Latest news with #Joplin
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Community of ‘tiny homes' to be built in Joplin
JOPLIN, Mo. — The Joplin City Council approves the plan for a small-format housing community. During Monday's meeting (6/2), council members gave the green light to what will be called the 'Wiggans Campus' of 'Vita Nova Village.' It will consist of 16 small-format, or tiny homes, built in a walk-through community near West 12th Street and South Byers Avenue. The one-bedroom, one-bath homes will be located on approximately 1-1/2 acres, and will include an on-site community building with a storm shelter and laundry facilities. The entire project — costing more than $450,000 — will be paid for by community grants and private donations. The project is meant to help folks who are struggling to find housing. 'Homelessness went up over 60% in the last year, and it's not looking to go down any at all, especially with the cost of housing rising significantly year-after-year, and wages just aren't keeping up, so I think the need is just going to keep increasing,' said Vita Nova Village Executive Director, Rhonda Thompson. No word yet on when construction will begin on the 'Wiggans Campus.' Plans are in the works for other small-format housing communities to be built in the Joplin area under the Vita Nova brand. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Band for Brothers raises funds for area veterans
JOPLIN, Mo. — Band for Brothers kicked off at Ward Waterpark Saturday Afternoon. Visitors to the event enjoyed all kinds of activities, from live music and food trucks to floating on Shoal Creek and a motorcycle poker run. But Band for Brothers isn't just a party, the annual fundraiser supports homeless and at-risk veterans in the Four States. Proceeds will be used for the Veterans Backpack Program, which provides veterans with basic hygiene items, clothes, and money for overdue bills. 'We find that unacceptable and so we are doing that we can to assist, and that is one of the reasons for having an event like this to raise awareness and to also raise money,' said Michelle Lee, Executive Director of OurVeteransFirst. Today's event ran from 2:00 p.m. through 10:00 p.m., ending with a fireworks show. If you would like to donate to the organizers at OurVeteransFirst, you can visit the link here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Robbie Ray fans Jack Winkler
Family tradition brings swimmers to opening day of Joplin pools JOPLIN, Mo. — The water may still be a little cool, but that didn't stop swimmers from taking advantage of opening day in Joplin. 0:46 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
New president of Freeman to be introduced at council meeting
The new president and chief executive officer of Freeman Health Systems will be introduced to the community during a meeting Monday of the Joplin City Council. Matthew Fry has taken up the leadership position of Joplin's largest employer, succeeding Paula Baker, who retired. She led the health system for 14 years. Fry previously served as the CEO of St. John's Hospital and St. John's Children's Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, before taking the helm at Freeman in March. The council also will hold public hearings on several zoning requests. Those will be for a change from industrial to multifamily residential property at 1128 Pennsylvania Ave., a special-use permit to build duplexes at 3105 Wisconsin Ave., and a site plan review for the future Vita Nova Village small-home development at 1201 S. Byers Ave. The site plan, which involves reduced-sized easements between houses, was recommended for approval by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. The council also will take up business that had been planned for a meeting May 19 but was canceled because of a weather forecast for severe weather that night. One ordinance from that meeting reset for the upcoming meeting would allow bow hunting of deer on private property inside the Joplin city limits. According to the ordinance summary, the city does not currently have effective measures to control the urban deer population. A number of deer have been struck by vehicles on city streets, the city document states. That has brought about the ordinance that would allow archery hunting by permit and with specific conditions. While residents must abide by local and state requirements for weapons, in order to participate in urban deer hunting they must have state and city permits, abide by state hunting regulations and seasons, and carry written permission of the property owner where they will hunt. If a law enforcement officer asks to see the permit, the hunter must cooperate. Hunters must be at least 21 years old. The ordinance states that bow and arrows are not to be used within 60 feet of a house, building or structure or place where people assemble, a street, highway, park or property line. Bow hunters must shoot from an elevation of at least 10 feet from the ground. Arrows are not to be shot in the direction of a person, road, structure or domestic animal within reasonable range. Only a recurve archery bow or compound bow that requires completely manual operation without any means to cock the weapon and leave it in a stable state until it is released or fired using a trigger mechanism are authorized for use in the city limits. Hunters using a recurve archery bow or compound bow are required to take a Missouri Department of Conservation-approved hunter education course and are required to mark their arrows with their nine-digit Missouri Conservation Identification Number. The ordinance prohibits crossbow hunting. The council meeting starts at 6 p.m. on the fifth floor of City Hall, 602 S. Main St. It also is broadcast live on KGCS-TV, Channel 21, and regional cable television systems, including Sparklight in Joplin. The city also livestreams the meeting at Video-Multimedia.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
General Mills partners with Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity on Veterans Build
Workers with General Mills participated in a workday with Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity's Veterans Build program, raising walls on a new Webb City home for Navy veteran Janene Houskeeper and her three children Friday. 'Veterans are so wonderful to build for because they served our country,' said Scott Clayton, executive director of Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity. 'We have an opportunity with Habitat that is like no other, to provide an opportunity for a house and to collaborate with local community partners. They gave to our country and now our country is giving back. It comes together so wonderfully.' The General Mills employees are with a group called the Veterans Network, a community made up of veterans and their allies — nonveterans — in the company. They worked to frame the house, raising walls and nailing in supports. 'We're working with our veterans and allies of the company to do what we can to reach out and help the community,' said Jared Sharkey, quality engineer at General Mills. The goal is get out into the community and support veterans, especially in times of need, Sharkey said. Recent projects the group has done include putting American flags on graves at Mount Hope Cemetery in preparation for its Memorial Day ceremony last week. It has several more service projects in the works. General Mills has collaborated with Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity since 2006, when the company helped Habitat purchase a trailer. Clayton said Habitat has done well over 20 workdays with General Mills, and the company has contributed over $300,000 to the program's housing efforts. 'General Mills has been an important partner with us for a long time,' Clayton said. 'Through grants and volunteerism, we've really benefited from our partnership, focusing on veterans. It's come in all different kinds of forms, the good work General Mills has done with us.' Bryan Davis, food safety and quality manager at General Mills, is an Air Force veteran. He said this is the third house General Mills has sponsored with Habitat, providing volunteers and monetary donations of $20,000 for the build. The company has been generous to let the group volunteer on a workday, he said. The last house that employees worked on was a concrete house with Habitat, which was an unusual experience, Davis said. In addition to framing, they often do things such as drywall and painting. 'Working on this house has a special place in my heart because I'm a veteran,' Davis said. 'You always want to give back, especially to veterans in the community. I take a lot of pride in being a veteran and helping those that have helped serve the country.' Davis said he's proud to have a large veteran population at the plant and many allies to volunteer with their projects. Since beginning the Veterans Build program in 2017, Habitat has constructed six houses for veterans. Habitat is looking for more veterans to assist through its new home construction and repair services. For more information, contact the organization at 417-782-6533 or visit Habitat's website at Since 1989, Habitat has built 192 homes in the area and completed over 500 repairs for homeowners. It currently has eight homes under construction and plans to begin two more this year, including its 200th home in Carthage.
