Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Power has been restored in Hallsville Wednesday morning after a crop duster plane crashed near Centralia Tuesday afternoon.

An Ameren spokesperson told ABC 17 News in an email that a power outage occurred after a plane got caught on a power line and pulled it down. The plane took down several power lines with it and before coming to rest roughly 50 yards into a cornfield near Route CC at Angell School Road. 

The road is currently blocked off as crews work to fix the power lines and keep the scene clear for an investigation. Boone County Joint Communications told ABC 17 News that the road will be closed until Wednesday afternoon, a time was not specified. The NTSB was notified while the MSHP took jurisdiction of the accident.

Emergency crews from Centralia, Hallsville, and Sturgeon were dispatched to the scene at 1:43 p.m. 

“This is the time of year where they’re going to be out flying and doing some fungicide, is what he was actually spraying on the corn,” Assistant Boone County Fire Chief Gale Blomenkamp said. “Not really hazardous materials at this point and very little fuel spill from the aircraft.”

An ABC 17 News reporter saw a medical helicopter arrive on scene at 2:20 pm. Someone on a stretcher was then loaded into the helicopter, which flew away 25 minutes after arriving on scene. 

“He was alert and conscious when we pulled him out of the aircraft and he was flown by helicopter to University Hospital,” Blomenkamp said.  

NTSB has been notified and the MSHP has taken jurisdiction of the accident.”

Blomenkamp said the pilot was “alert and conscious” before he was flown to University Hospital.

More than 1,200 electricity customers were without power in Boone County on Tuesday afternoon.

Ameren’s outage map shows that 30 customers are without power from an outage just east of Centralia near Highway 22, while another 853 were without power near Highway 124 and about 350 were experiencing in Hallsville.

The City of Hallsville wrote on its social media that there is now no estimated time for power restoration. Ameren wrote in an email that outages will last into the evening.

“We were in town running some errands and then my 14-year-old son called me and said we were out of power,” Hallsville resident Danielle Leonard said. “My mother is staying with us right now because of medical concerns and the upstairs is where she stays and it’s very, very warm up there its almost 85 upstairs right now.” 

Boone Electric is seeing 64 customers without power in two outages, with one occurring north of Highway 22 and a second occurring near Pierpont.

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia will begin building a new roundabout Monday on a road that draws heavy commuter traffic.

The $2.4 million project to build a roundabout at West Route K and West Old Plank Road aims to improve safety and traffic flow at the intersection, which has a skewed angle that has contributed to traffic concerns, the city says.

City of Columbia Public Works spokesman John Ogan said he believes the roundabout will help the area become safer for pedestrians.

“There’s a lot of residential neighborhoods on one end, with the road being 45 miles an hour. It would be difficult to cross as a pedestrian safely. Having a roundabout there would force traffic to slow down,” Ogan said.

In addition to the roundabout, the project will include sidewalks and marked crosswalks to improve pedestrian access.

Brooke-Lyne Grimes, who lives nearby, said she’s glad the city is finally taking steps to improve the intersection.

“So, as a registered pet sitter and dog walker here in Columbia, I drive here all the time. I love the roundabouts because it makes people slow down,” Grimes said. “We get a lot of bikers around here, too, and that would slow vehicles down so they don’t hit potential, potentially hit bikers.”

Construction will occur in phases. The first phase will involve lane restrictions on Route K. In later phases, either Route K or Old Plank Road may be temporarily closed.

Route K and Old Plank Road roundabout preliminary plan.

It’s a collaborative project between the City of Columbia and the Missouri Department of Transportation, with funding through MoDOT’s Cost Share Partnership Program.

Responsibility for the roads is split between the two agencies. Route K is maintained by MoDOT, while Old Plank Road is overseen by the city.

Columbia Public Works in an online post urges those in the area to use caution in the work zone, follow posted detours and signage, and watch for construction workers and equipment.

Construction is expected to be completed by early winter, weather permitting.

The city will issue updates throughout the project to keep residents informed.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A motion for a new trial filed by legal counsel for a former state trooper found guilty of sexual abuse and kidnapping was denied Tuesday by a Boone County judge.

Judge Joshua Devine said his decision was due to Jeffery Durbin’s defense counsel filing its motion on April 3, after the Feb. 18 deadline. Following Durbin’s guilty verdict on Jan. 24, 2025, the defense was given 25 days to request a new trial, that included 10 more days than normally given. Devine said Durbin’s lawyer even previously denied the need for a new trial before filing the motion.

