Month: April 2026

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

History was made Wednesday after NASA launched a crew to the moon for the first time since the 1970s Wednesday in its Artemis II mission.

The rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The last mission this close to the moon was the Apollo 8 mission.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, took off on their journey in the Orion spacecraft around 5:30 p.m. central time. The 10-day mission will loop the astronauts around the moon — but they won’t touch down on its surface. In their return back to earth the spacecraft will land the astronauts into the Pacific Ocean.

Students with the Columbia Aeronautics and Space Association gathered to watch the launch. Some of told ABC 17 News an event like Artemis II is something they thought they’d only ever read about in history books, until today.

“This is the first time I’ve ever actually seen a rocket even on TV,” said Em Robinson, a freshman apart of CASA.

“This is, of course, the Apollo of our day,” said Logan Allen, a senior apart of CASA.

Linda Godwin — a Missouri native who is a former astronaut and professor emeritus at the University of Missouri — during her 30-year career spent more than 38 days in space and more than 10 hours outside the shuttle on spacewalks with NASA. During went to the International Space Station during her final mission.

Godwin said while the path Artemis II astronauts are taking is similar to the Apollo 8 mission, astronauts this time are planning to look at different things. Apollo 8 was the mission where astronauts first left Earth’s atmosphere and reach the moon’s orbit. That mission occurred in December 1968, seven months before the Apollo 11 mission touched down on the moon.

“For Apollo [8], they mainly wanted the side that faced Earth to be lit because that’s the surface they landed on,” Godwin said. “On this mission, they’re kind of more interested in when the lunar lighting is shifted so they can see more of the back.”

Godwin said the astronauts will also be tasked with a number of different experiments.

“What’s changing in their own body, they’re gonna be looking a lot of tests and radiation measuring equipment,” Godwin said. “The things they are going to do to really help us understand that whole environment for the next crew.”

Eventually NASA has its sights set on putting boots back onto the moon’s surface. However, Godwin said recent changes may not make that possible until Artemis IV.

“The next mission, it’s going to be in low-Earth orbit and they’re hoping to have some landers available to to cruise and can practice and practice operations,” Godwin said.

Until then, Godwin hopes historical events like Wednesday’s launch will inspire the next generation. Students told ABC 17 NEws it’s done exactly that.

“It motivates me to keep me to stay focused and locked in on my career and my aspirations,” said Advik Vikas, a sophmore apart of CASA.

“I want to hopefully be the leader of Rocket Club next year,” said Samuel Merz, a homeschooled student apart of CASA and the Columbia Area Career Center.

Godwin said the Artemis II mission will also help them stay on top of maintenance while the moon lander is being built. This is especially important after issues found during Artemis I.

“The heat shield was the big one,” Godwin said. “They saw some evidence that it didn’t quite act like they thought it would and they spent some time really figuring it out, understanding what was wrong and also realizing that they could change the way Artemis II comes back into the atmosphere a little bit.”

She said NASA engineers are confident with the updated heat shield and adjusted reentrance point for Artemis II. Godwin added that the astronauts have practiced various mock failure scenarios in preparation.

“They and Mission Control are tied in together in these simulations to talk about and respond to failures and what they would do and particularly on ascent, it might have to be a quick response,” Godwin said.

She said there’s always the unknown in the back of an astronaut’s mind, but that’s where the repetition and practice come into play.

“There are certain abort modes they can execute, just like if they lose thrust at a certain time,” Godwin said. “You think about all the failures you can react to, you do everything you can to prepare for that and then you got to get ready for launch day and you’ve made it as safe as you can, you’ve trained as much as you can.”

The spacecraft will make its return to earth April 10.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Three seats are up for grabs in the Columbia Board of Education election with all four candidates highlighting bullying as a major issue in the district that needs to be addressed.

Four people are running for three spots. Board President John Lyman, Vice President Paul Harper and Boardmember April Ferrao are trying to retain a spot on the board, while Dr. Keary Husain is looking to get on the board for the first time.

According to a survey for the 2025-26 school year, About 65% of students surveyed say bullying is not tolerated, but that enforcement was not consistent. The survey says 63% of responding students said their school atmosphere was mostly encouraging, but wanted more inclusiveness and fairness.

Lyman considered the bullying policy as “one place I’d like to see the district get better at.” Lyman added that he wants to make bullying reports more accessible and make the process of following investigations clearer.

“It’s moving the bullying report that’s kind of hidden right now on our website to and up front and top of mind,” Lyman said. “Something that’s easier to access for our families so that they know, ‘hey, if this is happening, this is where you go, this is what you do, these are the next steps, these are the things that happen after you’ve done that report, so that there can be resolution.”

LINK: Full interview with John Lyman

Husain similarly wants clearer ways to report bullying and more transparency in reporting data. He says this would be to make sure policies are being enforced equally across buildings.

“If you are reporting everything in a transparent fashion, you can see that, maybe 20 incidents were reported, but we’re only seeing data on the outcome of two,” Husain said. “Not everyone comes to the board meeting, not everyone streams the board meeting, not everyone is privy to the data or has a computer at home, just making this, ‘this is what’s happening in CPS.'”

LINK: Full interview with Keary Husain

Ferrao said the district’s bullying policy is something the Board of Education wants “to get right.” Ferrao adds she wants to make sure the policy is enforced and is well-documented

“Making sure that parents are informed, also making sure that there’s resources given to both the victim and the accused bully, making sure that we have data, making sure that if something is reported, it is written, it is documented it, so we can make data-driven decisions on that,” Ferrao said.

