Christian County

OZARK, Mo. -- A Christian County commissioner hasn't been on the job for more than a year, but he's still being paid. Tom Huff's wife, Jolene, said her husband fell about 12 feet while inspecting a culvert on behalf of the county in December 2010.  As a result of the accident, she said, Huff injured his back, neck, shoulder, and a knee. He has had four surgeries and plans to have another operation on his back.  He wants to wait until he has that procedure, she said, before he decides what to do with his position.

OZARK, Mo. -- Christian County Commissioner Tom Huff resigned on Thursday after 20 months of doing little to satisfy the duties of his office.  Huff served on the County Commission since 2005 but attended only one meeting since December 2010 because of an injury that he received in April 2010 while performing county duties. Huff faced a civil charge that he neglected his duties and should be removed from office.  He also faces a misdemeanor charge that he broke a state law by financially benefiting from work funded with county money.  The Christian County prosecuting attorney filed both cases in late June.  The civil case will now be moot.  The criminal case has a hearing scheduled on Aug. 21 before a judge from Taney County.  The judges in Christian County recused themselves from the case.  The prosecutor says Tom Huff Asphalt and Sealing, a company owned by Huff and his wife, illegally did business with the Garrison Special Road District, which receives funding from Christian County.  The law that Huff is accused of violating says, "No member of a highway board or county commission, and no highway engineer or road overseer shall be the sales agent in the sale to, or purchase by, the state, county or road districts, of road tools, culvert or bridge materials or machinery, or be pecuniarily interested in any contract for the building of any bridge or culvert or for the improvement of any public road to which the county or any road district is a party.

ROGERSVILLE, Mo.  -- Two people are in the hospital after their power parachute crashed on Christmas afternoon.  The aircraft went down around 3 p.m. in the 4500 block of Countyline Road. State troopers say two people were on board when the powered parachute hit a tree shortly after takeoff.  Both passengers were taken to a hospital; one was airlifted.  Troopers didn't know their condition on Sunday and hadn't released their names to reporters.

OZARK, Mo. -- A plane crashed off of Highway W at the Gimlin airport in southwestern Christian county.  The Christian county sheriff tells us a plane was coming in for a landing, the pilot over shot the runway and flipped the plane.  All three passengers on board are okay

Clever, Mo. --  Christian County voters had to wait a long time Tuesday night to see their results come in; that was just one issue.  Some voters showed up at their polling place only to find out there weren't enough ballots for everyone. "I'm so sorry that it happened, and it won't happen again.  I'm just sorry for the inconvenience," said Christian County Clerk Kay Brown. Brown said some of the things that went wrong Election Day were things her office could not have known about beforehand.  But Brown said one problem, at a polling place in Clever, could have been prevented.  Voters in the 138th district showed up to find their precinct was out of ballots.

CHRISTIAN COUNTY -- The Christian County Jail was built ten years ago to house 96 inmates. A week ago, 152 were packed into the pods. On Wednesday afternoon, there were 129 inmates.  Correctional officers said the number rarely falls below 100. For all those inmates, there are five correctional officers on duty. It's a dangerous situation, said Sheriff Joey Kyle, who was hoping voters would approve a capitol improvement tax that would have funded expanding jail. During tough economic times, though, it was a hard sell-- the measure failed.

BRUNER, Mo.-- There's a critical need for volunteer firefighters in rural parts of Christian County.  Sparta Fire District only has 14, down from about 20 just a few years ago. It's certainly not the only volunteer fire district experiencing a shortage, but for Sparta Fire Protection District, there's a distinct shortage of volunteers outside of town, costing valuable minutes in an emergency. For Richard Gomez, life would be much different if it hadn't been for Sparta volunteer firefighters.  "Actually, they got here pretty fast," says Richard.  His 33 year old brother Michael has multiple sclerosis.  About two years ago, his heart stopped.  Sparta firefighters were able to respond quickly, and Richard is thankful.  "They've done a lot for us," Richard says.

NIXA, Mo.-- It's now December, and the clock is ticking to get your Christmas shopping done.  Some families who can't afford to do the shopping, however, rely on programs like Least of These.  It's the only program in Christian County that adopts families out for Christmas presents, and there are still hundreds of gifts to find. More than 700 families came to the Least of These Food Pantry last month, and if they can't afford food, Christmas gifts are out of the question. "This year, we've seen a different kind of person coming in.  It's people that we've never seen before.  In fact, one of my volunteers who's done this for a number of years, interviewing clients, says, 'Susan, I've never seen so many new people,'" said Least of These Director Susan Kendrick.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Missouri State Highway Patrol says a loud boom on Saturday evening was caused by an exploding shooting target called a shockwave target.  Highway Patrol officials say troopers went to investigate the loud boom and found a family in Lawrence County that said it was from them. Officers took no action and say the shockwave targets are not illegal. According to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, shockwave targets can come in 16-ounvr plastic jars and are said to be stable.  The target contains two dry granular substances that have to be mixed before they will go off.  A company that sells them says the blasts are comparable to a stick of dynamite.

