One of the men charged in the rape and murder of a Stella, Missouri girl has his case moved out of the area. David Spears, the step-father and a murder suspect of Rowan Ford, will go to trial in Pulaski County, Missouri. Spears is charged with first degree murder and rape in Barry County. The case was moved on Monday to Pulaski County on a change of venue. Police say Spears and another man, Christopher Collings, raped and strangled the girl last November at Collings' home near Wheaton. Her body was found inside a cave in McDonald County a week after she was reported missing. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case. The next court date has not been set.

It was made official Tuesday, as Joplin will have passenger airline service once again in September. Joplin Airport Manager Steve Stockham says a two-flight schedule from Great Lakes Aviation will start September 8, with a third flight to be added later in the fall. Departures to Kansas City will range from morning to late afternoon, as will return flights back from K.C. One airport official says the summer work continues now, to get the new terminal and facilities on line for the first flights. The inside of the building is pretty well complete, with the last of the electrical systems being installed now. Airline tickets for Great Lakes flights out of Joplin officially went on sale Tuesday.

Officials say a tractor-trailer left the road near Highways 97 and 96 in Southwest Missouri and went into a farm field, losing around 1,000 gallons of liquid asphalt. The DNR says the asphalt hardened, making cleanup easier. Officials say no waterways were threatened.

A two vehicle accident in Joplin yesterday injures one. Joplin police say a motorcyclist was driving off a ramp on Highway 249 onto Interstate 44 when the semi sucked the motorcycle into its path. They say the motorcycle rider over corrected, which caused him to skid on the pavement. His finger was amputated during the accident. Officials used ice to preserve the finger so that it might be reconnected.

A 4-State man is arrested and awaiting charges of involuntary manslaughter after a deadly crash in Webb City overnight Monday. Crews were reconstructing the scene Tuesday morning at the intersection of 14th and Goldstream in Webb City. Police say the crash happened around 10:30 p.m. Monday when the driver lost control and rolled his car. The passenger, 25-year old John Scofield, died at the scene. Officers say he was ejected and trapped underneath the car. Police say the 24-year-old driver was under the influence of alcohol.

Former Joplin Police Officer Homer Knisley says he is not to blame for the force he used to arrest a Joplin man. Knisley was dismissed after allegations by David Neal that excessive force was used against him in an April arrest; Knisley says the Joplin Police Department did not train him properly and does not have the right equipment for the problem he had to deal with. An investigation by the J-P-D says Knisley used excessive force by striking Neal while he was in handcuffs. That investigation led to injuries costing the city $5,000, and also led Knisley to resign. Knisley submitted his side of the story in a written statement on Tuesday, you can find the statement, plus the facts surrounding the case in today?s Joplin Globe.

The Joplin City Council will have a busy Monday night as they will, in a work session, interview candidates who have applied for the vacant zone four seat on the council. Thirteen have applied, one has been disqualified for living outside the city limits, making twelve people who have applied for the seat before the July 30th deadline. Applicants include Mark Brower, Mary Rebecca Seidl, Justin Gilstrap, Joyce Hardcastle, Charlie James, Veda Boyd Jones, Gary McKinney, Mary Romero, Beatrice Scott, Michael Seibert, Richard White, and Kevin York. The work session will begin at 5:45 Monday at City Hall, with the seat to be filled during the August 18th council meeting. Those who wish to apply have until July 30th to do so. Residents must have lived in Joplin for at least four years and live in zone four.

A judge in Jefferson City has issued another ruling in the lawsuit against Missouri Governor Matt Blunt over the handling of e-mail correspondence. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan has appointed two individuals as Special Assistant Attorneys General to pursue the suit. Callahan had earlier ruled that special investigator Mel Fisher lacked standing to bring the lawsuit. Callahan had given Attorney General Jay Nixon (D-MO) ten days to join the lawsuit or for Fisher, the former State Highway Patrol Superintendent, to establish personal standing so that the lawsuit might continue. Callahan has accepted that Nixon has a conflict and has named two individuals to act as Special Assistant Attorneys General in this matter. They are former Lieutenant Governor Joe Maxwell (D-MO) and attorney Louis Leonatti. The Court's earlier dismissal of the suit is further stayed until August 26th to allow the Special Assistant Attorneys General the opportunity to review the case and decide whether a new or amended petition should be filed.

With the price of a gallon of gasoline hovering around the $4 mark, Missouri drivers want to be sure they are getting their money's worth when they fill up. And, a team of state inspectors is working to deliver just that. Ron Hayes, Director of the Division of Weights and Measures at the Missouri Department of Agriculture says 17 inspectors test more than 66,000 gas pumps twice a year.
Hayes says the standard of compliance for new pumps is expected to be within one quarter of one percent of the standard measurement when tested - meaning any disparity should not be more than 25 cents for a $100 purchase of gasoline. The disparity rises to 50 cents per $100 purchase for older, worn pumps. In addition to pump inspections, inspectors perform safety inspections at retail filling stations.

A study by Reader's Digest magazine says Missouri is not among the best states in the country for laws on teenaged drivers. But it is among the next-best. The magazine uses figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to rate states in the best, good, fair, or worst categories. Missouri is one of 13 states in the "good" category.

Midwest Airlines is pulling all of its flights from Lambert-St. Louis airport. That's two daily flights between St. Louis and the company's Milwaukee hub. Midwest also is cutting the number of flights from Kansas City, and is laying off 110 employees there. The company says it is restructuring because of high fuel costs.

The song about America's pasttime urges someone to "buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack." It was written in the days before people discovered they had peanut allergies. The St. Louis Cardinals set aside 80 seats in one section as a peanut-free zone last night. The team says it will think about doing it again but it has not said when that might happen.

