Branson appoints its first Black member to city council

The city council in the southwest Missouri community of Branson recently appointed its first Black member amid division in the community.

Thirty-seven-year-old Julia King was sworn in on Tuesday after Mayor Edd Akers and a panel of former and current elected officials unanimously selected King for the Branson Board of Aldermen.

Her appointment was unanimously approved by the board during a special meeting on August 11.

King will be the only woman on an otherwise all-male board.