Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia Utilities Department announced in a Thursday press release that it will soon resume utility disconnections as the area begins to enter a warm weather season.

City of Columbia Utilities does not disconnect electric customers when the National Weather Service forecasts temperatures to drop below 32 degrees during a 72-hour period, the release says. It also will not schedule disconnections when temperatures rise past 95 degrees or if the heat index is at 105 degrees over a 72-hour period, the release says.

A Water and Light spokesman told ABC 17 News that there are currently 1,572 accounts pending for disconnection because of nonpayment.

Data provided by the city shows that total number is down from Feb. 3, where 1,759 residential customers and 77 commercial customers were determined to be delinquent, resulting in the city being out $548,690.

There were 690 customers who experienced disconnection in October and November, right before the city halted disconnections for cold weather.

Utility customers must pay past-due balances to avoid being disconnected, the release says. Customers can check their account at MyUtilityBill.CoMo.gov or make payments at Pay.CoMo.gov.

City of Columbia Utilities customers who are in need of utility payment assistance can contact Utility Customer Service – 573-874-7380 — for more information, the release states. Information from the city shows 65 customers signed up for utility assistance in January.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County Joint Communications Director Christie Davis said Thursday that feedback has been positive in the first 90 days of community surveys on satisfaction with dispatchers.

The rate of positive responses is 93%, Davis said.

The survey was rolled out on Nov. 19 and sends two questions to a 911 or 311 caller after they get off the phone. Davis said BCJC has received 1,925 responses in the last 90 days.

The survey asks callers to score on a scale of 1 to 5.

“Then once you give that rating, it will ask you for any potential feedback on the call take, and we share that with our employees,” Davis said.

Davis said they use the application PowerEngage to send the alert; the program costs $11,000 annually. Davis said the application also provides internal alerts when a telecommunicator has taken a difficult or traumatic phone call, prompting a wellness check on the employee.

Davis said the community benefits from the survey because the immediate feedback allows BCJC to address concerns before they fester and become systemic issues.

Davis said most of the written feedback has been related to the first responders on scene instead of the call-taking process itself.

“Either they didn’t get a call back from the agency, or they weren’t happy about the response, whereas our response is looking just from the call taker from when they actually called in,” Davis said.

However, any negative feedback or poor rating related to the telecommunicators is reviewed. Regardless of their nature, all responses are made available to all dispatchers to learn from, according to Davis.

“We share that with them on a dashboard so they can actually see the responses that they get back from those citizens,” Davis said. “It comes up, and it shows the actual review that the caller provided, as well as the date and time that the call was made and who the call taker was.”

BCJC has 43 full-time and five part-time dispatchers. Davis said there are 12 dispatchers still in various stages of training, but four are not yet released to work solo because they are in their initial academy training.

Davis said the system won’t send the survey to callers who were in a traumatic situation. Callers will also not receive a survey between 8 p.m. and 9 a.m. Those who get the survey can also call BCJC to provide more details on their experience with a dispatcher, Davis said.

She said BCJC will monitor the survey’s impact on improving dispatch response times in several areas over the coming months to see if they can recognize any patterns.

Joint communications is also working to install and integrate a new EZ Net fiber as a part of its Next Gen migration for 911 calls. Davis said this will improve their ability to take calls during power outages.

“When we have a fiber cut that happens between here and Jeff City, we can lose service for our number one system,” Davis said. “Right now we have a single point of failure. So that will increase our redundancy in the system. So we’re not reliant on Jefferson City to be able to pick up those calls when those cuts happen.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Hallsville mother has been arrested and charged after she allegedly assaulted a police officer in the parking lot of Hallsville Intermediate School on Wednesday.

Samantha Lewis, 35, was charged on Thursday in Boone County with third-degree assault of a special victim misdemeanor second-degree property damage and misdemeanor first-degree trespassing. She is being held at the Boone County Jail on a $15,000 bond. An arraignment was held on Thursday.

