The Branson Police Department is now closer to building a new police station.
The Board Of Aldermen met Tuesday night and approved the next steps in the construction process.
The new facility will cost about 16 million dollars to build, and is expected to be finished by the end of this year.
The Chief of Police says without the new building, the Police Department would not receive state or federal accreditation.
Deputies with the Stone County Sheriff’s Office are holding four men in custody for their alleged attempted involvement in sex trafficking.
Investigators say they created a sting operation, advertising sexually explicit content with young girls age 14-17.
The operation ended with four men being charged. Three of the men were charged with second-degree attempted sex trafficking:
A fourth man, 28-year-old Mariko Kwizera from the Congo, was charged with enticement of a child.
All four men are being held in the Stone County Jail without bond.
A man who was a camper at a Branson-based children’s camp, claims he was sexually abused over the course of two years is now suing leaders of the camp.
37-year-old Andrew Summersett filed the lawsuit earlier this week against multiple people at Kanakuk, including CEO Joe White.
He claims in the lawsuit that he endured sexual abuse at the hands of Kanakuk workers, specifically former director of the camp, Peter Newman, from 2001 to 2002.
Newman is serving two life sentences after being found guilty on similar charges from other victims.
Summersett claims in the lawsuit that following the abuse, camp officials discouraged him from coming forward with what happened to him, including speaking publicly about it or filing a complaint.
His attorney, Bobby Thrasher, says the purpose of the suit is to get leaders at the camp to do something they’ve never done.. admit wrongdoing when it comes to the handling of the sexual abuse that happened at Kanakuk.
Severe storms pushed through the Ozarks early Wednesday morning, but are clearing the area from the mid to late morning hours from north to south.
The National Weather Service says the storms produced wind damaged as they moved through before daylight Wednesday.
We had reports of multiple trees down in the Walnut Grove area around 5:30 a.m., along with tree limbs down at a home in Morrisville.
There was also tree damage and power outages northeast of Neosho.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for all of the Ozarks through 8 a.m. Wednesday, but by 7 o’clock, the watch remained only for counties south of I-44.
The Laclede County Sheriff’s Office has issued a Endangered Silver Advisory for missing Lebanon man.
The Laclede County Sheriff’s Department says 67-year-old Christopher Martinez went missing Tuesday morning.
He was going south on Highway A-A.
He was without his medication or phone.
Martinez is 5 foot 9, 214 pounds with full-sleeve tattoos on both arms, a handlebar mustache and metal frame glasses.
If you see him, you are asked to the Laclede County Sheriff’s Office at 417-532-2311.
The National Weather Service in Springfield is warning residents of the possibility of scattered thunderstorms beginning tonight.
A cold-pressure system is working its way into the Ozarks this afternoon and evening, meeting the extreme heat the area has faced this past week.
Because of this, weather experts say areas including Joplin, Monett, Springfield and others south, and areas as far north as Nevada and Rolla could be effected by these storms.
Areas south, including Branson and West Plains, are a a marginal risk for scattered storms.
NWS says the hazards included in these storms could be up to quarter-sized hail, and wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour.
A teenager is dead following a single-car crash that occurred near Osceola.
Investigators say the 16-year-old driver, who was from Osceola, was driving the vehicle along State Highway 82 Monday afternoon when the car went off the side of the road.
The driver overcorrected back onto the highway, which caused the car to flip.
Highway Patrol troopers say the teen was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
It is the 46th traffic fatality for MSHP Troop D in 2024.
A man from West Plains who is convicted of killing too people will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Prosecutors say 36-year-old Joey Marcak pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder on Friday, June 21, in connection with the deaths of Frankie Ziegler and Richard Kuntz.
His case was granted a change of venue to Greene County prior to his guilty plea. He was sentenced to life in prison for the charges earlier this week.
According to investigators, Marcak contacted two associates and got them to contact the two victims in order to negotiate a drug deal.
One of the associates told police he had accused them of stealing a car and cash from him, and he was trying to lure them in to confront them.
When the associates met up with the victims, Marcak appeared and began to open fire on a vehicle, killing both Ziegler and Kuntz.
The two associates, Levi Gunter and Kyla Croney, were each charged in the case as well. Gunter died prior to his trial taking place, while Croney was sentenced to 12 years in prison on second-degree murder charges.
A man has been sentenced in a conspiracy to distribute meth in Greene County.
A federal judge sentenced 40-year-old Justin Hollingsworth of Springfield to 18 years in federal prison without parole.
Hollingsworth pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to distribute meth and possessing a firearm to further drug-trafficking.
A man is dead after being shot during a home invasion in North Springfield earlier this month.
Springfield Police say the shooting occurred in the 7-hundred block of South Douglas Avenue.
The victim 60-year-old Daryl Douglas died Sunday from his injuries at a local hospital.
Detectives say this is now a homicide investigation and are asking anyone with information to contact Springfield Police or Crime Stoppers.