An arctic blast Jan. 12 through 14 encased Neosho and the surrounding area with between ¾ to an inch of ice, bringing the city to a standstill, leaving thousands without power and forcing hundreds out of their homes into emergency shelters.
The ice storm led top stories in an unprecedented eventful 2007.
Many Neosho residents cowered in their homes, listing to the steady crack and snap of tree limbs, large branches and entire trees falling around them.
“It sounded like machine gun fire all night long,” said Robert Amend, Neosho resident. “The limbs were coming down every second. Branches were down all over.”
The ice storm began late afternoon Friday, Jan. 12. By the following Tuesday, 20,000 Empire District Electric Company customers in the Neosho area were without power.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency that Saturday and ordered the Missouri Army National Guard to assist in the clean-up efforts. About 350 members of the National Guard were ordered to report to their local armories for duty hours after the storm first hit. This number soon increased to 550 citizen soldiers.
Blunt asked President Bush for quick approval of an Expedited Major Disaster Declaration for 34 Missouri counties, including Newton, McDonald and Jasper, as well as the city of St. Louis.
Four emergency shelters were quickly opened in Neosho: First Presbyterian Church, Calvary of Neosho, Rocketdyne Road Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church’s Christian Life Center. With classes closed for the duration of the storm and several days afterward, the Neosho R-5 School District donated food to area shelters.
Church shelters soon were filled with people needing a hot meal and a warm place to sleep. Among these were Monty Scott and his 84-year-old mother, Laverne, who found shelter at Neosho’s First Presbyterian Church.
“We ran out of power and heat Friday night, and came here on Saturday,” Monty Scott said. “Our house was like an icebox.”
City crews were out as the storm hit that Friday afternoon, pushing debris off of roadways. These workers dealt with debris on emergency routes first to make it easier for emergency vehicles to reach their destinations.
Power lines also snapped under the weight of ice, making travel even the more treacherous as vehicles had to make their way around, over and sometimes even beneath dangling electric lines. The ice splintered trees and power lines alike, causing even more headaches for utility providers as limbs fell on lines and poles cracked and toppled.
Area churches soon formed chain saw crews, cutting up limbs and storm debris for residents unable to do so themselves. These groups were joined by others from across the country who volunteered to assist in the clean-up efforts.
The storm claimed the life of a Fairview woman, Ruby J. Wells, 72, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges said the woman succumbed to fumes put off by a propane heater the family was using to heat their home, adding that several other members of her family were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning.
In nearby Joplin, a 64-year-old man died from carbon monoxide poisoning after exposure to fumes from an improperly ventilated generator. The generator was in the garage of the man’s home, with the garage door left ajar.
As the week went on, more than 1,000 outside workers came from utility companies across the country to help restore power to about 85,000 customers, including 4,100 in Neosho. Power was restored to Neosho Middle School on Jan. 17, but Neosho High School, South Elementary, Central Elementary and Goodman Elementary remained without power.
By the weekend, power was restored to all schools, but classes remained closed due to broken water lines. These problems were rectified, and Neosho schools reopened on Jan. 22. Classes at Crowder College resumed that day as well.
By Jan. 23, about 1,500 Empire District Electric Company customers remained without power, while less than 750 New-Mac customers were without power. Electricity was fully restored a few days later.
Church shooting
Neosho was in shock in mid-August 2007 as word spread of an armed gunman opening fire during a church service on a sleepy Sunday afternoon.
Seconds later, three men of God lay dead or dying and several members of the congregation were wounded.
The tragic event began that afternoon, as a suspect later identified as Eiken Elam Saimon entered the church during Micronesian worship services. Killed in the incident were three Micronesian pastors: Kernal Rehobson, 43; his uncle, Intenson Rehobson, 44; and Kuhpes “Jesse” Ikosia, 53. Four of the wounded were identified as Jim Hardy, Melihna Tarra, Dahnny Jack and Andy Kendey.
The gunman released a number of children, then held the rest of the congregation hostage in the southwest corner of the sanctuary. Cameron Kruse, a corporal with the Neosho Police Department, said he arrived on the scene about a minute after calls came in about the shooting, and was in the building about 15 or 20 seconds afterward, entering through an unlocked door at the northeast corner of the church. He reported seeing one man run down the stairs of the church “carrying a baby in his arms like a football, just trying to get out of there.”
Seven members of the Neosho Police Department, the Newton County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol assembled for a special response team including Neosho Police Chief David McCracken, Kruse, Newton County Cpl. Donn Hall, Newton County Sgt. David Trimble, Newton County Chief Deputy Chris Jennings, Newton County Deputy Dale Brashers and Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Corky Burr. Hall, a member of First Congregational, was able to help the officers with the layout of the church.
