Several Cole County roads closed due to flooding

KMIZ on April 21, 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Severe storms impacted much of Mid-Missouri on Sunday, and a lot of areas are still feeling the effects.

A number of roads in Cole County are closed because of flooding, according to an email from Cole County Public Works.

Closures on Monday include the:

11100 block of North Branch Road

5500 block of Loesch Road

5900 block of Bainer Road

3100 block of Zion Road

6100 block of Buffalo Road

1400 block of Waterford Road

2800 block of Meadowsford Road

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State officials and regional religious leaders honor Pope Francis

KIFI on April 21, 2025

Seth Ratliff

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) – Governor Brad Little ordered all U.S. and State of Idaho flags be lowered and flown at half-staff in honor of the passing of Pope Francis. The pontiff died of a stroke and heart failure on Easter Monday at the age of 88.

“Thousands of Idaho Catholics and people of all faiths are mourning the passing of Pope Francis, a true servant of God. Teresa and I join many, many others in honoring his life and legacy of service to Christ and others,” Governor Brad Little said.

The governor’s order was made in conjunction with a directive from President Donald Trump, ordering that flags fly at half-staff until sunset on the day of Pope’s funeral.

Local Catholics honor 2000-year tradition

Father Francisco Flores of the Parish of Pope Saint John Paul the Second in Idaho Falls told Local News 8 the presence of the Pope is essential as an apostolic connection in the faith.

He says the Pope’s passing brings a sense of loss, but also a great sense of excitement as they await the next Pope.

“There’s a great deal of gratitude to be able to connect to something so meaningful in the lives of literally billions of people in the world today, to tap into this history that has gone unbroken for going on 2000 years,” said Father Flores. “We’re continuing this tradition that has gone on for so long again, that he was Pope number 266. And so we look forward to 267 might be.”

The Catholic faith now enters 9 days of mourning. According to the Diocese of Boise’s website, a memorial mass will be held in Boise at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist at 12:15 PM on Wednesday, April 23.

Regional religious leaders honor Pope Francis

As Catholics around the world mourn the passing of the Pontiff, Christians and other faiths across the region are expressing their sympathies and condolences.

The First Presidency of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement on the Pope’s passing:

“We join the world in mourning the passing of his holiness Pope Francis. His courageous and compassionate leadership has blessed countless lives. We extend our heartfelt condolences to all who looked to him for inspiration and counsel.”

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New trial date set for 2026 in case of man accused of killing Russellville classmate in 1991

KMIZ on April 21, 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A new trial date has been set for a man accused of killing his classmate in 1991.

William “Chris” Niemet, of Fulton, is accused of killing his classmate, Greg Jones, in April 1991 in Russellville. Jones was 14. Niemet also would have been 14 at the time. Niemet was charged in 2020 with first-degree murder.

Court filings indicate that a jury trial is now expected to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, at the Cole County Circuit Court. A pretrial conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.

The trial has been delayed multiple times.

Barbara Buffaloe prepares for second term as Columbia mayor

KMIZ on April 21, 2025

Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

On Monday, Mayor Barbara Buffaloe will preside over her first Columbia City Council meeting of her second term.

Buffaloe won April 8’s municipal election with more than 14,000 votes in an expensive race for mayor over Blair Murphy and Tanya Heath. Buffaloe won handily, taking precincts around the city.

ABC 17 News anchor Lucas Geisler spoke with Buffaloe before she was sworn in on Friday to a second three-year term.

“I don’t think I learned anything new, I would say, but I think some of the issues that we know are important to Columbia residents, it just helped emphasize,” Buffaloe said. “So, the city needs to do better about communicating what’s going on. How are we doing about staffing levels? Where does funding go? Just what’s going on in the world, the importance of that.”

Buffaloe said she thought City Manager De’Carlon Seewood was making strides in keeping the council and community informed. The city recently launched a program of “community connectors” to inform residents of different projects and meetings. She said in the coming term, she’d like to see Seewood talk more around town about the work the city is doing.

“One of the things that I’m always pushing him on is that he needs to talk more,” Buffaloe said. “He needs to be out more in front. I think he can kind of rely on a lot of times, I’m always happy to talk, go and talk to a group as an extrovert. As an introvert, he’s not as interested in doing it as much. So I’m trying to encourage, and he has been, stepping up and going out more, conversations in public and at council meetings, because he’s very smart and he has the trust of his staff. So I think he needs to help show that more and show what progress has been done rather than waiting for other people to go up and make the conversation happen.”