A jury found Durbin guilty in January after a woman had accused Durbin of assaulting her and keeping her inside his hotel room. She said it happened after she tried to escape him during a conference on DWI training at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Columbia in March 2023. The woman testified that she and Durbin had been drinking but that she had tried to rebuff his advances.

Durbin claims he suffered prejudice due to juror misconduct. Court documents, referring to the juror as “Venire Person 18,” say that VP-18 did not disclose relevant information that was asked about in the voir dire process. The documents say this missing information made the jury selection process unfair to Durbin.

Durbin Motion for New TrialDownload

VP-18 not only ended up becoming a member of the jury but also the jury’s foreperson. Counsel for Durbin says VP-18 tainted Durbin’s constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury of his peers.

 The jury returned its verdict after deliberating for about three hours following the three-day trial in January.

During jury selection the court, the state and defense counsel all specifically asked questions to the panel of potential jurors about issues related to sexual assault, broadly, and more specifically. Court documents say it was made clear to the panel that due to the sensitive nature of the topic, members always had the option to answer these inquiries in private.

Durbin’s counsel alleges that the court asked if anyone thought, based on those charges alone, that this might not be the right case for some panel members, and multiple members responded, but not VP-18. The state asked if anyone on the panel, or their close friends or family, were ever victims of sexual assault. The state also asked if anyone on the panel, or their close friends or family, were ever accused ofsexual assault. Many members of the panel responded to these inquiries, but VP-18 did not.

The state also inquired whether any panel members had any legal experience. This was one of the onlyquestions documents say VP-18 responded to, saying that she previously was on a mock trial team. She did not indicate any further legal background.

Defense counsel specifically asked the panel if anyone was a member of any victim support group. While most of these questions generated responses from many panel members, the defense says VP-18 did not respond to any of these questions.

VP-18 was selected to be a juror, and Durbin was found guilty by the jury on both counts. Since the verdict, court documents say Durbin became aware of VP-18’s social media accounts. Court documents cite specifically VP-18’s LinkedIn and Facebook accounts that show VP-18 worked for almost three years in various capacities at the Violence Project, an organization aimed at eliminating violence.

VP-18’s personal webpage allegedly shows she worked with this organization to construct their website, “The Off-Ramp Project,” dedicated to training others on violence prevention techniques.

VP-18’s LinkedIn also discloses that she worked as a clerk for a law firm for three years and three months. Finally, the defense claims VP-18’s LinkedIn discloses that she received a certificate for “workplace violence prevention” from the Violence Project.

Durbin’s defense believes these were intentional non-disclosures that warrant a new trial. They claim as the jury’s foreperson, VP-18 was tasked with leading the conversation in the deliberation room and that these past life experiences bled into the deliberation as a result.

Durbin’s new sentencing date is set for 1 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Boone County Courthouse.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

As extreme heat continues to affect Mid-Missouri, it’s essential to be aware of your surroundings and not forget your children in the car.

So far in 2025, there have 15 child deaths in the U.S., according to the National Safety Council. In 2024, there was a total of 39 child deaths due to being left in hot cars and over half of car deaths happen when the caretaker unknowingly leaves a child in the car.

According to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, an average of 38 die each year, with 88% of them being 3-years-old or younger.

The temperatures inside the car will get hotter than the temperature outside within minutes and cracking the windows does not help slow the heat or cool the car down. A child’s body overheats three to five times faster than adults and children have died from heat stroke in cars with outside temperatures as low as 60 degrees.

There are recommendations from officials to help people remember their child is in the car:

Place a visual clue in the front passenger seat of the car, such as a diaper bag or a toy

Make a habit of opening the back door every time you get out. According to Kids and Car Safety, to enforce this habit, place an everyday item in the back, such as a backpack, purse, phone, etc.

Ask your childcare provider to call you immediately if your child hasn’t arrived where they need to be on schedule

If you see a child alone in a car, call 911 immediately.

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Katie Greathouse

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

Home Depot announced that dozens of employees at a distribution center in Mexico, Missouri, will be laid off in the fall.

A WARN notice that is dated July 17 states that Home Depot plans to permanently close the facility located at 4665 E. Liberty Street on Oct. 26. 

Home Depot WARN – MexicoDownload

A company spokeswoman wrote in an email Monday night that it was a tough decision.

