be and why you’re such an important piece of all of this. I want to say ‘thank you’ so, if you’re in Los Angeles, New York or Nashville, please come join me.”

Tickets will be available beginning July 20 on her website.

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Watch Harry Styles Join the Circus & Dress In Bird Cosplay for ‘Daylight’ Music Video

The sun is shining on Harry Styles fans. At high noon ET Wednesday (July 19), the Grammy winner dropped the music video for his latest Harry’s House single, “Daylight.”

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In the Tanu Muino-directed video, Styles walks through circus grounds, interacting with acrobats, stilt-walkers and clowns in between demonstrations of his impressive weight-lifting, horseback-riding and tightrope-walking skills. At one point, he takes the form of a magnificent yellow bird, flying through the sky in a feathered leotard after being shot out of a giant cannon.

If this news is causing a bit of déjà vu, don’t be alarmed: Styles did in fact already make a music video for “Daylight,” although the most recent take is probably a bigger budget project than the first. Last year, the pop star teamed up with James Corden to make a “Daylight” video in three hours with just $300, using a random apartment of unsuspecting fans as the set.

“I can’t stress this enough: This was all James’ idea,” the Dunkirk actor joked behind the scenes of the May 2022 Corden-directed project. “I was in a Christopher Nolan movie. Should we just scrap it? Is it too late to just do a ‘Carpool Karaoke?’”

The new and improved version of “Daylight” follows music videos for “As It Was,” “Late Night Talking,” “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” and, most recently, “Satellite.” All five of the tracks hail from Styles’ third studio album, Harry’s House, which arrived in May 2022 and debuted atop the Billboard 200.

Styles is currently on the cusp of finishing his Love on Tour trek following a near two-year run starting in September 2021. He has just one show left on the schedule: Saturday (July 22) in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

Watch the “Daylight” music video above.

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Fan Army Face-Off Enters Round 3: Vote for Your Favorite Artist Now to Determine the Quarterfinals

The Billboard Fan Army Face-Off is now in full swing.

Billboard’s annual Fan Army showdown sees 64 artists’ fan armies enter the battle fray to find out – whose fan base is strongest? It kicked off July 5, and on July 12 at noon ET, 32 fan armies emerged victorious after millions of fan votes to compete in Round 2. Round 2 has been the tightest one yet — multiple match-ups remained too close to call the entire morning of Wednesday, July 19, with several of them down-to-the-wire right up until noon ET. But with all the votes in, 16 fan armies emerged victorious for Round 3, which runs through July 26 and closes at noon ET, at which point the Fan Army Face-Off enters the Quarterfinals.

Last year was a closely watched showdown, and each fan army deserves a huge shout-out for keeping us guessing. But in the end, only one can win, and for 2022, the winner of the Billboard Fan Army Face-Off was Stray Kids, with STAY pulling out the win on Tuesday, July 19. Past Fan Army Face-Off winners include Super Junior’s E.L.F (victorious twice), T-ara’s Queens (victorious three times) and BIGBANG’s VIPs.

Who will the winner be? This year’s competitors include fan armies who support luminaries in pop, hip-hop, K-pop, country, R&B, rock, dance and more. Some of these icons have been around for decades, changing the game and shifting the direction of culture, while others are newcomers, helping push music in bold new directions. More than a handful of them have graced the cover of Billboard magazine (some more than once), and numerous artists here have topped the Billboard Hot 100.

Check out the 2023 Fan Army Face-Off below – and get voting to make sure your favorite artist wins.

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Sheryl Crow Slams Jason Aldean Over Controversial Song ‘Try That In a Small Town’: ‘It’s Just Lame’

Sheryl Crow has weighed-in on Jason Aldean‘s controversial song and video for “Try That In a Small Town,” suggesting that the country singer ought to know better.

The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame-inducted artist pulls no punches with a social post, in which she insinuates that Aldean is out of step with the public mood, that its lyrics are “promoting violence,” and she tags his own account to ensure the message gets through.

“I’m from a small town,” she writes, responding to a viral post from Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts. “Even people in small towns are sick of violence. There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting. This is not American or small town-like. It’s just lame.”

The lyrical content and its official music video has triggered a firestorm on social media. Many commentators have called out the song for glorifying violent behavior, others have pointed out that the country singer was on stage at the Route 91 mass shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017 – something Crow addresses in her own message.

The controversy around “Try That In a Small Town” ratcheted up several notches when CMT yanked the music video from rotation on Tuesday (July 18).

Aldean posted a lengthy message to his Instagram Stories to further explain the song and its video. “I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject too the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous,” he began, adding that the lyrics don’t reference race or point to it, and that all the news footage he used was real.

Aldean also referenced being on stage at Route 91, the site of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, where a gunman fired on concertgoers, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413. ”NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart. … ‘Try That In A Small Town,’ for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief.” His statement did not address CMT’s decision to pull the clip.

The music video, which has clocked 673,000 views on YouTube since it dropped last Friday (July 14), features Aldean performing in front of courthouse with an American flag hanging from the entrance. The performance is interspersed with footage of a flag burning, protesters screaming and attacking police in various scenarios, and robbing a convenience store.

Written by Kelly Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison, the single debuted on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart eight weeks ago and rises 26-25 for the chart dated July 22, and is set to appear on the artist’s forthcoming album.

Crow’s post is below in full.

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Dickerson Park Euthanize Giraffe

The Dickerson Park Zoo had to euthanize a giraffe.

