Month: October 2025

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

One of four men charged with stealing an ATM pleaded guilty Thursday.

Augustus C. Sherman, 25, pleaded guilty to vehicle theft Thursday in Camden County. A charge of felony stealing was dropped. Sherman was sentenced to five years in prison for being a prior and persistent offender, court records show.

Sherman was one of four men charged with stealing a truck and using it to bust open an ATM at Oak Star Bank in January in Osage Beach. Cases are still open against Mylek Freeman, Christopher Delasbour and Tyrese Holloway.

The suspects took off in another vehicle, which was later found in Oklahoma, where they were arrested, court records say. The probable cause statement says that $47,315 in cash was found in the vehicle, but $11,440 of it was from the ATM.

Click here to follow the original article.

Olivia Hayes

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Lincoln University’s police chief says safety is everybody’s concern for its Centennial Homecoming tradition.

The department is using multiple forms of technology to keep those attending homecoming events safe, along with more than 600 Flock security cameras across campus. The campus uses the RAVE Guardian app, which allows users to directly message campus police.

Chief Gary Hill said the Flock cameras are also fitted with gunshot detection.

To celebrate 100 years, the university has held a number of events throughout the week, like a talent show on Tuesday and a DJ battle on Wednesday.

On Friday night, there will be a Centennial Masked Ball benefitting student scholarships at 5:30 p.m. in Jason Hall and a Homecoming Step Show at 8:00 p.m. at The LINC recreational center. The festivities continue into Saturday with a homecoming parade at 9 a.m., followed by the homecoming football game against Truman State University at 2 p.m.. A concert will follow at The LINC at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The RAVE Guardian works along with the university’s RAVE Alert system. Hill said faculty, staff and students can download it to their phone.

“The Guardian, they can say they’re going to leave a building and they can hit this button and it will tell us that,” Hill said. “An alarm will go off here in our dispatch area, and then we’ll call them and say ‘Hey, we just received the Guardian alert from you. Are you okay?'”

The RAVE Alert system allows university officials to push out important messages campus-wide.

“If we have an active shooter situation, weather alerts and things like that, any kind of emergency situation, we’re able to push that out to people’s cellphones and that comes across your email as well,” Hill said.

The safety plan also includes a multi-agency effort from state, county and local law enforcement. Hill said 14 county deputies are among the extra personnel being brought in.

Hill said the goal with having multiple agencies on site is prevention through presence. The university has also brought in 20 outside staffers to handle traffic and security.

“They’ll be working the metal detectors and making sure to secure the doors to make sure no one’s trying to get in for free or anything like that,” Hill said.

Even with the use of technology to keep homecoming goers safe, Hill says safety is also as simple as saying something to law enforcement if you see something or someone that raises concern.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Open burning season in Jefferson City will start Saturday.

The season runs from Nov. 1 to March 1 under city ordinance, and residents can burn yard waste between sunrise and sunset, the city wrote in a news release Friday. Fires should be attended to while they’re burning, and they should be put out by sunset.

People who violate the ordinance can be ticketed and fined.

Yard waste can also be dropped off at 708 Ellis Blvd.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council will vote on Monday to allocate $50,000 to the Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri, as the federal government shutdown continues.

The item appears on the city council’s consent agenda in Monday’s meeting. Consent agenda items are voted on in a block without discussion.

The city government announced the decision in a news release Friday, saying the city would allocate $50,000 of emergency money to the food bank. The status of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are in doubt for November because Congress has not voted to fund them.

Two federal judges ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must use a contingency fund with $5.3 billion in it to cover SNAP payments. However, the program costs about $8 billion to $9 billion per month.

“Many households in our community depend on SNAP to meet their most basic needs,” Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said in the news release. “This funding ensures that The Food Bank can continue to serve families who suddenly find themselves without this vital support.”

The Boone County Commission has also approved an extra $50,000 for the food bank.

Click here to follow the original article.