CHRISTIAN COUNTY, Mo. - Christian County is searching for a man wanted on a federal warrant who eluded law officers on Tuesday. Sheriff Joey Kyle told KY3 News that a U.S. Marshals task force was waiting for a man wanted on a federal warrant to show up when the man spotted the marshals and fled, leading law enforcement on a brief pursuit. The man went off a road into a forested area in northeastern Christian County. Officers began searching for the man, who Kyle did not name.

CHRISTIAN COUNTY, Mo--   It's a massive overhaul for Christian County, but it doesn't come without some kinks. Responders made the switch to use digital radios about a month ago.  Digital radios help responders communicate in rural areas and the sound is clear. Now they are switching back to analog. "The reason we turned it off is we were running into several problems," said Director of Christian County 911, Rance Duffy. The system has a lot of kinks and would often go silent.  "Because of that inconsistency, we could lose a link to one site and in some cases the all the sites.  Which in turn brought down the digital radio system," said Duffy.

CHRISTIAN COUNTY, Mo -- The Christian County Sheriff says teachers carrying guns should be considered a viable option. The average response time is between 10 and 12 minutes. By that time, the shootings have taken place. "Law enforcement is not going to arrive in time," said Christian County Sheriff, Joey Kyle. It could take up to 20 minutes for sheriff deputies to get to some schools in Christian County. It's a big concern in rural districts. "In a smaller districts, there's no way we could bring the same resources to bear," said Clever Superintendent, Dr. Richard Henson.

CHRISTIAN COUNTY, Mo. - A Hollister man who hit three patrol cars on a police chase through two counties remains on the run this morning. The Christian County Sheriff considers Johnny Bryan, Jr. armed and dangerous. It all started yesterday morning with an assault call at an apartment complex north of Branson. The Taney County Sheriff says Johnny Bryan tried to run over a deputy who was out of his vehicle, and then hit a sheriff's patrol car. They chased Bryan up Highway 65. Sheriff Jimmie Russell says Bryan hit two more patrol cars before the chase ended about 6 miles southeast of Highlandville.

HIGHLANDVILLE, Mo. -- A man who led law enforcement officers on a chase up U.S. 65 from an area north of Branson is on the run.  The chase followed a call to police about an assault on Bee Creek Road in Branson at 1 a.m. Thursday. Taney County Sheriff Jimmie Russell and Christian County Sheriff Joey Kyle says officers are looking for Johnny Bryan Jr., 36, of Hollister, after a series of crimes that began with him trying to run over a deputy and strike a patrol car. Deputies pursued Bryan, who fled in a vehicle up U.S. 65 and several county roads toward Highlandville.  Bryan ditched his vehicle in Christian County on Shire Court, roughly six miles southeast of Highlandville.

MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- Three people are in jail after leading law enforcement officers on a chase early Sunday morning.  The Highway Patrol says the chase started in Webster County and went through Christian County on Missouri 14 to U.S. 65. Officers laid a pair of spike strips across the road, which shredded the left rear tire of the fleeing vehicle as the driver was headed north.  The chase ended north of Evans Road when the car ran off the highway....

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- We should all be flattered.  According to multiple contentions made Monday on a cable television show, the Ozarks is about to become the center of what remains of human civilization. "Conspiracy Theory," hosted by Jesse Ventura, followed a "trail" of "evidence" to multiple locations across the Ozarks, claiming to support the notion that a powerful group is very close to bringing about the end of life as we know it; a group that will subsequently make the Ozarks its home.

CHRISTIAN COUNTY --As old man winter makes his way to the Ozarks, hundreds will not have heat. For the last few years, the Hearts to Hearth program has helped low income families in Christian County stay warm. A group of good samaritans donate their time, tools and gasoline. They chop wood then deliver it to those in need. This year, volunteers have not made one delivery. They are extremely behind on schedule. There's a list of families, but there are not enough volunteers to meet the demand.

Clever, Mo. --  Christian County voters had to wait a long time Tuesday night to see their results come in; that was just one issue.  Some voters showed up at their polling place only to find out there weren't enough ballots for everyone. "I'm so sorry that it happened, and it won't happen again.  I'm just sorry for the inconvenience," said Christian County Clerk Kay Brown. Brown said some of the things that went wrong Election Day were things her office could not have known about beforehand.  But Brown said one problem, at a polling place in Clever, could have been prevented.  Voters in the 138th district showed up to find their precinct was out of ballots.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A driver faces several charges after a lengthy chase through Christian and Greene counties on Monday morning. The chase started in Christian County after officers received a call about a robbery.  The driver led deputies and Springfield police through the southern part of the city and then turned north before he hit spike strips near Calhoun Street at Dickerson Avenue. The man jumped out of the pickup but was captured after a short foot chase.

NIXA, Mo  -  Local leaders in Education and Emergency services are seeing first hand what to do during a disaster. People from Nixa Public Schools, The city of Nixa and Christian County officials are attending FEMA training in Maryland this week. They got there Sunday afternoon and won't be coming home until Friday. They're there making sure that the school's, the county's, and the community's emergency plans, all roll into one and that they're using the same terminology, the same procedures, and taking the same approach to solving problems during an emergency.