The Joplin Regional Airport will see a return of airline service in September, with tickets to be available as early as tomorrow. Information has been posted of the website of Great Lakes Aviation for flights from Joplin to Kansas City and is scheduled to make a formal announcement about the beginning of service today. The airline will begin with two flights a day to and from Kansas City, with an added third flight in late October or early November. Nonrefundable tickets will cost $69 each way, with refundable tickets listed at 194-dollars one way. More information can be obtained by going on-line; www.flygreatlakes.com.

Where to extend downtown streetscaping, on the 700 and 800 blocks of Main Street, or moving on to 4th Street; that?s what the Joplin City Council will determine at its next meeting, after discussions stalled in their meeting Monday night. It was revealed by Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr that spending for two more blocks of streetscaping has been allocated for the city. Rohr cautioned the council, however, against taking the project too far, otherwise, the project would lose its visual appeal. The council was divided about the next phase of the project; some said the move to 4th Street would help businesses in that area, including the city?s Health Department building and the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce. Others said the 700 and 800 blocks of Main Street need help, and could benefit greater from the improvement. The discussion was postponed until the next meeting so more information could be obtained about both areas.

The Empire District Electric Company is warning their customers about a possible scam being performed by a man wanting credit card or banking information to make delinquent payments to the electric company. Amy Bass, Empire spokesperson, says if you receive one of these telephone calls, do not give out your information. Bass also recommends informing the call center by calling 1-800-206-2300 and letting them know you received the call; it might make tracking the caller?s where-abouts easier for authorities. In the meantime, the investigation continues.

A $2.4 million deficit is forcing Missouri Southern State University to examine how it?s spending money. MSSU President Dr. Bruce Speck says they have more expenses than revenue, so a way must be found to make it through the rest of 2008. The school has begun with a ten percent cut for all departments, and other simple things are being done, like turning off computers and lights when not in use. There have also been reductions in other areas, like a reduction in yearly functions, instead of their dismissal. Speck is also considering going to a four day work week. Speck plans to reveal more of his cost cutting measures to MSSU faculty and staff today in the form of two summit meetings.

A former Pittsburg tumbling instructor pleads guilty of sexual assault to a 12-year-old girl. Glenn Keeton pleaded guilty to one charge of lewd behavior with a child and one count of failure to register as a sex offender. Keeton owned the "ready-set-go" gym in Pittsburg, and police arrested him after investigating the alleged assault of a twelve-year old girl. Keeton has also been charged in California with lewd behavior involving a ten-year-old relative. He is scheduled to be sentenced for the Kansas offense on September 16th.

Following severe storms and flooding June 1, an IRS spokesperson says affected people in Vernon County, Missouri could qualify for IRS assistance. Officials say the IRS is postponing certain deadlines for taxpayers who live or have a business in the disaster area. The new deadline for those who qualify is August 29 for return filing, tax payment, and other time-sensitive acts that would have been due in June.

President Bush is pressuring Congress to pass the Housing Finance Industry rescue bill. Missouri's Senators agree one needs to be passed although they're not comfortable with the word "bailout." President Bush wants the bill although Congress is likely to send him a provision that will force him to veto the bill. It's a 600-page bill designed to restore public confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the big secondary market lenders hurt by the tumble of the mortgage market, and cut down foreclosures. Senator McCaskill says Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are not going to be allowed to go under. But she says new regulations are needed to make sure they need to be more respectful of the public in the way they run their operations. Bond says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not need a bailout. He suggests they issue stock with 15 percent dividends to raise needed money, with the stock bought back before they can continue operations. He and McCaskill agree that the government should not allow any federal funds to be used to pay the high salaries of those who've gotten these institutions in big financial trouble.

Enjoying the long summer days outside might be keeping asthmatic students out of the hospital but experts say now is the time to plan for returning to school. Asthma program coordinator, Peggy Gaddy, with the state health department said summer is when parents should be talking with doctors and preparing for the school year. Gaddy said the action plan needs to include what medications the child is taking and what signs indicate an asthma attack so the school knows how to care for the child. Gaddy says with asthma you don't just have to wheeze to be having trouble. It can be the incessant cough that you get with it and these children especially have this cough at night and so it keeps them awake and it affects their ability to perform well in school.

The State Department of Economic Development is ready to provide more than $10-million in state assistance to help businesses train and retrain 32-thousand new and current workers in 244 companies. Mike Waltman with the Missouri Division of Workforce Development says it is through this training and retraining that Missouri companies become more competitive by making sure each company's workforce has a chance to live up to its full potential. The funding was appropriated by the General Assembly with the training and retraining to be administered locally by community colleges and area career schools. Amy Deem with the Department of Economic Development says training and retraining results in multiple benefits: It helps a company to do training that it might not have been able to do without state assistance, it upgrades the skills of workers to keep up with the ever-changing demands, and it benefits a community by keeping a healthy business and well-trained workforce in that community.

DNA that has linked a Springfield man to the sexual assaults of two women makes him a suspect in other cases, too. Police have arrested Justin Goben, who is charged with incidents in July of 2007 and this past May.

Missouri is in the top third of the states in foreclosure frequencies. The internet site RaltyTrac ranks Missouri 16th with one in 760 households foreclosed on in June. The national average is one foreclosure for every 501 households. Nevada was the national leader last month--1 foreclosure for every 122 households.

Southwest Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt thinks one answer to high gas prices is a return to the 55-mile-per hour speed limit. Blunt says he's been hearing more and more people supporting the idea. Blunt favors more drilling offshore and in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, and building more nuclear power plants.

If you see news happening, you now have two new ways to call to let Chris Freund, News Director for Community Radio, know about it! Call (417) 782-NEWS, or e-mail news@crjoplin.com. Thanks for your help!