Author: KMIZ

Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man convicted of being involved in a Mid-Missouri drug ring was released from federal custody on Wednesday.

Malcolm Redmon, 42 of Columbia, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to being involved in a cocaine-selling ring in Mid-Missouri from 2011-14. He was one of nearly 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug charges to have their sentence commuted by former President Joe Biden.

A federal judge ordered his release to a halfway house in Kansas City in June, according to online records.

An email sent to ABC 17 News Wednesday afternoon from the federal bureau of prisons confirmed Redmon was released from federal custody on July 16.

However, they would not confirm if Redmon had been released from the halfway house.

“For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not comment on the conditions of confinement for any individual in our custody, including release plans,” the statement reads.

Redmon’s cousin, Nathan Stephens says the two were close while growing up in Columbia and said he viewed Redmon’s father as someone he looked up to. Redmon grew up in public housing, faced with many challenges growing up, according to Stephens.

“Like many of us, he took to the streets. Especially when you’re living in an economically disenfranchised community,” Stephens said. “When you’re in an economically disenfranchised community and the opportunity to “do dirt” as we say comes available, it’s kind of hard to resist that because no one wants to continue to struggle, myself included. I’m not saying that that’s necessarily an excuse, but I’m saying it’s not like we had all of the choices that folks who may not necessarily be fans of his, or what I believe is overly critical fully understand.”

Stephens also served time in prison, before being released in 2000. He said he views prison as a place that isn’t designed to rehabilitate people and doesn’t believe in the system he referred to as “flawed.”

Stephens said Redmon served his time and is deserving of the second chance he’s been given, a feeling he said the family shares. According to Stephens, Redmon’s father’s health is deteriorating and there have been several deaths in the family within the last five years, making it that much more important that Redmon not serve anymore time.

He said he’s spoken to Redmon via Facebook, who’s been involved in a vocational program and seems to have a clear head and reconnected with his children and family.

Stephens said no one is in a position to judge Redmon.

“We have a current president sitting with 34 felonies but I guarantee you, many of the folks who would criticize and talk about Malcolm and myself and others are not talking about our sitting president,” Stephens said. “I would tell them to give that same energy to our sitting president that they would Malcolm, myself or others who are formerly incarcerated or currently incarcerated.”

Redmon was one of 27 people arrested in 2014 throughout Missouri and Illinois in relation with the cocaine ring. He was accused of being the leader of the operation. Federal authorities accused him of directing sales and converting cocaine to crack.

Stephens said while he’s looking forward to reconnecting with Redmon face to face soon, he and his family are hopeful Redmon chooses not to return to Columbia for a much needed change.

Stephens also views himself as a person who is living proof that a person can change, turning his life around after prison, working as an assistant professor in social work.

“When I came home, I started working for parks and recreation, working with young men like myself and Malcolm used to be, Stephens said. “I went from working at University of Missouri. I worked at Douglass Park for a number of years trying to steer our young people in the right direction but that’s the thing that people don’t talk about is a lot of those resources that we grew up with are no longer there.”

All of that doesn’t come without problems along the way.

“I’ve gone from prison to PhD and yet I still have to check the box when I apply for jobs. I lost a job at SEMO (Southeast Missouri State University) because of my background,” Stephens said.

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Solid Waste Assistant Utilities Director Tom Ratermann is encouraging the public to listen to new guidelines a day after the city announced it would begin recycling some materials.

Columbia’s recycling trucks will collect some materials and bring them to Jefferson City. The effort is part of the city’s first major step toward restoring recycling services after a tornado destroyed Columbia’s recycling facilities earlier this year. The City of Columbia is working with Federal Recycling & Waste Solutions in Jefferson City to help restart recycling operations.

City officials say keeping contamination low is key to maintaining the partnership the Jefferson City location and could qualify Columbia for rebates based on material quality.

“That’s why we’re really encouraging people to not put glass in it, not to put three through seven in it, and not to put clamshells. We end up getting docked for it, and it reduces any potential rebate,” Ratermann said.

Blue bags recycling placed at the curb by residents will be picked up and transported back to Columbia’s landfill, where city staff prepare the materials for shipment.

Funding to bring the materials to the Jefferson City site is coming from money that was previously used to maintain recycling drop-off sites that are currently closed. A timetable for when the drop-offs could be reopened was not immediately available.

City officials say drivers make three to four trips a week to Jefferson City, once there are enough materials fill a tractor-trailer.

Items that can be recycled, according to a Monday press release, include plastic bottles, some plastic container (such as detergent, milk or shampoo bottles) and aluminum cans.

Prohibited materials include glass, yogurt cups, dairy product tubs, plastic clamshell produce contains, black plastics or takeout containers, Styrofoam containers, packaging materials, plastic bags and trash.

The City of Columbia Utilities spokesman Jason West gave insight into what happens to the bag after you leave it on the curb.

“We’ve cleaned out this building and used part of it for the blue bags to be deposited here,” West said. “I have a crew that will come in and open the blue bags and empty those contents and dispose of the blue plastic bags.”

