Month: December 2023

The Logan-Rogersville community is mourning the loss of an area student who died in an ATV crash near Rogersville.

Authorities say the crash happened Wednesday afternoon near Sante Fe Road.

The driver was identified as Landis Carr, sophomore at the Logan-Rogersville School District.

School officials, family, and friends described Carr as a smart kid, successful academically, who also loved sports.

He participated in both football and baseball at Logan-Rogersville.

The district released a statement on Carr’s passing that read:

“Our hearts are heavy as we extend our deepest condolences to the family of Landis Carr. The Logan-Rogersville School District asks our community to please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.”

Marijuana sales are becoming big business in Missouri, going over $1 billion in 2023 thus far.

According to state officials, over $1.2 billion in weed products have been sold in the state since the legalization of recreational marijuana took effect in February.

Over $900 million of that $1.2 billion came from recreational sales, with around $300 million in medicinal products.

That’s an average of over $4 million in marijuana sales per day for the year so far.

Experts predict that number could reach over $1.3 billion for 2023 by year’s end.

Greene County Sheriff’s Deputies are being an investigation after a truck was pulled from the James River near Springfield.

The truck was found early Thursday morning along Timbercrest Street near Highway 65 southeast of Springfield.

Information about the investigation is limited at this time, as officials are still trying to determine if there were any people inside the truck and what caused the vehicle to end up in the river.

Two years after city leaders in Greene County installed vape disposal boxes in area schools, they are calling the effort thus far a success.

The boxes were added across the area back in 2021, and Jessica Daughter of Community Partnership of the Ozarks says over 730 vapes were discarded in the boxes last school year.

The project was spear-headed by the Greene County Tobacco and Vape Prevention Coalition to put a stop to teenage vaping in the area.

The county has one of the highest teen-vaping rates in the state of Missouri.

While Daugherty says the boxes have been successful, the problem with children vaping is still widespread, and continued efforts need to be made.

One person is dead after an A-T-V crash in Rogersville Wednesday evening.

The crash happened on Santa Fe Road.

The Logan-Rogersville Fire Protection District, The Christian County Sheriff’s Department and The Missouri State Highway Patrol responded to the scene.

The Logan-Rogersville Fire Chief confirmed that one person has died but didn’t release a name at this time.

Three of the four people facing charges in a Pulaski County sex trafficking will be due in court in just over a week.

Prosecutors say Emma Simpson, Kaleb Gibson, and Ulysses Tallie will appear on December 30 to either enter a plea or set a trial date for their cases.

Investigators arrested the three, as well as Danika Gillen, after a 13-year-old girl was found at an apartment in St. Robert.

The girl was a runaway who the four allegedly picked up to sex traffic.

Gillen will appear in January to enter a plea or schedule a trial date.

Teachers and union officials for Springfield Public Schools are looking for action after holding a protest along Saint Louis Street.

The protest, which was organized by Laura Mullins and SNEA, was to raise concerns about student discipline in the district.

She called out the SPS Board in November, saying disruptions from students are worse this year and that the district has relaxed its policies, making punishments less threatening for students who exhibit mad conduct.

Board members and other SPS officials have since denied the implication.

Stephen Hall, Chief Communications Officer for the district, says students are actually being disciplined more this year than in years past.

A federal grand jury has indicted a man with stealing an A-T-M machine from a bank in Ozark.

A jury indicted 26-year-old Nigel Luchin of Houston, Texas, with one count of entering a bank with intent to commit bank theft and one count of bank theft.

Luchin and a group of unidentified subjects used a stolen truck in the theft of an A-T-M machine at an Ozark bank.

Ozark Police found Luchin’s Texas identification in the front seat of the truck.

Here is the U-S Department of Justice news release with more details on this case:

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Houston, Texas, man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for his role in the theft from an automated teller machine (ATM) at an Ozark, Mo., bank.

Nigel Dwane Luchin, 26, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Luchin on Nov. 6, 2023.

Luchin is charged with one count of entering a bank with the intent to commit bank theft and one count of bank theft.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Luchin was part of a group of unidentified subjects who used a stolen Ford F-250 pickup truck to destroy an ATM at Southern Bank, located at 2471 Jackson Road in Ozark, Mo., at 1:26 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2023. They used a chain and two large hooks to dismantle the door to the ATM, the affidavit says, by attaching the chains to the ATM and pulling the chain and hooks with the stolen Ford F-250. They stole $30,700 from the ATM and left the bank, abandoning the pickup truck a short distance away.

Investigators learned the pickup truck had been stolen from the parking lot of Tom’s Diesel in Nixa, Mo., at about 12:30 a.m. the same day. They reviewed surveillance videos from businesses in the area, which allegedly showed Luchin and others arriving at the area in two vehicles – a Chrysler Voyager minivan and a Toyota Highlander – and leave the area with the stolen pickup. Both the Voyager and the Highlander were identified on a license plate reader and traced to two car rental agencies in Houston. Later the same day, a license plate reader in Houston captured both of those vehicles traveling in the same direction.

Ozark police officers searched the stolen pickup truck and found Luchin’s Texas identification card on the driver’s seat.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan. It was investigated by the FBI and the Ozark, Mo., Police Department.

A man is in custody for sending threatening emails to officials at Missouri State University, beginning when he was a student.

Investigators say Aaron Brown started sending messages starting in February, discussing mass shootings and other atrocities.

He was reprimanded by the university, but the messages continued.

In July of this year, officials say Brown was committed by the Greene County Probate Court for a 96-hour psychiatric hold.

After he was released, police say his behavior further worsened, which led to him being expelled in September.

More emails followed, which culminated in a set of threatening emails in November that led to the Dean of Student Office’s being closed for the safety of employees.

Brown is charged with first-degree terroristic threatening and is being held in the Greene County Jail on a $10,000 bond.