A look ahead at 2017

What's coming up in the new year?  

Springfield residents will vote for a new mayor and other leaders.

Voters will consider a multimillion-dollar school bond issue.

Some high-profile trials are scheduled to unfold, including that of the man accused of killing young Hailey Owens. Her death shocked the city in 2014 and brought tens of thousands of people into the streets for a candlelight vigil.

Heroin is a rising scourge in many Missouri communities, but the homeless in Springfield might have a new neighborhood in which to live.  

A decades-long feud between Springfield and Greene County over space at the jail might find resolution. 

A healthy economy could spur new growth in Springfield, while Greene County voters could decide whether to approve a tax increase to help fund county government.

And on the state level, poachers might face some huge fines for killing Missouri wildlife illegally.

The News-Leader took a brief look at several of the events, issues and stories that will likely affect many in Springfield, Greene County and across Missouri in the coming year. 

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Greene County voters will likely be asked to pass a sales tax hike

There are two things Greene County officials know about taxes.

First, additional revenue is needed by the county that suffers from a severely overburdened criminal justice system and faces expensive environmental mandates from the federal government.

Second, Greene County voters regard taxes with suspicion and pass tax raises with reluctance, if at all.

In August, the Greene County Commission delayed a vote to put a ½-cent sales tax on the April ballot, citing public feedback.

A ½-cent sales tax would bring in an estimated $25.5 million a year.

County leaders have indicated they will revisit the idea of asking voters to pass a tax hike in the coming months, likely after the lawsuit with the city of Springfield over the Greene County Jail is resolved.

Greene County has weathered grueling financial times in the past, and further budget challenges loom on the horizon. The commission is currently creating the 2017 budget — which cuts most department budgets back to 2015 spending levels.

Greene County is heavily dependent on sales taxes for its general revenue fund. The last general revenue sales tax was passed in the county in 1984.

— Alissa Zhu

Will Pensmore Castle be torn down?

Pensmore Castle near Highlandville was designed to withstand the strongest tornadoes and even bomb blasts, but it was knowingly constructed with diluted materials, according to a lawsuit filed in 2015.

Pensmore Castle was meant to last forever, but the owner of the enormous structure wants it torn down and a new castle erected, his attorney told the News-Leader in May.

In July 2017, the case is slated to go before a jury in federal court, though most lawsuits are settled before they reach trial. If the case gets settled, the public may never know whether the castle was shorted of a unique steel reinforcement called Helix, as the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit says there was supposed to be more than 200,000 pounds of Helix mixed into the castle's concrete, but more than 70,000 pounds never made it into the mixture. Instead, court documents said some of the Helix was used in different construction projects, including a house and a swimming pool.

Construction on the castle was halted in 2014 when a whistle-blower came forward, and a lawsuit proceeded when tests confirmed his claims, according to court documents.

An attorney for the construction companies disputed the allegations in the lawsuit.

Castle owner Steven T. Huff is seeking $63 million from two companies that helped build the 72,000-square-foot castle, court documents show.

According to his attorney, Huff has compared Pensmore Castle to the Roman Coliseum.

— Giacomo Bologna

2017 might be the year Missouri gets tougher on poachers

The new year brings a renewed effort to make Missouri a less appealing place for poachers.

There are three bills already filed in the Missouri House that would force poachers to pay restitution  — in addition to any other civil or criminal penalties — for the illegal killing of turkey, deer, elk or black bear.

The toughest so far is HB 282, filed by Springfield Republican Sonya Anderson. Her bill would force poachers to pay $1,500 in restitution for each turkey illegally killed, $3,000 for each deer taken illegally and $7,000 for each elk or black bear killed illegally.  

Missouri currently has no poaching restitution law in place.  

A similar bill with much lower penalties failed to gain traction in the 2016 General Assembly session, but Reps. Donna Lichtenegger of Cape Girardeau and Jared Taylor of Nixa hope their bills — HB 46 and HB 250 — will see more support in 2017. Their bills call for a restitution payment of $750 for poaching a turkey; $1,500 for poaching a deer, and $3,500 for poaching an elk or black bear.

In all the poaching restitution bills, money from those payments would go into the state school fund. 

"I am optimistic something will get done this session," Taylor said. "I think it's crazy that for some people it's worth the risk of poaching in Missouri when the cost of getting an out-of-state hunting tag is less than the fine they might get for poaching an animal."

A gruesome poaching case that happened in Shannon County a year ago might help garner support for the bills. Last December, someone shot and killed an elk near the Current River and used a chain saw to cut the antlers away from the animal's skull. The poacher left the rest of the elk to rot.

That incident is still unsolved and is a key element in a new fictional murder-mystery novel written by retired educator Eric "Rick" Mansfield that takes on the wide-ranging issues of poaching in Missouri.

