Author: KMIZ

Melissa Houston

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo (KMIZ)

Cole County election judges will see a pay increase starting with the August election, marking the county’s first wage increase for these workers since 2019.

Previously, Cole County election judges made $120 per day along with $15 for training. But under a newly appointed plan, judges will now receive $210 per day with a mileage reimbursement of $0.70 after the first 10 miles driven.

Cole County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer said the push for a pay increase began with an election judge sending him a letter pointing out it had been nearly seven years since their last raise.

“We took it to the commission about minimum wage, and they approved it,” Korsmeyer said. “It was awesome.”

This raise nearly doubles their daily pay, and Korsmeyer said that election judges work nearly 14-hour shifts on Election Day, making the boost a necessary step to fairly compensate them for their time.

“They do put in a full day; they work 14 hours a day,” you know, Korsmeyer said. “So it is a long day for them. So I’m sure it’ll be a welcome relief for them.”

This raise is expected to increase Cole County’s election judge budget for the August election to between $30,000 and $31,000. This is a significant increase from their typical $18,000 to $19,000 budget. Funding for elections is shared by the state, the county and local cities.

Despite the increase in budget, Korsmeyer said the change won’t negatively impact the county’s overall budget.

“It really doesn’t affect our budget any,” Korsmeyer said. “We can move some money around.”

Right now, Korsmeyer said there are no staffing concerns and expects 143 judges to be working for the August elections. He does say that he anticipates this increase encouraging people to sign up to become an election judge.

“With the salary increase, who knows? Maybe we’ll get more people wanting to fill out applications and stuff, which will be great,” Korsmeyer said.

The pay raise brings Cole County closer to Boone County, which has gradually increased its election judge wages over the years.

In Boone County, election judges earn a base rate of $170 per day with an additional $50 for training. Election judge supervisors earn a base of $200 per day.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon said the county occasionally bumps pay higher during major elections when the polling places are busier.

Cole County is expecting to use 143 judges in August’s election and Boone County plans to use between 300 and 350 judges.

The difference in staffing also reflects a difference in the budget size.

While Cole Counties election judge budget is roughly $30,000, Boone County’s estimated budget for all of the August election is between $300,000 and $400,000.

Lennon said the budget discrepancies exist because Cole County has fewer polling locations, which requires fewer staff members.

Both Clerks agreed that compensating election judges is vital to maintaining a strong voting system locally, and fair to compensate workers for the long hours they put in.

“I don’t think that there is any number out there that you can say, well, this is a fair amount to work on election day because there’s a lot that happens and we’re throwing our election judges into a very long day,” Lennon said.

Cole County election judges will formally be notified of the pay increase during their upcoming poll worker training sessions ahead of the August eleciton.

Click here to follow the original article.

Steven Lambson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Douglass Family Aquatic Center opened back up to the public Tuesday after recent storms forced some repairs.

Columbia Parks and Recreation said storms on July 10 caused a mechanical failure, prompting staff to close the pool through July 13.

Crews finished the repairs in time for the pool to reopen Tuesday at noon.

The storms that caused the failure also left damage across parts of mid-Missouri.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Downtown Columbia businesses are asking the city to consider an urban camping ordinance.

According to Nickie Davis, executive director of Columbia’s Downtown Community Improvement District, roughly 70 businesses have signed a letter asking the city to research and consider the ordinance.

Davis stated last week that the Downtown CID planned to send a proposal letter to the City Council by Friday. At least two local business owners were able to speak to ABC 17 News about reasons for their support last week.

Davis after Tuesday afternoon’s CID meeting said the request is expected to be discussed at the next City Council meeting on Monday.

The proposal has been met with criticism online.

ABC 17 News has asked for a copy of the letter.  

Click here to follow the original article.

Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A day after Columbia’s new Opportunity Campus fully opened its overnight shelter, some residents are voicing renewed worries about what the facility could bring to their part of town.

The 30,000-square-foot facility can serve more than 7,000 people a year experiencing hardship and homelessness, according to Voluntary Action Center Executive Director Ed Stansberry.

VAC staff told ABC 17 News that 123 of the 150 available beds in the campus’ Waypoint Shelter were filled Monday night.

Clifford Montgomery, owner of Montgomery Welding Repair & Steel Supply, lives near and does business across the street from the shelter. He said he’s experienced people near his property multiple times.