The group decided five team members would enter through Kruse’s position, with McCracken and Hall to follow from below.
“We wanted to open a line of dialogue with the person first, but as we were discussing that we heard a gunshot go off upstairs, so it was time to go then,” Kruse later recounted. “We had been told about where everyone was at — that the shooter and his hostages were in the southwest corner of the sanctuary. The suspect was in a doorway of a storage room. He had a large group of people, probably 20 to 25 people, on the floor in front of him. He was crouched down in the door, and had a lady in front of him with a gun to her head and his finger on the trigger.
“He immediately began to shout at us to leave.… He was raging and told us ‘to get out, or I will kill her.’ I immediately made a break for the front door, which was just down the hall. That gave us a fan, or a V, of officers to give the shooter not one officer to focus on. That is a tactical move. There were several officers that spoke to him to put the gun down and let her go.”
There were four likely outcomes of the situation, the veteran police officer said: the suspect could have gotten into a firefight with the officers, the shooter could have taken the lives of the hostages and then his own life, or the suspect could have been shot by police officers.
Rowan Ford
The search for a missing Stella girl ended in tragedy in early November 2007, as the body of 9-year-old Rowan Ford was discovered in a sinkhole in eastern McDonald County.
The body of the Triway Elementary School student was discovered nearly a week after she was discovered missing from her home at 777 Grove Street in Stella. Two men — family friend Chris Collings and the girl’s stepfather, David Spears — have been charged in the brutal rape and slaying of Miss Ford. Both are being held in the Barry County Jail on rape and murder charges.
Miss Ford had been missing since about 10:45 p.m. Nov. 2, and was the subject of a massive manhunt that involved local law enforcement agencies, volunteers, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The search included areas of Newton, McDonald and Barry counties. About 50 federal agents and 25 members of the highway patrol were involved in the case.
On Nov. 8, Spears led Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges to the site. At one time, Spears worked as a mechanic and salesman for Bridges’ automotive business. Both men looked inside the sinkhole, which is located about 10 miles south of Stella near Mike’s Creek near Powell.
Bridges told the Neosho Daily News he saw some items inside the cavern-like area which raised suspicions, and contacted FBI agents. They, in turn, contacted the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies Jake Boles and Mike Hall checked out the sink hole the following morning and discovered the girl’s body about 20 feet below ground.
“I definitely wanted to search the cave and I think, subconsciously, that David did, too. He took me to the cave for some reason,” Bridges said. “I guess his first thought was I used to be the sheriff, and could help. David kept telling me ‘Maybe she’s at a friend’s house.’ ”
According to Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland, Spears and Collings both confessed to the rape and murder of the child.
“The story we got was that Chris came over and got the little girl and took her to his home in Wheaton,” Copeland said. “This was during the first time that David was gone.”
David Spears told investigators he and a man named Nathan went to Wheaton to take Collings home, and then went to buy more beer. The other man then took Spears back to the Spears home in Stella around midnight.
“David said he came in, checked Rowan’s room and found she was gone,” said Copeland. “He said he knew Chris had gotten her and taken her to his house. He got there, and Chris was raping her. He raped her too. Then they thought they would be in trouble, so they killed her and threw her in a hole.”
David Spears has told authorities he went out a second time about 1:30 the morning of Nov. 3 after calling his mother, Myrna Spears, to borrow her truck as he was out of gas. She came over with the vehicle and David Spears left while she watched television. She told authorities she did not check on the girl’s whereabouts during this time. David Spears was gone until about 7 a.m.
Copeland said it was during this block of time that Spears went to Collings’ home and found him raping Rowan Ford.
“He originally stated he was driving around,” the sheriff said. “Now we know that they were hauling her body off from the crime scene.”
According to a probable cause affidavit, the girl was strangled with a rope or cord.
Spears gave authorities conflicting stories since he and Ford’s mother, Colleen Spears, reported the girl missing at about 6:50 p.m. Nov. 3.
Colleen Spears arrived home from a night shift at the Jane Wal-Mart Supercenter shortly after 9 a.m. Nov. 3 and noticed something was amiss. Usually, on Saturday mornings, Rowan would greet her mother in the driveway. However, that Saturday morning, there was no hug or kiss, no shout of elation that Mom was home.
Spears originally told investigators he was asleep on the couch when his wife awakened him to tell him Rowan was missing. He told authorities that he told Colleen Rowan might have told him she was spending the night at a friend’s home, but he didn’t remember.
The couple spent the next several hours waiting for a phone call from Rowan. When they didn’t receive one, they began searching for the girl, with neighbors pitching in to help. Later, these neighbors and other volunteers placed flyers around town about the missing girl.
Trial for David Spears has been set for July 2010, with Collings going to trial in March.
