Judy Ann Barker

Judy Ann Barker, age 81, of Miller, Missouri, passed away at 11:54 p.m. on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. She was born June 11, 1941, in Pomona, California, the daughter of the late Charles and Jewell (Hastings) Jeff. She was loved fiercely and will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

Judy was a 1959 graduate of Neosho High School in Neosho, Missouri. She was a homemaker in recent years but held several different jobs in the community and was a member of Round Grove Baptist Church. She was a lover of all animals. She never met a dog she didn’t instantly fell in love with.

On October 28, 1977, she married Larry David Barker, in Neosho, Missouri.

Judy is survived by her husband of 44 years, Larry; four children, Chuck Hagel and his wife, Carolyn, of Miller, Julie Gulick and her husband, Mike, of Miller, Tammie Hagel of Richwood, Texas and Jeffree Barker of Miller; nine grandchildren, Jeniffer Hull, Ashley Dolezal, Charles Hagel, Ryan Ayres, Devin Dean, Brandon Hagel, Zackary Mathis, Karliegh Barker and Bryar Barker; 14 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Betty Clouse of Granby, Missouri and Margie Wilson of Inola, Oklahoma and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

A graveside service, under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home, in Mt. Vernon, Missouri, will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 18, 2022, at Gray’s Point Cemetery, west of Miller. Visitation will be held from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, in the funeral home chapel.

Kaleb Milfred Jay Kingsley

Kaleb Milferd Jay Kingsley, age 16, of Miller, Missouri, passed away at 10:44 a.m. on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, from injuries sustained in a one vehicle accident. He was born April 4, 2006, in Springfield, Missouri the son of Kaleb and Cindy (Evatt) Kingsley.

Kaleb was a sophomore at Miller High School where he played football, enjoyed tractor pulling, operating farm equipment and attended the First Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, Missouri.

Kaleb is survived by his mother, Cindy Evatt Kingsley of Mt. Vernon; father, Kaleb Kingsley of Miller; one sister, Alicyn Kingsley of Mt. Vernon; two brothers, Jaron Lester and his wife, Michelle, of Republic, Missouri, and Brock Lester of Mt. Vernon; maternal grandparents, Bob and Alice Evatt, of Mt. Vernon; paternal grandmother, Charlene Kingsley, of Miller; one niece, Tinsley Lester; two nephews, Brantley and Elijah Lester and several aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends.

Kaleb was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather, J.W. Kingsley and his maternal great-grandmother, Mildred Washam.

A funeral service, under the direction of the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home, in Miller, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, at the Round Grove Baptist Church with burial to follow at Goss Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Monday, August 15, 2022, at the church.

Ruth Ann Robinson

On August 2nd, 2022 at three ten in the afternoon, Ruth Ann Robinson went gently into the light. She wasn’t afraid of what came next, in fact I’m told that she was curious and hopeful about the journey ahead of her.

Because her first husband was a salesman, Ruth and her children moved from town to town when a better opportunity came around. In each new town she made a home for her family. She’d choose the church that had the most colorful stained glass. Strong of spirit and of heart, Ruth was up for the challenge.

If God were to choose who is allowed in heaven by the kindness and love a person displays and possess, Ruth is up there right now telling him stories about the children she loves and about the long list people whose lives she has touched with her humble, gentle, and kind soul.

When she was a teenager Ruth always loved wearing red; red dresses, red shoes, and red lipstick, anything that woul raise an eyebrow. It was more than just the clothes she wore that were colorful and festive, her life was full of adventure. She never was one to shy away from it. She was a fighter who wouldn’t give up and a lover of life who embraced it fully.

She married and fell in love with her first husband, who gave her three children, Catherine, Larry, and Jennifer. She was devoted to her children, sacrificing, toiling away to provide for them, always supporting them with her love and faith in them.

When she was twenty-one with two kids in tow, she and her husband were struggling to make their way, so she pitched in and got a job. If it needed to be done, she just did it.

During her life, she would work in retail at her hometown pharmacy managing the makeup department, in the cosmetics department of a grocery where she moved up to become a pharmacist assistant.

Ruth later sold pickup trucks and cars at a used car lot, until she was lured away by a competitor offering a bigger commission. Ruth was brimming over with personality and charm. People trusted her to do the best thing she could for them.