“You never know who’s going to show up, when they’re going to show up, and the trash they bring with them,” Montgomery said. “I built a fence along the Business Loop. So they just camp next to the fence.”

Formal mayoral candidate Tanya Heath said she’s spoke with some residents who live near the old Ashley Street shelter that experienced similar issues.

“They had personal threats to their safety. They had needles in their front yard. There was trash, unfortunately, that was left while people were coming to the Turning Point and back. And then there was also noise issues,” Heath said.

Trespassing was another issue residents say they experienced, according to Heath.

“People sometimes were found sleeping in front of cars that were on the side streets,” Heath said. “People would come out to go to work and they’d have to check all the around their car to make sure that they could back up safely.”

Montgomery and some other residents near the new shelter location say they’re experiencing similar issues. ABC 17 checked in with The Loop CID to see how its ensuring those staying at the Opportunity Campus and surrounding residents and workers are being good neighbors to each other.

“We actually meet monthly with Jessica [McNear] at the Opportunity Campus and CPD [the Columbia Police Department],” Carrie Gartner, Executive Director of The Loop CID, said.

Shelter staff are also working to ensure the safety of everyone in the area, according to Gartner.

“They have visited their neighboring businesses. They have a security team,” Gartner said.

But Tuesday morning, Montgomery and some others said they hadn’t been spoken to.

“They said they was gonna give a number for their security so I don’t have to call the police,” Montgomery said. “I have not got that.”

ABC 17 News checked with VAC and was told staff is out face-to-face sharing the private numbers with neighbors. Neighborhood security will start on July 20 and surrounding businesses and residents will have that number by then, VAC staff told ABC 17 in a text message.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday after he pleaded guilty to several felonies in connection with two overdose deaths in 2023.

Marcus Larkins, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree drug trafficking, tampering with evidence and four counts of unlawful use of a weapon. He previously faced additional charges of stealing a gun. He is currently being held at the Boone County Jail.

The probable cause statement in previous reporting says two people were found dead in the 2800 block of Blackfoot Road on Oct. 13, 2023, from a suspected overdose. 

The statement says multiple witnesses allegedly pointed out a trailer where the drugs were sold and one person allegedly told law enforcement he gave money to two men in order to buy drugs. Larkins was allegedly identified by a witness.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man pleaded guilty on Monday to a felony in connection with a 2024 shooting in downtown Columbia.

Kalvin Johnson, 22, pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon. He is currently being held at the Boone County Jail. He was previously charged with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action and stealing a gun.

Two other people were accused in the incident. Tanikya Dunn, of Sikeston, pleaded guilty last year to first-degree assault and was given five years of probation along with a 10-year suspended sentence. Dunn was originally charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.

Jearlissia Jackson, of Columbia, was also charged in the shooting with accessory to first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. She has a hearing scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday.

According to previous reporting, police responded at 3 a.m. May 19 in the 10 block of South Ninth Street after a woman was shot in a vehicle. The victim had allegedly identified Jackson as being in an SUV and claimed Johnson was the shooter, court documents in previous reporting say.

A fight involving 10 people occurred before the fight and Dunn was accused of hitting someone in the head with a liquor bottle, previous reporting says.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Callaway County man who took an Alford plea in May in a 2017 Cole County homicide case was sentenced to probation on Monday.

Zacchaeus Silva, of Williamsburg, pleaded guilty in May to accessory to second-degree assault in the beating death of Jerry Robertson on April 20, 2017. He had been indicted with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, armed criminal action, evidence tampering and witness tampering charges.

An Alford plea is one in which a defendant does not explicitly admit guilt, but acknowledges the state has the evidence to obtain a conviction.

Silva was sentenced to five years of supervised probation with a seven-year suspended sentence.

A co-defendant, Robert Thrasher, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2022, previous reporting shows.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The trial has been scheduled for next year for a Lincoln University sprinter who is accused of killing her boyfriend in Jefferson City in February.

Denita Jackson, 28, is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. She is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond.

A jury trial is scheduled to begin 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 4, 2027. A pretrial conference is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22.

Jackson was accused of stabbing and killing her boyfriend Kevaughn Goldson after she allegedly found him with another woman at a residence on Fairmount Boulevard. Goldson and Jackson were members of LU’s track teams.

Goldson, 23, was a senior from Jamaica who was a sprinter on the LU track and field team, according to the LU Athletics website. Jackson’s hometown was listed as Berbice, Guyana on LU’s website and has an immigration detainer listed in jail records.

