Author: KMIZ

Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mayor Barbara Buffaloe won more than three-fourths of Columbia’s voting precincts in April’s election on her way to secure a second term.

Numbers released by the Boone County Clerk show that Buffaloe won 25 of 32 precincts on April 8. The performance is eight precinct groups better than her 2022 performance, flipping areas in north Columbia that went for her opponent in that race.

Buffaloe won another term in the mayor’s office with 14,111 votes. Her next closest opponent, Blair Murphy, got 10,676 votes. The 25,606 votes cast in the election are the most for a mayoral election dating back to 1998.

Comparing the two elections has some limitations. The county clerk’s office changes which precincts are reported together, making one-to-one comparisons difficult for many areas. Just 14 of the 32 precinct groups within the city have the same combination from 2022 to 2025. Precincts in one ward are often joined with precincts in another ward, making it difficult to know the total number of votes cast in a specific ward for a candidate.

Buffaloe picked up about 1,800 votes in precinct groups across the Second and Third wards, sweeping that area in 2025. She had won just two of the nine groups in 2022, losing by a plurality to Randy Minchew in the other seven. Grace Bible Church, a Second Ward polling place, gave Buffaloe one of her strongest results at 836 votes to Murphy’s 609.

April 2025 precinct resultsDownload

Buffaloe’s biggest percentage gains came in the First Ward, posting double-digit increases in those neighborhoods compared to 2022.

Buffaloe once again saw strong support in the Fourth Ward, which helped propel her to an 800 vote victory in 2022. Buffaloe got 1,645 more votes in those precincts than she did in 2022, outpacing Murphy’s 946-vote gain over Minchew’s performance.

The mayor received the most votes in the Fourth Ward precinct group that voted at Broadway Christian Church with 875 votes. Murphy collected his highest total of votes in the Fifth Ward at Woodcrest Chapel, where he voted that day, and which served as a central polling place.

The Fifth Ward has traditionally favored conservative candidates in partisan elections. Murphy won four of the six precinct groups comprised solely of Fifth Ward neighborhoods, netting 1,000 more votes in that area than Minchew did in 2022. Buffaloe, however, picked up a similar number of votes in the Fifth Ward as in 2022.

ABC 17 News Team

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Police say a shooting at Florida State University on Thursday killed two people.

The suspect, the son of a sheriff’s deputy, was arrested and hospitalized. Watch a replay of a news conference in the media player.

Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri Board of Curators met Thursday morning in Rolla, tackling issues including the future of federal funding for research and its impact on the university.

No decision on federal funding cuts has been made, but it could result in a $22 million loss in National Institutes of Health grants, and the potential cuts could impact all colleges in the university’s system, according to documents produced for the curators’ meeting.

Money for higher education is among the items that could be impacted in next fiscal year’s federal budget, as the Trump administration looks to make more cuts. President Donald Trump previously tried freezing NIH research funding around the country before it was blocked by a judge. Trump has since targeted funding at several universities.

During the meeting, University of Missouri System President Mun Choi highlighted the slowdown in research project awards over the past five years.

According to Choi, NIH funded 72,187 projects in 2024, which is a sharp decrease compared to 13,683 between July 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025.

“This year we are at a significantly lower number, and that’s because of some of the slowdowns we have been seeing out of NIH and the cancellation of certain programs we see out of NIH,” Choi said. “The work we do at our universities are critically important for gaining a better understanding of cancer treatments, autism, PTSD and so many other types of diseases that affect Americans.”

To do that, Choi said the university is urging the NIH to continue its support of research projects because they are vital to public health. He said it is not only NIH cuts but also the United States Department of Agriculture, as the university recently had $25 million revoked for a project because of its focus on climate change.

“By discussing the impact of that project with leaders at USDA as well as our congressional leaders, we were able to get that $25 million in funding reinstated,” Choi said. “It’s about providing clarification and providing the impact our research has to benefit members of our society.”

School leaders say funding is cut from university research they will approach it the same way the have handled similar situations.

“In the same way when we learn about potential for cuts even before those cuts hit any of our universities we announce that we’re going to take financial measures include cuts, as well as postponing investments.” Choi said.

Choi said the UM System is exploring foundations to support research. He said it will be difficult to replace NIH funding because the agency is the largest funder of university research throughout the U.S.

“To replace a level of funding that is potentially at risk is very significant, so we will continue to make the case to NIH and other agencies and educate them on the value of our research so the funds will continue to flow to the University of Missouri,” Choi said.

