Joplin Boys & Girls Club of SWMO awarded $15,670 grant

JOPLIN, Mo. – The Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Missouri received a $15,670 grant from the Taco Bell foundation Wednesday. The funds will be used to support more than 1,500 youth in the Joplin and Webb City communities.

The Boys & Girls Club will  put the money toward career/college prep sessions, mentoring, providing resources and other programs that educate and inspire that next generation of leaders.

“We are honored to partner with the Taco Bell Foundation in championing the educational dreams of our young people,” said Amia Warren, Development Director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Missouri. “The vision we share with the Taco Bell Foundation is one in which every young person has access to quality education and the resources they need to create good.”

Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Missouri is one of more than 400+ youth-serving organizations that will receive a portion of the $10 million in grants being presented by the Taco Bell Foundation this year. The grants are an example of the Taco Bell Foundation’s mission to fuel young people’s boldest educational ambitions.

“We are proud to support like-minded organizations through our Local Grants Program,” said Jennifer Bradbury, Interim Executive Director of the Taco Bell Foundation. “Together with these organizations, we work to break down barriers so students nationwide can continue creating and innovating. This $10 million is going back to those in our local communities who are most hungry to learn.”

Crews begin another search for missing Welch girls

PICHER, Okla. – The search continues Tuesday morning for the remains of two Welch, Oklahoma girls who went missing more than 20 years ago.

Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman went missing in 1999. Investigators believe the girls were kidnapped and murdered, but their bodies have never been found. In 2020, the last remaining suspect in the case, Ronnie Busick, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for accessory to murder.

Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., crews will resume their search for the girls near 421 College Street in Picher, Oklahoma.

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Oklahoma House passes transgender sports ban

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The Republican-led Oklahoma House has passed a bill to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.

The House voted 73-19 for the bill Monday, mostly along party lines. The vote sends the bill to the GOP-controlled Senate, which failed to consider a similar bill earlier this session.

Oklahoma is one of more than a dozen states where lawmakers are proposing restrictions this year on athletics or gender-confirming health care for transgender minors. In Kansas, a similar bill heads to Governer Laura Kelly’s desk after it passed both state legislatures. In Missouri, the legislation passed a House committee and will now head to the floor for a vote.

Opponents raised concerns the bill could lead to the NCAA pulling some championship games from Oklahoma. The Women’s College Softball World Series is held in Oklahoma City, generating more than $20 million annually.

Three teen girls reported missing from Jasper County

JOPLIN, Mo. –  The Jasper County Sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s help in finding three teen girls who went missing in Jasper County.

The missing girls were identified as 14-year-old Alexus Crawford of Phelps County, Missouri; 16-year-old Morgan Holderman of Clay County, Missouri; and 14-year-old Jasmine Marie Holliday of Putnam County, Missouri.

According to new information released from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday afternoon, the teens were last seen on April 3, 2021, at Yesway at 7th and State Line. Authorities say they disappeared from an undisclosed location.

Anyone with information should call 911 or the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office at (417) 359-9100.

Thief steals catalytic converter from Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa County van

MIAMI, Okla. – The Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa County and authorities need help finding people they believe stole from the club.

They say on Feb. 17 someone stole a catalytic converter from one of the club’s vans.

If you know anything about this crime you should contact Miami police at (918) 542-5585 or the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office at (918) 542-2806.