Click here to follow the original article.

Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Some rural highways and interstates will go from 70 miles per hour to 75 mph as soon as Aug. 28, after Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a bill into law Monday.

However, some driver safety organizations say this could lead to more traffic crashes.

“Unfortunately, increasing the speed limit even just five miles an hour, that could have a negative effect on our roadway fatalities,” AAA spokesperson Nick Chabbaria said.

The law allows the Missouri Department of Transportation to change the speed limits, but it could “take some time.”

“The passage of this bill allows the department to increase that limit in areas where it’s determined to be reasonably safe to do so. MoDOT is evaluating those eligible locations now to determine where this increase may be a possibility,” spokesperson Taylor Brune told ABC 17 News over email.

She did not provide a timeline, but did say the department is evaluating certain factors like traffic volume.

According to a crash data report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 39% of 991 fatal crashes in 2023 involved speeding. Missouri Driver and Safety Education Association President Simon Anderson echoed AAA’s statement.

“Higher speeds could save drivers minutes a few minutes on a trip, but the research consistently shows that it’s going to come at a cost of lives,” Anderson said.

State Rep. John Voss (R- Cape Girardeau) had told ABC 17 News on May 1 that areas with populations fewer than 50,000 could be affected.  

Missouri Trucking Association Tom Crawford said the speed limit shouldn’t affect truck drivers because they typically drive under the current 70 mph speed limit to preserve fuel. He asks other drivers to stay vigilant on the highway.

“Professional truck drivers continue to preach the need for drivers to be attentive, as drivers increasing their speeds will approach other vehicles a little bit faster now from behind,” Crawford said.

Click here to follow the original article.

Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 2372 into law Monday that includes several overhauls to healthcare laws in the state.

HB 2372, was sponsored by state Rep. Tara Peters (R-Phelps County) and state Sen. Mike Bernskoetter (R-Cole County). One provision in the bill, bans health insurers from placing time limits on anesthesia coverage during surgery.

In 2024, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield proposed a policy that would have limited reimbursement for anesthesia based on insurer-set time limits for surgeries and medical procedures.

State Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia), who sponsored the anesthesia provision, said the goal was to protect Missourians from big health insurance corporations.

“People were outraged, I think all over the country that Anthem Blue Cross tried to do this, and so they eventually backed off,” Tyson Smith said “I filed a bill that said look, no insurance company could do this and so this says across the board in missouri, you’re protected, if you’re under the knife and you’re in surgery, they can’t stop paying for your health seizure,”

Tyson Smith said insurance companies opposed the proposal, though he believes they were reluctant to publicly challenge it after the backlash over Anthem’s anesthesia reimbursement policy push.

“Insurance companies generally don’t like it, they might not publicly say it but the governor mentioned he had some pushback from insurance companies,” he said, “When we filed that the first time, right after everything happened and everybody knew about it, their insurance companies were quite as a church mouse. When it came up in committee, there was someone there from anthem, they sat in the back, didn’t say a word because they were embarrassed.”

When asked why he believes insurance companies would seek a time limit on anesthesia coverage, Tyson Smith said he believes it comes down to money.

“It’s money, we all know that, right? That’d be the only reason they would only lodge reason they wouldn’t want to pay for it,” Tyson Smith said. “The six year coverage would be money and to the detriment of people’s lives, it’s totally unacceptable and the fact that they would put this forward is disgusting,”

According to a health survey by Ambulatory Surgery Centers, 67% of respondents found anesthesia coverage to be their top-three financial challenges and expectations to pay anesthesia stipends jumped from 28% in 2024 to 44% in 2025.

Tyson Smith said there was was not a lot of opposition on the measure and it moved well through both chambers. The anesthesia portion of the bill goes into effect on Aug. 28.

Other provisions in the bill included in the bill, includes the fight against Alpha-gal syndrome. Alpha-gal is a tick-borne allergy that triggers severe reactions to red meat and mammal byproducts.

The bill requires any case of AGS to be reported to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services within seven days of a positive test. DHSS is also required to submit a report to the Centers for Disease Control.

Cases of Lyme Disease are also required to be reported to DHSS.

The bill also allows patients to establish relationships with physicians through telehealth interactions and by reducing barriers for ambulance services.

Click here to follow the original article.