The probable cause statement says Lewis caused “a disturbance” at the school because she was upset her son was arrested for allegedly making threats earlier in the day.

 “Yesterday, building administration and our School Resource Officer responded to a concern on campus,” a district spokesperson told ABC 17 News in an email in regards to the student threat. “Staff followed established safety protocols, and the matter was assessed and addressed promptly. At no time was there an ongoing threat to students or staff, and the school day continued as normal.”

The probable cause statement says Lewis yelled at school staff and “walked past the front counter towards the” principal’s office, was told to leave by staff and refused.

A Hallsville police officer escorted Lewis out of the building and Lewis allegedly threatened to assault the officer, the statement says.

Lewis allegedly raised her first and the officer brought her to the ground before she threw a punch, the statement says. She allegedly scratched and pinched the officer and damaged his cellphone, the statement says.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Commission unanimously approved a contract extension for the county’s special assistant prosecutor assistance on four murder cases.

The contract would require Sue Boresi’s assistance in the prosecution of Anthony Marine, who is accused of murder in May 2025; James Caldwell, who is accused of killing one person and injuring two other people at the Greens Apartment complex in January; Misael Covarrubias, who is accused of shooting and killing a Stephens College student and injuring two others in September 2025; and a group of 18-year-olds and the juvenile who are charged with the murder of Michael Burke during a Facebook Marketplace exchange in January.

Boresi will receive $4,000 for each case, totaling $16,000. The contract also allots $1,500 for the first day of each trial, if the cases go to trial, and then $1,000 for subsequent trial days. The county won’t pay Boresi more than $49,000, according to the contract.

This is the third amendment to Boresi’s original contract, which went into effect in July. The initial contract allowed Boresi to continue working on three cases she was assigned before retiring in June.

The first amendment was approved in October, which allowed Boresi to assist the county prosecutor, Roger Johnson, with docket calls at an hourly rate of $41, not to exceed a total of $2,050.

The second amendment was approved about a month later, in November, and authorized Boresi to provide co-counsel during the Jan. 12 trial for two men who accepted plea deals in a murder case for the shooting death of a 15-year-old girl in 2022.

That amendment would have given Boresi a total of $4,000 for both cases. If it had gone to trial, Boresi would have received $750 for the first day and $500 for any following days.

Boone County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Buchanan said Boresi is an asset to the county.

“She has the ability and time to focus all of her attention and all of her efforts on those homicide prosecutions,” Buchanan said. “The expertise of an experienced homicide prosecutor who can devote literally all of her time to these prosecutions is vital not only to our office but to the people of Boone County.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

For the fifth straight year, Mizzou football will kick off its season on a Thursday night.

The program announced in a Tuesday press release that its 2026 season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff will occur at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3 at Faurot Field. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5.

The season opener will be the ninth time since 2015 that the Tigers have hosted a game on a weeknight. Missouri has had 20 consecutive sellouts at its home stadium.

“Opening the season on a Thursday night in CoMo is becoming a great tradition for our program,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in the release. “We appreciate Arkansas-Pine Bluff and the SEC for working with us on the adjustment so our season opener can be broadcast nationally on SEC Network. There’s nothing like a renovated and full Memorial Stadium to kick off a season, and we’re excited to carry our program-record sellout streak into 2026.”

Missouri finished the 2025 season with an 8-5 record and closed the season out with a 13-7 loss to Virginia in the Gator Bowl. The tigers have had a 29-10 record since the 2023 season.

The 2026 opener will also mark the premiere of the north end zone concourse that has been under construction.

Mizzou’s home schedule also includes Troy (Sept. 19), Florida (Oct. 3), Texas A&M (Oct. 10), Texas (Nov. 7), Kentucky (Nov. 21) and Oklahoma (Nov. 28).

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman jailed in Cole County on suspicion of murder has drawn the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Denita Jackson, 27, is a Lincoln University student and track team sprinter who is originally from Guyana, in South America. She was arrested and charged this week with second-degree murder and armed criminal action for allegedly stabbing her boyfriend, fellow track team member Kevaughn Goldson, to death during a struggle that started after she found him with another woman.

