Author: KMIZ

Euphenie Andre

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

It has been one week since tornadoes touched down across Mid-Missouri, causing damage and teaching some residents important lessons.

In Columbia, city officials reported that at least five homes and several buildings sustained damage after a confirmed EF-1 tornado moved through the area. The tornado caught many by surprise, but several residents say the experience has made them feel more prepared for future storms.

Cara Joos, a Columbia homeowner, described the terrifying moment the storm hit.

“It was like the world just went white,” Joos said.

Joos experienced only minor damage to her property.

“We just lost a tree and then had a few dents and a few shingles. That’s already all repaired. It was like (the tornado) just jumped right over our house, so it missed us,” Joos said.

However, her next-door neighbor was not as fortunate. A large tree fell onto their home, causing significant damage.

Joos reflected on her experience during the tornado, saying, “I went downstairs and looked out the window, and it was like everything was still white. Things were hitting the house.”

She said she was unprepared to receive alerts, as she mainly accesses content through streaming services.

“I didn’t have anything prearranged,” Joos said. Moving forward, she plans to download a local weather app to receive real-time alerts. “Probably my biggest thing is to know exactly where I can get live local weather, like right here on ABC 17 News,” she said.

Another Columbia resident, Laura Hurdle had the roof of her home on Lynwood Drive damaged after a tree fell on it. Hurdle said she is still waiting for bids and repairs.

“I’m just hoping we don’t have another rainstorm because we have a little hole in our roof now. It has a tarp over it, so we’re just kind of waiting for the contractors to get back to us,” Hurdle said.

Both Joos and Hurdle emphasized the importance of seeking shelter in the basement during the tornado. While property damage has been frustrating, they expressed relief that no one in their neighborhoods were seriously hurt.

City officials said that there were no reported deaths or injuries in Sunday’s tornado.

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Euphenie Andre

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Locals gathered at the American Legion in Columbia Saturday afternoon to discuss the ongoing contract dispute between Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and MU Health Care.

The meeting, organized by LiUNA Local 955, aimed to provide community members with updates and a space to voice their concerns. Representatives from MU Health Care, along with a retired physician, made up the panel. However, many in attendance were expecting to hear from a representative from Anthem but none were present.

Since the two sides failed to reach an agreement at the beginning of the month, MU Health Care is no longer considered in-network for Anthem patients, impacting thousands across Mid-Missouri.

Many attendees came seeking answers but said they left with even more questions.

The meeting began at 1 p.m. and wrapped up around 2:30 p.m. Patients and union members were given about an hour to directly voice their concerns to the panel. Carissa Tarnowski, who attended the meeting, emphasized the wide-reaching impact of the contract dispute.

“I think both entities need to realize that since MU has such a large presence in Mid-Missouri and has now taken over Capital Region in Jefferson City, MU employees and hundreds of thousands of people are being affected by this. Quite literally half of the medical coverage in the area is being denied for such a large presence of employees who need this coverage,” Tarnowski said.

The panel included Ed Weisbart, a retired physician, Tonya Johnson, Chief Operating Officer at MU Health Care, and Dr. David Mehr, also with MU Health Care.

But a seat at the panel reserved for Stephanie Vojicic, the president of Anthem remained empty.

Her absence was not overlooked by the crowd.

“I would like to say I was surprised, but obviously not, because this insurance company has done nothing but show that they don’t care,” attendee Alex Falm said.

Another attendee, Leslie Durrant, shared the same disappointment.

“I came primarily because it was publicized that the president of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield would be here today, and yet she’s not here which gives me the impression that Anthem is not concerned about the people who are dependent upon their health care insurance coverage,” Durrant said.

Many attendees expressed frustration about themselves or their loved ones needing consistent medical coverage. Johnson said MU Health provided Anthem with a list of nearly 7,000 patients who deserve continuity of care.

“Anthem is the insurance payer is the one that right now is determing if a person needs continuity of care benefits.” Johnson said “We sent over a list of our patients to Anthem and said heres the list we believe meet consumer care. I think it was about 6,700 patients, and we have yet to get a reconciliation of that list back from them.”

Patients said they want both parties to reach an agreement quickly.

“They’re messing it up for families of all shapes and sizes. Kids, children, adults, elderly, and it’s affecting everyone,” Tarnowski said. “It’s not about the money. It needs to be about the coverage and allowing people to seek the medical care that they’ve been having, and having convenient medical care for them and their families.”

According to a press release, in the upcoming weeks, LiUNA Local 955 will also enter wage negotiations with the City of Columbia, MU Health Care, and the University of Missouri.

Anthem responded Sunday morning to ABC 17 News with a statement stating that its top priority is keeping healthcare both accessible and affordable.

“If it’s not affordable, it’s not accessible,” Anthem spokesperson said. “The rate increases proposed by MU Health Care, across every offer they’ve made, are not affordable. No one is seeing increases over the next three years at the pace MU Health Care is demanding — particularly for the more than 80% of our clients who are self-funded and pay these costs directly. Public-sector employers, Taft-Hartley funds, local businesses, and individuals would bear the full weight of those increases.”

An Anthem spokesperson added that the company has “put forward an offer that exceeds the Consumer Price Index (CPI) annually,” and that the proposal includes “quality-based incentives” allowing MU Health Care to earn additional revenue by meeting performance benchmarks consistent with Anthem’s broader network standards. However, according to Anthem, MU Health Care has rejected the offer and has “to date, never met the benchmarks required to earn those quality incentives.”