However, University of Missouri Board of Curators Chair Todd graves says when challenges come their way it gives them the opportunity to reflect.

“Sometimes its an opportunity the harder times for us to take a look at programs and allocate our resources and focus on the things that are important so we are very optimistic about the situation here at the university of Missouri.” Graves added.

Crime was also addressed in a news conference Thursday after the board of curators meeting in light of a string of shootings in Columbia last weekend that left several people injured.

Choi said public safety for everyone at the university is always a top priority and that the University of Missouri is a safe campus, but stressed the importance of accountability..

“This should not be a city people think coming and shooting off their guns in a crowd is acceptable because that’s totally unacceptable, so we want to see accountability when those perpetrators are caught and taken to the full accountability to the legal system,” Choi said.

Choi also highlighted the city and university making investments in camera technology and encouraging downtown business owners to share surveillance footage when an incident occurs.

He said the university is working closely with CPD to boost safety.

“Beginning this weekend, we will have stepped up patrols in coordination with the Columbia Police Department,” Choi said.

 

   

Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri Board of Curators is set to meet at 8 a.m. Thursday at Missouri S&T in Rolla, to discuss several items on the agenda.

The Board will hear an update for the fiscal year 2026 budget. Meeting documents state that impending federal funding cuts could result in a $22 million loss of National Institutes of Health grants. The cuts could impact all colleges in the university’s system.  

 The Board will also decide on Thursday whether or not it will approve changes to its standard of conduct regarding hazing on campus.

The “Stop Campus Hazing Act” that went into effect at the beginning of the year requires institutions of higher education that participate in federal student aid programs to report hazing incidents. It also requires universities to include in its annual security report its current policies and the process used to prevent hazing.

Curators will also be looking into an MU Health Care expansion in Callaway County, after the community hospital closed in 2022. According to the meeting agenda, the project would cost $23.8 million, if approved, and would reduce outmitigation and meet the community’s healthcare demands.

Approval for $5 million capital projects is also set to be discussed in Thursday’s meeting.

The MU Board of Curators meeting livestream can be found here.

Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri Board of Curators will decide on Thursday whether or not it will approve changes to its standard of conduct in relation to hazing on campus.

The “Stop Campus Hazing Act” that went into effect at the beginning of the year requires institutions of higher education that participate in federal student aid programs to report hazing incidents. It also requires universities to include in its annual security report its current policies and the process used to prevent hazing.

According to MU spokesman Christopher Ave, the curators will adjust its current definition of hazing to match that of the new law.

According to the curators’ agenda, the definition of hazing will now be defined as: “any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed against another person or persons regardless of the willingness of such person or persons to participate.”

The language now also includes and defines hazing as anything that “causes or creates a risk above the reasonable risk encountered in the university or organization. This includes:

Whipping;

Beating;

Striking;

Electronic shocking;

Extreme calisthenics;

Any activity that places another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm

“When you broaden the definition, that allows the prosecuting attorney to then file charges that have more conduct,” former Cole County Prosecutor Bill Tackett said.

According to Tackett, prosecutors ran into problems in getting convictions in a 2021 Phi Gamma Delta fraternity hazing case due to the definition of hazing at the time. Danny Santulli was left unable to walk, talk or see after suffering a traumatic brain injury that night.

A number of former Fiji members at MU took plea deals in the Santulli hazing case. The fraternity was kicked off MU’s campus in 2021.

Tackett said broadening the definition will allow for prosecuting attorneys to file charges that have more types of conduct, which he says is what prosecutors are after in hazing cases. He said he believes under this law, there will be more prosecutions in reported hazing cases.

“It’s just going to happen,” Tackett said. “And I certainly think it’s been proven here in Boone County with the case with Danny Santulli that prosecutors are willing to take this on.”

Mason Heller — a member of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity on MU’s campus — says the fraternity does not partake in hazing during its recruitment process. According to Heller, the fraternity only requires study hours for members who fall below a certain GPA.

Heller said he believes hazing hinders the bond between members and said he’s thankful the university is taking responsibility for an issue he claims has been problematic for a while.

“I think the culture of silence that Mizzou has had for so long has really perpetuated a lot of harm and I’m excited that the university is finally going to take accountability,” Heller said.

According to the university’s community conduct website, the university had two reports of violations under its current policy in 2024. There have not been any reports so far this year, data shows.