Month: January 2024

A total of 13 recruits are part of the 78th Springfield Police Academy.

The police department says the class includes ten men and three women from across the country, including Alaska, North Dakota, Florida and throughout the Midwest.

Recruiters have a variety of work and education experience, including military, security, corrections, medical and finance.

The recruits will spend the next six months completing more than 1,000 hours of intense law enforcement training.

When the recruits graduate from the academy, they will work with an experienced field-training officer for about 16 weeks of on-the-job training, then be assigned to the Uniform Operations Bureau.

You’ll have the opportunity to hear from the three finalists in the running to be the next president of Missouri State University.

The university says Dr. John Jasinski, Dr. Roger Thompson and Dr. Richard Williams will appear at multiple open forums in February at both the Springfield and West Plains campuses.

The forums in Springfield will be held February 15th (Dr. Williams), February 27th (Dr. Jasinski) and February 29th (Dr. Thompson).

Each event will be from 2:30-3:30 p.m. at Plaster Student Union.

Current MSU President Clif Smart is retiring this summer.

Here’s the news release from Missouri State University with further details on the forums:

SPRINGFIELD – The final three candidates for the next president of Missouri State University will take part in a series of open forums across the university system in February. 

The public will have multiple opportunities to meet Dr. John Jasinski, Dr. Roger Thompson and Dr. Richard Williams on both the Springfield and West Plains campuses.  

Springfield forums 

All open forums will take place from 2:30-3:30 p.m., in Plaster Student Union Theater. 

Candidates will be available on the following dates:  

• Williams on Thursday, Feb. 15 
• Jasinski on Tuesday, Feb. 27 
• Thompson on Thursday, Feb. 29 

West Plains forums 

West Plains will host two events for each finalist. All open forums for campus will be 1:30-2:30 p.m. in Fowler Lecture Hall located in Looney Hall, followed by a community reception from 2:45-3:45 p.m. in Kellett Hall Parlor. 

Candidates will be available on the following dates: 

• Williams on Wednesday, Feb. 14 
• Jasinski on Monday, Feb. 26 
• Thompson on Wednesday, Feb. 28 

The three finalists were announced earlier this month. More information on each candidate, the selection process and a timeline can be found on the university’s Presidential Search website.    

About Missouri State University  
Missouri State University is a public, comprehensive university system with a mission in public affairs. Our purpose is to develop fully educated persons with a focus on ethical leadership, cultural competence and community engagement.  

For more information about MSU, visit MissouriState.edu. You can also find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and see what’s happening on YouTube. Receive notification of Missouri State news releases as soon as they are posted by subscribing to our news blog.  

2024: 006 E-S;P-S;LA;R  

Prosecutors in Greene County say a man from Springfield will spend several years in prison for vandalizing New Covenant Academy.

38-year-old Kyle Black pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and institutional vandalism for events that took place on August 13, 2023.

He was sentenced by Judge Jerry Harmison to seven years in prison for each of the two charges.

Investigators say Black broke into building at the school and damaged surveillance equipment on the campus in the process.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kimberly Pulley and was investigated by Springfield Police.

The two charges will be served concurrently, putting Black behind bars for the next seven years.

One person is in custody following a shooting in east Springfield that injured two people.

Authorities say they were called to the scene along Willow Lane near Loren Street at around 10:30pm Saturday night for a reported assault.

When investigators arrived, they were informed one victim had already been taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound, and found a second victim at the scene with minor injuries that was also hospitalized, then released.

The first victim’s injuries were non-life threatening.

A third person at the scene was arrested, officers say, and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm as they were a convicted felon.

Springfield Police say they do not believe anyone else was involved in the shooting.

The identity of the two victims, as well as the suspect, have not been released at this time.

A man from El Dorado Springs is now being accused of murder after he and two others allegedly burned a body.

Bradley Keith is charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm in Vernon County. He also faces charges of abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in Cedar County.

Investigators say earlier this year, Keith shot and killed 27-year-old Joplin native Shaniya Haynes during an argument in an argument near the Kitten Creek Bridge northwest of El Dorado Springs.

He alleges that the two of them had gotten into a struggle over the gun, which led to the shooting.

Following the shooting, authorities say Keith, as well as Brandon Choate and Jimi Cole, took Haynes’ body across county lines into Cedar County to dispose of it.

The other two men are charged with helping to dispose of the body in the case as well.

Keith is currently being held in the Cedar County Jail without bond.

An Arkansas woman is the Christian County jail after she led officers on a chase.

The City of Nixa says Nixa Police were called to the Blu Current Credit Union on Mt. Vernon for a report of a forgery attempt.

During the investigation the suspect attempted to strike an officer with her vehicle.

This led to an approximately 8-mile chase involving three Nixa Police cars that ended with the woman’s arrest on US 65.

She had a nationwide warrant as well as several local charges against her.

A man from Springfield is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to stabbing.

34-year-old Charles Turner was on trial for stabbing his ex-partner in the stairwell of the medical facility she worked in before turning himself in at the Springfield Police Station. Turner pleaded guilty to Armed Criminal Action and Domestic Assault, and will be sentenced in April of this year.

The incident allegedly started when Turner felt he wasn’t able to see or contact a child after the relationship with the victim had ended.

After 74 years named as Baptist Bible College, the institution is getting a new title.

In an announcement Thursday, President Mark Milioni announced they are changing the name to Mission University.

He said, “It fits us, it reflects what we are all about, we are all on a mission to do what God has allowed us to do. So that’s why we’re here, to prepare students to go out and fulfill that mission.”

The process will begin soon on changing signs and conducting upgrades to the exterior of buildings across the campus.

Milioni says that while the name is changing, the mission and purpose of the university isn’t going anywhere.