Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen at Primrose and Glenstone in Springfield had to delay opening Friday morning after a fire in the kitchen overnight.
Fire crews were called to the restaurant around 12:30 a.m.
They first thought it was a fire on the roof in an HVAC unit, but a battalion chief says kitchen items are what started the flames.
The fire was contained to some appliances, but there was no structural damage to the building.
CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards has made it official: He is retiring, effective May 31, 2022.
Edwards began in leadership at the health system in 1992, and worked in various roles before being named as president and CEO in 2012.
He followed in the footsteps of his father, Charlie Edwards, who also served as CEO of Cox.
A search committee, made up of CoxHealth Board of Directors members, had already been named to choose the health system’s next president and CEO, and will begin immediately with the goal of having the next top executive in place before Edwards’ departure in May.
Chairman of the CoxHealth Board of Directors, Rob Fulp, says Edwards “will be greatly missed, but we will forever be impacted by his dedication to do right by the community he cares about.”
Fulp says CoxHealth is fundamentally built on family, a legacy of caring and deep location connection. “Steve has greatly extended this mission and commitment through his own efforts.”
Edwards shared his decision to retire with Cox employees through a letter this morning.
Here’s the entirety of that letter:
November 19, 2021
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Nearly every day, going on 30 years, I have worn a suit and tie to work at CoxHealth. May 31, 2022, however, will be different – I plan to don a T-shirt and shorts and work with our grounds crew. At the end of that day, I will retire as president and CEO. I started on the grounds crew and that is where I would like to finish my career.
Those who know me well should not be surprised by this news. In 1989, while completing graduate school, I made a detailed strategic plan for the rest of my life. The plan was filled with seemingly unattainable dreams of career and life. I dreamed of moving back to my home town, marrying the girl of my dreams, having a wonderful family, and eventually becoming CEO of CoxHealth. Although I couldn’t have imagined it at the time, my dreams have come true.
Among the goals and milestones, I planned to retire around age 55 and then later teach. Toward that end, I began planning and aggressively saving at 24 years old. I am now 56, and I feel my 20-something self was right: it is time. Recent personal factors reinforced this decision. This is a 24/7 job, and it can take a toll. I lost my father shortly after he retired. He had given everything he could to his family and this organization, sometimes neglecting his own wellbeing. I worry I may be facing a similar challenge.
In the past year, I discovered I had cancer. I was privileged to receive amazing care guided both by our team at CoxHealth and the Siteman Cancer Center. After successful surgery, I am recovering well and I feel strong. However, in this cancer journey I was blessed to gain perspective, which affirmed my decision to retire.
Immediately after retiring, I plan to spend most of my time with my family, who have stood by me even though the demands of the pandemic tried to pull me away from them. Beyond caring for them, I will spend much time cycling, backpacking, kayaking, fishing and generally being more carefree. While I am retiring, my work is not done. I plan to stay on at CoxHealth in a limited advisory capacity assisting leadership changes and helping teach and coach future leaders.
I have been honored to serve as CEO for 10 years, and I am grateful to be part of a team that has achieved so much. We have expanded across the region through new hospitals, facilities, and partnerships. We created Cox Medical Group, a 750-provider organization, and when complete, we will have added five new 30,000 square-foot super clinics. We have seen our employee base grow from 7,500 to 12,500, and we have been repeatedly recognized as a best employer by the Springfield Business Journal, Modern Healthcare and Forbes. I am especially grateful that through my tenure we have had no layoffs.
I am proud of our auxiliary who have been recognized as Auxiliary of the Year by the Missouri Hospital Association four times in the past ten years. We have been recognized by U.S. News as a best hospital, and by CMS as a 5-Star Medicare Advantage plan. We have materially strengthened our financial base, which better prepares us to withstand future storms. Most recently, we have battled a pandemic, coming together with a unity of purpose and serving with every ounce of our strength.
These are moments that I will never forget. However, I think it is rare that a CEO can be highly effective beyond 10 years. It’s easy to become rigid, recalcitrant and inadvertently thwart progress, which are things I never want to do. It has been my most important priority to develop our future leaders. Our team is loaded with talented people, tested and forged into amazing leaders through the pandemic. It is time to let them lead.
Our Board has established a search committee to find our next leader. I believe this person can be found from within, but that is a decision for our board to make. I have profound respect for our Board of Directors, and I have been honored to serve them. It has long been our advantage that our board members live locally and care deeply about our community. I am confident they will make the best choice for our future.
