Month: April 2022

After interviewing candidates, the Springfield City Council voted in favor of Monica Horton to become their newest councilwoman.

Horton was approved for the position by receiving 7 of 8 available votes. Candidate Steven Sexton received the other vote, while Karen Banta and Kathy Hubbard received no votes.

After serving the city of Springfield and Greene County in a variety of capacities over the years, Horton will now take charge of Zone 1 on the city council.

A Springfield resident since 2013, she received her undergraduate degree from Tuskegee University, and two separate Master’s Degrees from Florida State as well as Missouri State University.

Horton will serve Springfield’s Zone 1 until the April 4, 2023 municipal elections.

Missouri lawmakers will hear a proposal to name a new bridge on Interstate 70 near Rocheport, Missouri the “Senator Roy D. Blunt Bridge.”

Private donations would foot the bill for the bridge, which will run over the Missouri River in Boone and Cooper Counties.

Bridge construction is scheduled to be finished in 2024.

Blunt was instrumental in securing an $81.2 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant from the Department of Transportation to replace the Rocheport bridge.

Another round of severe thunderstorms will be possible in southwest Missouri as early as late Tuesday night, but become more likely Wednesday morning into the afternoon.

The National Weather Service says any storm potential Tuesday evening will depend on the strength of a cap that’s in place, limiting storm development.

The overall highest risk for impactful weather looks to be Wednesday, when all modes of severe weather are possible, including large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.

An “enhanced,” or Level 3 risk for severe storms covers our far eastern counties on Wednesday.

The Springfield metro area is in a Level 2, or “slight” risk for severe storms on Wednesday, while areas in the western Ozarks along the I-49 corridor are in a Level 1, or “marginal” risk zone.

Forecasters say winds outside of any storms could gust at 35 to 45 miles per hour.

KWTO News will keep you up to date on the latest severe weather information, including watches, warnings, and damage reports on 93-3 AM 560 KWTO.

Firefighters from several agencies battled a blaze at a home in Ozark.

Authorities says the homeowner was working on his pickup truck in his garage when it caught fire and spread to the house.

Nobody was injured.

A judge has acquitted a Springfield woman charged in the hit-and-run death of a pedestrian.

Investigators say 26 year old Haily Crabtree was facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of the accident, after she struck a bicyclist, from Louisiana, on U-S 50 in Jefferson City.

The bicyclist died at the scene. Police believe Crabtree fell asleep at the wheel.

The Springfield City Council has announced the death of a local judge.

According to a new release from the City of Springfield, Chief Municipal Judge Todd Thornhill passed away on Friday, April 8th, 2022. He was 61-years-old.

Thornhill began working for the City of Springfield in 1993, and was named Chief Municipal Judge in 1994.

A statement from the City of Springfield can be read below:

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Chief Municipal Judge Todd Thornhill passed away Friday. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy of public service and will be missed. 

Judge Thornhill joined the City in April 1993 when he was appointed Second Division Judge. In April of 1994, he was appointed as the court’s Chief Judge. As the Chief Judge of the Springfield Municipal Court, he presided over city ordinance violation cases, as well as being responsible for the day-to-day administration of the court.
 
 Judge Thornhill achieved many honors during his distinguished career, including an appointment to a Missouri Supreme Court Municipal Division Work Group

in 2015. He was the only municipal judge selected for this honor. 

 In 2016, he was appointed to serve as a member of the Missouri Press-Bar Commission to foster better communication between the media and the bench and bar. 

In 2019, he was awarded the Missouri Municipal and Associate Circuit Judges Association George Pittman Award. The distinguished winners of this award are chosen based on their service to the association through writings, lecturing, and serving as an officer or director of the association. It recognizes the honoree’s contributions to the association which substantially exceed those normally expected of officers and board members.

After graduating from Missouri State University in 1983 with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy, Judge Thornhill attended the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. He graduated from MU in 1987 with a juris doctor degree.
 
 Upon graduation, he worked in private practice with the Springfield law firm of Woolsey, Fisher, Whiteaker and McDonald until 1990. From 1990 until 1993, Judge Thornhill was an attorney with the law offices of Robert M.N. Palmer in Springfield.
 
 Judge Thornhill was a member of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, the Missouri Bar, and the Missouri Municipal and Associate Circuit Judges’ Association.  

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a Carthage girl who went missing from her home.

14-year-old Rosslyn Brill was last seen at her home on Sunday, according to reports. Authorities believe that Brill ran away from home.

Brill is 5’2″ 125 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes.

If you have any information about Brill or her whereabouts, contact the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office at (417) 359-9100.