“Unfortunately, we made the difficult decision to close the Mexico, MO location at the end of October 2025. Products will be stocked at other Home Depot distribution centers based on regional inventory needs,” Sara Gorman said.

According to the notice, 61 employees are expected to be affected.

“We’re focused on doing the right thing and supporting our associates with separation packages, transitional benefits and job placement support. Impacted associates have been encouraged to apply to other roles within the company. “

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia and local union LiUNA 955 remain locked in wage negotiations, with the next bargaining session scheduled for July 24. The union has criticized the city for only offering a 1% cost-of-living adjustment. 

Talks have been ongoing since April as union members continue to push for higher wages, citing low pay and heavy reliance on outsourcing by the city.

On Monday, LiUNA Local 955 and Missouri Jobs With Justice held a press conference outside Columbia City Hall, where roughly 20 people — most of them city employees- carried picket signs and called for better pay. Union leaders argue that the city spends more than $6 million annually on outsourced labor that could be handled in-house by union employees.

The union’s economic proposal includes a cost-of-living adjustment, a 7% scale adjustment, and step increases for all union-eligible employees. The estimated cost of the proposal, excluding benefits and retirement contributions, is approximately $938,000.

Krista Murray, a paratransit driver who has worked for the city for three years, said wages for many union-represented workers fall below the poverty line.

“It is absolutely an atrocity for anyone who works full-time for their city to not be able to afford to live in their city,” Murray said. “I’m from here. All I want is for Columbia to hold true to its own promises. I work for the city. Why aren’t they working for me?”

“If the city invests in us, we will turn around and invest right back in the city. No more poverty wages, reasonable cost-of-living increase, 1% does not pay the rent,” she added. “Our working conditions are everyone’s living conditions.”

Andrew Hutchinson, a LiUNA Local 955 union representative, said low pay and morale have forced many employees to work multiple jobs.

“I think there would have been more people here, to tell you the truth. But so many of our members are working second jobs or they’re unable to afford child care right now,” Hutchinson said. “I think there’s a real sad morale in the city right now.”

Hutchinson pointed to the city’s temporary labor contracts — over $1.25 million combined for 22nd Century Technologies Inc. and PeopleReady Inc. during 2023 and 2024 — as evidence of misplaced priorities.

 “The less staffing we get, the more willing we are to fill with outsourcing,” Hutchinson said. “The work has to get done, but we need to invest it in our own people to get the work done so that folks are paid well and it’s sustainable.”

City Manager De’Carlon Seewood said negotiations are ongoing and the 1% cost-of-living adjustment offered so far is not final.

 “It’s not a hard line. So we’re in the process of doing negotiations for a contract,” Seewood said. “With the contract negotiations, you start low, you get high, and it’s just a back-and-forth process. So we have not put the line in the sand and said it’s only a 1%. It’s just part of a negotiation process.”

Seewood defended the city’s use of outsourcing, citing both cost efficiency and the challenge of maintaining services with current staffing levels.

“You have to look at the bottom line of your expenses. So we don’t outsource just for the sake of outsourcing,” Seewood explained. “When you look at the city, you look at the number of parks that we’ve now acquired, we don’t have the staff to do that all in-house and so you do outsource some of that.”

Seewood emphasized that outsourcing has not been used to cut city jobs.

“We have not outsourced to eliminate jobs,” Seewood said. “We’re actually adding some staff. But the goal is just to be able to provide the jobs that our residents are calling for as expeditiously as possible.”

According to city records, Columbia spent a combined $8 million on outsourced fleet maintenance during the last two fiscal years. Additional outsourcing costs from the 2024 fiscal year included:

Fleet Operations: $2.1 million

Water Distribution: $1.8 million

Solid Waste: $468,000

Parks and Recreation: $423,000

Sewer and Stormwater: about $58,000 combined.

Union leaders claim city employees averaged nearly 100 hours of overtime annually due to understaffing. The number of unfilled union positions has fluctuated between 51 and 87 in recent years. Hutchinson fears that the recent progress they have made could backslide unless the cost-of-living adjustments improve. 

Chris Scott, a city employee, also criticized the city’s approach to managing funds.

 “The city does not have a revenue problem, they have a spending problem,” Scott said. “They make easy choices to outsource, waste paper money instead of handing management choices on how to do more with less.”

Seewood said he hopes to wrap up negotiations before the city begins presenting its fiscal 2026 budget.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man electrocuted while tampering with power lines in Moberly nearly a week ago had copper wire with him and was using pliers, according to a police report.