LINK: Full interview with April Ferrao

Harper said that he believes bullying isn’t being reported on as well as it should be. He similarly wants to make sure the district has adequate resources for student and parent support. Harper added that along with improving the policy, operations and district culture should also be addressed.

This includes setting clear expectations for staff and adding more procedures to clear up confusion.

“Making sure students who are bullied are supported, ensuring that the staff is doing what they need to do to process those things,” Harper said. “We need to make sure we’re supporting them [students] whether or not it actually fits under the definition of bullying, so we’re we’re making a policy so that all of those things happen.”

LINK: Full interview with Paul Harper

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An associate judge has named Jeff Smith as the interim Miller County prosecutor.

The order appointing Smith was made by 26th Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Aaron G. Koeppen. Smith will take on the roles until Gov. Mike Kehoe makes an appointment.

The appointment was necessary after Prosecutor Matthew Howard died on Monday. He was 64.  

The prosecutor position is up for election in the Aug. 4 primary. The last day to file was Tuesday. County Clerk Clinton Jenkins told ABC 17 News that one person, Robert Seek, filed to run on Tuesday.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Cooper County town was awarded $4.8 million in financial assistance from the Missouri Department of Natural Resource for upgrades to its wastewater treatment system, according to a Wednesday press release from the DNR.

It will cost a total of $6.28 million to upgrade Pilot Grove’s system and the city expects the project to be completed by May 2027, the release says. The project is designed to improve the water quality in Petite Saline Creek “by reducing pollutants and untreated discharges to the creek,” the release says.

Funding from the DNR consists of a $2 million loan and a $2.76 million grant through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, the release says.

There will also be $700,000 in city funds and $750,000 through a Community Development Block Grant, the release says. Funding is expected to save the city $1.5 million in interest during the loan’s 30-year period, the DNR says.

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Mitchell Kaminski

MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Moberly School District is looking to add a storm shelter as part of a slew of planned renovations, but will need help from Randolph County voters on April 7 to do it. 

In December, the Moberly Board of Education approved language to add a ballot measure that would authorize the issuance of $11.5 million in bonds to the district for facility improvements. The district is prioritizing adding a storm shelter and locker rooms to Spartan Fieldhouse and renovations to the middle school and elementary school buildings. 

“Just as the athletics side of it, we’re able to get locker rooms that are attached to the fieldhouse,” Moberly Director of Activities Anthony Vestal said. “Right now we’re still using our other locker rooms, which is a little bit to get through the Spartan way here. But attaching that here would be huge.” 

Under the ballot language, if the measure is approved, the bonds would not increase the current property tax levy of $1.143 per $100 of assessed value.

According to Moberly Superintendent Cristina Wright, the measure would renew an existing bond issue that is on a five-year cycle, allowing the district to continue making improvements without raising taxes.

“That money is earmarked for that purpose alone. It cannot be transferred over to teacher salaries or school supplies and vice versa,” Wright told ABC 17 News. “Our operating budget would have to be used if it were not approved to cover things like renovations and construction, which would be really prohibitive for us with a district this size and eight school sites.” 

During the 2021 bond issue, the district used the funds to expand its Early Childhood Learning Center, build the Alternative Center for Educational Success, and build the Spartan Fieldhouse, a $7 million facility that opened last February. 

“We wanted to build the biggest building we could with the money that we had,” Vestal said. “Everyone has had great things to say about it. You know, they come in here, they look at the facility, and it’s just kind of the wow factor. You know, our LED scoreboard is second to none in the state of Missouri. The seating on all four sides. I think it’s a place that we’ve set the bar high.” 

The Spartan Fieldhouse is now the center of the district’s plans, if the measure is approved. According to Wright, adding a storm shelter has been part of the plan since the facility was first designed. 

“This was designed as Phase 2 from the beginning of the concept for this field house in Phase 1. So [it was] always an idea. This is a special-event space right now, based on building code. So that means that approximately 1,600 people can fit into this space, but it can’t be used during the school day because it’s a special-event space without a storm shelter,” Wright said. “So, by adding this storm shelter with enough square footage for everyone that might be in attendance,  we are able to then have that much space to tuck folks away in a very safe spot.” 

The City of Moberly does not maintain a public storm shelter system, but officials have not yet determined if the shelter will be open to the public, if inclement weather hits. 

“It’s in discussion, and we would need to iron that out with the city of Moberly just for our practice and protocol,” Wright said. “But it certainly is part of the discussion.” 

However, City of Moberly spokesman Scott McGarvey said there have been no discussions with the city or other entities about constructing or operating a public storm shelter.

But Wright also said a new storm shelter would also allow the district to use the Spartan Fieldhouse to host classes during the school day. 

“We have emergency operating plans or EOP, and right now we’re sheltering in place for high winds or tornadoes,” Wright said. “But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t places where there’s glass or there are doors, and those have to be considered in how much space we have to tuck students away.” 

If voters approve the bond, the district says construction could begin this summer, with work starting shortly after the school year ends.

“The biggest benefit is if we have high winds or a tornado, we have a place to put students and staff and visitors who might be here for a special event. And since we’re hosting events that take a large number of community members,1,600 is a large number inside our community, we can offer that safety aspect,” Wright said. “So it really is a huge benefit to everyone, especially if they’re coming to support our students in contests, whether they be athletic or otherwise.”

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