Featured Articles from KY3

LACLEDE COUNTY, Mo. - A man from Arkansas is dead after he exited a moving vehicle on Interstate 44, and a tractor-trailer hit him one minute later as he lay on the westbound lanes of the freeway. Solomon T. Simpson, 19, of Fayetteville, Ark., was killed Wednesday evening when a 2013 Freightliner Century hit him at the 117 mile marker of the westbound lanes of I-44 just west of Lebanon. A crash report filed by the Missouri State Highway Patrol said the wreck happened at 11:21 p.m. A separate crash report stated Simpson had one moment earlier exited a 2007 Honda Accord as it was traveling westbound and suffered serious injuries.

Keeping floors and carpets clean is a job in and of itself. But if you have a pet that sheds a lot, you have a bigger challenge. Consumer Reports' latest tests show that some vacuums do a great job picking up pet hair, while others let the fur fly. Testers recently evaluated more than 100 vacuums, including uprights and canisters, bagged and bagless. To size up performance, testers go to great lengths. First, they measure exactly 5 grams of pet hair and spread it over a piece of carpet.

NEW YORK-- Country music star Trace Adkins and Las Vegas Magician Penn Jillette are competing as the last men standing in NBC's show "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. " The final task for Adkins and Jillette was to create a new flavor of ice cream to be sold by Walgreens. The show on Sunday night, May 19, will be the finale and will show the completion of the task and Donald Trump will reveal the winner of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. Their competing ice creams have been on sale all week long at Walgreens stores across the United States.

SALEM, Mo. -- A dog at the center of outrage on social media in the Ozarks has a date in court. A judge has scheduled a May 23 court date to hear the case of a dog named Phineas.  The dog has been in city custody for nearly a year after authorities say it bit a girl in June last year.  Salem Mayor Gary Brown says that was the second time that child had been bitten.  Her younger sister had been bitten once, according to the police report Brown...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A ticket bought in Florida matches the numbers in the largest Powerball drawing in the game's history. The winning numbers for Saturday's $600 million drawing: 10, 13, 14, 22, 52 and the Powerball is 11.  A player in Missouri matched the first five numbers, but failed to match the Powerball number.  That is a $1 million prize. The $600 million jackpot surpassed last November's jackpot of $588 million split by players in Missouri and Arizona.  Powerball had hinted if there was no Saturday night winner, the jackpot would have surpassed a $1 billion.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- An estimated $600 million dollars in assets are up for grabs in what's being called Missouri's largest lost and found. The items are a part of the state treasurer's unclaimed property. State Treasurer Clint Zweifel says about one in 10 Missourians have items in unclaimed assets. Many of the items are turned over to the state from bank safety deposit boxes. Items include gold coins, jewelry, military medals, and a baseball signed by Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer George Brett.

LAKE ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Lowe's stores have pulled a doormat at from store shelves after complaints from a Vietnam veteran from Missouri.  The doormat in question has an American Flag imprinted on it to celebrate the Memorial Day Holiday. Veteran John Kelly says its disrespectful and offensive for the flag that it be displayed this way.  "You don't tread on an American flag. You don't wipe dirty boots on them. You don't walk on them. That's a patriotic symbol that represents freedom and the country, and the people in it. "

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Watch for much of southwest and central Missouri through Monday morning. The counties in Missouri include, Barry, Barton, Bates, Benton, Camden, Carroll, Cedar, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Henry, Hickory, Jasper, Laclede, Lawrence, Maries, McDonald, Miller, Morgan, Newton, Polk, Pulaski, St. Clair, Stone, Vernon, Webster, and Wright.  It is set to expire at 1:00 a.m. Monday....

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., man and a Kirbyville, Mo., man were charged in federal court today for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute synthetic marijuana, commonly referred to as K2. KY3 News obtained exclusive video of the raid Thursday afternoon of The Man Cave on South Glenstone.  Watch for that video on KY3 News at Five and Six.  ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Police say the man found dead under the Interstate 44 bridge over Grant Avenue in north Springfield was Michael R. Smith, 39.  A passerby spotted his body about 7:10 a.m. Monday and called 9-1-1.   Police said Monday morning that it appears Smith was sleeping under the overpass before he died. Police called his death suspicious shortly after they arrived.  Later in the day, however, the case didn't seem that urgent and police didn't ask for the public's help with the case.  A police department spokeswoman said the cause of death won't be determined until after an autopsy "this week.

HALFWAY, Mo. -- The owner of a closed cattle rendering plant signed an agreement in court on Monday to make a plan to clean up environmental hazards on the property.  In the agreement, the Missouri Attorney General's Office says "an estimated 2,500 animal carcasses are buried" in an earthen trench at Halfway Packing Company in Polk County. The rendering plant closed last winter because of what owner Ed Gibson calls financial difficulties.  It appears to have been the only business that was still picking up and disposing of dead cattle on ranches in Missouri.  Its closing left ranchers with few other options than to bury livestock carcasses or to leave them in fields or woods where wildlife can eat their remains.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Drivers here are paying 15 cents more a gallon for gas on Wednesday morning than Tuesday night, as prices for regular unleaded gas at some stations jumped from $3.59 to $3.74 overnight.    Just a couple of weeks ago, prices were as low as $3.19 in Springfield. Now they've jumped 55 cents a gallon since that time. Memorial Day, a time when prices normally go up, is one and a half weeks away. As it stands now, the national average and statewide average for gasoline is $3.59.  Compare that to the statewide average in Arkansas, which is $3.32.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - It's a topic almost everyone is talking about in the Ozarks--gas prices. Regular unleaded surged to 3-97 overnight at most stations. That's a 38 cent jump since Monday in Springfield. Those prices are much different when traveling around the state. On the low end, Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff are both around $3.30 In the middle, St. Charles is hovering around $3.68. Kansas City sits at $3.77. Kirksville's prices are around $3.63. On the high end, Springfield is at $3.97.