STODDARD COUNTY, Mo. (KFVS) – The Missouri State Highway Patrol is currently at the scene of a deadly crash in Stoddard County.

According to Sgt. Clark Parrott, troopers are responding to a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 25, north of Bloomfield.

He said one person died and the roadway is currently blocked.

This is a developing story and we are working to gather more details.

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After several tumultuous years of bitter defeats, proponents of legal sports betting in Missouri finally emerged victorious on Election Night.

On Tuesday night, voters in the Show Me State approved Amendment 2, a ballot initiative that aimed to legalize sports betting across the state. The initiative, which received the backing of the state’s professional sports franchises, passed by a narrow margin of 0.3%.

With approximately 2.9 million votes cast, the measure passed by less than 7,500 votes, according to unofficial results from the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office.

Missouri becomes the 39th state nationwide to legalize sports betting, joining neighboring Kansas which launched sports wagering in September 2022.

Wagers On A Chiefs Three-Peat

While estimates for annual state tax revenue vary somewhat, legal sports betting could bring the state as much as $28.9 million in yearly revenue, according to a fiscal note that accompanied the proposal.

“Missouri has some of the best sports fans in the world and they showed up big for their favorite teams on Election Day,” said St. Louis Cardinals president Bill DeWitt in a statement.

In Missouri, new amendments can become law 30 days following a general election. The amendment directs the Missouri Gaming Commission to make sports betting available by the start of next month. Based on the timeline, however, the 30-day clock expires on Dec. 5. Since the historic PASPA decision in 2018, a number of states have struggled to fast-track sports betting following legalization.

If Missouri goes live on that date, bettors will have ample to time to wager on a Week 14 tilt between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers. The 8-0 Chiefs are slated to host their AFC West rivals in primetime on Sunday Night Football.

At the start of the regular season, BetMGM set odds of 13-1 for any team to go 17-0 in the regular season. At the midway point of the NFL season, the Chiefs are the only team in the league with an unblemished mark.

BetMGM could be one of nearly two dozen entities to be awarded a digital sports betting license.

Each of the state’s 13 casinos qualify for a license, as well as Missouri’s seven pro sports teams.

Altogether, the state can award up to 22 licenses on the digital side. The state projects initial license fee revenue of $11.75 million, according to the fiscal note.

Market Players

FanDuel and DraftKings, the putative leaders of the U.S. sports betting market, are both expected to submit bids for a license. The two industry heavyweights each contributed $20.1 million to Winning for Missouri Education, a political action committee that supported the passage of Amendment 2. A study produced for Winning for Missouri Education estimates that $21.8 billion will be wagered on Missouri’s legal market over the state’s first five years.

The amendment allows the state to collect a 10% tax on sports wagering revenue. The revenues will be appropriated for education purposes, including public schools and higher education, according to the constitutional amendment.

“Thanks to the efforts of bipartisan leaders and local professional sports teams, we’re very pleased to see that voters in Missouri agreed with the merits of what legalized, regulated, and taxed sports betting can deliver for education in the state. We look forward to our product being available to sports fans in the Show Me State in 2025,” a FanDuel spokesman wrote in a statement.

Griffin Finan, senior vice president and deputy general counsel at DraftKings, echoed the sentiments.

“We are thrilled that sports betting will create a vital new, permanent funding source for Missouri’s education system and ensure a brighter future for its students,” he wrote.

The proposal also enables operators to deduct a portion of sports betting taxes against revenues. The deduction is a boon for sportsbooks, as it allows operators to spend a larger portion of revenues on promotions. In high tax jurisdictions such as New York, operators find it more difficult to reinvest into their product.

In terms of bettor wagering habits, JMP Securities analyst Jordan Bender believes spend per adult will be in line with the U.S. average. As a result, Bender predicts that Missouri online gaming revenue will generate about $580 million annually at maturity.

Funding Issues

The tax rate has received some criticism from Missouri State Sen. Denny Hoskins, a Republican. A portion of tax revenue will be earmarked to a Compulsive Gambling Prevention Fund, which includes research on problem gambling, additional treatment and recovery programs, and services related to compulsive gambling.

But the tax fees are comparatively low and not sufficient enough to combat a rise in problem gambling, Hoskins contends.

Missouri Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe became the governor elect on Tuesday with a decisive victory over Democratic nominee Crystal Quade. In the run-up to the election, both candidates favored the adoption of sports betting to provide the state with additional revenue.

The amendment enables the state’s pro sports team to open retail sportsbooks in the vicinity of their venues. There are also implications in the Chiefs’ bid for a new stadium. Kansas law allows the state to apportion sports betting revenue as an incentive for teams to relocate. However, Chiefs President Mark Donovan downplayed the tie-in, stating in August that he didn’t view the initiative as a tipping point one way or the other.

BetMGM also offered odds of 35-1 this summer for a team to go undefeated and win the Super Bowl. The Chiefs are in pursuit of their third straight Super Bowl, a feat that has never occurred in NFL history.

Missouri voters have been casting ballots for more than a week, and many of the election results were known by late Tuesday. But not all.

Here is an overview of everything on the ballot in Springfield as well as the top leaders elected in Missouri and across the U.S.

Early Wednesday morning, former president Donald Trump appeared headed to the White House. Missouri was solidly red, supporting the Republican ticket Trump and running mate JD Vance. Trump was leading Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic ticket in projected Electoral College votes, though results were still being counted in a number of battleground states either candidate would need to win.

Republican incumbent Josh Hawley secured a second term in the seat he took from Democrat Claire McCaskill in 2018. His chief challenger was Democrat Lucas Kunce, a former Marine and military lawyer who raised significant money in his long-running bid for the seat.

