Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two people were killed in a three-vehicle crash Tuesday morning in Morgan County on Highway 50 near Old Highway 50, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report says a 2013 Mercedes-Benz Class S – driven by an 18-year-old man from Sedalia – was heading eastbound when it rear-ended a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt driven by a 48-year-old Cole Camp woman.

The hit pushed the Chevrolet into the oncoming lane, which caused another crash into a 2012 Mazda 3 – driven by a 38-year-old Russellville man, the report says.

The Russellville man was pronounced dead at the scene and the passenger and driver of the Chevrolet were flown to University Hospital with serious injuries. The passenger – a 45-year-old Versailles man – was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The driver of the Mercedes was wearing a seatbelt, but no one else in the crash wore one, the report says. The Mazda and Chevrolet were totaled, while the Mercedes had moderate damage, according to the report.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A $14.3 million settlement with internet provider Brightspeed helped give the City of Columbia more flexibility in its 2026 fiscal budget.

However, tough decisions remain over how to keep the budget balanced in the future. Brightspeed, which was previously CenturyLink, was sued by Columbia and Joplin in 2014 over unpaid license taxes and fees, according to court documents.

City officials said the dispute centered on fees tied to internet and streaming services that use the city’s right-of-ways, a significant source of revenue. Columbia argued that Brightspeed had not been paying its fair share, ultimately leading to the $14.3 million settlement.

“This lawsuit started two mayors ago. So this has been something that has been in conversation since 2014,” Columbia Mayor Barbra Buffaloe told ABC 17 News. “When I came on, you get a quick briefing as an elected official of the current litigation that is happening at the city. But you know, some of it is kind of far off and you don’t know if it’s ever going to be settled.” 

The lawsuit was scheduled for a trial last summer, but the judge dismissed the case in July because of the settlement. Records obtained by ABC 17 News show that the settlement was reached on July 16, while the city was still in the process of shaping its budget. 

“We didn’t actually get some money until later on in the budget process,” Columbia’s Director of Finance Matthew Lue said. “We’ve known about the lawsuit for a few years now, but we did not expect that we would receive a payment this soon.  So basically what it did was it was buy us some time to figure out  what we can do within the general fund  to assess the revenue situation, because  especially sales tax  with this  fiscal year, sales tax is flat, if not down slightly.”

The budget, which was approved by the City Council on Monday, sits at around $608 million. 

However, the general fund, which covers daily operations such as roads, police and fire, sits in the red with revenue expected to be around $132 million and expenses expected to be around $135 million.

“It’s definitely something the city is monitoring moving forward. But I think the influence in cash kind of helped us along and helped us to be okay with this for the short term,” Lue said. 

The deficit comes after expected tax revenue fell by around 3% last year. Because of this, the city dipped into its available cash reserves.

“If you look at our reserves, we have a requirement ourselves that we follow. We have at least 20% of our annual expenses that need to be held in reserves,” Buffaloe said. “We have over $20 million over what we need of that 20% in our reserves. And so when you look at it, I think it’s more of that we’re trying to make sure that we’re not having too much in savings and that we’re  spending the money on what it is our community wants.” 

The decision to dip into reserves happened before the city received the settlement money, because ensuring that city employees received raises was a priority for the council.  

“Before we knew about the settlement coming in, we were having some tough conversations from council to our city manager and administration. Because when we were looking at our forecasted revenues for fiscal year 26, when we were looking at what it was looking like in the spring, it did not look good. It looked kind of a plateau with what we were seeing, and yet we knew that expenses were increasing,” Buffaloe said. “We also knew that we had made a promise to our city employees that we would continue doing cost-of-living adjustments. Those cost-of-living adjustments have really helped us out because we’ve had like record numbers in recruitment and retention for police officers, public works employees, and others.  And so we knew we had to continue delivering on that promise.” 

City Manager De’Carlon Seewood had tasked every department with making cuts from everything from travel to training services, though the budget remained tight. The money from the settlement went into the reserve fund and will help cover costs from the general fund. It also helped ease the burden of covering cost-of-living adjustments for city employees. 

