Author: KMIZ

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia announced Wednesday that its looking for community feedback to update its 2021 Strategic Plan.

The city said it wants the plan to reflect the community’s future priorities. Its gathering the feedback through a number of ways including a survey, ideas wall and discussion forum. Three public forums will also be held, but the dates have not yet been announced.

The city has hired BerryDunn, a national consulting firm, to assist in the update process. Along with guiding city priorities the strategic plan also helps with decision-making and long-term planning as Columbia continues to grow.

The City began developing the 2021 Strategic Plan in summer 2018, before the 2016-19 Strategic Plan concluded. The plan was finalized and adopted by City Council in February 2021 and was later updated in 2023 and 2024.

Former Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched the investigation into the city’s practices in July 2025.  A press release from Bailey’s office stated at the time that the investigation would focus on “decision-making in city programs, hiring and funding,” according to previous reporting. In Feb. 2026 the Columbia city officials said it had not had communication with the attorney general’s office regarding the investigation.

The city hired D’Andre Thompson as its first diversity, equity and inclusion officer in 2023. The city had said at the time that Thompson would lead “the development and implementation of DEI initiatives that help support the City’s Strategic Plan.”

The city also voted in June 2025 against striking DEI-related language from the city’s mission and vision statements. The vote meant that the city would keep its vision statement as, “Columbia is the best place for everyone to live, work, learn and play,” and its mission statement to say, “To serve the public equitably through democratic, transparent and efficient government.”

The city also voted to keep its definition of “equity” the same, reading “we will ensure all residents have fair access to services, opportunities, and resources regardless of their background, neighborhood, income, or identity.” 

The City Manager’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office was not immediately available for comment.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Republican candidates seeking their party’s nomination for Missouri’s Sixth Senate District have raised more than $1 million combined for their campaigns, according to reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

State Rep. Rudy Veit, who represents rural Cole County, has taken in the most money so far, raising more than $324,000 for the election effort. He still had more than $294,000 on hand.

Veit took in donations from two political action committees during the reporting period — $600 from the Missouri Optometric Association and $1,000 from the Energy Freedom PAC.

Veit April finance reportDownload

The April quarterly reports cover the first quarter of the year and were due Wednesday.

Jake Vogel, an executive with the Jefferson City Coca-Cola Bottling Company, has raised the second-highest total, bringing in $257,000 for the election. His campaign had about $93,000 on hand at the end of March.

Pulse PAC and Scope PAC each donated $1,000 to Vogel’s campaign during the quarter.

Vogel April quarterly reportDownload

Derrick Spicer, who was on the Jefferson City Council from 2021-2025, is third in fundraising, nearly $100,000 behind Veit. Spicer had about $192,000 on hand at the end of March and has brought in more than $237,000 during his campaign.

Spicer accepted multiple corporate donations during the first quarter, including money from Reset Health and Fitness in California, Missouri, EDM Capital in Kansas City, Epic Real Estate Management in Kansas City and All Clear Pumping and Sewer in Centertown.

Spicer April quarterly reportDownload

Dr. Lisa Thomas, a former House member from Lake Ozark, has only reported a $250,000 donation to herself made in February. She had not filed an April quarterly report by the close of business on Wednesday.

Amber Buckles of Macks Creek has raised $525 in her campaign. Camden County Presiding Commissioner Todd “Ike” Skelton has not registered a campaign committee with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Only one Democrat is running for that party’s nomination — J. Don Salcedo of Jefferson City.

The Sixth District seat will be open because current Sen. Mike Bernskoetter is term-limited. Bernskoetter is running for Cole County presiding commissioner. The Sixth District covers Cole and Moniteau counties and stretches to the Lake of the Ozarks area.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIIZ)

A Columbia man was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 years in prison without parole for federal child pornography charges, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Ryan Hine, 29, was sentenced for enticing a minor to produce child porn and advertising child porn to other people. He will also have 20 years of a supervised release after he is released.

According to the release, Hine began sending text messages to a 15-year-old girl in Mississippi in July 2018 and routinely traveled to meet with the child “to engage in sexual acts” and record the child. He allegedly advertised the videos to multiple buyers on “chat communication services” while posing as the child in 2020, the release states.   

Hine has been in federal custody since his arrest on Feb. 7, 2023, previous reporting says.

