Ophelia’s Sets the Table for ReturnWine and tapas bar Ophelia’s plans a return to Springfield after a two-year hiatus. The new location will be on the ground floor of the Seville Lofts at 216 E. Walnut, next to Gailey’s Café, according to Tom Muetzel and Anne Kim, who have partnered to get the restaurant back up and running. Muetzel, who owns Finnegan’s Wake Irish Pub, originally owned Ophelia’s before it closed, and Kim was the general manager. The Seville Lofts location is smaller than the original spot but is “a little bit more intimate,” according to the release. Kim said in an e-mail the restaurant would reopen in a few weeks, but she did not give a specific date. Ophelia’s Tapas & Wine Bar first opened Nov. 24, 2007, at 431 S. Jefferson Ave.
Great Southern Travels OnGreat Southern Travel last week closed on its acquisition of Pathfinder Travel and Cruises in Olathe, Kan. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Pathfinder Travel and Cruises’ former owner John Craig will remain with Great Southern Travel as the Olathe office manager at 2111 E. 151st St., according to a Great Southern Travel news release. Two travel consultants also will continue in their current positions with the company, which serves both leisure and corporate travel, the release said. A division of Great Southern Bank (Nasdaq: GSBC), Springfield-based Great Southern Travel was founded in 1977 and now operates full-service offices in Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas. In May, the travel agency began running the Springfield-Branson National Airport’s online reservation system,
www.flyspringfield.com. The airport pays Great Southern Travel $3,000 a year in an “open-ended contract,” airport officials have said. While Springfield’s is the first online reservation system Great Southern Travel is managing for an airport, officials say the company hopes to secure similar contracts.
On-the-Job DollarsGov. Jay Nixon announced today the U.S. Department of Labor will give a $1.28 million grant to Missouri to help displaced workers by giving them upgraded training. The grant will make it possible for workers to receive on-the-job training, allowing them to jointly receive wages and acquire training, according to a Missouri Department of Economic Development news release. DED’s Division of Workforce Development will administer the grant. The grant is provided through On-the-Job Training National Emergency Grants funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. “On-the-job training programs also offer tremendous returns for employers that commit time and other resources to training and hiring employees,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said in the release.
Slice of NiceSt. John’s Hospital-Lebanon donated $700 to Ozarks Honor Flight, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transporting World War II military veterans to Washington, D.C., to view the memorial and other sites at no cost to the veteran. Seven World War II veterans from Lebanon will receive $100 each from the donation for their upcoming visits to the World War II Memorial in Washington.[[In-content Ad]]