It has been the greatest honor of my life serving this organization, the people, and the community I love.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Steven D. Edwards
President and CEO
Springfield Police arrested a person of interest in the assault of a woman in the Roundtree Neighborhood.
They have arrested a 29 year old woman and booked her into the Greene County Jail.
The Greene County prosecutor has not yet filed charges.
The attack occurred on November 8th on Pickwick Street in the Roundtree Neighborhood.
J-Phelps-Supplemental-PC-Statement
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Special thanks to Kathee Barid for obtaining these documents.
The Dallas County Sheriff says DNA tests confirm that a body found on James Phelps’s property is Cassidy Rainwater.
The Dallas County Prosecutor has filed first degree murder charges against Phelps and Timothy Norton for Rainwater’s death.
The two are also charged with abandonment of a corpse.
They were previously charged with kidnapping Rainwater.
Rainwater had been missing since the end of July. Phelps is due back in court Friday.
(Story by Arlin Somers)
More information to come on 993kwto.com
A spokesman for Amazon says the fulfillment center in Republic will re-open on Thursday.
The center was shut down in late October because of a mold problem.
Earlier, the company would only say the facility was “closed for cleaning” not related to COVID-19.
Crews have been working to remove and clean up the mold from the building.
Amazon continued to pay its workers through the closure.
The company says the building being shut down did not delay orders.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has released a statement after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration paused enforcement of the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring COVID-19 vaccinations or testing for private employers with 100 or more workers:
“Earlier this month, I led a coalition in filing suit to halt OSHA’s unlawful vaccine mandate, the first states to do so. Yesterday, OSHA announced that they would suspend enforcement of their illegal emergency temporary standard that mandates vaccines or testing on private employers. This is a huge victory for the people of Missouri and businesses across the country, and an important step to completely halting these vaccine mandates, but there is more work to be done. Our case has moved to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, and we’re optimistic that we will prevail in completely halting this vaccine mandate once and for all.”
The Springfield-Greene County Park Board says Park Ranger Robert Bridges will be released from the hospital on Tuesday, sometime after 2 p.m.
When Bridges is released, he will be escorted home by area first responders as he continues to recover from injuries sustained in last Thursday’s officer-involved shooting near Glenstone and Battlefield in Springfield.
The exact timing of Bridges’ release is undetermined, as of early afternoon.
Updates will be announced on the Park Board’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Bridges, 52, was providing backup to Springfield Police Department officers when he was hit by several shots fired by a suspect.
Park board officials say Bridges’ Kevlar duty vest probably saved his life, but he faces a long recovery from other injuries.
Bridges has served as a park ranger about a year and a half, with 17 years of previous law enforcement experience.
Following release from Cox Medical Center South in Springfield, Bridges will be escorted home by Springfield-Greene County Park Rangers, Springfield Police Department, Greene County Sheriff’s Office and Missouri Highway Patrol Troop D, with multiple area law enforcement agencies, fire departments and EMT’s joning the procession as it makes its way to Bridges’ home in Stone County.
The planned route from Cox South is west on Primrose, south on Campbell, continuing south on Missouri 13/Highway 160 into Christian and Stone County, then west on Missouri 76 at Reeds Spring.
Motorists are asked to yield to the procession, and the public is encouraged to observe and cheer as the procession passes.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Springfield R-12 School District for Sunshine Law violations after his office requested public records from the district relating to critical race theory and antiracism teaching in public schools.
Here’s the statement and additional information from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office from a press release:
“Parents have every right to know exactly what is being taught to their children, especially when public school systems are implementing components of critical race theory and so-called ‘antiracism’ teachings in teacher trainings and applying social justice scorecards to math and other core curriculum,” said Attorney General Schmitt. “Springfield Public Schools has skirted our efforts to demand answers and transparency for parents who send their kids to Springfield Public Schools by demanding exorbitant fees for public records. Now, we’re taking Springfield Public Schools to court for those public records. I will always fight for parents’ rights to know exactly what schools are teaching their children.”
