Month: March 2022

Rain is expected to transition to snow across much of southwest Missouri from Thursday night into Friday.

The National Weather Service says measurable snow of at least one inch is expected across the Ozarks, with the highest snow amounts generally across central Missouri and areas north of there.

A lot of the snow will fall during the day Friday, and this may limit road impacts by midday and Friday afternoon, especially with the sun angle as we approach mid March.

Forecasters aren’t ruling out a brief period of freezing rain before the precipitation transitions to snow.

The Kansas City area is under a Winter Storm Warning, with four to six inches of snow expected.

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for areas from Clinton to Sedalia, where three to five inches of snow are possible with a light glaze of ice.

Two people are dead after a deadly shooting in Joplin Tuesday afternoon.

The Jasper County coroner has confirmed that one of the police officers and the suspect have died from their injuries.

The two other officers are hospitalized.

The incident happened at a business near Rangeline Road and Fourth Street around 1:20 PM.

Officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect.

Two officers were wounded.

A pursuit followed and the suspect and another officer exchanged gunfire wounding each other.

Police say there is no threat to the community.

The Springfield Police Department is out with numbers showing a seven percent overall reduction in crime in the city from 2020 to 2021.

The department’s annual crime report shows crimes against people, like assault and murder, increased 3.6%, but crimes against property dropped more than 11%.

Here’s the full release from SPD, as well as a link to the crime report.

Springfield, Mo. – The Springfield Police Department’s 2021 crime report tracks and analyzes more than 50 crime types in three categories: crimes against persons, crimes against property and crimes against society. The report also contains a comparison to crime report numbers from 2020.

In 2021, there was a 3.6 percent increase (+211 reports) for crimes against persons, an 11.3 percent decrease (-1,928 reports) for crimes against property, and a 2.2 percent decrease (-60 reports) for crimes against society. Overall, crime in Springfield in 2021 was down 6.9 percent (-1,777 reports) compared to 2020.

“Through tracking and releasing crime data, we can give citizens a realistic look at crime in our community,” Police Chief Paul Williams said. “The information helps us identify successful policing strategies as well as highlighting areas where we can make improvements through community-wide participation in crime prevention.”

This is the first time SPD has been able to compare a full year of crime report data since switching to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in January 2020. The implementation of NIBRS allows for a significantly more comprehensive look at crime in the community compared to the data tracked in previous years.

The 2021 crime report also features updated clearance rates. Clearance rates are fluid and change over time as investigations progress and eventually lead to prosecution. The side-by-side comparison serves as an example of how clearance rates have and will continue to evolve.

The crime prevention initiative, launched in early 2022, aims to reduce crime in the community through the education of the public. With the public’s help, SPD can continue the trend of reducing crime in Springfield. To learn more, visit springfieldmo.gov/crime.

SPD 2021 Crime Report

Accumulating snow is expected in the Ozarks late this week.

The National Weather Service says rain is expected to slowly transition over to snow from northwest to southeast across the area Thursday night into Friday.

There could also be a brief window of light freezing rain, but no more than a light glaze is expected.

The majority of the snow should fall during the morning and afternoon hours on Friday.

Warmer ground temps and the higher sun angles this time of year may limit accumulations.

Exact amounts are unknown, but there’s a good chance for at least two inches over much of the Ozarks, with probabilities of four inches or more confined to central Missouri and areas north of there.

Heavier snowfall rates could possibly lead to some minor road impacts in the form of slushy snow.

Snow will end from northwest to southeast across the area from later Friday afternoon into Friday evening.

A Stone County woman has been sentenced to prison for abusing her son.

26 year old Dessa Barton has pleaded guilty to felony abuse or neglect of a child.

The judge sentenced her to a 12-year prison term. Investigators say her four year old son was suffering from malnutrition and had been kept in a homemade wooden cage.

The boy was found responsive after a 911 call in November of 2020.

Ozark’s Technical College has announced an approved measure from the Board of Trustees that will raise the tuition of its students.

The now approved measure will increase the price on most of the classes offered by $5 per credit hour, with a small amount of classes being raised by $6 per credit hour.

The bump in cost is expected to bring in an extra $1.3 million in tuition.

Student fees also received an increase in cost by $1, from $15 to $16 per credit hour. That change is projected to bring in an extra $200,000 to OTC.