Month: July 2021

Leaders from the Springfield Greene County Health Department, CoxHealth, Mercy Springfield and Jordan Valley Community Health Center meet with the media Tuesday at 2 p.m. to provide an update on the adjustments being made in response to the rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

You can watch the news conference live here.

CoxHealth reported 15 deaths from patients being treated for the virus between Friday and Sunday, with 72 deaths in the month of July.

CEO Steve Edwards says each of those deaths involved unvaccinated people.

At Mercy Hospital, there were 12 deaths over the weekend and 60 deaths since July 2nd.

Several fire departments battled a house fire Monday afternoon near Republic.

They responded to the home in the 3900 block of South Farm Road 93.

Firefighters used large tankers because of a lack of a fire hydrant.

A man from Camdenton is in jail after authorities say he exposed himself to children multiple times at the YMCA in Lebanon.

74 year old Gordon Bruce Mitchell faces four counts of sexual misconduct involving a child under the age of 15.

Investigators say Mitchell exposed himself to children attending a YMCA summer camp.

They say the behavior happened on multiple occasions. officers arrested Mitchell Monday.

A total of 15 people have died from COVID-19 at CoxHealth from Friday through Sunday. CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards tweeted the hospital system has lost 72 people so far in July, all of them unvaccinated.

Edwards says a vaccine is the “best life insurance policy you can have now.”

Thunderstorms have produced heavy rain as they moved through the Ozarks Sunday afternoon.

A Flash Flood Warning remains in effect until 6 p.m. Sunday for western Hickory, northern Polk and southeastern St. Clair Counties.

The National Weather Service says between one to four inches of rain has fallen, and while the heavy rain has ended, runoff from the earlier rain will continue into the evening.

Between one and three inches of rain fell in southeastern Greene County Sunday afternoon, with a flood advisory in effect until 7 p.m. for Springfield, Battlefield, Strafford, Willard, Brookline, Galloway, Turners and Glidewell.

A separate flood advisory goes until 6 p.m. Sunday for northeastern Greene, northern Webster, and northwestern Wright Counties. Minor flooding is ongoing in areas from Fair Grove to Niangua, Marshfield, and Grovespring.

Niangua received 2.76 inches of rain.

Other flood advisories were issued Sunday afternoon for parts of Dallas, Hickory, Laclede, Camden, Barton and Dade Counties.

Christina Randall, KOLR

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Authorities confirm that the two children sent to the hospital after suffering injuries from a house fire have died.A woman and 6-year-old child die after house fire in south Springfield 

On Friday, July 25, the Springfield Fire Department responded to a house fire in the 2000 block of South Lone Pine Avenue.

As KOLR-10 reports, firefighters arrived to find the home with heavy smoke and fire conditions. They located a 40-year-old female and three children – a 13-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy, and a 6-year-old girl – during search-and-rescue operations.

Courtesy of Jason Wert, Branson Tri Lakes News

The Branson Police Department received a surprise after responding to a report of a stolen purse on Wednesday, July 21.  

While BPD statistics show property crime and stealing are two of the city’s most common crimes, this theft was anything but a typical case.

Branson officers were dispatched to a local business where a customer had left behind their purse, only to have it stolen by an employee. The employee had fled the scene by the time officers had arrived. Soon the officers were able to determine the employee had obtained their job using an alias, according to a press release from Branson Police Department.https://9b671473ca738b0ddb29270224f3bca4.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

Officers investigated the fake identity used by the suspect and determined the suspect’s real name was Jacob Daniel Taylor. 

Branson officers discovered Taylor, 28, had an active homicide warrant for his arrest from Denver, Colorado. Taylor had been released on $10,000 cash bond, but when he failed to show for a court hearing on December 20, 2020, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

According to Colorado court records, Taylor is facing First Degree Murder After Deliberation; First Degree Murder with Extreme Indifference; Second Degree Assault with a Deadly Weapon; Driving Under the Influence, and Leaving the Scene of an Accident involving an Injury.  If convicted on all charges, Taylor could face life in prison.

Taylor was represented by Colorado Public Defender Danica Buck. The Colorado Public Defender’s office states on their website they will not speak to the media about active cases.

Branson Police Chief Jeff Matthews praised his officers on social media.

“We are extremely proud of our officers and detectives,” Matthews said on Facebook.  “Branson police employees are true professionals and committed to providing excellent police service.”

As additional information on this case is released it will be made available at bransontrilakesnews.com.

She’s been serving in the job on an interim basis for the past five months, but Katie Towns now has the title of Springfield-Greene County Health Director.

Towns was formally selected by City Manager Jason Gage on July 18th.

The selection continues a long standing history of promotion from within the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

When longtime director Harold Bengsch retired in 2004, Assistant Director Kevin Gipson was named to the position.

When Gipson retired in 2017 after serving 13 years as director, Assistant Director of Health Clay Goddard was promoted to the top position.

Goddard announced his retirement effective the end of February this year to take a position with the Missouri Foundation for Health.

Gage says Towns has been a highly skilled leader for the health department. “She has also done a terrific job in the acting director role and carries with her the highest level of confidence from our community healthcare providers,” Gage said. “I am very excited to name Katie Towns as the next Springfield-Greene County Director of Health.”

Prior to taking the role of assistant director in 2015, Towns previously served as public information administrator, chronic disease administrator and a variety of other roles in the community promoting health and safety.

She helped lead Springfield’s efforts to restrict indoor smoking and later to get a bill passed making it illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product to anyone under 21.

Towns says she fell in love with this work because the basis of public health is to make life the best it can be. “We do that by creating a community that is healthy and full of people who have the best quality of life possible,” Towns said. “This past year and a half have been full of strife, but overcoming these challenges is how we will learn, grow and ultimately get better.”

Towns’ education includes a Master’s Degree in Public Health and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Medicine/Athletic Training from Missouri State University.

Four people are in the hospital following a house fire Friday morning in Springfield.

Fire crews say flames broke out at a house in the 2000 of south Lone Pine around 6:30 a.m.

Five people were in the home when the fire started, and investigators are working to determine the cause.