Mansfield lives in Shannon County and took photos of the elk after it was killed and as game officials hauled away the carcass.

"I started the book last year and I thought it would be solved by now," Mansfield said. "This whole poaching culture in Missouri inspired me to write it, and it's worse now than when I was a kid."

The self-published book is available on Amazon for $7.99, and Mansfield said all the proceeds will go toward the nonprofit Ozark Heritage Project, an organization that tries to preserve the best of Ozark culture and environment. Proceeds also will be used to help fund historical presentations, river cleanups and structural and environmental restorations.

— Wes Johnson

High-profile murder trials set for 2017

A pair of high-profile murder trials are expected to be held in Greene County courtrooms this coming year.

Craig Wood, 48, is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 23 — more than three years after he allegedly kidnapped, raped and killed Springfield 10-year-old Hailey Owens.

Hailey, a Westport Elementary fourth-grader, was abducted near her home on Feb. 18, 2014.

Police say her body was found hours later in the basement of Wood’s home on East Stanford Street.

Wood took the stand during a pre-trial court appearance in March and said he was high on meth during the time frame in which he is accused of committing the crimes.

A jury will be brought in from Platte County to hear the case.

Nicholas Godejohn, 27, will also likely stand trial in 2017. He is accused of killing Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard in June 2015 in a home just north of the Springfield city limits.

Godejohn’s co-defendant and online girlfriend, Gypsy Blanchard, pleaded guilty in July and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Gypsy Blanchard’s attorney said Dee Dee Blanchard forced her daughter into a wheelchair and held her prisoner for years before the slaying.

Godejohn’s trial had been scheduled for Feb. 6, but it was recently pushed back. He has asked for a bench trial.

— Harrison Keegan

Galloway, once a village, is likely to keep booming

A southeast Springfield neighborhood declared blighted and eligible for tax abatement by City Council in 2014 saw a surge of new development in 2016, with more possible next year.

Galloway, little more than a railroad station and a quarry when it formed in the 19th century, was annexed to Springfield in the 1960s. In recent decades, it became popular due to public services including a renovated park, an Ozark Greenway trail and a recycling center.

That was just the beginning. In late 2015, a $10 million complex of luxury apartments called Township 28 opened. In May, Acacia, a 10,000-square-foot spa, set up shop down the street.

But a $17.5 million plan, Quarry Town, is the big fish. In August, City Council approved zoning changes that would allow this 10.8-acre development to proceed.

Spearheaded by developer Matt O’Reilly, Quarry Town could eventually include 13,000 square feet of apartments, 13,000 square feet of office space, 15,000 square feet of retail and 22 single-family and duplex units — and a Tesla charger.

The News-Leader reached out to a representative for O'Reilly's company, Green Circle Projects, to learn when Quarry Town construction might begin, but has not yet received a response.

Billy Jalili, a partner in Springfield's Touch, Flame and Black Sheep restaurants, also envisions putting a mixed-use development on two acres in Galloway, but no plan has been made public.

— Greg Holman

Voters likely to see $189 million school bond in April

Voters in the Springfield school district are expected to be asked, as early as April 4, if they are willing to pay more in property taxes to renovate, expand or rebuild more than half of the district's buildings.

They will decide if the district can sell $189 million in bonds.

The ballot issue is about more than just financing the work, however. School board members have cast it as a referendum on the amount of public support for the district's new facility master plan.

"It's really about does the community support Springfield Public Schools and are they willing to support all of Springfield," said board member Tim Rosenbury. "Are they willing to invest in the entire community and not just their own attendance area?"

The board is expected to decide Jan. 10 whether the bond issue will be placed on the April ballot. Passage will require support from 57 percent of voters.

If approved, Springfield's record-setting bond issue — the first to break the $100 million mark — would provide nearly all the funding to complete the first of two six-year phases required to carry out the sweeping changes outlined in the facility master plan.

That plan calls for 40 projects over a 12-year period and carries a hefty price tag of $367.6 million. Here are the biggest changes:

• Close four elementary schools: Bowerman, Campbell, Delaware and York.

• Expand early childhood education programs to serve additional 600 students.

• Replace seven elementary and four middle schools. This includes the creation of four elementary and middle school combination campuses.

• Renovate, upgrade or expand 17 elementary, two middle, one K-8, five high school and four support buildings.

Board president Denise Fredrick said the proposed projects will improve equity across the district and ensure all school buildings meet "optimal learning standards."

"Adopting the facility master plan is setting the course for the district, not just for the next generation but for the next several generations," she said.