Airport terminal renovation
Workers put the finishing touches on the newly renovated airport terminal at Neosho’s Hugh Robinson Airport in early August 2007.
The public was invited to see the new building during a grand opening ceremony Aug. 10, 2007, at the airport.
In preparation for the event, workers were busy Aug. 8 putting the finishing touches on the 3,000-square-foot structure, which was visited early that afternoon by U.S. Sen. Christopher S. “Kit” Bond, who flew in to speak at the grand opening of the new visitor’s center at the George Washington Carver Monument in Diamond.
Airport Manager Billy Sallee said visitors would be impressed by the new terminal, which featured a spacious lobby, aesthetically garnished with finished woodwork on the ceiling and a long fish tank embedded into the wall. Inside the tank are 20 small rainbow trout, courtesy of the Neosho National Fish Hatchery.
The building features a conference room equipped with a flat-screen monitor for use by corporate businessmen and others.
There is also a pilot’s lounge and quiet room — complete with a private restroom and shower ‘ where pilots can check for weather updates on the Internet, watch television, or nap on couches between flights.
Police officers shot
Two Neosho police officers were shot during the early morning hours of March 16, 2007, while conducting a routine traffic stop.
Former Sgt. Dan Cook was shot in the arm during the stop, while Patrolman Mike Sharp was shot in the face while chasing the suspect.
The suspect, later identified as Adam Bridgewater, was known to have active warrants for probation violation and property damage.
Approximately 30 minutes later, Bridgewater was allegedly involved in a shoot-out with G.H. Hendrix, a trooper with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Bridgewater reportedly shot several times at the trooper, striking the vehicle at least five times. Hendrix was not injured in the fray. One of the bullets struck the radar detector on the trooper’s vehicle. These detectors are commonly located on the center of the dashboard of law enforcement vehicles.
A pair of deputies with the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department spotted the SUV on a road east of Goodman in the McNatt area. Authorities said Bridgewater rammed the deputies’ Jeep with his Blazer, then opened fire. The deputies returned fire and Bridgewater then fled on foot.
Bridgewater was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. that afternoon after a brief scuffle with law enforcement agents. He was armed with a handgun, authorities said, but did not fire on the officers.
A tip led law enforcement agents to a residence at 21695 Palm Road, eight to 10 miles east of McNatt. Although Bridgewater was not in the residence at the time, some officers saw him running across a field, according to Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland.
Sometime during the four shoot-outs with officers, Bridgewater sustained a gunshot wound to his right shoulder. He was taken to a Freeman Health Systems emergency room for treatment.
The arrest concluded a 13-hour manhunt for Bridgewater. Between 50 and 65 law enforcement officers converged on the Palm Road residence, including local authorities, troopers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and federal agents.
Completion of U.S. 71
Local, state and federal officials cut the ribbon on the newly finished U.S. 71 in an Aug. 30, 2007, ceremony south of Pineville.
The four-lane road now stretches from Interstate 44 to the Missouri / Arkansas state line. The last portion of the project, a 5 ½ mile stretch from Route EE to Jane, officially opened to traffic in mid-August.
Among the dignitaries speaking at the event were U.S. Sen. Christopher S. “Kit” Bond and Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt. Both members of Congress were instrumental in getting federal funding for the $251 million project since it first began in 1993.
The first section of the road, from I-44 to just north of Tipton Ford, was completed in 1996 at a cost of nearly $9 million. The last section, between Route EE and Jane, cost $46 million.
Bond issue passes, or does it?
The April 2007 election brought about questions as to whether a $3.5 million bond issue to fund four transportation projects — including the South Street overpass, Howard Bush Extension, and repaving projects on La-Z-Boy Drive and Missouri Highway 59 — actually passed.
The measure garnered 57.11 percent of the votes cast during that municipal election, but needed a 57.14 percent of the vote to pass.
In a controversial 3-2 vote, the Neosho City Council confirmed the election results and said the measure passed. Proponents of the measure said only a 57.1 percent margin was required, while opponents said the true measure stood at 57.14 percent.
State laws mention a 4/7ths majority, but do not have figures stating what percent that fraction is.
Dabbs Greer dies
Veteran actor Dabbs Greer, an area native best known for his role as an aging prison guard in “The Green Mile” and for his portrayal of the Rev. Alden on television’s “Little House on the Prairie,” died in late April 2007 at his home in California.
Greer, a native of Fairview who grew up in Anderson, began his acting career as an extra in 1938’s 20th Century Fox production “Jesse James,” which was filmed in Pineville. He since appeared in nearly 100 feature films.
Scotland bound
The Neosho High School FFA team traveled to Scotland in late June 2007 to participate in the 2007 International Livestock and Dairy Judging Tour, taking home several awards. The team was comprised of Dalton Coberely, Eva Russell, and Kim and Scott Wilson.
