Month: August 2026

SEDALIA, Mo. (KMIZ).

The 2026 Missouri State Fair got underway Thursday, with the day’s events including celebrations of two major projects.

Fair officials held ribbon-cutting ceremonies of new additions to the fairgrounds, including the new Governor Michael L. Parson Arena and an upgraded State Fair Fire Station.

State officials and university leaders gathered at the 150,000-square-foot arena to launch the annual event. Notable figures in attendance included Gov. Mike Kehoe, University of Missouri System President Mun Choi, and Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway.

The new facility cost roughly $30 million dollars, according to Kehoe, and will be used as an all year round facility to host events like rodeos, livestock shows and sporting events.

Kehoe also mentioned the arena’s potential regional draw and said legislatures have already approved funding for the second phase of construction.

“The legislature has approved kind of a second phase for this,” Kehoe said. “It will include some stalling facilities and different things to be able to host those world-class shows.”

The arena was called a “world-class facility” by Kehoe, who also said other states want to create similar facilities in their fairgrounds.

Kehoe said this facility will really lean into its “multipurpose” title and have a diverse array of events hosted in it.

“This is for RV shows, this is for equipment shows, this is for livestock shows of all sorts,” Kehoe said. “So the multi-use part of this arena truly will be multi-use. It would be fantastic.”

The other ribbon-cutting ceremony happened not too far from the arena to open the official fair grounds fire station.

Officials described this station as the world’s first 11-day station because it will only be in use as a fire station during the fair.

State Fair Assistant Fire Chief Larry Eggen, who works full time with the Johnson County Fire Protection District, said all personnel in the facility are volunteers coming from other stations in Missouri.

With the volunteers coming from different parts of Missouri, they also bring equipment to supply the fair station with what they need.

“Our member agencies, fire departments, and ambulance districts supply us with their equipment, and they supply the supplies and things to use at the fair,” Eggen said.

Emergency personnel at the new station are equipped with six ambulances, three fire engines, two tankers, three squads, two command vehicles, and several utility vehicles patrolling the grounds.

On average, there are roughly 87 volunteers active per day throughout the fair. These volunteers stay in bunkers in the new station. There are seven bunk rooms located in the station, split by gender.

The station includes a first aid medical room to treat minor heat-related illnesses and other medical situations.

Eggen said that in the case of an emergency, if the first aid room is not fully equipped, there is a fully equipped medical care team located on the campgrounds ready for more serious medical emergencies.

The station is also a goof place for fair-goers to come if they need a break from the heat according to Eggen.

“We can seat over 100 people, so we get them in and have them get some drink, some water, or something. Just to cool down,” Eggen said. So it’s a good refuge from the hot weather, so it makes our job so much easier.”

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Nationwide layoffs at Cumulus Media, which owns and operates radio stations across the U.S., have impacted two longtime Mid-Missouri radio personalities.

David Gaines and Simon Rose have left KFRU as part of the company’s nationwide cut, according to posts on social media from Gaines and from Rose’s wife.

Gaines announced on social media that he is no longer with KFRU, Columbia’s heritage radio station, following what he described as corporate downsizing and the elimination of Cumulus Media positions nationwide.

Despite losing his job, Gaines said he is grateful for his time in Columbia and the people he met throughout his career.

“These past 18 years have been such a wonderful stretch of my career,” Gaines wrote. “I’ve worked with so many talented and creative people. Been a part of countless wonderful events. Interviewed multiple local and state leaders, and interesting guests from all walks of life.”

Gaines began working for Cumulus Media in 2008. Within a year, he was paired with longtime KFRU personality David Lile on “A Columbia Morning,” where he anchored the news.

After Lile retired in 2022, Gaines took over as host of the morning show in May of that year.

Rose spent 37 years at KFRU and 33 years at KBXR, where he was also a founding DJ. He sent a statement to ABC 17 on Thursday reflecting on his decades in local radio.

“I am honored to have brought my voice to KFRU’s talk format, interviewing community leaders and other newsmakers, and being a part of the daily lives of the listeners,” Rose said. “The music lover in me will always be grateful for my years at KBXR — a format so distinctive that people still tune in from across the country.”

Rose said he regrets not having the opportunity to properly say goodbye to his listeners.

“I regret I didn’t have the chance for a proper goodbye, but please know how much I treasured my years with you,” Rose said. “I love the medium and the craft. I’ll miss my dedicated coworkers, and more than anything, the listeners who made every day of it a joy.”

In a social media post, Rose’s family said he had experienced several rounds of cutbacks throughout his career, but this latest round marked the end of his time at the stations.

Renee Hulshof worked alongside Rose as his co-host on KFRU for nearly 13 years. Hulshof left the company in 2020, and six years later, she said it is disappointing to see her former co-host laid off and described the cuts as a loss for local radio.

“Our communities need local radio. They need local voices. They need local news, and when you take a legacy station like KFRU, you essentially close down those local voices and you end that local conversation. The community, I think, suffers,” Hulshof said.

KFRU has about 1,200 followers on Facebook and roughly 1,800 followers on X. Hulshof said that early in her career, managers regularly discussed the station’s ratings with employees. Over time, she said those conversations became less frequent.

“Anecdotally, I felt like we had a good, loyal following,” she said. “They must have seen something that they thought wasn’t valuable to them from a corporate earning perspective, because from a community value perspective, I can tell you the community value that it had and continues to have.”

Hulshof said journalism and the media industry are continuing to evolve, but she believes companies that fail to adapt to changing technology and audience habits risk losing their connection with local communities.

“They sounded the death knell for local TV. They sounded the death knell for local newspapers,” she said. “I think those that survive have managed to adapt to the changing environment.”

She said she believes Cumulus Media was slow to embrace new technology and changing listening habits during her time with the company.

“I know when I was leaving, I don’t think they were embracing the change in people’s listening and social media habits,” Hulshof said.

Columbia’s long history as a hub for journalism was one of the reasons University of Missouri senior Aaron Segal chose to attend the university.

Segal hopes to become a radio host and currently works in radio through the university.

“I absolutely love radio,” Segal said. “It’s one of the oldest forms of journalism…You’re describing everything to a listener because they don’t have the eyes, they’re not seeing it, and you have to be incredibly descriptive and use your words so well to describe everything.”

Segal said it is difficult to see longtime radio personalities lose their jobs, but he believes the changes could also create opportunities for younger people entering the industry.

“I think people aren’t really evolving as fast as the industry is,” Segal said. “Having personalities who have been in the industry for so long lose their livelihood is always really hard to hear. But it opens doors for younger people. I think it has pros and cons.”

Segal said he does not believe radio is dying. Instead, he believes the industry is evolving as more listeners turn to digital platforms and podcasts.

“It’s more evolving and changing,” Segal said. “A lot of the time you are seeing podcasts. I feel radio is transitioning from FM and AM airwaves to streaming and listening.”

Cumulus Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March and said in April that a bankruptcy court had approved its restructuring plan. The company said the plan would eliminate approximately $600 million in debt.

ABC 17 has reached out to Cumulus Media for more information about the nationwide layoffs, including how many employees are affected and whether the cuts are connected to the company’s bankruptcy restructuring.

Check back for updates.