Month: January 2022

Several of the larger school districts in the Ozarks have announced that they are calling off classes because of the winter weather.

Springfield Public Schools and Springfield Catholic and Lutheran Schools among the larger districts that have canceled in-person classes for Friday, January 7^th.

Branson, Lebanon R-3, Willard, Republic, Nixa, Ozark and West Plains have also dismissed classes.

A partnership with Cox Health to provide tele-med services for staff and students has been approved by the Bolivar School Board.

The new Virtual Clinic would allow parents in most cases the opportunity to stay at work or home and provide students and their families healthcare services without having to leave the school grounds.

The virtual visit does come with a copay visit cost, but can be covered by insurance, Medicaid, or other resources based on eligibility.

The bracket has been released for next week’s Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions at JQH Arena in Springfield.

The announcement was made at a breakfast Thursday morning at Bass Pro Shops White River Conference Center.

The tournament, which was canceled in 2021 due to COVID-19, resumes this year with some of the best high school teams and players in the nation visiting Springfield January 13th, 14th and 15th.

The Nixa Eagles and Parkview Vikings basketball teams will represent southwest Missouri, with one other Missouri school, New Madrid County Central, in the eight team field.

One of the most watched teams in this year’s tournament will no doubt be Sierra Canyon High School out of Chatsworth, California.

The Trailblazers boast Bronny James, the son of NBA legend Lebron James, and Amari Bailey.

Included in this year’s field are Whitney Young from Chicago, Illinois, Milton High School from Georgia, Paul VI from Chantilly, Virginia, and Rainier Beach from Seattle, Washington.

Here are the matchups for opening round games on Thursday, January 13th:

4:30 p.m.——-Whitney Young vs. New Madrid County Central

6:00 p.m.——-Sierra Canyon vs. Springfield Parkview

7:30 p.m.——-Nixa vs. Milton

9:00 p.m.——-Paul VI vs. Rainier Beach

On Friday, consolation bracket semfinal games will be played at 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., with the winner’s bracket semi’s taking place at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Saturday’s action gets started with the seventh place game at 2:30 p.m., followed by the consolation finals at 4:00 p.m.

The Great Southern Bank Slam Dunk contest gets underway at 6:00 p.m., followed by the third place game at 7:00 p.m. and the championship game at 9:00 p.m.

The semifinal, third place and championship games will be live-streamed on ESPN+.

Snow began falling early Thursday morning in the Ozarks, including the Springfield metro area, with hazardous road conditions, especially north of Springfield.

The National Weather Service says while accumulations will generally range from one to three inches, temps are in the teens and wind chills are hovering around zero.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for much of southwest Missouri (with the exception of our far southwest counties) through noon.

The heaviest snowfall will effect the morning commute.

With cold temps in place, even light snow packs down on the roadways.

This system is fast moving, which will limit the duration of the snow.

Where heavier snow does occur, it will accumulate quickly.

Get updated road conditions here with the MoDOT Traveler Information Map.

Snow began falling early Thursday morning in the Ozarks, with accumulations of one to three inches possible.

As a result, a number of schools have called off class for the day.

Here’s the list of school closings across the Ozarks:

Alton

Ash Grove

Bunker

Camdenton (Virtual Learning Day Thursday)

Crocker

Dixon

Eminence

Everton

Fair Grove (AMI Virtual Learning Day)

Gasconade C-4

Iberia

Laclede County (Joel E. Barber)

Laclede County R-1 (Conway)

Lakeland R-3 (Deepwater)

Laquey

Lebanon

Macks Creek

Manes

Mansfield

Miller

Newburg

Osceola (AMI Day)

Phelps County R-3

Plato

Republic

Richland

Roscoe

Seymour

Skyline R-2 (Norwood)

Sparta

Spokane (AMI Day #1)

Strafford (AMI Day)

Swedeborg

Warsaw (AMI Day)

Waynesville

Willard

 A woman accused of multiple charges involving child abuse and endangerment has pleaded guilty.

Dessa Barton is one of four people being charged after a four-year-old boy was found unresponsive and in critical condition in November of 2020.

The Stone County Sheriff said the boy suffered various injuries consistent with physical abuse and extreme malnutrition.

Barton is scheduled for sentencing on March 7th.

Mercy Hospital in Springfield is responding to backlash over their new COVID-19 policy.

They are no longer allowing visitors to wear cloth masks and only allowing one visitor for obstetrics patients.

Mercy President Erik Frederick said on Twitter that the front door screeners were taking the brunt of the backlash.

He added people need to be kind because the door screeners are volunteers and not hospital employees.

Andy’s Frozen Custard is growing, again.

The Springfield Business Journal reports a late second quarter opening is expected on south National near Missouri State University.

The new Andy’s will be at the former site of National Art Shop.

CEO Andy Kuntz tells the publication it’s a great location to connect to the midtown of Springfield.

Andy’s Frozen Custard operates 105 stores.

Light snow and dangerously cold temps are in store overnight Wednesday night through Thursday morning.

The National Weather Service says there will be a brief duration of snow, with total accumulations ranging from trace amounts to around an inch.

We’ll also have wind chills near zero during that time.

An initial band of snow may move into west central Missouri as early as midnight, spreading east into the rest of the area between 12 and 4 a.m.

Snow will end from west to east between 6 a.m. and noon, but may linger over south central Missouri until noon as a new snow band begins to develop.

Some slick spots will be possible where the snow packs down on the roadways.

We’ll have updated weather and traffic reports, along with weather updates in the news during Wake up Springfield Thursday morning from 5:30 a.m. until 9 a.m. on 93-3 A-M 560 KWTO.