Anthem concluded by reaffirming its position, “Our goal has always been, and remains, to have MU Health Care as part of the Anthem network — just not at any cost.”

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Just Between Friends Columbia hosts the final day of their pop-up consignment event Sunday, with the group hoping to bring savings to parents. The shop sells a wide variety of children’s products, including strollers, play tables, books and clothing.

According to Baby Center, recent tariffs have caused an increase in the cost of products like strollers and car seats. The Nuna brand had to raise prices by around 10%, while Uppababy raised prices by 20% to 30%.

Toys made in China have also seen price increases.

“It’s been talked about a lot recently that everything is expensive, we’ve talked a lot about grocery prices, but also our kids don’t stop growing,” said co-owner of Just Between Friends Columbia Nichole Clark. “It’s just a great way for families to get what they need.”

Baby Center has not seen an increase in the cost of diapers or formula, but predicts that could change. Manufacturing and packaging fees may affect diapers, and specialty European formulas like Kendamil or HiPP may also take a hit.

Donations from Just Between Friends Columbia’s event go to the Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association in Jefferson City and the Faith Bridge Foster Family Resources in Moberly. Shoppers can also donate to Central Missouri Community Action and MU Health Care’s Patient Assistance Fund.

“These items all come from local families who are just looking for a way to do a variety of things, whether they want to clear out the things that their kids are no longer using, maybe their motivation is to bring in a little extra income for their family a couple of times a year,” Clark said.

The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Columbia Sports Fieldhouse on Philips Farm Road.

Just Between Us Columbia will host another resale event in October.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

With more than $124,000 in unpaid school meal debt currently in collections, former Columbia Board of Education candidate Ken Rice is calling on the community to help support families and find long-term solutions.

“There’s a little more than $124,000 in unpaid lunch bills that are in collections,” Rice said. “That means that families of students who don’t, who have a balance of a certain amount, are now in a collection turned over to a collection agency. And, you know, that is not something that the school board or anybody would like to have happen.”

Rice is encouraging people to donate to the Lunch for Learners fund,  which is utilized to cover delinquent lunch accounts for families in need. 

Although Rice was defeated in April’s school board election by Suzette Waters and Erica Dickson, he said he still wants to help the district.

“I didn’t make the election. I said I still want to be involved in the schools and want to be part of the solution,” he said.

Rice has taken to social media to raise awareness about student meal debt. He also pledged a $250 donation from himself and his wife.

The Lunch for Learners fund was created in 2010 by then-Superintendent Chris Belcher and Nutrition Services Director Laina Fullum. It was initially funded through contributions from the United Way, Columbia Public Schools Foundation, and other local organizations. The fund helps families who do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals but face short-term financial hardship.

According to CPS spokesperson Michelle Baumstark, the district serves all students hot meals regardless of lunch status.  The cost of a meal is $3.10 for elementary and $3.30 for middle and high school.

Baumstark says one of the Board of Education’s legislative priorities this year is universal paid school lunch, something other states have already adopted, and that was in place during the pandemic.

Approximately 42% of students in Columbia Public Schools qualify for free or reduced-price meals. However, many families narrowly miss the threshold, creating difficult daily choices for necessities like food, gas, and utilities.

“The free and reduced lunch, you have to be below the poverty line to get to participate in that. Well, that’s a really low standard,” Rice said. “You know, if you’re just above the poverty line, you’re still not in a good situation and you’re having to make decisions every day to pay for gas, to pay for food, to, you know, just pay for your electric bill. A $20 delinquency on a lunch bill wouldn’t be much to me or my family. I could pay that off. But somebody else, that $20 could be the difference between getting gas so they can get to work every day.”

Rice said he plans to join the district’s wellness committee in an effort to find sustainable solutions that prevent this type of debt from accumulating year after year.

“I’m committed to finding a solution along with the school board, along with Dr. Klein and the administration. Let’s find an answer. So we don’t continue to have that bill every year going forward,” he said.

Nutrition Services is a self-funded department, meaning the revenue from meal sales is intended to sustain operations. When families cannot pay, debt accumulates, and the district is forced to absorb the cost or refer the balances to collections. As of this month, the unpaid meal debt stands at $124,613. However, that figure is still less than the $153,917 in unpaid meal debt from the 2023-24 school year.

According to a presentation shared at Thursday’s school board meeting, the district opted to use a debt collection service, citing the need to preserve relationships between families and school staff, enhance accountability and transparency, and ensure legal protection. 

Without such a provider, Columbia Public Schools argues that growing unpaid meal debt could divert funds from education, strain staff resources, and undermine financial accountability and fairness.

“It’s a hard decision. It’s really hard to make that decision to do that. But nobody really wants to send a collection agency to someone’s house,” Rice said.

Rice emphasized that community support has the power to make a meaningful difference for struggling families.

“In Columbia, I’ve seen, you know, in so many ways, this community comes together and supports each other,” Rice said. “I urge you, if you’re hearing this to look at yourself, if you can help and then urge your neighbor, urge your friends, urge your family to help out and let’s get this debt taken care of and then, help me and help the school board and help this administration to solve the problem going into the future.”

The district encourages donations to the Lunch for Learners fund year-round. Information about the fund and how to donate can be found at cpsk12.org.

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