Month: September 2026

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man who was accused of trying to toss someone out of a two-story window in January has been booked into the Boone County Jail.

Michael Wright, 39, of Columbia, was charged in February with first-degree domestic assault and fourth-degree domestic assault. He was booked into the jail at 11:04 p.m. Monday. He is being held without bond. An initial court appearance was held on Tuesday.

The probable cause statement says deputies were called to an apartment after the victim claimed Wright tried to kill the victim after Wright threw their phone out the window. The statement says the victim woke up Wright so they pick up their children and an argument started.

Wright then allegedly picked up the victim and tried to throw them out of a window. A youth in the apartment reportedly also told police they had saw Wright pick up the victim.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved an ordinance that will nearly double the number of downtown parking spaces designated for taxis and rideshare services.

The proposal expands the downtown taxi and rideshare footprint from 34 spaces to 66. It would expand the start time to 9 p.m., two hours earlier than the previous 11 p.m. start time. The stands will continue operating until 2 a.m.

The designated areas would include parking spaces along Broadway, Cherry, Ninth, Tenth and Walnut streets.

The ordinance would also include food and package delivery drivers, impose a 15-minute loading and unloading limit and allow emergency services to use the designated areas while the ordinance is in effect.

Columbia Public Works and the Columbia Police Department proposed the changes in response to increased rideshare use downtown. According to a council memo, the city intends for the ordinance to reduce traffic congestion, illegal stopping and double parking while improving pedestrian safety.

CPD reported an increase in overnight traffic congestion connected to rideshare operators and customers violating traffic laws in August 2025. The city said those problems stemmed from a lack of designated places for operators and customers to use rideshare services.

Documents state the city tested portions of the proposed ordinance during two University of Missouri football game weekends last fall.

On Sept. 19-20, 2025, the city temporarily blocked metered parking spaces to create a rideshare pull-off zone. The following month, the city again blocked off metered parking and worked with Uber and Lyft to test designated pickup and drop-off areas.

During the October pilot, Uber and Lyft directed customers to the designated locations through their smartphone applications. The city said both pilot weekends resulted in a dramatic reduction in traffic violations and an overall improvement in pedestrian safety.

“During this testing both rideshare platforms guided patrons to the specific locations for pick up inside of their smartphone applications. The results of both of these pilot weekends saw a dramatic reduction in traffic violations and an overall improvement in pedestrian safety,” city documents say.

A council memo says the city also asked for feedback from rideshare drivers and customers during the pilots and received positive responses. According to the memo, rideshare drivers reported that the arrangement felt safer, while one driver said drivers needed clearer directions for operating downtown.

The Community Improvement District provided positive feedback on an earlier version of the ordinance. The city says a majority of the district supports updating the ordinance’s hours.

The city estimates updating signs at the designated stands will cost $750, with a negligible long-term financial impact.

The city wants to have the new ordinance in place ahead of the next Mizzou home football game on Sept. 19.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up a case over which congressional map should be in effect in Missouri.

The court’s docket entries show that Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s application for a stay of a Missouri Supreme Court ruling was denied Tuesday by Justice Brett Cavanaugh.

“We are disappointed by this ruling, and are evaluating next steps as related litigation continues,” the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.

People Not Politicians, the group involved in this court case and backing the referendum on the congressional maps, said Missouri law won.

“Today’s victory belongs to them. People, not politicians, will have the final say when they vote NO on Proposition A this November,” executive director Richard von Glahn said.

Hanaway has sought a stay of the state high court’s ruling that a Republican-backed congressional map passed by the General Assembly was not in effect.

The new map, which was pushed by the White House, would break up a safely Democratic U.S. House seat that represents Kansas City, spreading its population among more rural districts that are likely to elect Republicans.

Hanaway filed the emergency request for a stay with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday — the day after the state court decided the 2025 map was not in effect for the November election. The court also ruled that voters would decide in November whether the new map is valid, or whether the state should return to the 2022 map redrawn after the 2020 census.

Hanaway’s application didn’t address whether the map should appear on the November ballot. Instead, it focused on which map will be in effect for the November midterms — the new map used in the August primary, or the 2022 map, last used for a congressional election in 2024.

Florida and Texas also filed a brief on behalf of 18 other states in support of Hanaway’s appeal.

People Not Politicians, the group that led the charge to put a question about the map on the November ballot, argued the U.S. Supreme Court should not take up the case because it is one of state, not federal, law.

Meanwhile, Hanaway and Hoskins, with support from the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and the Missouri Republican State Committee, argued that voters chose candidates in the August primaries, and changing districts before the general election vote would disenfranchise them.

They argued the ruling has done immediate harm to candidates and voters that must be addressed with a stay of the Missouri Supreme Court ruling.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon told ABC 17 News during an on-air interview Tuesday that her office stands ready to implement the map, and tools on its website to help voters know which district they’re in before they vote.

“We are in the process of updating our GIS maps so that when you use the lookup tool where you’re seeing an actual address on a map, that will be up to date back to the congressional districts for 2022,” Lennon said. “But you will also see that on your sample ballot.”

Check back for updates to this developing story.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man has been charged in two cases after he allegedly stole from separate vehicles on Sept. 1 and 3 in Jefferson City.

Sajan Karki, 31, is charged in two Cole County cases with second-degree burglary. He is being held on $5,000 bonds. A bond review hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday.

One of the probable cause statements say police responded to Paddlewheel Circle after a backpack, cellphone and folder were stolen from a vehicle.

The phone was found nearby and several items were found the next day in the 300 block of Ellis Porter Drive, the release says. At that location, an officer also took a report of a man defecating on a pool deck, the statement says. Karki was allegedly caught on video committing the act, court documents indicate.

At 4:23 am. Sept. 3, officers were called to the 1300 block of East Dunklin street and the victim reported money was stolen from their vehicle and had Karki on camera entering it, the statement says. “Multiple vehicles were located with their doors wide open and appeared to be rummaged through,” court documents allege.

Karki was then found in the 600 block of Clark Avenue with “large amounts of cash,” as well as multiple purses and bags containing credit and debit cards, the statement says

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Police Department on Tuesday announced that it found no evidence of “foul play or criminal activity” after a 70-year-old man was found face down in the Missouri River last week.

JCPD wrote in a press release that Michael Blecher was the man who was found in the river near the Noren River Access on Friday. An autopsy was completed on Tuesday. Blecher’s family has been notified of his death, the release says.

JCPD wrote that it will continue to work with the Callaway County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death.