Month: January 2026

Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick gave the Missouri Lottery Commission an overall “good” rating, even as a newly released audit shows lottery funding for schools dropped by more than $35 million while advertising spending increased by $5 million during fiscal year 2024.

The audit, released Tuesday, found advertising expenditures jumped from $399,973 in 2023 to $5.4 million in 2024. During that same time, total revenue also saw a drop of $49 million, meaning despite higher advertising spending, both revenue and transfers to education declined.

Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said Wednesday, there have been fluctuating transfers to education and money spent on advertising in the past.

“We’ve suggested that the lottery consider the value of the advertising and whether it’s really driving increased activity for the lottery,” Fitzpatrick said. “That activity is more tied to larger jackpots and things like that, that are kind of unrelated to advertising,”

In 2023, according to the audit, $425,038,869 was transferred to education compared to 2024 when $389,788,014 marking a $35 million drop.

The $35 million that would went to schools would have averaged $63,000 per school district. Fitzpatrick emphasized that while the drop is notable, lottery funding makes up a small share of education spending and did not affect total state funding for schools.

“There’s a pretty small number, even with that decline in funding from the lottery, schools are still receiving record amounts of money from the state,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s not a situation where that is like $35 million is what well under 1% of what we’re spending on K-12 education right now,”

A previous audit report from 2018-23 found the lottery’s advertising budget decreased by $16.7 million during that time frame while transfers to education increased by $53 million, highlighting advertising spending and money toward education remained steady in that stretch of time.

Fitzpatrick said the “good” rating he gave Missouri Lottery reflects the lottery’s operation as whole and not money sent to schools across the state.

“The rating is an indication there weren’t a lot of other findings. We didn’t have any internal control findings about making sure the prize money paid out appropriately or that there were issues with verifying winners or anything like that,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think it’s an indication the lottery itself is a well-run enterprise,”

According to a news release, lottery officials indicated the changes in advertising expenditures are not only the factor that affects lottery sales, and other factors can play a substantial role in lottery sales.

For example, according to Fitzpatrick, Lottery officials say national jackpots can draw more media attention and boost sales, especially when jackpots are greater than $500 million.

Fitzpatrick noted the Missouri Lottery is increasingly competing with slot machines now found in many convenience stores, where most lottery ticket sales occur.

Missouri’s advertising spending remains low compared to other states. For fiscal year 2024, the Lottery’s advertising budget of 0.31% of sales ranked 44th out of 46 states that sponsor a lottery. In fiscal 2023, the lottery had the smallest advertising budget of any state and the District of Columbia at 0.02% of sales.

Missouri Lottery cited their reason for the significant increase in advertising spending in a Dec. 22 statement to Fitzpatrick.

“Lottery advertising plays a key role in maintaining the current customer base and helping to attract new customers just as any billion-dollar business would do. It helps keep lottery games relevant in a marketplace climate of rising prices and increasing gaming/entertainment options, particularly with sports betting going live in Missouri earlier this month and the amount of money sports betting companies are spending on advertising.”

An annual report for Missouri Lottery broke down their advertising budget of $5.4 million and laid out its positive effects.

Advertising aware is 55% up from 35% in fiscal year 2023 when advertising budget was $400,000

Advertising helps to grow approval of the Missouri Lottery. Approval improved from 64% in fiscal year 2023 when the advertising budget was $400,000 to 66% in fiscal year 2024 when the advertising budget was $5.4 million

The perceptions that the state of Missouri should continue offering lottery games that Lottery is a good way to raise money for education, and that Missouri Lottery proceeds help support public education increased from 2023-24 with the increase in advertising budget.

Since 1993, Missouri law has require that lottery proceeds be transferred to education.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. 

The City of Columbia Sewer Utility is proposing to replace a privately maintained sewer system near the intersection of South West Boulevard and West Stewart Road. 

If approved, the utility would construct a new public sanitary sewer to serve the affected property owners.

According to Assistant Utilities Director Tom Ratermann, the project will affect just five homes on West Stewart Road and one on South West Boulevard. The plan calls for a new sewer line that would connect each property to the public system.

“These private sewers, they don’t have a lot of access points to them. So, if there is some kind of stoppage in the line, there’s no good way to  remove it and to clean it and to get the stoppage out,” Ratermann said. “So what the city plans on building will have a structure at least every 400 feet, and every place where there’s a bend in the line so that they can be maintained.” 

Ratermann added the city is at least a year away from starting construction, as officials still need to finalize the design and secure easements from property owners. No major traffic disruptions are expected, aside from a possible lane closure on South Greenwood Avenue.

The project is part of the city’s ongoing Private Common Collector Elimination program, which started in 2008. Private common collectors are major sources of stormwater inflow and infiltration into the sewer system, and the city says replacing outdated private sewers helps prevent backups and overflows.

“This project is more preventive maintenance,” Columbia Utilities spokesman Jason West said in an email. “There have not been any major issues yet, but these private common collector systems can cause bigger problems because the city is not able to properly maintain them. The PCCE program helps the city perform regular maintenance to hopefully avoid major problems down the road.”

West said the PCCE is funded through an enterprise fund included in the city’s budget.

Since 2008, the PCCE program has included multiple projects throughout the city, though officials do not have a total cost available for all 18 years of work. Currently, the city is working on nine PCCE projects, with at least five more planned.

“The overall system is functioning well and as intended,” West said. “While there are newer parts that are functioning at a high level, we are also focused on repairing and updating older parts such as this one to keep the system functioning properly.”

The city held a public meeting Wednesday at City Hall to discuss the proposed sewer improvements.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former employee of Columbia Public Schools has been arrested on suspicion of multiple child sex crimes, according to a social media post from the Columbia Police Department.  

CPD wrote that officers on Wednesday arrested Zachary Hutchinson, 38, of Columbia.

He was charged on Wednesday with three counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, one count of child enticement, sexually exploiting a minor, giving pornographic material to a minor (a misdemeanor), second-degree promoting child porn and possessing child porn.

He is being held without bond at the Boone County Jail. A court date has not been scheduled.

Educator credentials were listed for Hutchinson at West Middle School for the 2025-26 school year on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s website. Information for educator credentials dates back to 2021 for Hutchinson on DESE’s website. Additionally, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s public pay database lists Hutchinson as a teacher at West Middle School.

The probable cause statement also identifies Hutchinson as a teacher at West Middle School at the time the document was written.

A spokesperson from the school district told ABC 17 News in an email that Hutchinson had worked at West Middle School, but that the incident did not involve the school or any of its students. The district spokesperson did not confirm his position or dates of employment.

Police wrote that it became aware of Hutchinson having “a potentially inappropriate relationship” with a girl on Jan. 15.

“The investigation has determined that Hutchinson and the juvenile victim did not meet as a result of his employment, nor did any known contact occur on school property,” police wrote on its social media.

The probable cause statement says Hutchinson encouraged the victim to go into his vehicle to perform sexual acts. The victim’s mother allegedly found nude photographs of Hutchinson on the victim’s phone and additional messages appeared to show Hutchinson making plans to meet with the youth.

Text messages described in court documents took place over the course of several days and showed explicit conversations and details of illicit photos between Hutchinson and the victim.

Check back for updates.

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