Month: March 2021

Evangel University announced Friday that the school’s interim President Dr. George Wood, the Board of Trustees, and the President’s Cabinet are getting rid of the school’s Crusader mascot.

The Crusader has been the official mascot of the Christian school since its inception in 1955.

“The world has changed significantly since the 1950s, when the Evangel community, intending to depict strength, honor, and commitment to the faith, first identified a Crusader as the school’s mascot,” Dr. Wood said in a press release. “Today, we recognize that the Crusader often inhibits the ability of students and alumni to proudly represent the university in their areas of global work and ministry.”

A press statement from the school says the decision came from a “lengthy and thoughtful review process” that began in 2007. The release says “ad hoc committees” and “focus groups consisting of faculty, staff, students, and alumni” overwhelmingly recommended what the school terms the “retirement” of the Crusader mascot.

“I fully support the decision made by Evangel to retire the Crusader mascot and identify a new mascot that will serve the university well in the future,” Dennis McDonald, athletics director, said in the press statement.

The University states on their website that this action is not in response to the current “cancel culture” atmosphere in the nation.

“Ultimately, this decision was made because our Christ-centered focus requires it,” the school says on a website. “This is not a cultural response to political correctness, but simply the right thing to do.”

“Essentially, we understand how our reflection of Jesus Christ is marred by our representation as Crusaders,” the website explains. “The nearly universal connotation of ‘Crusader’ is tied to the Crusades of the eleventh through thirteenth centuries, when Western Christians waged a series of “holy wars,” during which thousands of Muslims, Jews, and Eastern Christians were killed.”

The University plans to have a committee of students, alumni, faculty, and athletic staff guide the process to find the school a new mascot.

A federal grand jury has indicted embattled State Representative Tricia Derges on a 23-count superseding indictment that includes three new charges of COVID-19 fraud.

The grand jury is accusing Derges of defrauding Greene County over funds received from the CARES Act.

The indictment says that Derges received $296,574 in funds from the CARES Act through Greene County for testing she claimed was done through Lift Up Springfield, a clinic that serves the poor, homeless, and uninsured in the area. In reality, no COVID-19 testing was conducted by LIft Up, as their facility closed at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and did not reopen until June 2020.

Derges sought CARES Act funding for COVID-19 testing that had been provided, and paid for by patients, at her for-profit Ozark Valley Medical Clinic. Derges asked for $882,644 overall from the CARES Act Relief Fund for Lift Up, claiming they needed reimbursement of $379,294 in testing and related expenses, and $503,350 in funding for future expenses.

When Derges provided her application to Greene County for money from the CARES Act Relief Fund, she submitted invoices from Dynamic DNA that she claimed were expenditures from the non-profit Lift Up, when in reality they were for testing that was done and paid for at Ozark Valley Medical Clinic (OVMC.)

The indictment says Derges had received payments of around $517,000 from patients for COVID-19 testing at OVMC, or an average of $167 per sample for testing service. Derges in December submitted more invoices to Greene County in support of the Lift Up application, claiming a new total of $589,143 for the tests. OVMC had been paid nearly $1 million by clients, patients, and patient’s employers for the COVID-19 tests.

In December, the Greene County Commission approved Lift Up receiving $296,574 in CARES Act funding based on the fraudulent application. Derges deposited the money into Lift Up’s bank account and then transferred the funds to OVMC’s account.

In addition to the new indictment keeping all the previous counts of wire fraud, illegal distribution of controlled substances, and making false statements, the new indictment includes a forfeiture allegation, requiring Derges to forfeit to the government any property that came from the fraud scheme, including money.

Derges’ attorney, Albert Watkins, told KWTO that the government is misunderstanding medical coding and their actions will have a negative impact on the community.

“The government is taking what it believes to be an appropriate course of action against my client,” Watkins said. “Unfortunately, it demonstrates a wholesale absence of knowing due diligence on the part of the government on the part of nuanced subject matter. The fact is the city of Springfield has been blessed with Dr. Derges, and other individuals like Dr. Derges, who are skilled, trained, educationed, and committed to a calling to provide healthcare to the poor, the indigent, and tens of thousands of others of the course of years who have not been able to navigate the healthcare system that provides those of us with insurance and money good health care.”

“The series of missteps that have been demonstrated by the federal government in this case, while I do not believe they are born of nefarious sources, I believe they fairly demonstrate the government is not taking a three dimensional look at what has really happened and what some certain medical terms really mean, nor are they familiar apparently with the code and federal rules that govern healthcare providers including assistant physicians.”

Watkins was adamant that Derges will not be stepping down from her seat in the state house.

“Under no circumstances,” Watkins said. “She remains deeply committed not only to her calling, but her duties as an elected official. Somebody who was elected by the public. This will not permit this to sway her from pursuing and discharging her duties to her constituents.”

Watkins said they want to make sure this trial is open so the public can understand the facts.

“We are in a position of wanting to make sure that this trial is public and that a great deal of attention is given to the horrific collateral damage that occurs when the appropriate due diligence is not done by people in positions of authority to initiate and prosecute charges of this nature,” Watkins said.