The district estimates the total cost of the first phase to be $197 million and plans to invest $8 million, or $1.3 million a year, from its capital projects fund, along with the bond issue, to complete the work.

Carol Embree, chief financial and operations officer, said the $189 million bond issue would require a 24-cent increase to the debt service levy, which generates revenue for capital projects.

The district is pursuing a staggered approach, adding 12 cents in 2017 and another 12 cents in 2018. Once fully implemented, the increase is expected to add $46 to the annual property tax bill on a house with a market value of $100,000.

The 24-cent increase would bring the district's debt service levy to 79 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

Dick Bartow, executive vice president of George K. Baum & Company, which advises the district on its debt, said the levy increase is expected to give the district enough room in its bonding capacity to ask voters for another bond issue, almost as large as this one, in five or six years.

He said it would be a "no tax increase" bond issue, meaning it would extend the amount of time required to pay off debt but would not increase annual property tax bills.

— Claudette Riley

Authorities grapple with heroin’s resurgence

Heroin made its return to the Springfield drug market a few years ago, and it showed no signs of going away in 2017.

In 2015, Springfield police seized more heroin than in the previous three years combined. And through the first nine months of 2016, they had already seized 4,000 grams — more than 10 times last year’s total.

Lt. Eric Reece with the Springfield Police Department said the increase in heroin seizures is a concern heading into the new year. He said heroin cases are a priority for his detectives in the special investigations section because the drug has reportedly been responsible for at least 21 overdose deaths in Greene County over the last two years.

Marlin Martin is the regional director for Behavioral Health Group, a local provider of opioid addiction treatment. Martin said there are about 460 patients consistently receiving treatment from Behavioral Health Group in Springfield, and the company is preparing to open a second location on the north side of town.

In a February bust, authorities allegedly seized six pounds of heroin hidden in a truck at a Springfield home.

While heroin use has increased in Springfield, meth is still much more common. Springfield police had seized 22,232 grams of meth through the first nine months of 2016.

— Harrison Keegan

Tiny homes project for homeless taking shape in north Springfield 

Tiny homes for the homeless is an idea that is often tossed around but only implemented in a few cities across the nation like Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles and Portland.

Springfield will soon be added to that list.

The Gathering Tree, a nonprofit organization that operates as an evening drop-in center for homeless people, purchased a 4.5-acre tract of land in north Springfield to create a tiny-home community for disabled, chronically homeless people.

Eden Village, as it will be called, is located at 2801 E. Division St., the site of a former mobile home park near U.S. 65.

Gathering Tree co-founder Linda Brown said the first home has been purchased thanks to a $30,000 donation from Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realtors and will be delivered in February 2017. That first home will serve as a model, Brown said, to allow people to come see what the homes and the community will be like.

After more homes are purchased and set up, Brown said she expects people will be able to start moving to Eden Village in the fall of 2017.

Brown, who is also a real estate agent, said in an earlier interview that she had been looking for property for the tiny home community for some time.

She recently found the trailer park, which was already complete with concrete pads and utility and sewer hook-ups for the manufactured homes.

The city has confirmed to Brown that the property will not have to be rezoned.

The homes, which will be manufactured in Athens, Texas, are about 400 square feet with one bedroom, one bathroom and a kitchen.

Eden Village will also have a community building with laundry facilities and a large kitchen with space for entertaining up to 30 guests. Brown hopes to have the community building constructed in early 2017.

Eden Village will specifically house individuals who qualify as “chronically disabled homeless” by standards of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Residents, many of whom are on disability, will pay their own rent.

Residents will have access to case management and services. It will be a gated community, with residents free to come and go as they please.

The total cost of the project, with the planned 30 homes and community center, will be about $1.8 million. 

— Jackie Rehwald

City leadership will change

The upcoming Springfield City Council election is unusual for a number of reasons.

First, after the election, up to seven of nine seats could be filled by someone different.

Usually, only five council seats are up for re-election at the same time.

Under normal circumstances, the Zone 2 seat would not be on the ballot this cycle. However, the current Zone 2 representative, Tom Prater, was appointed to fill a vacancy created when Justin Burnett resigned earlier this year. By city law, any appointed position will be up for a vote in the next election.

Among the candidates vying for the mayor’s seat this election are two current City Council members — Ken McClure and Kristi Fulnecky.

Neither Fulnecky’s nor McClure’s seats, respectively General C and General D, are up for grabs this election. If one of them wins the mayoral race, council will appoint someone to fill their vacated council seat.

Second, a remarkable amount of money has been raised for the mayoral race.

According to campaign finance documents filed in October, Fulnecky has raised about $90,000. McClure has raised about $26,000.

The documents show Fulnecky has paid campaign workers more than $32,000. Her campaign has also released a promotional video.