Seewood recently hired D’Markus Thomas-Brown to lead the new Office of Violence Prevention, a program Buffaloe proposed in 2023 following a homicide. With a leader and budget in place, Buffaloe said she’s hopeful that Thomas-Brown will use his connections across the city and city staff to work on crime prevention.

“Some of the things that I hope he focuses on is working with our law enforcement on where do we see the trends and the data happening, building on those relationships that he has with the community and growing them to do more intervention opportunities within Columbia Public Schools and within the neighborhoods,” Buffaloe said. “And just being that trusted voice so that when we do have rumors of something’s that going to happen, he might be able to kind of connect with those involved, and let’s have some preventative nature so that it won’t actually happen and it will reduce our calls for service with our police department.”

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Reportedly armed man runs from officers in SE Bend, quickly restrained, arrested in elementary school parking lot

KTVZ on April 21, 2025

Barney Lerten

(Update: Adding video, No indication weapon was found; incident took about 10 minutes)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A 21-year-old man reported by a screaming 911 caller to be armed at a southeast Bend home ran from officers late Monday morning and was soon arrested in the parking lot of nearby Silver Rail Elementary School, which was alerted of the large police presence.

Around 11:45 a.m., officers rushed to the area of Whitetail Street after someone called 911 screaming before hanging up the phone, Bend Police Communications Manager Sheila Miller said.

Officers en route to the call learned from subsequent 911 calls that the man was reportedly armed at a home in the 61500 block of Whitetail Street and in violation of a restraining order, Miller said.  

When officers arrived, the man was outside the home and ran southbound through the neighborhood before doubling back toward the school.

Officers engaged the suspect in the school’s parking lot, placed him in a WRAP restraint device and took him into custody around 11:55 a.m., 10 minutes after the initial call. There was a large police presence near the school, and the school was alerted to the activity, Miller said. 

The man first was taken to St. Charles Bend. Miller said that upon release, he will be booked into the Deschutes County Jail on suspicion of two counts of harassment, a restraining order violation and a charge of resisting arrest.  

KTVZ News policy is not to name arrested individuals until and unless formal charges are filed.

Miller said that while the initial caller reported a weapon, she’d seen no reports indicating he was found with a weapon in his possession.

Silver Rail Elementary School was not placed in a “secure” status because “from what we understand, the incident was resolved soon after police engaged with the subject,” Bend-La Pine Schools Director of Communications Scott Maben told KTVZ News.

Here is the notice sent to Silver Rail families Monday afternoon:

“Dear Silver Rail families,

“Just before 12 p.m. today, we were notified that local law enforcement was conducting an arrest in our school parking lot near Brentwood. The arrest was unrelated to our school community. It was followed by a large police presence outside our front parking lot entrance. A few of our fifth-grade students who were returning from recess may have witnessed police interact with the subject prior to the arrest.

“Our staff was in constant contact with Bend Police officers throughout the incident, and we were informed there was no threat to our school community.

“We want to make sure you are fully informed when there is police activity in the area. The safety of our students, staff and families is our highest priority. Thank you for your trust.

Sincerely,

Lybe Hawkins

Principal, Silver Rail Elementary”

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Columbia city manager signs emergency declaration after Sunday storms

KMIZ on April 21, 2025

Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia City Manager De’Carlon Seewood has signed an emergency declaration for the impacts of severe weather that hit the city on Sunday, according to a Monday press release from the city.

“In addition, operation of the bioreactor landfill shall be temporarily suspended along with operation of the Bioenergy Plant until such time as repairs to such facilities occur to ensure efficient and safe operation of the plant,” the declaration reads. “Emergency clean-up operations shall commence at Cosmo Park and utility services restored in areas damaged by the severe weather event with the use of mutual aid as deemed necessary by the applicable department head.”

City facilities and infrastructure were damaged, causing power outages and service disruptions, the release says. The city’s recycling program is indefinitely suspended, the city said on Sunday, after its recycling facility was severely destroyed in the storm.

The National Weather Service determined the storm created an EF-1 tornado.

“It is pretty rare,” Seewood said when asked about signing the emergency declaration. “We saw significant damage.  Our material recovery facility, which is our recycling facility, was completely destroyed.”

The City Council reviewed the declaration and voted on an ordinance that would support the measure during Monday night’s meeting.

During the meeting, Mayor Barbara Buffalo reminded residents that Tuesday was Earth Day and the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” has recycle at the end for a reason, emphasizing the need to cut down on waste as the city figures out how to get its recycling services up and running.  

Rebuilding the facility could take more than a year, so the city could try to hire an outside service to handle recycling. 

“We have to do really do an analysis, see exactly what is possible,” Seewood said. “We really need to take time to really figure out exactly what the plan is, how to move forward.” 

