Month: July 2025

Some parents of preschoolers in Ozark, MO won’t have to worry about paying for their child’s education, as the Ozark Schools’ Tiger Paw Early Childhood Center was awarded the MO Quality Pre-K Grant.

The $780,000 grant will help pay the tuition of 120 pre-school students, regardless of their family’s income.

Tiger Paw’s principal Elizabeth Dawson says that the school has grown significantly, thanks to expansions and new programs, and that these expansions and the grant money will give Ozark students more access to necessary early education.

The funds are for students who will be four years old by the end of July and will be starting kindergarten in the 2026-2027 school year, and district leaders say that eligible families will be contacted.

Photo courtesy of Ozark School District.

The owner of several Mexican restaurants in the state has plead guilty to employing illegal immigrants, which gave himself an illegal edge in business.

Lorenzo Castro-Manzanarez, a Mexican citizen living in Springfield, plead guilty to his role in a scheme to employ undocumented immigrants in restaurants he owned, including Cantina Bravo Grille in St. Robert and the El Poblano restaurant in Springfield.

Justice officials indicated that Castro-Manzanarez admitted that between January 2018 and August 2021, he transported and harbored illegal immigrants who were unauthorized to live or work in the U.S., and reportedly encouraging them to live and work illegally and that he would provide them with employment and falsified documents.

According to law enforcement officials, employing undocumented immigrants gave Castro-Manzanarez an illegal business advantage, and that he also admitted that his own I-9 and Social Security documents had been falsified.

Castro-Manzanarez then admitted that even after indictment and being released on bond, he still continued to employ illegal immigrants and providing them with housing under his name.

He was taken into custody after his plea hearing on Monday, and a sentencing hearing will be set after a presentencing investigation by the U.S. Probation Office has been completed.

Photo courtesy of Envato Elements.

A man from Springfield is dead after a crash in Ohio.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says 42-year-old Ryan Broyles of Springfield was killed when a vehicle, driven by 41-year-old Jessica Broyles, began hydroplaning, ran off Interstate 71 near Westfield Township, and struck a tractor-trailer truck that was on the side of the road.

The Highway Patrol says Ryan Broyles died at the scene.

Jessica Broyles and the Broyles adult son are hospitalized in Akron with serious injuries.

Three younger children suffered minor injuries.

(Photo Courtesy of the Greene County Jail)

A woman is in jail after she confessed to trying to burn a house in Springfield that had belonged to her late father.

Court documents say 60-year-old Cheryl Gibson is charged with felony second-degree arson.

A probable cause statement says Gibson was in a dispute with another family member over the residence, so she poured gasoline throughout the house and lit a match.

She reported the fire and admitted she did it, so the other party could not sell the house.

Return to the Land, a “whites only” community based out of Arkansas, has talked to many outlets about plans to potentially create a new community to the Springfield area; However, many of the city’s residents are not inclined to welcome them here.

According to the community’s website, they are a private member association exclusively made for white people, and that they vet member through an application process based on European ancestry.

Springfield residents say that it isn’t good for a “melting pot” city like Springfield to have non-inclusive groups like Return to the Land to locate to the area.

Missouri State Representative Betsy Fogle has spoken out against the association’s potential location to Missouri, saying she’s been silent for too long and that there’s no room in the city for a group that “sets us back decades” with their perceivably racist agendas akin to segregation.

The group says that they are only based on “shared ancestral values” and that they don’t believe in hatred or violence against those of other cultures.

Fogle also said that if the group ends up locating to Missouri, there would be a legislative conversation about the legality of communities like Return to the Land.

Photo courtesy of the Missouri House of Representatives.

Burrell Behavioral Health is opening a new clinic on Kearney Street, giving north Springfield residents better access to health services.

According to building project records submitted by Burrell Health, the new mental health clinic is expected to open on 630 West Kearney St.

Many residents say that the new clinic will be good for the area, especially those who don’t have their own personal transportation.

Burrell has no other information about the clinic is available at this time.

Photo courtesy of Burrell Behavioral Health.

An airplane was destroyed by fire in Bolivar on Monday evening.

The Bolivar City Fire Department says they responded to a call of a fire at the Bolivar Municipal Airport just after 6 PM.

They extinguished a Cessna 182 that had burst into flame after it backfired.

It was outside the hangar and there were no injuries.

(Photo Courtesy of the Bolivar City Fire Department)

Springfield City Council approves a ballot measure to fund an events center.

Voters will decide, November 4^th, to increase the current hotel guest license by 3-percent to help support the construction of a regional convention and events center during a meeting Monday evening.

The tax would only affect overnight visitors staying in hotels, motels, tourist courts, and short-term rentals.