Newton County News

NEOSHO, Mo. - A rural Seneca man was charged Friday with sexual abuse of a 4-year-old boy, who this week was taken to a hospital after complaining of an injury.

Newton County officials have charged Fairview Mayor Sid Oliver with two counts of felony stealing and one count of misdemeanor official misconduct.

The mayor of Fairview has been arrested on charges of stealing, according to the Newton County Sheriff's Department.

After a half-dozen residents testified Monday night that they want some kind of trail in McClelland Park, a majority of the City Council voted against building a circular walking trail there but directed the city staff to propose alternatives for a more elaborate trail.

A resident of Liberal was killed when the tractor he was driving was struck by a car at 5:45 p.m. Monday on Route K, seven miles west of Liberal in Barton County, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Although the front of the gymnasium building at Pierce City High School is changing this week with the addition of a music and fine arts wing, covering the south door, shown above, additional construction was nixed by voters who did not provide a four-sevenths majority for the $3.9 million bond issue on yesterday's ballot.

A 22-year-old woman was injured in a single-vehicle accident at 9:40 p.m. Monday on Route B at Sheldon in Vernon County, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Some Newton County, Missouri residents have another shot at an H1N1 vaccination.

CARTHAGE, Mo. - Jasper County and other counties in the state will lose federal funds that for years helped finance bridge construction projects.

Globe/Roger Nomer Amy Tamburrino sacks up a customerA's purchases this week at the Target store in Joplin.

By Jeff Lehr jlehr@joplinglobe.com A 27-year-old man received a suspended sentence Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court on an arson conviction for setting his home near Carthage on fire for insurance gain.

Newton County authorities will again attempt to contact two women who previously accused the pastor of a rural Granby church of molesting them while they were underage, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Nine people were injured in several area traffic wrecks since Friday. The Missouri State Highway Patrol issued the following reports: A Monett woman was hurt in a one-vehicle crash at 8:59 a.m. Friday a mile east of Diamond on Route J in Newton County.

NEOSHO, Mo. - Jurors deliberated for less than 40 minutes Wednesday before convicting a Joplin man who was charged with involuntary manslaughter after his pickup ran through an intersection earlier this year and collided with another vehicle, killing a woman and injuring three other people.

The U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Missouri filed a complaint in federal court today against the suspect in the armed robbery Friday of a bank in Neosho.

PINEVILLE, Mo. - A 39-year-old man, who reportedly shot and killed another man in self-defense Sunday night in Anderson, has been turned over to U.S. marshals in anticipation of a federal weapon charge.

Newton County authorities say a 19-year-old Granby man died after being shot in the head in a hunting accident.

Authorities in Newton County, Missouri are investigating a shooting death that started as an illegal hunting trip.

A suspect in a bank robbery Thursday in Neosho reportedly has confessed to his involvement in a number of armed robberies in the region, including three this year in Joplin one in Webb City.

A woman from Monett suffered serious injuries today after running her car off the road in Newton County.