In 2021, Hine allegedly sent the video to another victim to get them to send him videos, previous reporting shows. He allegedly paid for a video from two victims and tried to sell it. There were six child victims in total, previous reporting shows.

Wednesday’s release says Hine also posed as a girl to recruit more victims.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Family Access Center of Excellence has been tasked with cutting its budget by $1.6 million ahead of the 2027-28 school year.

The FACE program works with students in schools across the county to help students who need additional social, emotional or behavioral support, according to its website. The program is funded through the Boone County Children’s Services tax fund, which is collected through sales tax.

The Boone County Children’s Services Board maintains the funds and advised FACE leadership to scale back operations in March while the two organizations renegotiate contracts.

Currently, FACE receives $3.6 million, but the board wants to cut that down to $2 million before the fall 2027 semester.

The board has specified in communications between them and FACE, along with Boone County schools, that the funding cut is “not a reflection of the quality of the FACE’s work or leadership.”

Boone County Community Services Director Joanne Nelson said there shouldn’t be any disruptions to programs this year, but moving forward, the board wants to keep a few FACE programs, including supporting Boone County schools, providing access to affordable therapy for low-income families and keeping juvenile justice prevention and diversion efforts.

Nelson sent ABC 17 News a “talking points” sheet that explains the situation and next steps for FACE.

FACE Programming and Funding Adjustments Talking PointsDownload

Nelson said FACE is working on a “reimagined” program, one that can focus on what the children’s services board has listed as priorities.

Other children’s services programs could also be at risk for funding cuts.

“What we’re going to start seeing is reductions across all contracted programs,” Nelson said. “Maybe not for next year, but maybe for ’28.”

Children’s services held millions of dollars in its fund balance, Nelson said. Once the board started awarding those funds, the fund wasn’t being fully replenished by the sales tax revenue, and the board told its members to look for additional funding.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Three people were charged in Pettis County on Tuesday in connection with a Chicagoland-area child abduction case.

Devetta Davis, Raven Johnson and Karon Nabors, all of Sedalia, were arrested and charged with being fugitives from out of state. All three are being held without bond. Arraignments for all three people were held on Wednesday morning.

The probable cause statement says the Missouri State Highway Patrol was informed about a “missing endangered juvenile from Will County, Illinois, who was residing with three wanted fugitives.” Will County is located to the southwest of Chicago.

Court documents say all three people were wanted for various Will County warrants. Davis was wanted on an April 10 warrant for child abduction, while Johnson had a 2023 warrant for larceny and Nabors had a warrant issued on March 27 for aggravated fleeing.

The statement says Missouri law enforcement on Monday found the residence the three suspects and the youth were staying and the child was found in the back of the home at 2:15 p.m. All three people were arrested without incident, according to court documents.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Highway 54 westbound in Callaway County was closed Wednesday afternoon after a grain truck overturned.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a social media post at about 2:30 p.m. that the westbound lanes would be closed for another one to two hours at County Road 2002, north of Auxvasse.

The crash involved a passenger vehicle and a grain truck.

Sgt. Kyle Green said two people were injured. MSHP shared photos from the scene showing a grain truck’s trailer overturned with grain spilled across the road.

Check back for updates to this developing story.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Housing Authority, a non-profit that offers low-cost housing, celebrated a ribbon cutting Wednesday marking 70 years of services.

But demand for its services continues to outpace available housing.

CHA serves over 2,000 households and nearly 4,000 people in Boone County and Columbia, according to the organization. Its work includes providing housing programs and support services, such as housing vouchers and rental assistance.

According to a recent survey of north-central Columbia residents, more affordable housing is needed.

Survey results were gathered through BeHeardCoMo and the North Central Columbia Association walking tour between Jan. 29 and April 5. Results are set to be presented at Columbia’s Housing and Community Development Commission meeting Wednesday.

The survey had over 200 respondents, with participants given the option to respond to questions with either low, medium or high interest.

Over 61% of participants felt a high interest in building new affordable owner-occupied housing, and 68% of participants expressed a high interest in building new affordable rental housing.

Housing assistance was also of interest, with almost 53% of participants having high support for homebuyer assistance and homebuyer education, and almost 58% of participants highly interested in providing rental vouchers to unhoused people.

ABC 17 News spoke with residents from north central Columbia who have felt increasing rent costs.