While the settlement helped, Buffaloe said the cost-of-living adjustments still would have happened without it. 

“We were just not going to be as healthy of our reserves without it,” Buffaloe said. “But it did, thankfully, give us a little bit more time to figure this out.” 

According to Lue, the city had an initial deficit of around $3.5 million but was able to get that down to $2.7 million. 

“It just made it a little bit more manageable for staff knowing that we have around $20 million over the required reserve that we could balance the budget with,” Lue said. 

Lue said that the three biggest-council priorities for the budget were public safety, personnel and housing, with one of the biggest challenges being trying to make the expenses match the revenue as much as possible. However, Lue did not rule out deficit spending in next year’s budget. 

“Because of ongoing spending, we would be looking to most likely deficit spend again next year in the general fund only. So that is going to cause us to have to take a deep look at current and existing revenues and then maybe something different in the future,” Lue said. 

As of now, Buffaloe said the city is not looking at tax hikes to help generate more revenue. 

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Housing Authority’s Kinney Point project, which will provide low-income housing, is nearing completion as about 800 households remain on the agency’s waitlist, according to CHA.

Ten of the 34 units being built are already completed and occupied, while the remaining units are expected to be filled by the end of November, according to Columbia Housing Authority CEO Randy Cole.

The number of those on the waitlist can be deceiving, Cole said, because the Section 8 waitlist has been closed for nearly six months, so CHA has not been accepting new applications. When all of the waitlist are opens, there are about 1,200-1,4000 households or close to 3,000 people, he said. Cole said about 80% of people on the waitlist are considered homeless.

For the time being, Cole said CHA has been fully utilizing all of its voucher resources and has been connecting people to landlords and the landlords have been helpful in participating.

Cole said CHA stops taking applications when the wait is close to two years. The waitlist likely won’t reopen until mid to late next year, with the elderly and disabled moving up the waitlist more quickly with a wait of six months or less.

“Right now we have about 750 units, but Kinney Point will add 34 more units, and then our new Park Avenue project, we’re going to add nine units, so we’ll have 43 more,” Cole said. “We’ll be approaching getting close to 800, by the time we’re done with all of our redevelopment projects in 2027,”

The Kinney Point Project is located on Garth and Sexton Road in central Columbia, costing a total of $13 million.

“We got $2 million from the city and home, ARPA funds and then we also got about $1.3 million from the Veterans United Foundation,” Cole said. “Then we got about $5 million in tax credits from this, state and then an additional $3 million in funds for the Missouri Department of Economic Development.”

CHA broke ground on the project last summer, which will also include a resource center for residents on site. The center will have social service staff on site to help connect residents to basic needs to programing and employment or referral to other provides. It will also offer space for nonprofits. There will be units serving between one-and-four bedrooms.

The monthly rent for the Kinney Point units depends on the number of bedrooms in each unit.

“It varies from around $700-to-$1,200,” Cole said. “But also each of the units has a voucher tied to it. so how much people pay is dependent upon their income, so if someone is elderly and disabled and has zero income they may pay zero in rent. If they’ve got gainful employment and they’re working, they’ll pay the max rent and they’ll pay the rent.”

CHA has other projects in the works including, Providence Walkway and Blind Baron and will offer 50 units. Those projects are expected to break ground next year and will be completely sometime in 2027.

Work to upgrade the Park Avenue Apartments has begun, with the first phase of the project expected to be completed early next year. The second phase is scheduled for completion in 2027.

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Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Conversations about train safety are happening across the nation for “See Tracks? Think Train” Week from Sept. 15-21. It’s an annual campaign organized by nonprofit Operation Lifesaver Inc. that aims to raise awareness for railroad safety and prevent tragedies.

One person was injured Monday after a mail truck was hit by a train in Audrain County, according to previous reporting. The vehicle was totaled after it entered the crossing and was hit by a 1979 GM GP40-3 Canadian Pacific Kansas City Train.

Operation Lifesaver Inc. partners with railroads, law enforcement, and transportation agencies across North America for ‘See Tracks? Think Train’ Week, its website says.

