Webster County

Webster County, MO --A Webster county family has lost their home to an overnight fire.  It happened in the 3700 block of Skyline Road, which is near Clear Springs Road. The Southern Webster County Fire Protection District says three adults were home at the time.  One person was awake, and noticed the smoke and flames. No one was hurt.  The fire was fully involved when fire crews arrived, and the home is a total loss. Crews from Marshfield and Logan-Rogersville were also dispatched to help.  Investigators say the fire started with an electrical problem in a bedroom.  The American Red Cross was on scene to assist the family.

SEYMOUR, Mo.-- A motorcycle crash in Webster County, near Seymour, leaves one man dead and another seriously injured. Authorities say John McAlister, 63, was driving a motorcycle. He had a 29-year-old woman passenger. Authorities say they were rear-ended by another vehicle along Highway 60. McAlister and the passenger were both thrown from the bike. Authorities say McAlister died at the scene, and the woman passenger was airlifted to Cox South. No word on whether charges will be filed against the driver of the vehicle.

WEBSTER COUNTY, Mo., -- A man from Hartville is dead after a crash in Webster County Saturday morning. Troopers say 81-year-old William Pollock tried to pass an Amish horse-drawn mower on Route C near Seymour when his vehicle ended up hitting the back of the mower. Pollock went through the windshield. The driver of the mower suffered minor injuries.

A century celebration in Seymour this afternoon for Claude Mingus.  Claude was born in Hartville on December 17, 1911. He's the oldest living veteran in Webster County serving in the Navy during World War II.  Up until last year, Claude lived by himself and cut his own grass. A very accomplished musician, Claude plays seven instruments and every Tuesday plays the piano at the Senior Center. His approach to life is very simple. "Everything I did in my life was to make somebody else happy," Mingus said.

MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- Webster County Sheriff Roye Cole says a murder suspect who's been on the lam for more than two months was arrested in the Phoenix, Ariz., area.   Dewayne Layton of Rogersville is one of three people who were charged in February for the death of Billy Harris of Springfield. Harris disappeared on Jan. 15.   Investigators think Layton, 43, shot Harris at a home at 94 Corner Road, south of Rogersville because of a disagreement over a vehicle. Investigators think Alfred Clevenger, 47, and Kevin Layton, 40, who lived at the home with Dewayne Layton, were all present during the murder and then hid the body in a wooded area north of Rogersville.  Clevenger and Kevin Layton told detectives that Dwayne Layton left Missouri a couple of weeks after the murder, possibly headed for California.

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....

SEYMOUR, Mo. -- It was a narrow escape for a driver early Wednesday morning.  He got out just minutes before a freight train slammed into his truck. The driver of the truck told the Missouri State Highway Patrol that his vehicle stalled on the tracks along U.S. 60 about a mile east of Seymour.  When he saw the train coming, he jumped out of his truck and unhooked the trailer.

With spring about to blossom, few in the Ozarks have the kind of view Marti Montgomery enjoys.  The Webster County woman was featured awhile back on KY3 News for her unique choice of building materials. Montgomery wanted something above the James River, energy efficient and sustainable.  Her real estate started on the rail. "Like you were a boxcar child or something," Montgomery said jokingly. It began as four, steel shipping containers.  They were welded together with holes cut for windows and doors.  The result: something outside the box. "There's actually more shipping containers empty in our country than homeless people," architect Jason Mitchell said.  The huge supply makes these containers relatively cheap to purchase.

Flames and smoke destoyed a small town church early Sunday morning in Webster County. The fire started around 4am at the Diggins Baptist church on Highway 60. Firefighters said the flames appear to have broken out in the attic and caused smoke and water damage throughout the structure. The pastor says it's heartbreaking to see the building in this condition. About 150 people attend services at the church.  Crews are still looking for a cause.

MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- A controversy over chili suppers and benefit dinners is impacting every eating place in Webster County. In 2011, county commissioners gave the health department more power to educate restaurants about food safety.  It also gave the agency the authority to shut down any eatery that wasn't up to par, health wise. "We thought that the county would benefit from this and have healthier people," said Presiding County Commissioner Paul Ipock. Since then, according to Ipock, even those serving food at fundraisers and festivals have been required to pay the $200 fee to get permits and inspections, just like restaurants.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A lawsuit by a church that wants to sell its property to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for a grocery store caused a judge to cancel a special citywide election scheduled for Aug. 6.  Opponents of a proposed Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at the corner of Grand Street at Campbell Avenue gathered petition signatures that led the Springfield City Council to schedule the election.  The opponents want voters to overturn an ordinance that rezoned...

MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Rogersville is scheduled to be sentenced in June for the shooting death of a man from Springfield.  Dewayne Layton pleaded guilty in Webster County Circuit Court last week for killing Billy Harris, 28, of Springfield at Layton's home in February 2012.  The Webster County sheriff says the men were arguing over a truck.  Harris's body was found in late February 2012 in a wooded area north of Rogersville.  Layton was...

SEYMOUR, Mo. - The Southern Webster County Food Pantry in Seymour is getting too big for its current building. The agency wants to build a new one with a 70 percent neighborhood assistance program tax credit. Right now, they're renting the old school building in Seymour -- and the narrow hallways can only accommodate about three people before it gets too crowded to move around.     On Thursdays, which is distribution day, the pantry has to find a way to get hundreds of people in and out of the building.

MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- The Missouri Highway Patrol reports I-44 east of Springfield has been a snowy mess full of crashes. Crashes involving tractor-trailers blocked lanes of the interstate on Webster County.  That and the snow-packed pavement has caused big back-ups for several hours.  

MARSHFIELD, Mo.--  Walkers and runners can lace up their shoes and hit the streets for the 5th annual Shamrock Shuffle 5K sponsored by the Marshfield Optimist Club on Saturday morning, March 16th. The event also features a Lad & Lassie Race for the kids. Participants are encouraged to wear their green. The Optimist Club uses the money raised from the race to benefit foster children in Webster County. Last year, the organization donated more than $5,000 to foster children and their families.

WEBSTER COUNTY, Mo. - Authorities are still trying to identify two people who were killed in wreck near Rogersville Thursday morning. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a 1995 Ford Taurus was traveling southbound on Route B two miles north of Rogersville when it missed a curve. The car then hit a fence and two trees, causing it to burst into flames. Both people inside the car were killed in the crash and resulting fire. The Webster County coroner was unable to positively identify both victims at the scene.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Today we could get a better picture of homelessness in the Ozarks. The annual Every One Counts campaign starts in Greene, Christian and Webster counties today. Volunteers will be dispersing throughout local communities and documenting the number of people who are homeless in these counties. The numbers will be released later in the year.

MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- The Webster County prosecuting attorney dropped a murder charge against one of three men charged with killing a man from Springfield a year ago.  Alfred Clevenger of Rogersville is now charged with abandonment of a corpse and two counts of tampering with evidence but no longer is charged with second-degree murder. Someone shot Billy Harris and hid his body in a wooded area near Rogersville last January.  Investigators were told Dewayne Layton shot Harris in the face during a dispute over a truck.  They believe Clevenger and Kevin Layton were present, as well as a woman who was kept against her will and threatened to be shot, at the murder at the Laytons' home on Corner Road near Rogersville.

MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- A controversy over chili suppers and benefit dinners is impacting every eating place in Webster County. In 2011, county commissioners gave the health department more power to educate restaurants about food safety.  It also gave the agency the authority to shut down any eatery that wasn't up to par, health wise. "We thought that the county would benefit from this and have healthier people," said Presiding County Commissioner Paul Ipock. Since then, according to Ipock, even those serving food at fundraisers and festivals have been required to pay the $200 fee to get permits and inspections, just like restaurants.

Webster County, MO --A Webster county family has lost their home to an overnight fire.  It happened in the 3700 block of Skyline Road, which is near Clear Springs Road. The Southern Webster County Fire Protection District says three adults were home at the time.  One person was awake, and noticed the smoke and flames. No one was hurt.  The fire was fully involved when fire crews arrived, and the home is a total loss. Crews from Marshfield and Logan-Rogersville were also dispatched to help.  Investigators say the fire started with an electrical problem in a bedroom.  The American Red Cross was on scene to assist the family.