“I pay a very high rent right now,” resident Calvin Erickson said. “It’s a very loud and active neighborhood, you know, that’s fine, but it is expensive.”

Erickson adds that just applying to rent includes some hefty payments for those looking for housing.

“We were able to get it [our apartment] through Zillow through a one cost application,” Erickson said. “Getting apartments, they charge for each single place and sometimes like $60 to $100 for every single application and when you’re having to pay rent and a deposit on a place, you can’t afford that to do that more than once.”

Resident Crystal Newcomb tells ABC 17 News cost of living in general has been getting high for everyone.

“Rent is high in Columbia,” Newcomb said. “Landlords and those, they’re raising rent as well  to cover things.”

Newcomb adds that student demand can also impact prices.

“We’ve got a population of folks living in this community that kind of skew the data in terms of income and affordability and job availability”

Of the eight BeHeardCoMo responses, half expressed a need for homes with amenities for disabled residents. Six responses mentioned issues with increasing rent costs and residents living on fixed incomes.

“Many of us are able-bodied enough to live alone but still cannot afford Columbia’s soaring rent and bills,” said one response.

“Columbia must prioritize independent disabled adults on fixed incomes in all housing programs,” said one response.

One also mentioned being stuck on CHA’s housing waitlist for over a year with little movement.

“I’ve been on the waiting list CHA for over a year and barely moved down ten spots in that time,” one response said. “A lot of those big companies will end up switching hands with another big company and then they will change the leasing agreement with the original tenant a lot of times.”

Randy Cole, CEO of the Columbia Housing Authority, said 1,000 households are on the waitlist. According to prior reporting, over 1,250 households were on the waitlist on Jan. 15.

The waitlist includes low-income households enrolled in Section 8 who use federal housing vouchers. The agency previously said it does not expect the waitlist to open until 2027.

“There is a definite strong need for affordable housing in our community,” Cole said. “We’ve of course expanded our portfolio this last year with our Kinney Point project and we’re turning our attention to what we could do next to further meet the need in our community.”

He adds that high construction, land and labor costs are a major factor in slowed housing production.

“Recently, tariffs have impacted materials as well, so lots of inputs into the cost of housing and the cost of housing has much further outpaced wages for local households,” Cole said.

Cole reports that CHA is currently in the middle of renovating 120 units with plans on adding 43 new units to Columbia.

“I’m Really looking forward to keeping the good momentum we have and looking at how do we broaden our impact even further as we as we’re going forward as an organization,” Cole said.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Cole County judge on Tuesday upheld the state’s voucher program that lets some students attend their school of choice — public or private.

Judge Brian Stumpe denied the Missouri National Education Association’s request for an injunction to halt the Missouri Scholars Program.

The Missouri General Assembly appropriated $51 million for the program in the current fiscal year. Missouri Scholars pays for students with specialized education plans and those from low-income families to attend a school of their choice. That school can be public or private.

The MNEA filed the lawsuit after last year’s legislative session, alleging the program would divert money from public schools and harm public education. The teachers’ group also argued that the legislature did not have the authority to fund scholarships.

Circuit-Court-DecisionDownload

Stumpe wrote in his order that the MNEA did not demonstrate that anyone had been harmed by the program. He wrote that “fears of indirect harm to the functioning of public schools” were baseless.

“Evidence in this case even details how public schools could benefit from the Missouri Scholars Program,” Stumpe wrote. “Not all children who receive scholarships through the Missouri Scholars Program will leave the public-school system — scholarships do not solely cover private-school tuition.”

However, granting an injunction to halt the program in the middle of a school year would risk harming low-income families, Stumpe wrote.

The MNEA has vowed to appeal the decision to the Missouri Supreme Court. In a statement, the organization maintained that the voucher program violates the Missouri Constitution.

MNEA is a union representing 45,000 educators in Missouri, the organization states.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Rolla police shot a man early Wednesday while responding to a “disturbance.”

The Rolla Police Department said in a news release that officers were sent to the 2000 block of Forum Drive at about 4 a.m. for a disturbance call. Police encountered a man armed with a gun and shot him, according to the release.

Officers gave first aid at the scene, and the man was taken to a hospital by ambulance. The suspect was stable Wednesday morning, police say.

No officers were hurt.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control is investigating the shooting.

Rolla Police did not release the names of the officers involved or the suspect.

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