In 2024, there were 930 deaths and 6,556 injuries on railroads in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“Missouri’s just like the rest of the states in the nation, more than half of the crashes that we have, for instance, we have at railroad crossings, occur at those crossings that are equipped with flashing lights and gates,” Missouri Operation Lifesaver Inc. Executive Director Tim Hull said.

On average, a person is hit by a train every three hours, according to data from Operation Lifesaver. More than 60% of those incidents happen at crossings that have lights and/or gates. The week focuses on reminding people of the risks of trespassing or not maintaining a safe distance from railroad crossings.

“Anytime you’re on the railroad tracks at a location that’s not designated as a railroad crossing for a vehicle or a pedestrian crossing, it’s trespassing,” Hull said. “It’s very dangerous. It’s also illegal.”

In Missouri, there were 20 deaths and 75 injuries on railroads in 2024. That is the second highest amount of railroad-related deaths reported in the last ten years in the Show-Me State, with the highest being 22 in 2022.

A Centralia man died when a Norfolk Southern train struck his vehicle in 2022, according to previous reporting. Hull said trespassing incidents have surpassed crossing incidents in the last 10 years.

He said Missouri has had eight trespassing incidents this year, seven of which were deadly. At crossings, only three injuries have been reported and no deaths.

He said raising awareness about the dangers of trespassing on railroad tracks is important.

“A fully loaded 12 million pound locomotive freight train at 55 miles per hour, once they go into emergency braking, it’s going to take more than a mile to come to a complete stop,” Hull said.

And often times, conductors and train operators do not see people until they are getting very close.

He said people have been spotted on the tracks for many reason.

“They go out and ride their ATVs or UTVs along the railroad tracks,” Hull said. “We’ve had some incidents involving photographers, TV crews making movies. Another thing that we’ve seen the past several years is the use of the railroad and the railroad tracks as an avenue of suicide.”

Hull said one of the biggest things to remember is that “any time is train time.” Steer clear of lingering on railroad tracks regardless of hearing or seeing one coming or not, and always look both ways before crossing.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor after he allegedly stabbed someone multiple times and spit blood on a police officer early Monday.

Lawrence Johnson, 60, was charged with first-degree domestic assault, armed criminal action, resisting arrest and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A hearing was held Tuesday afternoon.

The probable cause statement says police were called at 12:38 a.m. Monday for a report of a domestic dispute. The victim had been stabbed in their back, had blood on their hands and was brought to University Hospital, the statement says. It was determined he was stabbed in his back, right forearm and right knee, the statement says.

A witness allegedly told police that Johnson had been drinking and demanded everyone leave his property, the statement says. Johnson allegedly first started arguing with people and the victim tried to restrain him before leaving, the statement says. The victim forgot their phone, went back to the home to get it and was stabbed by Johnson in the yard, the statement says.

Police later arrived to the residence and a standoff began around 1 a.m. and Johnson surrendered at 4:31 a.m., the statement says. Johnson was brought to University Hospital and allegedly spit blood on the face, eye and mouth of a Columbia police officer, the statement says.

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Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

It’s been more than five years after the COVID-19 pandemic but it still weighs heavily on some nurses.

State Rep. Gregg Bush shared his experience working during the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday amid the backdrop of increased scrutiny and changing guidelines for vaccines. Bush gathered along other nurses in Mid-Missouri at the Columbia Public Library.

Bush is a registered nurse who worked in public health care during the global emergency. Bush said he realized COVID was going to spread as quickly as it did when he heard about the virus spreading in Italy.

He said one of the things many people in the public may not have fully understood at the time, is that nurses weren’t solely treating COVID patients.

“There were people that missed their dialysis. There’s people that came in with DKA. All of that is still going on. All of this underlying stuff that is still going on in society that is in our hospital today at the same time as this unknown respiratory virus going on,” Bush said.

Another issue health care workers experienced at the time was the spread of misinformation, which Bush referred to as another “pathogen” they have to deal with. Director of Nursing for MU Health Care for the Office of Professional Practice Jessica Haney said it made it made it hard for nurses to know what was true.