Contrasting personalities will make the mayoral race an interesting one to watch.

The soft-spoken McClure has decades of experience in politics and leadership. Fulnecky’s colorful personality and controversial actions have attracted ardent supporters as well as outspoken critics.

It appears that all the council members whose seats are up for re-election are interested in running again, except Mayor Bob Stephens.

A full list of approved candidates will come out after Jan. 17. The election will be held April 4.

— Alissa Zhu

Possible resolution to lawsuit over the Greene County Jail

The city of Springfield, Greene County and the sheriff took their disagreement about the overcrowded local jail to court in July 2015.

The parties have presented their arguments to a judge, in hopes the court can resolve the dispute without having to go to a lengthy trial.

The city of Springfield wants Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott to accept municipal inmates in the local jail, for free.

Arnott argues the sheriff is solely in charge of jail policies and state statute requires him to only take municipal inmates if there is room.

The Greene County Commission believes it should not be involved in the lawsuit at all because it has upheld its side of an agreement signed in 1997.

The contract was an intergovernmental agreement between the city and county that called for municipal inmates to be housed in the jail, in return for the city’s support of a law enforcement sales tax.

Though the suit has been making progress, it’s unclear when it will be resolved.

— Alissa Zhu

New year, new movie theater — and maybe, a new ordinance

A movie theater opening soon may lead to changes in a Springfield city ordinance.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a Texas-based chain that features food and bar service, announced in May that it would enter the Springfield market despite a city ordinance approved by voters in 2011 that bans alcohol from “family-oriented” movie theaters.

In September, Alamo Drafthouse and AMC, another movie theater company operating in Springfield, pitched City Council to legalize the sale of alcohol in a wider range of movie theaters than currently allowed by the complex city ordinance.

Opponents of changes include Jim Blaine, a Springfield-based emergency physician who has chaired the 35-member DWI Task Force since it formed in 1990. The citizen group drafted the ordinance.

Blaine told the News-Leader in September that if movie theaters try to change the existing ordinance, “I’d be very happy to bring it to the DWI Task Force, and we'd be happy to give an opinion (to council), if we know specifics."

Since September, Alamo has had no further “formal communication” with city government, city spokeswoman Cora Scott said in a recent email. “We think that Alamo folks are probably communicating with stakeholders and preparing to come back to City Council at some point.”

Meanwhile, the opening date for the theater has been pushed back from its original estimate, sometime in February.

In a blog on Alamo Drafthouse’s website, the company indicated in a Dec. 21 post that the Springfield Drafthouse would have its grand opening in “Spring 2017,” which a representative confirmed Wednesday.

— Greg Holman

Zone 1 Blitz to wrap up in 2017, officials hope improvements continue 

While the Zone 1 Blitz will come to its official end in December 2017, city officials say many of its programs will continue and hopefully be duplicated in other areas of Springfield.

The Zone 1 Blitz is the 18-month-long, city-led initiative to decrease poverty and improve quality of life for those living in the northwest quadrant of Springfield — Zone 1.

More than 120 organizations have partnered with the city for Zone 1 Blitz projects and programs, with several hundred individuals pitching in to participate in more than 60 projects, said Cora Scott, spokesperson for the city of Springfield. 

“We are thrilled at the momentum behind the Zone 1 Blitz,” Scott said. “We feel one of the biggest successes is it has spurred other people to try new and different things and to collaborate so that projects work well together and are not duplicated.

“It’s been overwhelming in a good way how organizations have stepped forward,” she added. “This is by far the most heartwarming project I’ve ever worked on.”

Zone 1 Blitz projects focus on these areas: chronic nuisance properties, digital divide, food access, health care, housing, infrastructure and transportation, jobs and economic development, public safety, wellness and neighborhood engagement.

Projects include constructing bus stops, adding community gardens, providing weatherization upgrades to homes, increasing home access to affordable internet access and expanding the Library's Wi-Fi hot spot program, and incorporating block watch (a smaller version of Neighborhood Watch).

Scott said by the end of 2017 about $8 million worth of infrastructure improvement projects will be completed in Zone 1, including the construction of some 13,700 feet of new sidewalks.

“That is so important to people who rely on walking or biking to get where they need to go,” she said. 

Scott said she is especially excited about the Zone 1 Blitz jobs and economic development programs like the new Missouri Job Center office, which opened inside the Cox Medical Tower at 1443 N. Robberson in November.

Prior to the center’s opening, it could take a resident living in Zone 1 about two and a half hours to arrive at the Missouri Job Center’s main office at 2900 E. Sunshine St., if they were relying on public transportation. 

For a complete list of the Zone 1 Blitz projects, visit springfieldmo.gov/ZoneBlitz

— Jackie Rehwald