Overheard

Former Drury President John D. Sellars, whose last day with the school was May 31, has accepted the position of president at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. Sellars starts July 15 at Graceland, where he had worked for nine years earlier in his career. Graceland is a nonsectarian liberal arts school affiliated with Community of Christ. Sellars’ three children graduated from Graceland. Sellars announced his resignation from Drury in April after serving there for nearly two years. A committee comprising Drury trustees, faculty members and a student is searching for his replacement; Springfield veteran businessman Todd Parnell is interim president for one year.

In other Drury news, the board of trustees added three members: 1996 graduate Rita Baron of Baron Design & Associates in Springfield; 1964 graduate Rosalie O’Reilly Wooten, a member of the board for Springfield-based O’Reilly Automotive Inc.; and 1965 graduate Jack Delo of Datapage Technologies/Data2 in St. Louis.

Up in Smoke

Longhorn Grill owners Omar and Jill Barron have sold their Nixa restaurant, citing the town’s smoking ordinance. The Barrons plan to open another location on the north side of Springfield this summer. It is expected that the new owners in Nixa will reopen under a different name.

$60M for Health

The Jordan Valley Community Health Center is slated to get $10.6 million to replace its current site and purchase new equipment under a bill that Gov. Matt Blunt signed last week in Springfield. Blunt visited the center, 630 W. Kearney St., to sign a budget bill that will send $60 million to the state’s federally qualified health centers to expand the services they offer to low-income Missourians. In 2006, the state’s community health centers served 307,000 people, according to a news release from Blunt’s office. Blunt earmarked $5 million of the funding for implementing electronic health records systems at the health centers.

State’s $135M Debt Paid

The state of Missouri paid a $135.5 million debt May 25 to the U.S. Department of Labor, saving the state about $2.2 million in interest charges had it waited until the next fiscal year begins. The federal unemployment insurance debt was incurred in 2003 and 2004, when the state was operating with a $1.1 billion deficit.

South Bend Visitors

A delegation of 29 business and community leaders from South Bend, Ind., visited Springfield May 30–31, seeking ideas to spur development and create partnerships. The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce led the visit. The group toured the city and met with area leaders to discuss economic development, public/private partnerships, downtown development, health care and higher education partnerships, city-county collaboration and regional economic partnership programs. Springfield leaders have participated in 13 similar community visits in the last several years, and another is planned for this year. Previous visits have led to projects including the Ozarks Regional Economic Partnership, Jordan Valley Park and the publication of a community report card.