The city is also temporarily closing its eight recycling drop-off centers, as are nearby towns that use Columbia’s recycling facility, such as Hallsville. However, there are some concerns that residents who ignore the closures could cause overflow, creating potential health and sanitation risks. The city is urging patience during this process. 

“We’re going to develop a plan and develop a process. But as we’re developing this process, I’ll just ask people to be patient,” Seewood said. 

An evaluation done in 2023 found that the city’s recycling plant was becoming outdated, and left the city missing out on money due to inefficiency. 

Columbia’s Material Recovery Facility was built in 2002, which is one of the things that prompted the city to launch the study.

“It’s nearing the end of its useful life, a lot of the machinery is aging rapidly,” Columbia Utilities spokesman Matt Nestor told ABC 17 News last April. 

The city was planning on building a new facility, but Seewood said the storm could expedite the process. 

“We talked about doing a replacement of the Material Recovery Facility, and that was planned out for, I think 2027, 2028. And so that may speed that up,” Seewood said. 

20250421_columbia_declaration_of_emergencyDownload

Two $1 million+ items pass the council

A $1.5 million project to pave the Columbia Regional Airport parking lot across the from the terminal was passed by the council on Monday night.

The City Council also approved a $1.7 million agreement for a beautification project at the Highway 63 connector bridge and St. Charles Road Bridge. That dollar amount will be split with the city, county, University of Missouri and other sources.

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Cheyenne Mountain Zoo welcomes three new lemur pups

KRDO on April 21, 2025

Celeste Springer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has announced the birth of three new ring-tailed lemur pups.

The zoo says the trio was born on March 20. Interestingly, they’re not all siblings. Despite coincidentally being born on the same day, they were born to different mothers.

For now, zoo officials say matriarch lemur Allagash is taking care of the babies.

The other lemur, Rogue, has taken a step back from motherhood. Zoo officials say just a day after giving birth, a chase displaced Rogue on Lemur Island. She was separated from her offspring, and despite the staff’s efforts to reunite Rogue with the baby, they say she no longer accepted it.

Allagash accepted the baby when staff presented it to her, the zoo said.

“Staff are monitoring all lemurs closely, and have seen calm interactions through mesh between the group and Rogue,” said the zoo in a press release. “They have seen Rogue grooming Allagash (a sign of calm respect and bonding between sisters) and the babies.”

The zoo has not released the names or sexes of the baby lemurs just yet. The lemurs are available to view at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, staff said.

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169-acre prescribed burn conducted northeast of La Pine; smoke may impact area, Highway 97

KTVZ on April 21, 2025

Barney Lerten

(Update: Prescribed burning underway)

La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) — Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District firefighters were conducting up to 169 acres of prescribed burning Tuesday about five miles northeast of La Pine, near Ogden Group Camp and McKay Crossing Campground, the Deschutes National Forest said.  

Ignitions got underway after successful test firings, officials said.

Smoke may be visible from La Pine, Sunriver, Highway 97, and the surrounding area. Residents in La Pine and Newberry Estates were encouraged to keep doors and windows closed to minimize smoke impacts. Smoke impacts are most likely overnight and in the early morning hours.  

No trail or road closures are planned, officials said. Smoke impacts are possible across Highway 97 during prescribed burning operations, as well as overnight and in the early morning hours. 

Firefighters implement understory prescribed burning to reduce wildfire risk to communities. Prescribed burning reintroduces and maintains fire within our fire-dependent ecosystem by removing concentrations of vegetation and restoring forest health while increasing public and firefighter safety. 

Fire management officials work with Oregon Department of Forestry smoke specialists to plan prescribed burns. Prescribed burns are conducted when weather is most likely to move smoke up and away from our communities. While prescribed fire managers take significant preventive measures, it’s likely that communities may experience some smoke during or immediately after a prescribed burn.  

What does this mean for you? 

During prescribed burns, smoke may settle in low-lying areas overnight and in the early morning hours.  

All residents are encouraged to close doors and windows at night to avoid smoke impacts. 

If available, use a portable air cleaner. Air cleaners work best running with doors and windows closed. You can also create a DIY air cleaner. 

If you have a central air system, use it to filter air. Use high-efficiency filters if possible. 

When driving in smoky areas, drivers should slow down, turn on headlights and turn air to recirculating. 

If you have heart or lung disease, asthma, or other chronic conditions, pay attention to how you feel and if symptoms of heart or lung disease worsen, consider contacting your health care professional. 

