2026 has officially begun, and we’re taking a look at the top stories of the 2025 year.
Major weather shifts were a prominent feature of this year, especially in the first half, with some of the biggest storms the region has seen in years and major damage from tornadoes in March and April. After the consistent downpours, the latter half of 2025 dried out, with drought conditions still being in effect for the entire listening area.
We’ve looked at the numbers, and found stories that resonated strongly with the public through each month of the year.
For January, all eyes were on a traffic crash that took place in West Plains on 160 near Hibbies, with traffic slowing to a crawl as a result. The next day, the crash report was released, revealing that thankfully those involved were only minorly injured.
In February, area residents paid a lot of attention to the closing of El Charro, a local mexican restaurant. This came after guilty pleas by several higher-ups in the company in federal court to their roles in a racketeering conspiracy to transport, hire, and harbor undocumented workers in several Midwestern states. The eatery has since reopened under new management.
What caught the eye of the public in March was a possible fire reported in the Walgreens in West Plains. The cause of the call was a strange odor in the store, which was found to be an overheating refrigeration unit, which was solved by simply unplugging the malfunctioning machine.
April was a month of many happenings, but attention was especially focused on a missing 10-year-old Licking girl, who appeared to disappear along with her border collie. At 1:50pm of the same day, the girl was found with concerted efforts of several law enforcement agencies across the area.
In May, the public was focused on a case of animal abuse. Tensions were high and opinions were split about the event, where a dog was reported as having killed a chicken on a property, was struck, and then abandoned in a wooded location. A neighbor recorded the situation, which led to the woman responsible being issued criminal charges. The dog was then taken in by Ozarks Pet Rescue upon being found.
The top story of June came from the first part of the month, with a Mountain View, Arkansas woman, 31-year-old Kelle Passmore, being arrested and issued criminal charges for speeding and fleeing from arrest from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
July brought with it a hot story in the Alton, MO. area, with a warrant being issued for the arrest of the former director of the Oregon County Ambulance District for embezzling nearly $30,000 from a donation-based fund. Kenneth McKenzie, the suspect in this case, has since moved to Texas. His next court appearance in Missouri is set for January 12th at the Alton Courthouse.
August’s top story was on a man in West Plains who was caught viewing a juvenile victim in their room in a state of undress on August 2nd. 65-year-old Kevin Jennings of West Plains was taken into custody on multiple charges, including Sexual Misconduct Involving a Child, Sexual Misconduct, and 1st Degree Stalking.
September brought with it a different kind of story, one of the local community rallying around a family who were dealing with a major problem. A local resident, Kinsey Mincey, a 31-year-old West Plains resident and mother of two, was battling breast cancer. A fundraising campaign was put together for Mrs. Mincey, all of which went to medical costs.
October’s top story was the closure of a 19-year-old cold case. The 2006 murder of Deidre Harm of Wisconsin was linked to Chris Revak, who ended their life in prison after being arrested for the murder of Renee Williams of Douglas County. This came about due to the review of Revak’s location history by the sheriff.
In November, the story that had the most eyes on it was one linked to Shannon County, when the Howell County Prosecuting Attorney’s request of special investigation led to the uncovering of misdeeds by three Shannon County deputies, Thomas R. Manning, John D. “J.D.” Melvin, and Captain Michael G. McCoy.
Finally, this last month ended the year with it coming full circle, with another crash being the top story. This involved a fatal two-vehicle crash on Thursday, December 18th. 40-year-old Jason Morgan of Marionville was the driver of the opposing vehicle, who fled on foot after the crash. He was afterward arrested, and now faces multiple criminal charges as a result.
