Springfield Regional Arts Council’s annual ArtsFest returns to Walnut Street this weekend. Anticipating an eager crowd of 30,000 attendees and potential customers, Springfield artist Mari Moore-Mosby has been working for six months to ensure all 400 of her pieces are ready to sell at the community event. Moore-Mosby is a full-time physical therapist at Cox Health, a working artist, and a full-time parent to a one-year-old daughter. These aspects of life often blend together, she said, making for some uniquely tangible and useful fusions. One of the many creations that Moore-Mosby of Mudbug...…Springfield Regional Arts Council’s annual ArtsFest returns to Walnut Street this weekend. Anticipating an eager crowd of 30,000 attendees and potential customers, Springfield artist Mari Moore-Mosby has been working for six months to ensure all 400 of her pieces are ready to sell at the community event. Moore-Mosby is a full-time physical therapist at Cox Health, a working artist, and a full-time parent to a one-year-old daughter. These aspects of life often blend together, she said, making for some uniquely tangible and useful fusions. One of the many creations that Moore-Mosby of Mudbug...WW…

Springfield News-LeaderA now-former Missouri State University student was sentenced Friday to five years of probation for raping a fellow student in 2018.David Gonzales, 23, was given the sentence Friday morning at a hearing in front of Judge Calvin Holden.Holden found Gonzales guilty of second-degree rape, sodomy and sexual abuse following a bench trial in July.According to court documents in the case, the victim let Gonzales stay the night at her home in January 2018 because he was intoxicated and he forced himself on her.Court documents say the woman told Gonzales she did not...…Springfield News-LeaderA now-former Missouri State University student was sentenced Friday to five years of probation for raping a fellow student in 2018.David Gonzales, 23, was given the sentence Friday morning at a hearing in front of Judge Calvin Holden.Holden found Gonzales guilty of second-degree rape, sodomy and sexual abuse following a bench trial in July.According to court documents in the case, the victim let Gonzales stay the night at her home in January 2018 because he was intoxicated and he forced himself on her.Court documents say the woman told Gonzales she did not...WW…

Springfield News-LeaderGALENA — A historical exhibit featuring a replica of the noose used in Missouri’s last legal hanging drew fire Friday from Democrats who said its presence near temporary polling stations amounted to racist “voter intimidation.”The exhibit in the Stone County Courthouse, which also features other artifacts and newspaper clippings about the 1937 execution of Roscoe Jackson, a white man convicted of murder, first drew notice more than a week ago.A voter who found the display offensive took a photo and provided it to federal civil rights enforcement and state...…Springfield News-LeaderGALENA — A historical exhibit featuring a replica of the noose used in Missouri’s last legal hanging drew fire Friday from Democrats who said its presence near temporary polling stations amounted to racist “voter intimidation.”The exhibit in the Stone County Courthouse, which also features other artifacts and newspaper clippings about the 1937 execution of Roscoe Jackson, a white man convicted of murder, first drew notice more than a week ago.A voter who found the display offensive took a photo and provided it to federal civil rights enforcement and state...WW…

Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsCorrection: An earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of Lee Bradberry.A new report argues a yearslong abuse scandal from a prominent former director at Branson-area Kanakuk Kamps was more widespread and systemic than reported before.The report, published Sunday on The Dispatch, includes new documents, interviews and analysis about the years Peter Newman rose from the ranks of counselor to camp director and .Newman pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexually abusing boys in 2010 and received a sentence that would put him in prison for the...…Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsCorrection: An earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of Lee Bradberry.A new report argues a yearslong abuse scandal from a prominent former director at Branson-area Kanakuk Kamps was more widespread and systemic than reported before.The report, published Sunday on The Dispatch, includes new documents, interviews and analysis about the years Peter Newman rose from the ranks of counselor to camp director and .Newman pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexually abusing boys in 2010 and received a sentence that would put him in prison for the...WW…

Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsAn anonymous "John Doe" plaintiff who says he suffered sex abuse while he attended a Christian youth camp based near Branson recently sued a former counselor for civil damages.Former Kanakuk camp counselor Peter Newman is already serving two life sentences, plus 30 years, at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. He was imprisoned following his 2010 sentencing on seven felony counts of sexually abusing boys, in connection with his role as a Kanakuk counselor.Filed April 8, the new lawsuit names only Newman. It does not name Kanakuk as...…Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsAn anonymous "John Doe" plaintiff who says he suffered sex abuse while he attended a Christian youth camp based near Branson recently sued a former counselor for civil damages.Former Kanakuk camp counselor Peter Newman is already serving two life sentences, plus 30 years, at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. He was imprisoned following his 2010 sentencing on seven felony counts of sexually abusing boys, in connection with his role as a Kanakuk counselor.Filed April 8, the new lawsuit names only Newman. It does not name Kanakuk as...WW…

Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsWing Yin "David" Leong, who emigrated to the U.S. from China, landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and created Springfield's famous cashew chicken, has died. The 99-year-old's death was confirmed in a public Facebook post Tuesday morning by his granddaughter. He would have turned 100 on Aug. 18. More:More:Leong grew up in Guangzhou, formerly Canton, in China. In 1938, Japan attacked and captured Leong's home city. He arrived in the U.S. two years later and headed to New Orleans, . He joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and worked on...…Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsWing Yin "David" Leong, who emigrated to the U.S. from China, landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and created Springfield's famous cashew chicken, has died. The 99-year-old's death was confirmed in a public Facebook post Tuesday morning by his granddaughter. He would have turned 100 on Aug. 18. More:More:Leong grew up in Guangzhou, formerly Canton, in China. In 1938, Japan attacked and captured Leong's home city. He arrived in the U.S. two years later and headed to New Orleans, . He joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and worked on...WW…

Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsPastor Michael Hargraves signs his emails with "May God Richly Bless You."He's recently about sermons about Christian growth and thankfulness for his small congregation at Buffalo United Methodist Church, located on Pine Street in Buffalo, the Dallas County seat.But along with messages of faith, Hargraves has another message for the public: His church is not linked to phone messages from scammers that have been circulating lately.Hargraves and church staff have been dealing with reports of scammers using the church's phone number to...…Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsPastor Michael Hargraves signs his emails with "May God Richly Bless You."He's recently about sermons about Christian growth and thankfulness for his small congregation at Buffalo United Methodist Church, located on Pine Street in Buffalo, the Dallas County seat.But along with messages of faith, Hargraves has another message for the public: His church is not linked to phone messages from scammers that have been circulating lately.Hargraves and church staff have been dealing with reports of scammers using the church's phone number to...WW…

Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsNewly sworn-in Branson Mayor Larry Milton started his two-year term by fulfilling a key campaign promise: the repeal of Branson's public health masking order, first enacted July 31 .On Tuesday night, the Branson Board of Aldermen voted 6-0 in favor of a public masking repeal to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, modifying a bill Milton introduced earlier that called for immediate repeal.Aldermen also considered a possible repeal in 7 to 10 days, in a bid to give businesses time to prepare for changes, but settled on a timeframe of roughly 48...…Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsNewly sworn-in Branson Mayor Larry Milton started his two-year term by fulfilling a key campaign promise: the repeal of Branson's public health masking order, first enacted July 31 .On Tuesday night, the Branson Board of Aldermen voted 6-0 in favor of a public masking repeal to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, modifying a bill Milton introduced earlier that called for immediate repeal.Aldermen also considered a possible repeal in 7 to 10 days, in a bid to give businesses time to prepare for changes, but settled on a timeframe of roughly 48...WW…

Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsThe is looking to highlight the benefits of — and remind Springfieldians that their Republican senators opposed it.For the next month, people driving on Interstate 44 west of Kansas Expressway will see a billboard that reads "Help is here" with a list of three popular provisions of Biden's first legislative accomplishment as president: $1,400 direct payments, money for vaccine distribution, and aid for school reopening.The billboard will also say "Thanks to President Biden" on one side and "No thanks" to Missouri Sens. and on the other.“Democrats passed...…Springfield News-LeaderView CommentsThe is looking to highlight the benefits of — and remind Springfieldians that their Republican senators opposed it.For the next month, people driving on Interstate 44 west of Kansas Expressway will see a billboard that reads "Help is here" with a list of three popular provisions of Biden's first legislative accomplishment as president: $1,400 direct payments, money for vaccine distribution, and aid for school reopening.The billboard will also say "Thanks to President Biden" on one side and "No thanks" to Missouri Sens. and on the other.“Democrats passed...WW…