Go to centraloregonfire.org to learn more about smoke safety and prescribed burning in Central Oregon and visit When Smoke is in the Air for more smoke preparedness resources. 

For more information on prescribed burning in Central Oregon, visit centraloregonfire.org/ and for information specific to the Deschutes National Forest, visit www.fs.usda.gov/deschutes. Follow us on X/Twitter @CentralORFire. Text “COFIRE” to 888-777 to receive wildfire and prescribed fire text alerts. 

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Missouri Western choir and band present spring concerts

News-Press NOW on April 21, 2025

Charles Christian

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Missouri Western finishes the school year with two music concerts at Potter Hall on the MoWest campus.

First, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22, the Missouri Western Chorale will perform its spring concert. Choral Music Director Dr. Paul Dease, who is in his second year at Missouri Western, said the chorale is unique in that it provides even non-music majors the opportunity to learn important choral works and perform them.

“This chorale features students from freshmen to our non-traditional students to our adult returning students,” Dease said. “They range from psychology majors, nursing, music majors, you name it. It’s the choir that represents the entire university.”

Dease said his goal is to build the chorale back up to its pre-COVID 19 numbers, when the chorale had 80 to 90 members. He also said that he often mentions the chorale opportunity in the recruiting process around the region.

Next, on Thursday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m., the Missouri Western Instrumental Ensemble will perform. Director Dr. Lee Harrelson said this concert is a culmination of the hard work the students have done all year long. He also said that both the wide variety of music and the fact that this concert will feature a member of the faculty.

“We’re featuring Dr. Patrick Gay, who has been our interim director of athletic bands this year,” Harrelson said. “There is something for everyone in the concert. We’re doing pieces from traditional, almost hymn-like kinds of things to jazz-based influences. . . .”

Both concerts are free and open to the public.

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City elects to hold off on Sports Complex bond decision until 2026

News-Press NOW on April 21, 2025

Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — St. Joseph residents will not see a bond measure at the polls this year to help finance a large-scale youth sports complex on the campus of Missouri Western State University, but key discussions and project planning will continue.

City officials have elected to push back their timeline by at least one year to decide whether to pursue a general obligation bond measure to finance the complex, a potential $85 million to $105 million joint project between the city and university. The city had previously set a May deadline to make its decision with the St. Joseph School District also pursuing its Proposition 2 bond measure in April.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure that council has enough information to make an adequate decision,” said Clint Thompson, director of planning and community development. “However, as a result of moving that issue further out in the timeline, there is still work ongoing on the project.”

Additional information on cost projections and a plan for how bonds would be repaid still have to be determined before city officials elect to pull the trigger, among other factors to weigh. The complex is being targeted for a 70-acre plot of land on the northern portion of Missouri Western’s campus adjacent to Faraon Street.

With a timeframe on a decision now pushed back, Thompson said one goal over the coming months is to explore additional economic activity that could be paired with the complex, activity that would generate additional revenue and limit how much a bond measure and its tax increase would impact residents.

Just as important, additional time will be used to evaluate all of the community’s existing needs and determine the extent to which added debt would impact services, taxing entities and infrastructure like sewers and roads.

“That’s one thing that I think this council will be looking into is: How is that debt paid back? What’s the cost to the resident?” Thompson said. “How can we ensure that those costs are met before we go out and take on additional debt that may be serviced by the taxpayer?â€

St. Joseph is several years into the process of developing the complex, a potential dual indoor and outdoor project capable of hosting dozens of tournaments and events while boosting community sports growth through new programs and state-of-the-art facilities.

Early plans have called for a variety of courts for volleyball and basketball, fields for baseball and softball and a host of additional amenities for fitness and training.

A common tool used by governments to fund major infrastructure projects like bridges, parks and public buildings, general obligation bonds — which the city intends to use to finance the complex — are backed by a government’s pledge to use general and tax revenues, typically in the form of property tax increases to repay bondholders. In most cases, the bonds are repaid over 20 years.

GO bonds differ from other financing tools like revenue bonds, which are attached to revenue generated from the project itself or other income sources.

“The city has not issued debt previously through that type of mechanism in the past,†Thompson said. “The youth sports facility would be a great community benefit. However, is it a benefit that would be in line with other potential needs in the community? I think that’s what we’re going through the process right now.â€

City council members previously approved a $129,500 contract on Dec. 9 with project developer/consultant Sports Facilities Development to ramp up preliminary planning and analysis following earlier feasibility studies.

SFD, a Florida-based developer, has helped create and manage indoor and outdoor facilities like the AdventHealth Sports Park in Shawnee, Kansas, and the Cooper Sports Complex in Springfield, Missouri.

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