Ruth would next conquer the Mortage business, first landing an entry level job in a local mortgage company. She then became a mortgage originator in a larger market. Before you knew it, she got her broker’s license. Then with financial help from a friend, Ruth started her own mortgage company that was soon to dominate that market.

Out of the love of the next great adventure, intrigued by the movie industry, Ruth moved out to Los Angeles. Ruth worked on several low budget independent films. She started as craft service, but quickly moved up to become a production manager. She worked hard. She worked long hours without a single complaint. She’d never ask the people that worked with her to do something that she wouldn’t do herself. As a leader she garnered trust and loyalty because of her work ethic and feisty nature.

Taking care of her elderly Father, brought Ruth back to her hometown of Miami, Oklahoma. There she worked in the County Tax Accessors office and then, bucking the traditional standard and pushing the boundaries,

Ruth ran a respectable campaign for State House Representative. Being a woman presented obstacles in that race, some thought she didn’t have a chance, but Ruth again fought a long hard battle and besting the local mayor only to concede to the Deputy Sheriff.

Ruth stayed in Miami for the next twenty-eight years. That’s where she did her most rewarding work. She found herself substitute teaching and then working with high school students that had learning challenges.

She was embraced by the students. She cared about them. She believed in them. She didn’t let them slide. She expected a great deal from each and every one of them. They loved her and they wanted to make her proud of them, so they fought to achieve and be their very best.

Ruth’s biggest accomplishments were not the jobs that she had, the places that she lived, the struggles that she overcame, the loves that she embraced, or the challenges that she faced.

Ruth’s biggest success was the children that she shared her life with and the family and friends far and near that surrounded her. They were always in her heart and always in her thoughts.

Ruth dreamed of retiring on a beach in Mexico. She tried three time and was thwarted at every turn. God meant her to stay in her hometown.

Ruth loved the beach and the ocean so much that she’s asked to have her family and friends spread her ashes across the waters of the Pacific Ocean from a boat headed to Catilina Island and to have them sprinkled on a beach in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico. When that task is finished, she will finally have lived out all her dreams.

Ruth is survived by her brothers and sister, David Allen Robinson, Ellen Elizabeth Antione, John Fountian Robinson Jr., her children, Anna Catherine Kennedy, Larry D. Edwards, Jr., Jennifer Nelle Wileman, and her grandchildren, Hannah Claire Bussey, Addison Meek Wileman, and Grayson Edward Wileman, Bronson Frank Edwards, and Ellory Nelle Edwards.

No services are planned at this time. Arrangement was placed in the care of Paul Thomas Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Miami, OK. Online condolences may be made at www.paulthomasfuneralhomes.com.

The Non-Permitted Project throws a back to school bash for a good cause

Kyle Tracy from the Non-Permitted Project hit the KOAM Morning News On Fox 14 to sit down with Chris Warner to talk about their upcoming Back To School Bash. Back to school can mean stress for many people – not just parents, kids and teachers – and this event aims to elevate that stress with live music, a raffle,  food trucks, local vendors, and more. Plan for you and your family to have a good time but the event also serves as a worthy cause to bring attention to mental health and the community of mental health support in the Joplin area. Here’s all the information you’ll need about this event:

  • The Non-Permitted Project presents Back To School Bash
  • August 26th @ 6 p.m.
  • ROCC – 1402 S. Main, Joplin, MO

For more information about Non-Permitted, click here to visit their Facebook page.

You can also click here for more information about the event.

You can also contact them through their email address at thenonpermittedproject@gmail.com.

If you’d like more information about the Recovery Outreach Community Center, click here to visit their Facebook page.

 

News to Know: Richard Glossip’s execution postponed, Ewert park stabbing plea, and partial abortion vote recount

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt issued a 60-day stay of execution for death row inmate Richard Glossip. The motel manager was convicted of murder in the 1997 death of his boss. The Republican governor’s office said he issued the stay to let the state court of criminal appeals complete its review of a petition for a new hearing. This is the fourth time glossip has had an execution date stayed or reprieved. He’s been served his last meal three separate times, once when he was “moments away” from being put to death. More than 60 Oklahoma legislators signed a request for an evidentiary hearing into new evidence in the case. Learn more about Richard Glossip here.

