Month: April 2026

After weeks of deadlock, the House finally passed a bill Thursday to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, ending the agency’s longest shutdown. The quick voice vote sends the bipartisan plan to President Trump. While a large portion of DHS is funded, immigration enforcement—a central point of debate—is being paid for separately. This stabilization comes after White House warnings that temporary funds for parts of the agency, like TSA workers, were about to run out, raising fears of travel disruptions. DHS has lacked regular funding since mid-February. Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who backed the bill, stated, “It is about damn time.” The Senate had approved the plan weeks ago, but internal Republican disagreements stalled it in the House. A path forward is now clear for at least part of the department.

(Photo courtesy of Pixaby)

Auto glass shops are booked out for days around Springfield following Tuesday’s destructive hail storm that damaged thousands of vehicles around the Springfield metro area. Jack Owens, who manages an auto glass repair shop off Glenstone Avenue, says his company has called in reinforcements to help handle the extra workload. He says following the hailstorms, they got more than 100 calls every 30 minutes.

(Photo provided by Pixabay)

A new outage map designed to provide better accuracy for customers was launched by City Utilities of Springfield Thursday.

The updated map comes in response to customers requesting more information and new features. The new CU outage map shows a clearer, more complete picture of service disruptions, outage updates, and repair statuses.

The map also now includes boil water advisories.

Customers can view the map at cityutilities.net or in the CU MyAccount App.

A woman from Springfield will be going to trial for allegedly setting fire to the house of someone accused of abusing her in 2023. Alicia Smith will get a bench trial in Green County Court in August of this year.

Smith admitted to setting the fire in the house in February 2023, telling the Fire Marshal that she had been assaulted by a resident of the home and believed that person to still be inside.

She is currently charged with second-degree arson.

Cooler temps in the 60’s will stay with us through Saturday, with only slight chances for light rain sprinkles today.

Overnight temps will get down into the mi 30’sand lower 40’s, leading to some low frost potential in the eastern Ozarks on Friday and Saturday nights.

We then warm back up into next week with the next thunderstorm chances beginning Monday night.

(Graphic provided by the National Weather Service in Springfield)

It’s a big day for the city of Springfield as the National Route 66 Centennial Celebration gets underway Thursday.

The event runs through Sunday with daily live entertainment and activities.

NBC’s Today show will broadcast from downtown Springfield between 8 and 9am Thursday with Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer.

The broadcast, which originates from the newly completed Birthplace of Route 66 Plaza in downtown Springfield, will feature live interviews, special segments, and a look at the iconic American landmark.

The National Route 66 Centennial Kickoff Celebration Concert gets underway at 5:30pm at Great Southern Bank Arena, hosted by John Goodman and featuring Little Big Town.

The concert features some of the biggest names in country, rock and Americana, including Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts, Gretchen Wilson, Chris Janson, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and The Haygoods.

Parts of Jefferson and Park Central East will be closed until about 2pm Thursday, with additional road closures during the event through Sunday.