Month: April 2021

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that they will be closing one lane of Highway 165/265 across Table Rock Dam through October.

The Corps said they will be making pavement repairs beginning April 19. One of the lanes will be closed down at a time while the work progresses. A temporary traffic signal system will be put in place during the work, but drivers should anticipate significantly increased time to travel across the Dam.

Drivers are encouraged to use alternate routes. 

The repairs are anticipated to be complete by October 8 if there are no weather delays or construction delays.

A Springfield man could be facing the rest of his life in prison after being convicted in the statutory rape of an eight-year-old girl.

Austin Tyler Gray, 26, was found guilty of statutory rape in the first degree, enticement of a child, and second degree child molestation.

According to prosecutors, Gray used candy to entice his girlfriend’s eight-year-old daughter to take off her clothing. Gray then had sex with the girl.

A jury deliberated for about four hours before returning the guilty verdicts.

Gray could be sentenced to life in prison for the statutory rape count, or 10 to 30 years in prison. He faces 5 to 30 years for enticement of a child, and 5 to 15 years for child molestation.

Judge Becky Borthwick will issue sentence on Gray on June 24, 2021 after an assessment from the Department of Probation and Parole.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced Monday that his office has obtained a consent judgment on Missouri Fence Company Springfield, LLC and the business’s owner Justin P. Schmidt.

The Better Business Bureau had issued a warning in October 2020 about the business not fulfilling agreements. Several customers reported giving thousands of dollars to the Missouri Fence but the company never showed up to install fencing.

The lawsuit that AG Schmitt filed alleged Schmidt, through MIssouri Fence Company, solicited upfront deposits from customers for installation of fences at the customer’s residence. Schmidt then failed to “install the fences as promised or otherwise performed minimal or unsatisfactory work.”

The judgment orders Schmidt to pay $20,000 in restitution to several customers, and Schmidt is prohibited from operating or managing a residential construction business until he pays off the restitution or after one year.

“My Office always stands willing to intervene in order to get the restitution due to consumers,” Attorney General Schmitt said in a statement. “I’m pleased with the result in this case, and my Office will work to ensure that the affected consumers are repaid by Schmidt.”

Ozarks Technical Community College announced Monday they would not be raising tuition on their students for the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year.

The OTC Board of Trustees agreed with the administration’s recommendation to hold tuition flat.

“The board agrees with college leadership that now is not the time to raise tuition,” OTC Board Chair John Gentry said in a statement. “As our community emerges from the pandemic, we need to remove barriers to education so students can receive the training they need to enter the workforce.”

Here are the tuition rates for the upcoming year:

“In-district students” are those who live within the OTC Taxing District.

Property owners in the taxing district pay taxes that support OTC and residents of those school districts get a reduced tuition rate.

Tier I classes are generally considered “general education” classes, Tier II classes are generally “technical education”, and Tier III are OTC’s allied health courses.

The increased class costs are for courses that require specialized equipment and/or accreditation.

The school is not raising the required fees either. Those fees are charges all students pay like technology or security fees.

Flames have done extensive damage to a motel room in west Springfield.

Firefighters from Springfield and Willard responded to the Redwood Motel on Chestnut Expressway west of West Bypass around 6:45 a.m. Monday.

Flames were seen coming out of one of the rooms on the first level of the two story building.

One of the rooms above the room where the fire broke out was also damaged.

Other parts of the motel had smoke and water damage.

No one was injured.

A man from Aurora has died in a crash west of Republic.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Duston Stockton’s jeep crossed the center line of Highway 174 six miles west of Republic Saturday night.

The vehicle hit an SUV head-on.

The driver and a passenger in the SUV had moderate injuries.

Stockton was 35. Troopers say he was not wearing a seatbelt.

by Melody Pettit, City of Branson

The Branson Police Department is investigating after a citizen, who was hunting for mushrooms, discovered possible skeletal remains in a wooded area on Saturday, April 10, 2021, near State Hwy 248 and Gretna road in Branson.

Branson police and the Taney County Coroner conducted a comprehensive search of the area that lasted into the evening hours of Sunday, April 11, 2021. The investigation and search confirmed that the remains are human and investigators are now trying to figure out who it may have been and how this person died.  

While the Branson Police Department has one active missing person investigation, the evidence is not consistent with the facts of that particular missing person investigation. At this time, investigators know of no other open regional missing persons investigations but remain in contact with all State and Federal partners.  

Police believe there is no continuing or ongoing threat to the community

The Branson Police Department and the Taney County Coroner will continue to work this ongoing investigation and will release additional details as they become available. The Taney County Coroner will ultimately identify the remains. 

No additional information is available at this time.