Gidget was the matriarch of giraffe herd at the zoo.

The giraffe was suffering from arthritis and was unable to move.

The giraffe was brought to the Dickerson Park Zoo from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 1993.

This article is provided by Ozarks News – 93.3 KWTO
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Rauw Alejandro Nabs Sixth Straight Top 10 on Top Latin Albums As ‘Playa Saturno’ Arrives

Rauw Alejandro’s Playa Saturno album blasts in at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart (dated July 22), his sixth straight top 10 which encompasses all of his charting efforts.

Playa Saturno, the Puerto Rican’s fourth-studio album, is the follow-up to his retro-futuristic No. 2-peaking Saturno, released in Nov. 2022; Saturno holds solidly on the tally at No. 15 in its 35th week.

Playa dropped via Duars/Sony Music Latin on July 7, the first day of the chart’s tracking week. According to Luminate, it launches with a little over 21,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. during its first week of activity ending July 13.

As with Rauw’s preceding three studio efforts, streaming fuels nearly all the set’s opening sum. The 21,000 streaming-equivalent album units equals to 27.5 million official on-demand clicks for the songs on the album, while the remaining balance is a negligible sum comprising album sales and track-equivalent album units.

Playa’s 27.5 million official on-demand streams improves on Rauw’s streaming performance as Saturno registered 25.6 million official streams in its first week. Among his chart entrances, including the No. 6-peaking Track Cake, Vol. 2 EP, the two-week album champ Vice Versa, continues to lead with 29.1 million U.S. clicks during its debut week (July 2021).

As mentioned, Rauw collects his sixth straight top 10 album, dating back to his maiden visit, Concierto Virtual En Tiempos de Covid-19, which reached No. 10 in Sept. 2020.

Further, Rauw’s four studio albums simultaneously rank in the top 30 on Top Latin Albums (Playa at No. 4, Saturno at No. 15, Vice Versa at No. 19, and Afrodisiáco at No. 29), the second-most among Latin rhythm artists after Bad Bunny, who’s placed as many as six top 30 albums throughout different chart weeks.

Playa’s entrance extends to the airplay, digital sales, and streaming data-fused Hot Latin Songs chart, where three songs from the album debut: “Picardía,” with Junior H, at No. 42; “Cuando Baje El Sol” at No. 45; and “Al Callao’” at No. 48. Plus, the album was preceded by one track: “Baby Hello,” with Bizarrap, which rises to its No. 32 high on the current tally.

Beyond its top five launch on Top Latin Albums, Playa Saturno also makes its way to two other albums charts: a No. 3 bow on Latin Rhythm Albums, and No. 29 start on the all-genres Billboard 200.

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Six60, The Beths Lead Nominees For 2023 Rolling Stone Aotearoa Awards

Stadium rockers Six60, indie band the Beths, and multi-instrumentalist Fazerdaze (real name: Amelia Murray) are multiple nominees for the second annual Rolling Stone Aotearoa Awards, which celebrates New Zealand’s finest.

Also, there are multiple chances for Princess Chelsea, COTERIE, TE KAAHU, and the L.A.B., the reggae band which is up for best single (“Take It Away”) and the Rolling Stone Global Award.

Four categories will be presented on the night, for best record, best single, best new artist, and the RS Global Award, which is judged by the music title’s global team to acknowledge the Kiwi artist “they just can’t get enough of,” reads a statement.

“Royals” star Lorde was crowned with the inaugural Global Award in 2022. This year’s shortlist includes the Beths, Unknown Mortal Orchestra (UMO), Six60, Bic Runga, BENEE, Mitch James, MELODOWNZ. Kiwi stars Marlon Williams and Stan Walker are also in the running for RS honors.

“After the hugely successful launch of the Panhead Rolling Stone Aotearoa Awards last year, we can’t wait to do it all again this year and join with the music industry to celebrate the diverse and unique music scene in New Zealand,” comments Rolling Stone New Zealand editor-in-chief, Poppy Reid. “Once again we’ve been treated to a year of New Zealand talent competing on the global stage.”

Brewery Panhead returns as headline sponsor for the awards, set for Sept. 20 at St Matthew-In-The-City in Auckland.

Rolling Stone AU/NZ is published by Sydney-based The Brag Media, whose portfolio of titles includes Tone Deaf, The Music Network, and Variety.

2023 Panhead Rolling Stone Aotearoa Awards nominees:

BEST RECORD
Princess Chelsea – Everything Is Going To Be Alright
COTERIE – Coterie
Six60 – Castle St
The Beths – Expert In A Dying Field
TE KAAHU – Te Kaahu O Rangi
Marlon Williams – My Boy
Fazerdaze – Break!
Stan Walker – All In

BEST SINGLE
Daily J ft. Boo Seeka – ‘Lost In Time’
lilbubblegum – ‘af1’
Princess Chelsea – ‘Forever Is A Charm’
SXMPRA feat. Ski Mask the Slump God – ‘COWBELL WARRIORS!’
Tami Neilson – ‘Beyond The Stars’ ft Willie Nelson
L.A.B. – ‘Take It Away’
Kaylee Bell – ‘Boots N All’
Fazerdaze – ‘Break!’

BEST NEW ARTIST
Georgia Lines
Hanbee
COTERIE
TE KAAHU
Luca George
Teo Glacier
33 Below
NO CIGAR

ROLLING STONE GLOBAL AWARD
The Beths
UMO
Six60
Bic Runga
BENEE
Mitch James
MELODOWNZ
L.A.B.