JOPLIN, Mo. – A Joplin homeless man pleads guilty to an assault charge related to a stabbing. Authorities say in July of last year 33-year-old Joe Guevara stabbed someone multiple times in Ewert Park. The victim survived. On Tuesday Guevara pled guilty to first degree assault. He is sentenced to 11 years in prison. Read more about this case here.

CANEY, Kan. – Authorities in Caney, Kansas charged an Anderson, Missouri man with several crimes. On Monday officers pulled over a vehicle for equipment violations. They say the driver, 43-year-old Benjamin Valley, was found with a hidden pistol as well as other weapons in the vehicle, one of which was reported stolen from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Police also found drugs. Valley was arrested and charged with possession of stolen property, criminal use of a weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Follow this story here.

TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas plans to do a partial hand recount of this month’s decisive vote in favor of abortion rights after abortion opponents charged almost $120,000 to credit cards to cover the cost. The recount had been delayed until those pushing for the recount could provide payment. The request orginally asked for a recount in all 105 of the state’s counties, and was expected to cost $229,000. Abortion opponents decided to recount votes in only nine counties, though those counties account for more than half of the votes cast on August 2nd. However, the recount is highly unlikely to change to results.

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT: A Kansas City man is paddling across the Missouri river and painting what he sees along his journey.  Join our KOAM Facebook discussion…answering the question… what do you like to do on the water?  Weigh in on our KOAM InstaPoll too @ koamnewsnow.com/vote.

Wanted Man: Facing Charges of Child Sex Crimes, continues to miss court

#UPDATE: Although this information released overnight it was not timely. Our friend Carra Reed fact-checked, noting Parks is in the McDonald County Jail in Pineville, Mo. Thanks Carra! Scroll below to see the original overnight release of information from Crime Stoppers.

Child dies in Fort Smith Ark., investigators say, “left inside hot car”

FORT SMITH, Ark. — Just before 2:15 p.m. Tuesday afternoon Fort Smith Police responded to a call at a local hospital that stemmed from the 3600 block of Boone Avenue. Upon arrival, it was reported that a child had been left inside a hot car.

“An undisclosed person reportedly broke out one of the car windows and took the child to the hospital,” FSPD state in a media release. “The child was later pronounced dead.”

Crisis Intervention Unit of FSPD and officers responded to the hospital. Investigators were on the scene at Boone Avenue as well.

No other information is available at this time.

CHILD IN HOT CAR DIES IN CARTHAGE, MO.

Carthage Missouri Police told us Friday a child was discovered unresponsive inside a hot car in the 100 block of N Maple Ave. The child was airlifted from Joplin to Springfield for a higher level of care.

Lieut Jeff Pinnell of Carthage PD updated us over the weekend the child had died.

No charges have been filed in the death.

HOT CAR DEATHS 2022

Experts say almost all of these deaths occurring in “nontraffic incidents” are preventable.

If investigation proves the child died Tuesday in Fort Smith as a result of being inside a hot vehicle, this would be the 18th death so far in 2022.

According to the National non-profit group Kids and Car Safety2021 had 23 children die in a vehicle due to heatstroke.

This is a breaking news story. Stay with Joplin News First on KOAM News Now as we continue to learn more. Scroll below and sign up for our JLNews1st email list so you don’t miss an article.

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Jasper teen who killed sister released from custody

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Mo. — The Jasper teenager who pled guilty to killing his adoptive sister has been released on probation. 20-year-old Tristan Potts had been serving 25 years in the state dual jurisdiction facility in Montgomery City, Missouri.

In 2015, he was 13 when he shot and killed his 12-year-old sister, Teresa Potts, at their rural Jasper home. He was tried as an adult and pled guilty to second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and first-degree arson for planning to set the home on fire.

He will be on probation for the remainder of his sentence.

Today is Poll Worker Recruitment Day

JASPER COUNTY, Mo. — You’ve probably heard just how important it is to take part in elections and cast a vote. But today, the focus is on those workers who staff your polling place. It’s National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, prompted by a national group focused on voting rights.

In Jasper County alone, it takes more than 180 workers to run an election. Polling hours there run from 6 A.M. to 7 P.M. – time they are paid for. But County workers say it can still be a struggle to find enough workers.

“It’s a long day but they’re always appreciated because we have to have poll workers for each election and we’re always needing more,” said Patty Moss, Jasper Co. Election OFC.

You can find out more about signing up to be a poll worker but contacting your local election office.