A spokeswoman for the Greene County Commission said they cannot comment on pending litigation.

We have reached out to multiple officials for comment and will update this story if they respond.

The Greene County Commission has approved two new rounds of bonds to provide the next rounds of funding for construction of the new Greene County Jail and Sheriff’s Office.

The new bonds, Series 2021A and Series 2021B, will carry principal amounts of $36,880,000 and $15,500,000, with the funds targeted toward jail construction costs, equipment for the new jail and sheriff’s office, and juvenile courts and detention.

Greene County Budget Officer Jeff Scott told OI the new rounds of bonds are part of the jail’s revised plan based on savings found by Sheriff Jim Arnott in 2019 that changed the construction design and location for the jail.

Scott said the initial set of bonds for the jail were issued and were never meant to cover the entire cost of the jail. He said the first set of bonds were issued because payments had to be made to pay architects, and contractors that would be involved in the construction of the jail, which at the time was planned to be across the street from the historic Courthouse. Those plans fell out of favor when the building looked to end up with 8 floors and eliminated much of the parking available near the historic Courthouse.

“The first round of bonds would have taken care of what we needed to [in the original design],” Scott said. “But even though that would have taken care of one problem it would have created many more on our campus.”

The new bonds were able to be issued because of the savings that Sheriff Jim Arnott was able to generate from a redesign of the jail that allowed for more indirect supervision of the inmates. Scott said that Arnott’s design changes dropped the staffing increase for the expanded jail by 142 employees. The cost savings of those salaries over a 10 year period would be $97 million, which were then factored into the new jail design at the current site near the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport.

“The savings justified the additional expense,” Scott said.

Scott said the two rounds of bonds are connected to those savings. He also said residents should expect another round of bonds toward the end of 2021 that will be used for renovations and new spaces for the juvenile justice system as promised in the last tax measure to citizens.

Scott also told OI that while it might be hard for some to understand the funding process for the jail, you could look at it like a mortgage on a home.

“No one is expected to pay for a home all at once in cash,” Scott said. He said the bonds at the front took care of costs and the tax revenue of about 27 to 28 million a year is then used to make payments on the bond debt similar to monthly mortgage payments.

Scott went on to talk about the new jail allowing a redesign of the County campus. The former jail space is going to repurposed to help the County reduce the amount they pay for rent.

“The county is currently paying over 400 thousand a year in rent,” Scott said.

Scott said there will be a campus-wide master planning process that will include the repurposing of the jail once the new jail location is finished.

Police say a woman and her two-year-old daughter are missing from Ozark under suspicious circumstances.

Authorities are asking for your help with information on the whereabouts of Anna Rossi and her two-year-old daughter Amora Rossi.

Anna was last seen at 8 a.m. Thursday at her home.

She’s believed to have left in a 2016 Honda CRV with Missouri license BEO T2U.

If you’ve seen the two, you’re asked to call the Ozark Police Department

The Springfield Police Department has released the identity of the man killed in an early morning shooting at a north Springfield motel.

Dylan A. Hill, 26, died after being shot around 1 a.m. at the Welcome Inn, 3550 East Evergreen. A 911 caller reported the shooting and police arrived to find Hill dead inside a motel room.

Police took one into custody and that person of interest is being interviewed by SPD detectives. The case is being referred to the Greene County Prosecutor for charges.

Detectives are continuing to investigate this fifth homicide in Springfield in 2020. Anyone with information is asked to call the SPD at 864-1810, or make an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at 869-8477.

A man from Eldridge is behind bars, charged with first degree murder for the gruesome death of his boss back in November.

The Laclede County Sheriff’s Office says Shane Patrick Norman was taken into custody without incident in Lebanon Wednesday for the murder of Nathan Andrew Young, 33, Webster County.

Deputies found Young’s mutilated body in a creek bed off Kinfolk Road on November 6, 2020.

Young’s head, hands and feet had been removed and Sheriff David Millsap says Norman attempted to burn the body.

A coroner ruled Norman shot Young in the back of the head with a shotgun.

Norman had worked for Young at his welding business and was on probation at the time of the killing.

Millsap says it’s been a long, but detailed investigation. “We have presented a solid case to the Laclede County Prosecutor’s Office,” Millsap said. “The family has been supportive of our investigative efforts and understanding the thoroughness in which we have put this case together over a period of time.”

The acting director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department calls it “long-awaited news that our community should be encouraged by:” For the first time in 35 weeks, there have been no new deaths from COVID-19 among county residents in the last week.

Health officials say between the March 17-23 reporting period, no new fatalities were reported to the health department.

The last stretch of time the health department went without reporting any new fatalities was July 9-22, 2020.

Since March 23, 2020, a total of 422 Greene County residents have died from COVID-19.

Springfield police have had crime scene tape up around the Welcome Inn Nightly and Weekly Extended Stay Studios on east Evergreen near Highway 65 and I-44

Police have been on the scene since around 1:00 a.m. Thursday.

Officers say a 19-year-old called 911 after shooting another man at the motel.

The suspect was taken into custody without incident.

Folks staying at the hotel and inside the tape have been unable to access their vehicles until the investigation is over.