Watch for Oak Wilt Symptoms Now!

Back-to-school Shoppers Can

JEFFERSON CITY or desktop telephones, copiers or other office equipment, furniture, or fixtures; and

— Missouri’s annual back-to-school sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 4, and runs through midnight on Sunday, Aug. 6. During this time, certain back-to-school purchases such as school supplies, computers, clothing and other qualifying items as defined by statute are exempt from all state and local sales tax.

Continued from pg. 1 at 9 am will be the vendor fair in addition to the Antique Tractor and Small Engine show. Beginning at 9:30 am are the dog races (register at 9 am) with the Kiddie Tractor Pull at 10:30 am (register at 10:15).

Cornhole starts at 11:00 am (register from 10 to 10:30 am). You must register in teams of 2 and costs $20 per team. The lawn mower tractor pull starts at 1:30 pm (register at 1 pm) and at 3 pm will be “make and take with Marsha and

Brenda” (you must contact Taren at (660) 6268280 before the fair for this). The BBQ judging contest begins at 4 pm and the 3on3 basketball tournament starts at 5 pm (register from 4 to 4:30 pm with a $5/player fee). The pie contest is at 5 pm, too (register from 4 to 4:45 pm). At 6 pm building exhibits are released with the famous Talent show onstage at 6:30 pm. The stock show concludes with the pie auction during the talent show judging and

Thank You

AND BLESS EACH ONE THAT HAD A PART IN THE BENEFIT FOR ME

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Left: Rapid leaf loss starting in the upper crown during summer months (Joe O’Brien, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org) Right: Oak leaves displaying typical oak wilt symptoms (D. W. French, University of Minnesota, Bugwood.org)

Oak wilt is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of oaks in Missouri. Once symptoms appear, it can kill red oak species like black, northern red, pin, scarlet, and shingle oak within a year, and sometimes as quickly as a few weeks!

Oaks are most susceptible to infection during the spring months, with symptoms appearing in late June and early July. A spell of hot, dry weather – like we are currently experiencing – can bring on initial symptoms. Look for browning leaves and rapid leaf loss in the upper branches of the tree.

Oak wilt can be easily confused with oak decline. Unlike oak wilt, however, the brown leaves caused by oak decline often stay on the tree, and trees may die back over a period of years, as opposed to weeks or months.

Once an oak tree shows symptoms, it cannot be saved. Additionally, oak wilt can transfer to nearby trees as the fungus continues to grow in the bark and roots of the dying tree. However, if you catch the disease before it spreads, fungicide injections and several root treatments can help protect nearby, healthy oaks.

To confirm that your tree has oak wilt, you can send samples to:

Plant Diagnostic Clinic - Programs | MU Extension (missouri.edu)

To learn more about oak wilt prevention and management decisions visit:

Oak Wilt | Missouri Department of Conservation (mo.gov)

During the sales tax holiday, state and local sales tax will not be charged on the following items:

· Clothing that does not have a taxable value of more than $100. Eligible clothing items include any article of apparel intended to be worn on or about the body, including footwear and disposable diapers for infants or adults. Cloth and other material used to make school uniforms or other school clothing are also included. Not included are watches, watchbands, jewelry, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands, or belt buckles;

· School supplies, not exceeding $50 per purchase, that are used in a standard classroom for educational purposes. School supplies include, but are not limited to, textbooks, notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, chalk, maps, globes, handheld calculators, graphing calculators that do not have a taxable value of more than $150, and computer software that does not have a taxable value of more than $350. Not included are watches, radios, CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable

· Personal computers that do not cost more than $1,500 and computer peripheral devices that do not cost more than $1,500. A personal computer can be a laptop, desktop, or tower computer system which consists of a central processing unit, random access memory, a storage drive, a display monitor, and a keyboard. Peripheral devices include items such as a disk drive, memory module, compact disk drive, daughterboard, digitizer, microphone, modem, motherboard, mouse, multimedia speaker, printer, scanner, single-user hardware, single-user operating system, soundcard, or video card.

Anyone who makes a qualified purchase may participate in the holiday. You do not have to be a Missouri resident or student to participate and save.

New this year, in addition to the state sales tax, local sales tax will also be waived in all cities, counties and special tax districts.

Therefore, Businesses with qualifying retail sales for the Back to School sales tax holiday may use the normal filing method for their August 2023 return. Enter total gross receipts for all sales made, indicating holiday sales as a negative adjustment on the return. You will no longer need to file these sales using a separate item code. For more information visit https:// dor.mo.gov/taxation/ business/tax-types/salesuse/holidays/back-toschool/.