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Ozark News

New Springfield City Councilwoman Monica Horton Will be Sworn in Monday Night

The newest member of Springfield City Council will be sworn in at Monday night’s meeting.

The council chose Monica Horton to fill the Zone 1 vacancy (northwest Springfield) created when Angela Romine filed to run for state office.

For more than a decade, Horton has served as the CEO of Lenica Consulting, and she’s been a professor of music at Drury University.

Horton says she wants to address poverty and help create an inclusiveness in the northwest part of the city.

She also wants to help small business owners rebound and recover as we move out of the pandemic.

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Ozark News

Hail Accompanies Friday Night Thunderstorms in the Ozarks

Severe Thunderstorms passed through the Ozarks Friday night.

Along with rain and thunder, some large hail fell during the storms.

The National Weather Service in Springfield reported quarter sized hail in Niangua in Webster County and baseball sized hail in South Fork in Howell County.

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Ozark News

Raymondville Man Arrested Following Drug Bust

A search warrant executed by a joint task force led to an arrest in Raymondville this week.

A combination of the Houston Police Department and Texas County Sheriff’s Office executed the warrant on April 14th at a home in Raymondville, where they discovered meth.

Following the discovery, authorities arrested 46-year-old Shawn Skouby.

According to the report, the methamphetamine found was packaged in a manner that suggests distribution of the durg.

Skouby is being held in the Texas County Jail on $250,000 bond.

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Ozark News

Phelps County Drug Bust Leads to Two Arrests

After a drug enforcement team raided a Newburg home and recovered drug and firearms, two residents were arrested and charged with various crimes.

24-year-old Mackenzie Wagner and 42-year-old Chad Krause are being held in the Phelps County Jail on $150,000 bond each.

Krause faces charges of delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful use of a weapon. Wagner has been charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.

The drug enforcement team out of Rolla made the arrests at the 24000 block of County Road 6130 on Wednesday.

While specific amounts haven’t been released, authorities say they found methamphetamine and fentanyl. They also found four firearms.

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Ozark News

Laclede County Man in Jail on Child Porn Charges

A Lebanon man accused of involvement in child porn activity for nearly a year is in jail in Greene County.

41-year-old John Carpenter faces federal charges of knowing and receiving child pornography. An investigation into Carpenter’s activities began in 2019. He was subsequently arrested on December 23,2021.

He was first charged for child pornography in Connecticut after authorities found an IP address containing explicit sexual content of children at his mother’s home in Lebanon.

While Carpenter is being held in Greene County, he is set to stand trial in Laclede County on Tuesday, April 19.

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Ozark News

Ozarks Technical Community College Says It Was a Victim of Cyber Fraud

Ozarks Technical Community College leaders announced Friday the college was the victim of a cyber fraud incident that robbed the institution of nearly $900,000 this spring.

A’ news release from OTC says the college notified law enforcement authorities as soon as the fraud was discovered.

Leaders say loss of the funds will not affect students, classes or any college operations, and the college never lost control of its data and no personal information was lost.

Chancellor Hal Higdon says OTC is conducting a thorough review of the incident and is continuing to cooperate with law enforcement.

Higdon says the college can’t provide all of the specifics at this time. “It appears the criminals succeeded in impersonating one of our vendors online and directed payments from the college into a fraudulent account,” Higdon said.

OTC says because the investigation is ongoing, law enforcement agencies have requested the college not disclose any details, including which agencies are involved.

“We will provide a more complete accounting of the incident as soon as we are able,” Higdon said. “Although the blame for this incident rests squarely on the criminals who committed this act, I want to assure you that we are doing everything in our power to ensure something like this cannot happen again.”

Higdon says he hopes the criminals are brought to justice and that the college is able to recover the funds.

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Ozark News

A Few Severe Thunderstorms Possible Friday Evening

The National Weather Service says thunderstorms will develop Friday evening across southern Missouri.

Forecasters say some of those storms may be severe with frequent lightning, large hail, damaging winds and heavy rainfall.

The risk for tornadoes is very low.

The highest chances for thunderstorms will be south of Interstate 44.

Areas south of I-44 are under a Level 2 “slight risk” for severe weather, with areas north of Springfield under a Level 1 “marginal risk” for severe storms.

We’ll keep you up to date with any watches, warnings and damage reports at 93-3 AM 560 KWTO.

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Ozark News

Russellville Man Dies in Camden County Crash

A man is dead after a crash Thursday morning on Missouri Highway “5” in Camden County.

The Highway Patrol says a van driven by 59 year old David Matheis of Russellville ran off the road, went down an embankment and crashed into several trees.

Matheis was taken to a local hospital where he was he died later.

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Ozark News

Reeds Spring Student To Be Disciplined For Social Media Threat

A Reeds Spring student will face disciplinary action for posting a threatening message on social media.

Administrators learned of the threat Thursday morning and put the high school on lockdown.

Law enforcement identified the student quickly.

Councils were provided for students.

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Ozark News

Wisconsin Suspect Arrested in Springfield

Springfield Police arrested a man wanted for an armed carjacking in Wisconsin.

51 year old William Gentry was arrested at a motel on North Glenstone.

Investigators say Gentry took a woman’s car at knife point in the parking lot of a department store in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

The woman was not injured.