The lawsuit alleges that Springfield Public Schools has publicly acknowledged that they are instructing teachers and staff on critical race theory, stating, “In a December 2020 report, Springfield Public Schools reported that it had required the Board of Education, Senior Leadership Team (consisting of building principals, department directors, assistant directors, and coordinators), and Equity Champions (internal staff at school buildings who are also tasked with leading equity efforts and initiatives) to participate in a one-day training from the Facing Racism Institute as part of the 2019 Fall Leadership Series… According to Springfield Public Schools, one of the Facing Racism Institute’s training objectives is to ‘introduce the components of critical race theory from educational research with applications to the district, . . .’”
Further, the lawsuit alleges that at another training, teachers and staff were required to consult an “oppression matrix” and identify where they fall on the matrix. According to the matrix, “privileged social groups” include “white people,” “male assigned at birth,” and “protestants.” Another figure presented to staff stated that “covert white supremacy” could be “education funding from property tax,” and “all lives matter.” Yet another figure that was presented to Springfield Public Schools staff at a different training stated that “Make America Great Again,” “police murdering POC [People of Color],” and “celebration of Columbus Day” are examples of covert white supremacy.
The lawsuit continues, “The Springfield Public Schools’ Chief Equity and Diversity Officer has claimed that the need for social justice in K-12 education today equals or exceeds the need during times of segregation: ‘In 2020, with four years of an administration that has focused on school choice, the restriction of diversity training for state and or governmental entities like schools and threatening funding of schools who wish to expand their curriculum to become culturally consciousness [sic] and other dangerous tactics to stop inclusive learning for students, the role of social justice in K‒12 public education is just as important as it was during segregation if not more.’”
Upon questioning by the Attorney General’s Office, Springfield Public Schools admitted that they’ve provided equity training to students in the GO CAPS program for the past three school years. In May of 2021, Springfield Public Schools reported that it had formed a “Culturally Relevant Curriculum Review” and adopted a Culturally Responsible Scorecard to implement a social justice evaluation of core curriculum, including math.
After the Springfield Public Schools School Board limited public comments and Springfield Public Schools announced that they would not release training materials to the public, the Attorney General’s Office filed a Sunshine Law request on behalf of concerned parents to find out exactly how frequently critical race theory and antiracism materials and teachings were supplied or taught to students.
In response, Springfield Public Schools provided a fee estimate that demanded an initial deposit of $37,000. The lawsuit alleges, “Springfield Public Schools violated § 610.026.2 [the Sunshine Law] by demanding a deposit for items or services other than copies as a precondition to making public records available to the Attorney General’s Office.”
In their cost estimate, Springfield Public Schools also failed to provide hourly rates for “employees of the body that result in the lowest amount of charges for search, research, and duplication time” as required by law.
Further, the lawsuit notes several discrepancies in Springfield Public Schools’ responses to the Sunshine Law request sent by the Attorney General’s Office and similar Sunshine Law requests sent in by State Representative Craig Fishel and the Show Me Institute, including promising different search rates and differing numbers of responsive documents.
The lawsuit incorporates 13 counts, and asks the Court to issue a judgment declaring the Springfield Public Schools violated the Sunshine Law, ordering the Springfield Public Schools to release all responsive records to the Attorney General’s Office, and ordering $1,000 in civil penalties for any knowing violation under the Sunshine Law.
The full petition can be found here: https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/2021-11-16-springfield-petition.pdf?sfvrsn=18ef8d17_2
All of the exhibits in the case can be found here: https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/springfield-exhibits.pdf?sfvrsn=b7227785_2
Beginning today the Springfield-Greene County Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard will include the vaccination rate for residents 5 to 11 years old.
Now that the 5 to 11 age group is eligible for the vaccine, the number of those in the Springfield – Greene County area who have been vaccinated will appear to be lower.
The Health Department encourages those who have not been vaccinated to go to vaccine-417-dot com find a place to get vaccinated.
Here is the statement released by the Health Department:
Beginning tomorrow, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard will report the vaccination rate for Greene County and Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area residents who are 5 years and older.
Because there are now a larger number of individuals eligible for a vaccine, the dashboard will show a decrease in the vaccination rate tomorrow.
Today, 52.81% of Greene County residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
That percentage falls to 48.28% when children 5 to 11 are included.
This decrease in percentage represents the exciting progress that medical research has made to ensure the vaccine is safe and effective for children.
More than 133,000 residents are fully vaccinated, and more than 11,000 have received at least one dose of a two dose vaccine.
The Health Department encourages those who are not yet vaccinated to go to vaccine417.com to learn more and find a vaccination opportunity that works for them.
