Featured Articles from KY3

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Gas prices are on the rise just in time for Memorial Day weekend.   Steve Stodden's gas guzzling days are over. "I used to fill up once a week, if not twice a week," said Stodden. Now he charges up while at work. "I just test drove it because I was curious," said Stodden.  "I ended up trading my car that day and bought it. " He drives a Chevy Volt. It's an electric car. No gas required means no pain in the pocketbook. "You really don't pay attention to what the gas price is until someone complains about it because you just drive by the gas stations," said Stodden . Stodden uses a free public charging station near the Busch Building in downtown Springfield.

BRANSON, Mo. -- Southwest Airlines takes off from the Ozarks for the first time on March 9.  Travelers and tourism leaders alike have been anticipating the service for several months. The skies above the Ozarks are geting more colorful, and cost friendly.  The red-bellied birds of Southwest Airlines land in Branson for the first time Saturday, March 9. "This is, really, a watershed event for us," said Ross Summers, president and CEO of the Branson-Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri State University announced former North Carolina State head women's basketball coach Kellie Harper as the new leader of the Lady Bears program.   President Clif Smart also said the school will soon announce a new ticket policy for Lady Bears games, as well as a new marketing approach. Director of Athletics Kyle Moats said he offered Harper the job last weekend.  He and Smart both praised her attention to academics as well as athletics. "She has won at every level she has played and coached.  Simply put, she's a winner," Moats said.

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- The girlfriend of a man charged with killing a woman in Howell County last fall now also is charged for the same murder. Howell County Sheriff's Department detectives believe Debra Dillard is the one who shot her daughter-in-law, Becki Dillard, instead of Billy Eastep, who was charged last November, although Eastep was with her. Becki Dillard's body was found next to her vehicle on the shoulder of Highway FF near her home in...

HARRISON, Ark. -- A fire gutted part of a large business in Harrison, Arkansas Sunday morning.  The fire inside Pace Industries, which creates aluminum die casts, created a tense challenge for firefighters. "That metal, those types of pots, explode," said Harrison Fire Chief Marc Lowery.  "They will blow hot, molten metal all over everybody.  It's extremely dangerous. " Pace Division President Scott Conquest says the company worked with emergency responders over the years to make sure they knew where the danger spots were inside the building.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Communication Solutions said Thursday that it is growing and will add 100 jobs as it expands into a new facility.  It plans to break ground on July 12 at 9 a.m. The new facility will be at 2645 W. Sunshine at the corner of Scenic Avenue at Sunshine.  The company says it will help continue the process of revitalizing the stretch of Sunshine that was once known as “mobile home mile”. Communication Solutions is more than a little eager to finish construction of their new facility and it has been designed from the ground up with its employees work environment in mind.  Adding more spacious lunch rooms and break areas, natural light from new windows, and additional parking.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A woman died after a hit-and-run collision near downtown Springfield early Friday.  Springfield Police say officers were flagged down at 1 a.m. by a man who said he saw a woman hit by a car at Chestnut Expressway at Boonville Avenue.  The man followed the vehicle and saw two people flee the scene. Officers caught up with that vehicle near Grand Street at Broadway Avenue.  Police say one man who fit the witness' description was cooperative and provided details surrounding the crash.  Police questioned and released him while they continue to investigate.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- One man was taken to a hospital after he was shot in the leg.  The shooting was around 9:30 Sunday night near Ingram Mill Road at East Portland Street.  Officers said the shooting stemmed from an argument. Police arrested two people pending charges. Officers have also been interviewing witnesses. The victim's injures are non-life threatening. No names have been released.

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. -- Baxter County sheriff's detectives are investigating a homicide after deputies found the body of a man in a vehicle at 244 CR 343 on Tuesday morning. The body belonged to Raul Turrieta, 24, who lived in Mountain Home. A 911 call was received from 244 CR 343 at approximately 5:50 a.m. reporting that a woman had driven to that home and said she may have killed someone.  Upon arrival, deputies found the body in the trunk of the vehicle. The body was sent to the Arkansas State Medical Examiner's Office in Little Rock for autopsy to determine the cause of Turrieta's death.  T he location or locations of the original crime scene and the circumstances surrounding the death are still under investigation.

EUREKA SPRINGS, Ark. -- This little town is renowned for its architecture, art galleries, dining, and diversity.  All of that can be tied to its mainstay attraction that's now in foreclosure.  Without the Great Passion Play, it won't be a very Merry Christmas or a Happy New Year. As this season quickly wound down, the Great Passion Play's producers were praying for a miracle that didn't happen.  In late September, Executive Director Sam Ray made a direct appeal for cash. "No donation is too small.

POLK COUNTY, Mo -- A concerned citizen's complaint to a state agency about a livestock packing plant in Halfway, Missouri, has led to some disturbing findings. The Halfway Packing Company is no longer in business, but before its doors closed the state found some serious problems with how business was conducted.    And it's unclear what, if anything, has been done to improve the conditions. In 2012, the Department of Natural Resources inspected the operation, which renders the bone and meat of dead livestock to produce bone meal and oil.      The inspectors found dead animals and animal parts had been exposed to storm-water.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Kids on the south side of Springfield have a new place to burn off energy.  The Fieldhouse Sportscenter opened its doors on Sunday so the public could get a sneak peek of the facility before the doors officially open on May 13. The center features basketball and volleyball leagues for kids from kindergarten to seniors in high school.  Organizers say the facility fills a need on the south side of Springfield. "It's gone very well. We've exceeded our goals already for this first week, and we're about helping kids to develop and to be better athletes, better citizens and have a great experience here in the Fieldhouse," said operations manger Mike Edwards.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Springfield died in a crash on Interstate 40 on Monday night in Albuquerque, N.M.   Terry Moore was 50 years old. Moore was driving eastbound on the highway when a mountain bike fell off the back of a truck in front of his vehicle.  The bike got stuck under Moore's pickup. He stopped and was trying to dislodge the bike when another vehicle hit the rear of his pickup.  His pickup then ran over Moore, killing him. A friend says Moore's stepfather was with him but saw the oncoming car, jumped back and received non-life threatening injuries.    The friend says both men were lifelong residents of Springfield.  He says the stepfather was treated at a hospital and took a bus back to Springfield.  He says the two were returning from a trip to California to visit Moore's daughter.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- During a recess at the City Council meeting on Monday night, several Walmart consultants were clustered near the podium microphone while the city's video cameras were rolling.  Their conversation included unflattering comments about people involved in the debate over rezoning some land that Walmart would like to buy for a Neighborhood Market.  That conversation was first reported by the Springfield News-Leader on Wednesday.   ...