“It was just hard to know, ‘is this the right way?’ And if what this other group is saying contradicts, where’s their evidence?” Haney said. “I think at some point you just have to shut it off because it just kind of kept spiraling of who do you believe?”

While Bush looks to reflect on the past, many health care providers are now complying with new guidelines related to the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Food and Drug Administration approved updated COVID-19 vaccines for the fall and winter season in August. The regulations now state that Americans will be required to get a prescription to receive a COVID-19 vaccination unless they are 65 years or older or have underlying health conditions that put them at risk.

Healthy children under age 18 will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine after consulting with their health care provider.

Bush said he has a hard time trusting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the source for making the new guidelines.

“I know for a fact that there was a before vaccine and after vaccine and I know that there are people who would not be alive today if there were not access to vaccines,” Bush said. “The good news about science is when I get new data, I get to change my mind and it doesn’t make me weak. It makes me strong. And If there is good science involved with this, I think it should be presented.”

MU Health Care announced in a press release on Tuesday that it plans to host more than 200 COVID and flu vaccination events across Central Missouri this month and in October. The first event will be held in Jefferson City on Sept. 27 at the Madison Street Medical Building. The event will run from 8 a.m. to noon.

A second event will be held on Oct. 11 at the same place and time.

In Columbia, people will be able to receive a COVID or flu shot through drive-thru events on Oct. 18 and 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

People can also receive the shots at Fulton Family Health on Oct. 11 from 8 a.m. to noon.

MU Health Care spokesman Eric Maze told ABC 17 News via email Tuesday that COVID vaccines will only be available for adults 65 and older or adults with a qualifying condition who can attest that they meet one or more risk factors.

“If a person cannot attest to high risk but still wishes to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, they can consult with a primary care practitioner and receive a vaccine from a clinic or pharmacy with a practitioner’s order,” Maze said.

Boone Health spokesman Christian Basi said in a statement Tuesday that the hospital group is “following the news” related to vaccine guidelines.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was charged on Tuesday after he allegedly led law enforcement on a chase throughout Columbia.

Kyshawn Harris, 19, of Columbia, was charged with aggravated fleeing. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond, though a mugshot was not immediately available. A court date has not been set. A social media post from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office also says a 17-year-old and 16-year-old were also detained by law enforcement.

The probable cause statement says Flock cameras detected plates from a stolen vehicle around 5 a.m. Tuesday. The vehicle was heading north on Range Line Street near Interstate 70. A Boone County deputy turned on his vehicle’s lights to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver sped away, the statement says.

Court documents say the chase took place all over the city and included the driver going into the wrong lane and driving through intersections with stop signs.

The chase ended after Harris drove through the backyard of an apartment complex and stopped between two buildings, the statement says. He allegedly admitted to driving the vehicle but claimed he didn’t know the vehicle was stolen, according to court documents.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Each of Missouri’s U.S. senators is asking the Trump administration to make Fort Leonard Wood in Pulaski County an ICE training center.

Sen. Josh Hawley sent a letter last week to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem highlighting the fort as a potential training spot for immigration agents.

“To facilitate the swift and effective training of these officers, I wanted to note the potential benefits of utilizing Fort Leonard Wood, a major Army installation in my state,” Hawley wrote. “Fort Leonard Wood is currently a critical hub for military law enforcement training — housing both the U.S. Army Military Police School (USAMPS) and the Marine Corps Police Academy (MCPA) — and has a long history of supporting other federal law enforcement training efforts. The installation is able to accommodate sudden surges in its on-base population, and it currently has extra capacity to host additional missions due to the Army Transformation Initiative (ATI).

“Put simply, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri has the infrastructure, experience, and space to support the rapid expansion of ICE’s critical immigration enforcement workforce. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

Sen. Eric Schmitt followed up with his own comments on Tuesday during a Senate hearing.

Hawley letter to NoemDownload

“It’s well-positioned after the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ was passed, and we’ve got these resources out there for border enforcement, to help train ICE agents,” Schmitt said in the hearing.