Sheriff John Wheeler said Thursday that ICE had issued an immigration hold on Jackson. Immigration holds instruct jails to hold an inmate for at least 48 hours after they would normally be released.

Jackson is jailed without bond.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not respond Thursday to a request for information about Jackson’s immigration status.

Court documents state that Jackson was in a romantic relationship with Goldson, but there was a history of domestic violence incidents between the two. She said the most recent fight was about a missing bottle of cologne.

Jackson told police she thought Goldson was having an affair with one of her roommates.

ICE has requested records related to Jackson from the local courts, according to online court records. Her arraignment is scheduled for Friday morning. She is one of two people with ICE holds in the Cole County Jail.

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Matthew Sanders

It’s not quite spring, but Mizzou football is getting ready for fall.

The Tigers started spring practice this week. Watch a news conference with the coach and players in the media player.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman has been charged after authorities say she tried to use an SUV to run over a victim on Wednesday.

Kala Watson, 43, was charged with second-degree assault and armed criminal action. She is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says police were called for an assault at 3:54 a.m. Wednesday. The officer noted in the statement that when he arrived, he noticed damage to the sidewalk, grass and a section of concrete immediately outside the home.

The victim allegedly told police that Watson drove at them roughly 20-30 miles per hour through their yard after an argument, the statement says.

Watson was with a person described as a witness in a nearby residence when police arrived, the statement says. The witness allegedly showed police text messages from Watson where she admitted to driving up to the door with the Ford Expedition before getting stuck in the mud, the statement says.

Police also noted seeing damage to the SUV. Watson allegedly admitted to driving the vehicle up to the porch of the home, but claimed she did not hit anything, the statement says. Watson allegedly said she did it to make “loading the vehicle easier,” the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

More than a dozen Boone County firefighters were seen in the northern part of the county on Wednesday night trying to pull a horse out of a hole.

Firefighters were called around 7:18 p.m. to the 8400 block of Gray Road near Harrisburg. First responders were seen attempting to find ways to pull two horses out of the mud.

Boone County Fire Battalion Chief Clint Walker told ABC 17 News the horses’ owners discovered the animals stuck in the mud when they checked on them earlier in the day. He said the rescue was challenging because crews had to separate the horses, which were growing fatigued as they struggled to free themselves.

“This stuff here was like soup, so it was very, very sloppy,” Walker said, . “We got dispatched at 7:17,  arrived shortly after, and found two horses buried in mud up over their back, the only thing sticking out was their heads.” 

Both horses were pulled out alive by 9:50 p.m. One horse was immediately standing on its own will and given water and another was pulled away from the lagoon. The second horse was later to stand on its own power.

Eighteen members of the Boone County Fire Protection District responded to the scene, along with a large animal rescue trailer. Walker said about half of the firefighters on scene were trained in large animal rescue, an optional 40-hour course offered by the department.

BCFPD Assistant Chief Norman Hinkle said at the scene that the property used to be a hog farm. The area where the horses got stuck is an animal lagoon that was in the process of being drained, Hinkle said.

The lagoon was mostly drained, so it likely looked dry to the horses, Hinkle said. Officials don’t know how long the horses were stuck or how they got there.  

Members of the University of Missouri Veterinarian School were at the scene. BCFPD partners with the vet school for large animal rescues, according to Assistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp.

Hinkle said a veterinarian would sedate the horses before officials would pull them out.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

As prediction markets continue to gain traction across the United States, major political events like the State of the Union are increasingly becoming opportunities for people to place bets and turn a profit.

President Donald Trump’s nearly two-hour State of the Union speech, the longest on record, generated more than $12 million in wagers on prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, with bets ranging from the length of the speech to whether he would mention specific words or phrases.

“The further down you got started getting a little stranger,” Geoff Zochodne, senior news analyst and predictions market expert at Covers.com said. “I think the one that was the least likely he was going to say was mentioning the word ‘Ethereum,’ that had to do with that cryptocurrency.” 

