HI LOW CONDITIONS more

Open Letter from MDC Director Jason Sumners on CWD more

Changes will simplify regulations for hunters and help maintain a healthy deer herd. more

INSIDE TODAY’S ISSUE more

Isaiah J. Benedict more

The Humansville, Missouri community is coming together to honor the life and legacy of Michael Mason, the chief of police, who dedicated nearly eight years to serving others in law enforcement before he suddenly passed this week. A GoFundMe was set up to help his family with funeral costs, as well as to support the 12-year-old son he leaves behind. more

The Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) has accepted a new management proposal for the Hermitage License Office. The contract has been awarded to Hickory County License Bureau, Inc. more

The Bolivar Herald-Free Press invites residents to send their engagement, wedding, baby, and other milestone announcements. more

Curtis P. Schreiber, M.D., a board-certified neurologist and dementia specialist with the Missouri Memory Center at Citizens Memorial Hospital (CMH) in Bolivar, recently attended the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference in San Diego. While there, Dr. Schreiber presented information from studies conducted at the Missouri Memory Center and the CMH Research Department. more

Nonresident hunters will only be allowed one bird, nonresident landowners will still have a harvest limit of two bearded birds, and youth hunters can harvest a second bird earlier. more

Jefferson City – The ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court against the State of Missouri and Secretary of State for violating Missourians’ right to referendum by enacting the congressional maps in House Bill 1 before voters have the opportunity to approve or reject the measure as provided by the state constitution. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of two Jackson County residents who are registered voters, seeks to suspend House Bill 1 and prevent state election authorities from using the new maps until the referendum process is complete. more

All the way back in 2009, director James Cameron introduced the world to the planet Pandora and the Na’vi race in “Avatar.” The film soon set the record for all-time highest grossing movie at both the domestic and international box offices (it still holds the record for the latter). Sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” came out in 2022 and made its way onto the top 10 on both lists. Can three years’ worth of inflation help third installment “Fire and Ash” help the franchise reach new heights? I’d be happy if it did. more

There’s a lot of money flying around during the holiday season, and you’ll almost certainly use multi-factor authentication to access a bank account, credit card or the website for your favorite store within the next couple weeks. more

Light the Park Continues: Enjoy the magic and give back more

2024 Bolivar High School graduate Layla Sowells has made district history by becoming the first BHS student to successfully complete the Teaching Pathways Apprenticeship through the Missouri Department of Labor. more

Bolivar Technical College (BTC) is introducing hybrid learning beginning January 2026, bringing a new level of flexibility and innovation to nursing education. more

When a birthday gets rolled up into a holiday snowball more

The New Year is a time of resolutions. It's a time when people commit to making a change in their life. Losing weight, changing jobs, saving money, making money, a new relationship, getting in shape, going back to school, or giving up smoking, are just some of the goals people set for themselves on January 1st. more

Since this weekend’s highest-grossing as-yet-unreviewed theatrical film, 205-minute Indian actioner “Dhurandhar,” is playing on only 377 screens in the entire country, I thought I’d take this opportunity to review something a little more accessible. “Wake Up Dead Man” is the third installment of Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” mystery franchise. Like its predecessor “Glass Onion,” “Wake Up Dead Man” is treating fans to a brief theatrical run to supplement its December 12th Netflix debut.

As with the original “Knives Out” from 2019, the whodunit largely follows a character so likely to be the killer that they start to suspect themselves. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) is the assistant pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude Church in upstate New York, having been assigned there as punishment for punching a rude deacon at his old church. He clashes with head pastor Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) over the church leader’s tendency to verbally browbeat unfamiliar parishioners until they leave. Duplenticy wants people to feel welcome in the church, and he also takes issue with Wicks’ drinking, greed, and general corruption. A rivalry and power struggle develop between the two, and it seems like control of both the church and the souls of Wicks’ inner circle are on the line.

Wicks’ inner circle consists of lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington) and her adopted brother Cy (Daryl McCormack), doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner, sadly making no reference to the actor lending his name to a brand of hot sauce in “Glass Onion”), washed-up sci-fi author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), disabled cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), church groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden… Church, appropriately), and longtime church assistant Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close). These people and Duplenticy are the only ones near the pulpit during a Good Friday service when Wicks is found murdered in a closet off to one side. And the one who went closest to the closet during the service was Duplenticy.

Local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) decides that the case is too bizarre for her department to solve on their own. So she reaches out to an… outside resource. In comes private investigator and franchise face Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). Although Blanc can’t exactly rule out Duplenticy as a suspect, he’s a good enough judge of character to know that the kindhearted redemption-seeker probably didn’t kill Wicks, even if the evidence says otherwise. Still, both Blanc and Duplenticy have a job ahead of them, uncovering layer after layer of secrets involving illegitimate children, a crazed mother, a missing family fortune, more deaths, and a person in a pastoral robe emerging from a sealed mausoleum containing the recently-deceased body of Wicks and the skeletal remains of his grandfather.

Did a Dead Man truly Wake Up in a Christ-like miracle? Devout Duplenticy believes one may have. Atheist Blanc highly doubts it, but then what did happen?

Fans of the “Knives Out” movies (and the similarly-timed Kenneth Branagh Hercule Poirot trilogy) will know to wait patiently for Blanc to unravel the convoluted mystery. For as twisty as these stories are, there’s a loose, but recognizable formula to them. Characters take turns as prime suspects as lies are uncovered and secrets revealed until likely theories are disproven and the solution has to be something else. The solution, at least as it pertains to the “How?” is never apparent from the outset, so it’s up to the audience to just enjoy the ride, usually courtesy of Blanc and his ridiculous Southern charm.

This ride is less fun than the other “Knives Out” movies, with its often-serious looks at faith, betrayal, and forgiveness, and also because it takes Blanc longer than usual to show up. But it’s still fun, and certainly clever enough for me to recommend. “Wake Up Dead Man” may not be the sharpest of the “Knives Out” franchise, but it fits into the drawer just fine.

Grade: B- “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is now available on Netflix. The film is rated PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, strong language, some crude sexual material, and smoking. Its running time is 144 minutes.

Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.

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On Saturday, Dec. 13, 158 kids from Bolivar, Morrisville, Halfway, Fair Play, and Humansville shopped with emergency responders at Bolivar's Walmart during the Bolivar Police Department's annual Shop with a Cop event. more

Monday, Dec. 22 — WG Biscuit and gravy, sausage, cheese omelet, fresh fruit. more

Close your eyes and travel in your mind to a dirty, smelly stable in the city of Bethlehem. more

The Bolivar Herald-Free Press invites residents to send their engagement, wedding, baby, and other milestone announcements. more

The 6A Lee Summit North Lady Broncos galloped to Bolivar to take on the 4A Lady Liberators Tuesday Dec. 16 in basketball action. more