Fort Leonard Wood was founded in 1941 and named after a former Army chief of staff. The base includes 5,400 active duty members and more than 12,000 of their family members, according to a U.S. military website.

ICE has expanded its role in detaining illegal immigrants for deportation under the Trump administration, including lucrative bonuses for new recruits.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County Joint Communications will begin integrating a new radio system across all of its agencies with the goal of improving cross communication when responding.

“So all public safety, for our partners, will be available to be a part of the system,” BCJC Director Christie Davis said. “So that includes the Sheriff’s Office, Columbia Police Department, Columbia Fire, Boone County Fire, Southern Boone County fire, Ashland police department, Centralia police department, Hallsville, MU will also be coming over to our system.”

CFD Chief Brian Schaeffer said his department is the second busiest user of the communications system. He shared his support for the new system and explained how it will help modernize the response of Boone County agencies.

“We’re actually taking what is, really a 1940s radio system that we have currently and bringing it into the 2000s and 2025,” Schaeffer said.

Davis said the new 800MHz P25 trunk system was first recommended around 10 years ago. BCJC agencies currently use a VHF legacy radio system.

“We had a consultant who worked a lot on getting a lot of the backhaul in place for our system,” Davis said. “Which has really helped us get to the point where we are today to get the integration for the actual core of the system in place within the next year or so.”

The new system will be funded by revenue from the Boone County 911 Emergency Service Sales Tax approved in 2013.

“The current system that we just assigned a contract for was for approximately $7 million and then there will be some additional cost after that for the radios for the public safety responders,” Davis said.

She described how first responders will see a difference.

“Especially sometimes in the larger buildings, because with the VHF system currently you had some problems not being able to communicate even inside of the building to the individuals that are directly out on the street,” Davis said.

Schaeffer said the difference comes from the different radio wavelengths. The current VHF system uses a long wavelength, whereas the new system has a much shorter wavelength carrying messages along the channel.

“When that long waveform tries to make its way through concrete or steel, if it doesn’t make its way 100%, then it doesn’t go through. The shorter wavelengths do go through very, very easily,” Schaeffer said.

Schaffer detailed some of the obstacles the current system caused for the department.

“So concrete, metal, ordinary construction we couldn’t use our radios in those situations and couldn’t use the radios any time we were sub terrain. So the first layer of a basement or the second layer of a basement,” Schaeffer said.

Schaeffer said communication issues posed a safety threat to firefighters. So last October, the department moved its communication to the state system for buildings with infrastructure that would block their signal.

“We will be able to leave our network and be able to go into the state’s network and operate without changing the physical radio, which is a cost savings for the taxpayer because we’re not having to buy multiple radios. One multi-band radio can remain on both networks and operate independently on the same radio,” Schaeffer said.

According to Davis, the full integration across all agencies won’t be immediate.

“They will have to procure all of the equipment and get it staged and get it prepared to get installed into our tower sites,” Davis said. “What we’ll have initially is an overlay for the 800 system as well as the VHF. So that will allow our partners a little more time to get transition completely over to the 800 system.”

However, during the transition Boone County first responders will begin to see immediate impacts to their communication capabilities.

“Whether they’re on the 800 or VHF, they’ll still be able to communicate with each other until everybody’s completely transitioned,” Davis said. “Especially if they are already on the 800 system, because they will have more direct, clear communication, especially when they’re inside of those buildings.”

Davis said full integration will completed by January of 2027, but hope to finish it earlier by mid 2026. Davis added the new system will help prepare Boone County for the next 15-20 years.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said during a news conference Tuesday that he will seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old from Utah accused of killing Charlie Kirk with a single shot from a high-powered rifle.

Charges include aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and committing a violent offense in front of children.

Gray said during the news conference that authorities believe Robinson hid a rifle in his pants as he made his way to the spot he picked for a sniper’s nest. Gray also shared a text exchange between Robinson and Robinson’s roommate and romantic partner in which Robinson reportedly confessed.

Robinson’s first court appearance took place a few hours later.

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