The report identifies the man as Gary W. Keehart. Other personal information, such as his age, is redacted.

Keehart was found last Tuesday morning in the 1800 block of Leah Lane and flown to a hospital, where he later died.

A police officer found Keehart’s bicycle on the ground at the scene with copper wire and other items in a basket attached to the seat, the report states. Police also found a pair of pliers with a burn mark on them.

A ground wire had been detached at the top of the utility pole and come in contact with a live wire, the report states. Police also found blood on the ground and the bicycle.

Moberly police did not respond to a message seeking more information.

Moberly electrocutionDownload

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A county official in Mid-Missouri has given up his seat after being charged with child sex crimes.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a news release Monday that Richard Renno, Benton County treasurer, had resigned his office. Renno submitted his resignation after Bailey took legal action last week to remove him from office in a process known as “quo warranto.”

Renno, 62, of Lincoln, was charged in Benton County with child enticement and sexual misconduct involving a child younger than 15 years old. The probable cause statement says that Renno used the dating application Grindr in August to speak to a child younger than 15 years old. A witness allegedly gave a screenshot to law enforcement of Renno’s face and a nude photograph he sent through Grindr, court documents say.

A family member was able to identify Renno to law enforcement, the statement says.

“At this time, I have decided to take time to spend with my family and friends, as personal time is a valuable asset, not to be taken for granted,” Renno wrote in his resignation letter.

Benton County Treasurer Resignation LetterDownload

Renno remained out on bond Monday with special conditions, including no contact with anyone under age 18 except for supervised contact with family members, according to court records. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 22.

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A boom that triggered emergency dispatchers to send out a warning about an “underground explosion” in a residential area of Columbia might have been fireworks, a city employee told ABC 17 News on Monday.

” I think maybe a firework, somebody probably threw one into the storm drain, ” City of Columbia stormwater supervisor Derek Altus said when asked what might have triggered the response that closed down part of Worley Street on Sunday.

Ronald Mooney, who lives in the area, said firefighters told him they had seen smoke coming from the sewer shortly after the initial reports.

“Well, I was sitting in my rocking chair watching TV, and I heard an explosion which sounded like an M-80 or cherry bomb or something like that,” Mooney said. “And it frightened me because I wasn’t expecting it.”

Columbia firefighters found no physical evidence to support the theory that fireworks caused the incident, and therefore could not verify that claim.

The Columbia Fire Department responded to reports of smoke and a loud noise coming from a storm drain at the corner of West Worley Street and Pennant Street.

Initial calls to 911 described it as an “underground explosion,” prompting Boone County Joint Communications to send an alert to residents.

The message read, “BCJC Urgent: Worley from Stadium to at least West Blvd is closed due to an underground explosion. Choose alternate route.”

Boone County Joint Communications director Christie Davis said Monday that the responding supervisor decided to send out that message due to the information they received at the time.

However, when crews arrived, they found no visible hazards, no injuries and no damage to nearby homes or infrastructure. It has been described since as a “non-event.”

“‘Nonevent,’ we mean that upon arrival and a thorough investigation, fire crews found no hazards present, no damage to homes or infrastructure, and no injuries. There was nothing active for our crews to mitigate,” CFD spokeswoman Katherine Rodriguez said in a statement.

City crews conducted routine inspections of a manhole and storm drain near the area Monday.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman found dead Saturday night in her car was shot in her vehicle after an argument with her boyfriend, according to court documents.

Isaiah N. Goins, 26, of Columbia, was arrested Sunday at work on suspicion of killing the woman, whose name has been kept under wraps by the sheriff’s department. She is identified by the initials “M.G.” in the statement.

Goins was charged Monday with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. He was in the Boone County Jail on no bond.

M.G. had been out of town and returned to Columbia on Saturday night, the statement says. Goins had accused her of being unfaithful, investigators say.

Goins met M.G. and got into her car Saturday night before pulling out a gun on Lake of the Woods Road and demanding that M.G. let him out, the statement says. When M.G. pulled onto Geyser Road and stopped, Goins allegedly shot her during an argument and ran from the scene.

A deputy later found the car next to a house, where it had rolled to a stop but not hit the building, the statement says.

No court hearings for Goins are scheduled.

This marks the third homicide reported outside city limits in Boone County so far in 2025. For comparison, there were only two homicides recorded in all of 2024, one in February and another in June.

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