Month: June 2023

Silver Dollar City is announcing the creation of calming rooms for those with special needs.

Park officials say the large crowds, loud noises and strong smells can be overwhelming for children and individuals with special needs, and they want those people to have a safe place to decompress.

SDC is establishing calming rooms throughout the park, including a family calming room with the help of Mercy Hospitals.

Individuals and families will not be limited on time inside the rooms, and may stay as long as they need.

Entrance into the room is free, all you have to do is call the number on the sign outside of the room and wait for security to give you the passcode to get in.

Spokespeople for the park say they hope the creation of these rooms will give families with special needs individuals a greater experience at Silver Dollar City.

A woman has died in a crash on Highway 65 near Saddlebrooke Monday.

Highway Patrol Troopers say a pickup Northbound on 65 hit a car that was stopped at a stop sign Westbound on Highway 176, causing both vehicles to go down an embankment.

Sandra Puckett of Walnut Shade was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger, Mathew Puckett was seriously injured.

The driver of the pickup was not injured. He was arrested and taken to the Taney County Jail on a 24 hour hold.

The Nixa City Council has adjusted the budget to allow the hiring of two new police officers.

Nixa voters passed a sales tax increase for public safety in April, but that money will not start coming in until later this year.

The budget amendment passed by the city council will get the new officers on the street more quickly.

Police Chief Joe Campbell says the increased sales will eventually allow the city to build a new headquarters building for police.

The City of Springfield is sending out citizen surveys.

The City of Springfield says surveys have been mailed to 12,000 randomly chosen households in the Springfield city limits.

It is intended to gather feedback about city programs and services.

The survey is estimated to take about 15 minutes to complete.

The responses will remain confidential.

The results will be presented to the city council later in the summer.

A couple in Dade County are now charged after investigators say their 3-year-old son fatally shot their daughter last year.

The prosecutor has charged Stormy Baker and Chelsey Martin of Greenfield with second-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child.

A judge ordered their bond set at $100,000.

Investigators say their 3-year-old son shot their 1-year-old daughter in a bedroom.

The couple admitted to keeping loaded guns in their bedroom.

After nearly 40 years, a suspect is now on trial for the murder of a woman near Lake of the Ozarks in 1984.

Diana Lukosius was killed in 1984 at Camelot Estates in Camdenton after being brutally beaten.

The case was cold for 37 years, until investigators were able to utilize new DNA technology to uncover a suspect.

In 2021, Larry Hicks was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

Hicks, born in 1942, is a Louisiana native. He was an initial suspect in 1984, and was even interviewed by police, but there wasn’t enough evidence to yield charges.

The jury trial against him began this afternoon, and will last several days.

A man has been arrested and charged in the armed robbery of a Hood’s Truck Stop last Thursday.

Bruce Vonier is charged with first degree robbery and armed criminal action. Greene County Sheriff’s officials say a woman contacted investigators, identified Vonier as the robbery suspect and said the car used in the robbery belonged to her.

Investigators arrested Vonier at his home in Verona. He is being held in the Greene County Jail without bond.

The State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a church in Mountain Grove. Multiple agencies responded to Southside Baptist Church early Saturday evening.

Crews started putting out the flames that were pouring from the roof. Church members got calls from several churches in the community, opening their doors for worship and offering help and assistance in any way they can.

The church posted a picture to social media Sunday with a medssage on it’s sign in front of the church that read “Not Today Satan.”

Photo courtesy of Southside Baptist Church