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe will be Missouri’s 58th governor.

Kehoe, a Jefferson City Republican endorsed by Parson, defeated state Rep. Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat who serves as minority leader in the Missouri House, in what was a comparatively frugal campaign.

With Kehoe running for governor, the race for lieutenant governor was open. Republican Dave Wasinger, a St. Louis attorney emerged the winner in a crowded GOP primary and won the position, which serves as the next in line to the governor and breaks tie votes in the state Senate.

State Sen. Denny Hoskins, the Republican candidate, declared victory late Tuesday, succeeding outgoing Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who lost a bid for governor in the Republican primary.

Incumbent Vivek Malek, a Republican appointed by the governor in 2022, secured a full term as the state’s chief financial officer, responsible for managing annual state revenues, directing bank services and overseeing the state’s investment portfolio.

Incumbent Andrew Bailey, a Republican, was appointed the Missouri Attorney General by Gov. Mike Parson, taking office in January 2023 after Eric Schmitt was elected to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate. He won his first election Tuesday.

In southwest Missouri, first-term Republican Rep. Eric Burlison retained the 7th District seat he won two years ago after U.S. Rep. Billy Long vacated the seat to run for Senate.

Missouri legislative races

All seats in the Missouri House of Representatives were up for a vote in the election, along with one of the state Senate seats in the Springfield area. Winners in Springfield-area districts include:

Senate District 29

• Mike Moon – Republican – winner

House District 129

• John Black – Republican – winner

House District 130 – Incumbent Republican Bishop Davidson was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.

• Bishop Davidson – Republican
• Leslie Jones – Democratic

House District 131 – Incumbent Republican Bill Owen was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.

• Bill Owen – Republican
• Ashley Cossins – Democratic

House District 132 – Democratic candidate Jeremy Dean was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.

• Jeremy Dean – Democratic
• Stephanos Freeman – Republican

House District 133 – Incumbent Republican Melanie Stinnett was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.

• Melanie Stinnett – Republican
• Derrick Nowlin – Democratic

House District 134

• Alex Riley – Republican – winner

House District 135 – Incumbent Democrat Betsy Fogle was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.

• Betsy Fogle – Democratic
• Michael Hasty – Republican

House District 136 – Incumbent Democrat Stephanie Hein was ahead in early totals but many votes remained uncounted late Tuesday due to delayed results in Greene County.

• Stephanie Hein – Democratic
• Jim Robinette – Republican

House District 137

• Darin Chappell – Republican – winner

House District 138

• Burt Whaley – Republican – winner

House District 139

• Bob Titus – Republican – winner

House District 140

• Jamie Ray Gragg – Republican – winner

There’s was only one contested race for Greene County office, for the District 2 seat on the county commission. With half of the country’s precincts reported, incumbent John Russell, a Republican, was leading Democratic candidate Tim McGrady by a margin of more than 10 percentage points.

Other county races, all featuring Republican incumbents running unopposed, included:

Greene County Sheriff – Jim C Arnott – winner

Greene County Assessor – Brent Johnson – winner

Greene County Treasurer – Justin R. Hill – winner

Greene County Public Administrator – Sherri Eagon Martin – winner

Final results were not available by late Tuesday night but all the judges up for retention votes on Springfield-area ballots were poised to remain in office. They included:

• Judge Kelly C. Broniec of the Missouri Supreme Court
• Judge Ginger K. Gooch of the Missouri Supreme Court
• Judge Becky J.W. Borthwick of the Court of Appeals – Southern District
• Judge Jennifer R. Growcock of the Court of Appeals – Southern District
• Judge Derek A. Ankrom of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 1
• Judge Kaiti Greenwade of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 2
• Judge Dan Wichmer of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 3
• Judge T. Todd Myers of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 4
• Judge Jerry A. Harmison, Jr. of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 5
• Judge Joshua B. Christensen of the Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 6
• Judge Andy Hosmer of the Associate Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 23
• Judge Kirsten Poppen of the Associate Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 24
• Judge Josephine (Jody) L. Stockard of the Associate Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 25
• Judge Ron Carrier of the Associate Circuit Judge – Circuit 31 – Div 26

A question asking Springfield voters to replace the city’s expiring 3/4-cent sales tax — which since 2009 has funded the shortfall in the city’s police and fire pension fund — with a new combination of taxes of equal amount appeared to be approved late Tuesday. With 46 of 56 precincts reporting, votes in favor were well ahead, with the tax garnering more than 62% of the vote.

Amendment 2, which would legalize sports betting in Missouri, was slightly ahead in the vote tally but results were not final late Tuesday.

Amendment 3, enshrining abortion-rights protections in the state’s constitution, was approved Tuesday.

More: Abortion is once again legal in Missouri. Here’s what people are saying about it

Amendment 5, which would amend the state constitution and expand riverboat gambling in Missouri to allow a casino on the Osage River, had not been called late Tuesday but was trending toward defeat in late results.

This amendment, which would have allowed the state to levy court fees to support salaries and benefits for current and former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys and circuit attorneys, was trending toward defeat Tuesday.

Amendment 7, placed on the Nov. 5 ballots by the Missouri legislature, alters the state constitution to effectively ban ranked-choice voting in the state, as well as stipulating that only U.S. citizens can vote. It passed decisively Tuesday.

Proposition A was approved Tuesday, increasing the minimum wage in Missouri — which currently stands at $12.30 an hour — and requiring employers to provide paid sick leave. It calls for Missouri’s minimum wage to increase to $13.75 an hour on Jan. 1, 2025, then to $15 an hour in 2026, with adjustments each year after that based on the Consumer Price Index. Employers would be required to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.