RIVER RADIO NEWS 121514
SUSPECT FATALLY SHOT BY POPLAR BLUFF POLICE, MORE DETAILS RELEASED
The name of a man who was shot and killed by a Poplar Bluff Police Officer Friday has been released.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 22 year old Therrell Jowers was fatally shot when he rushed toward officers with a knife.
Authorities say the incident started Friday morning shortly before noon, when Poplar Bluff Police responded to a call about a stabbing on Lester Street. When they arrived on the scene, they found the victim, who was transported to an area hospital with serious injuries. An investigation led officers to a suspect who was at a location on South Broadway. As officers entered, Jowers charged at them with a knife. An officer fired at the suspect fatally injuring him.
The stabbing victim’s condition has been upgraded to fair condition.
The shooting is being investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed.
TWO KILLED IN THREE VEHICLE COLLISION IN PARAGOULD
Police say two Jonesboro residents were killed and two others were injured in a three vehicle crash in Paragould.
A police report says 28 year old Jennifer Macias and 28 year old Matthew Middleton died in the crash on US 49 in south Paragould about 5:30 pm Saturday.
The report says Macias and Middleton were passengers in a southbound vehicle that collided head-on with a north bound vehicle that was in a turn lane. The drivers of both vehicles were also injured and are hospitalized in undisclosed condition.
The driver of the third vehicle involved in the crash was not injured.
AUTHORITIES LOOK FOR CAUSE OF FATAL CRASH IN SIKESTON
Investigators in Sikeston are looking for the cause of a weekend crash that killed an area man.
According to Captain J. McMillen with the Sikeston DPS, 37 year old Jason Allen Holt, of Miner, was fatally injured in the accident shortly after 9 am Sunday.
Witnesses told officers that the truck being driven by Holt was traveling west on Malone at a high rate of speed, when it ran off the road, northwest of the intersection of Malone and Kingshighway. The truck began rolling and collided with a trash dumpster. Holt was ejected from the vehicle. He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Family members of Holt told investigators that he had a history of seizures, which he had been controlling with medication. Captain McMillen says there is a high likelihood that a seizure contributed to the accident.
MOREHOUSE MAN ARRESTED ON MULTIPLE DRUG RELATED CHARGES
A Morehouse man is facing multiple drug related charges after his arrest by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
According to the Patrol, 54 year old Lonnie D. Cochran was taken into custody on a felony warrant out of New Madrid County for dangerous drugs. Cochran was also charged with two new counts of possession of a controlled substance, Xanax; possession of a controlled substance, Valium; possession of marijuana; and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Cochran was arrested shortly before 4:30 pm Friday in New Madrid County.
SIKESTON MAN CHARGED AFTER LEAVING SCENE OF ACCIDENT
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that a Sikeston man, who left the scene of an accident Friday, is facing multiple charges.
46 year old Bryan B. Branion has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident, resisting arrest, driving while intoxicated and driving while revoked.
They say Branion was taken into custody Friday at 5 pm in Scott County.
SEMO: FORMER ASSISTANT COACH FLOUTED NCAA RULES
A report from Southeast Missouri State University says a women's basketball assistant coach knowingly broke NCAA rules when he provided recruits with free gifts at a team camp.
The Southeast Missourian reported that the document also said the coach provided access to a Netflix account and made impermissible contact with recruits on three occasions.
The report was provided in response to a public records request filed by the newspaper. It provided greater detail about violations still under investigation by the NCAA and outlined previously undisclosed self-imposed penalties.
University president Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins said the assistant who committed the violations was placed on administrative leave and later resigned. The assistant coach isn't mentioned by name in the report.
ROUTE A IN WAYNE COUNTY REDUCED FOR BRIDGE MAINTENANCE
A portion of Route A in Wayne County will be reduced to one lane with a 10-foot width restriction early this week as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform bridge maintenance.
The affected section of roadway is the bridge over Small Creek, between County Road 371 and US 67.
Work is scheduled to be performed Monday through Wednesday from 7:30 am to 4 pm each day.
MISSOURI BILL WOULD BAN AID FOR IMMIGRANT STUDENTS
A Republican lawmaker is trying to stop the Missouri Department of Higher Education from extending eligibility for a scholarship program to qualifying high school graduates who are in the country illegally.
State Representative Scott Fitzpatrick of Shell Knob this week filed a bill to block a proposed expansion of the A+ scholarship to those immigrants.
Students who participate in community service and meet other requirements can apply for two free years at a community college through A+.
The Department of Higher Education is in the process of adopting a rule to expand the program to some immigrants.
Those spared deportation through the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program would be able to apply.
GOVERNOR CITES NEED FOR CAPITAL REPAIRS
Governor Jay Nixon is planning to tour the nooks and crannies of the Missouri Capitol to get a first-hand look at repairs that could be financed through a bonding plan.
The governor has invited legislators to join him on the tour Monday. It comes after Nixon has spent the past couple of weeks traveling to state universities to highlight repairs and renovations that could be financed with bonds.
Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a measure authorizing up to $600 million of bonds for repairs or renovations at state facilities and college campuses. But little has been done with that, because not many specific projects were included in a separate budget bill passed by lawmakers.
Nixon wants lawmakers to approve a bonding project list during the 2015 session.
MISSOURI ELK POPULATION GROWS, BUT NO HUNTS YET
Missouri's elk population is growing, but the state's conservation agency isn't quite ready to start issuing hunting permits for the herds.
The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports that the state has about 125 elk after reintroducing the animal to Missouri in 2010.
The Missouri Department of Conservation Department has said it would start issuing a handful of permits if the herd grows to about 200 elk. That target remains several years away based on current reproduction rates.
The number of permits could increase to about 30 annually if the herd grows as large as 400 to 500 elk.
Elk were common in Missouri before European settlement but had been eradicated from the state by the end of the Civil War.
HIGH RATES OF FLU AT TWO ARKANSAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Arkansas health officials say high rates of influenza at two elementary schools indicates that a strain of flu not covered by this year's vaccine is circulating in the state.
Epidemiologist Dirk Haselow told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that both schools have a high rate of student and staff vaccinations, making it unusual to have a high rate of flu cases.
Haselow declined to identify the schools.
He said only the federal Centers for Disease Control can test for the strain and that nasal swabs taken from students and staff at the schools will be sent there.
The CDC said last week that 90 percent of flu viruses in the country are H3N2 and about 50 percent of those strains have drifted, or mutated, into a virus not included in this year's vaccine.