The rise of prediction markets accelerated in 2024, largely driven by interest in wagering on the presidential election, an option not available through most state-regulated sportsbooks. Zochodne noted the odds on those platforms painted a “bit more bullish” picture of Trump’s reelection chances, allowing operators to take a “bit of a victory lap” after the outcome matched their projections.

“In late 2024, we saw one prediction market come forward through this process called self-certification, where it self-certified a contract for trading that had to do with the Super Bowl and that was a very big shift,” Zochodne said. “Then the new administration was sworn in. There’s a new CFTC now, and under that CFTC, these prediction markets have certified more and more sports-related event contracts.”

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is tasked with regulating prediction markets. Under the Trump administration, the CFTC has allowed platforms to operate nationwide, even in states that have yet to legalize sports betting. 

As a result, Zochodne said the prediction market industry blew up during the past year, especially during football season.

That rapid expansion has created tension within the gambling industry and among regulators. According to Zochodne, some brick-and-mortar casino operators like Bet MGM or Caesars have pushed back, while online-first companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings have entered the space through partnerships and acquisitions. 

“What they’re trying to do is ensure that [prediction markets] don’t run afoul of states where they possess online sports betting licenses,” Zochodne said. “They don’t want to tick off those regulators. So they’re trying to keep those types of contracts out of those types of states while still trying to gain access to the states that have not yet legalized and regulated sports betting. So they’re walking a very fine line.” 

However, there have been growing concerns over insider trading. Kalshi has said that it has opened 200 investigations into suspicious trading during the past year, with more than a dozen investigations leading to active cases. 

“It’s definitely something that people are becoming and have been concerned about for a while,” Zochodne said. 

While no state has enacted a blanket ban specifically targeting prediction markets, roughly a dozen states have taken enforcement actions or filed lawsuits challenging certain contracts. 

States such as Nevada, Massachusetts, and New York have pursued lawsuits, injunctions or orders to halt certain operations, while others — including Connecticut, Tennessee, Arizona, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois and California- have issued cease-and-desist letters or faced related court challenges. 

Missouri has not taken that step yet. 

“I don’t think Missouri or Missouri regulators have taken any kind of legal or regulatory stance yet,” Zochodne said. “They’re still kind of in that wait-and-see process. The [sports betting] market just got off the ground, but it’s one to keep an eye on because ultimately you want to kind of protect what you’ve created here.”

Mike Leara, executive director of the Missouri Gaming Commission, confirmed with ABC 17 News in a statement that the commission is awaiting the outcome of several court cases before deciding on its next steps.

“At this point, the Missouri Gaming Commission considers prediction markets sports betting.  The MGC will await the outcome of several court cases at the federal and state levels to help determine action or nonaction by the agency in the future,” Leara said.

Missouri lawmakers have filed four gaming-related house bills incldung a proposal to establish a “Missouri Gaming Bureau” to assist the Gaming Commission in regulatory investigations. However, none of them makes any mention of prediction markets. 

Rep. Jeff Myers (R-Montgomery County) sponsored one of those bills (HB 1947) in an effort to provide a vehicle for an enforcement mechanism to regulate the industry. The bill has since been tabled, but Myers tells ABC 17 that lawmakers are still monitoring prediction markets.

“In regards to the prediction markets, it does appear to be taking on a gambling aspect,” Myers told ABC 17 in an email. “If it holds true to form in areas like this, (hemp, slot machines in gas stations) it will grow and we, as law makers, will eventually get around to taking up the issue. My personal opinion, I believe the federal government is the appropriate body to regulate that sector. ”

The issue is also reaching college campuses. The Southeastern Conference requires member schools to use ProhiBet, a monitoring service designed to flag potentially improper wagering activity. 

In January 2026, ProhiBet partners, including the University of Missouri, were notified that Kalshi had begun processing ProhiBet checks, raising new compliance questions as prediction markets expand into sports-related contracts.

ProhiBet MUDownload

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