Leah Christian, owner of The Clean Refill, a local zero-waste small business, applauded the city’s efforts, saying it’s a positive sign to see recycling returning, but wants to remind people that reusing is also an alternative.

“I’ve told a few people this morning about recycling coming back to Columbia , and people are pretty excited about having that option for sure. I would just recommend for everyone to remember that reducing and reusing are the two steps to do before you recycle,” Christian said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Water and Light discussed changing the water rate during a budget meeting on Wednesday.

The rate increase would increase revenue 12% — or $3.6 million — in fiscal year 2026 that should also lower prices for near two-thirds of residential water customers.

The change would increase the base rate of meters smaller than an inch by 25 cents, while 1-inch meters would see a $5.62 increase. The proposed changes would also get rid of summer and non-summer tiered usage and implement the same rate year-round.

The city is also considering raising electric rates by up to 2.4% on Oct. 1.

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Mitchell Kaminski

Editor’s note: The idea of establishing a curfew was not discussed during the Office of Violence Prevention’s first meeting.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia’s Office of Violence Prevention Advisory Committee met Tuesday, as city leaders and law enforcement work to build collaborative strategies to address violent crime. 

So far in 2025, Columbia Police have reported 186 violent crimes, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol data. That’s on pace to fall significantly from the 470 violent crimes reported in 2024.

Gun-related violent crimes so far this year have been cut in half compared to the same point last year. Through June in 2025, there have been 69 gun-related violent crimes compared to 112 in the same period of 2024.

Through the first six months of this year, there have been two murder cases cleared compared to 10 at the same point in 2024. Last year saw 13 total cleared murder reports, according to MSHP data.

Last year there was a total of nine fatal gun-related crimes, eight of which occurred in the first six months. In the first six months of this year, there have been two reported.

There were 339 nonfatal gun-related crimes in 2024 and 165 through the first six months. So far in 2025, there have been 131, according to the data.

Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said Columbia Police also reported that downtown shootings have dropped by more than 50% compared to last year. Johnson credited the implementation of Flock cameras, stronger partnerships with local and federal agencies, and CPD’s investment in intelligence personnel for helping drive down crime.

“One of the things that we know, historically, is a really small number of people are committing the largest amount of crime in the community,” Johnson said. “By taking those individuals off the street or getting them out of the criminal enterprise, we can reduce violence overall substantially.” 

Johnson, who has been working for Boone County for more than a decade, indicated there are trends in Columbia’s violent crime.

“Since I’ve been here and I’ve been here for quite a long time, there have been extensive periods of violent crime in Columbia’s history. There was a period of time with the violent crime that involved a lot of shootings downtown and over at the mall area,” Johnson said. “Some trends that we’ve noticed over time in the past, almost all of our homicides and violent crime are related to drug robberies.  And that’s really changed a lot.  A lot of the offenses. For a while, we had a large number of domestic-related homicides.” 

However, the largest issue Columbia currently faces is youth violence. 

Of this year’s violent crimes, 69 involved a gun, and nearly half were committed by offenders aged 24 or younger. That includes 47 incidents involving victims aged 18-24, 24 involving those aged 10-17, and 13 involving children 10 and under. A total of 155 people have been arrested for violent crimes under the age of 24, with 91 of those being people aged 10-17.

“The trend now is we’re really struggling with violent crime involving juveniles,” Johnson said. “We have young people in the community with guns, and that’s a recipe for problems. We’ve been talking with some people in the community about the possibility of having a curfew and especially in some areas where there are high levels of trouble. But that’s an ongoing conversation.” 

In October 2024, Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe introduced plans for a new office of violence prevention, a move that came weeks after a 3-year-old was shot in Columbia. D’Markus Thomas Brown was named the first administrator of the office in March. 

Since taking the position, Brown has established an advisory 13-member advisory committee. However, Brown says that during the group’s first meeting, the idea of establishing a curfew was not discussed.

The advisory committee is tasked with monitoring performance metrics for the Office of Violence Prevention, identifying funding gaps, and recommending partnerships with community-based organizations. The goal is for mass collaboration between city stakeholders.

“Really a system that is that is put together that others can utilize even in our community, different stakeholders to look to work together in that division and things that have been kind of normalized, will start to segway,” Brown said when asked what he was hoping to get out of the committee. “We will see more folks coming together as a community versus working in silos and being divided.”

Brown said community revitalization is one of his top priorities.

“Being able to enrich and look at places that have been disinvested and kind of have a normalized understanding for violence,” Brown told ABC 17 News. “If we could collaborate to give people the resources to beautify the places they live, I think we will see violence drop” 

Brown said the work is personal for him.

“I’ve seen those who have left this earth too early because of violence. I’ve seen children impacted because a parent has died,” Brown said. “I’ve seen those in our schools who have watched domestic violence happen and then are outworking those same patterns in their behavior.”

The committee is reviewing evidence-based strategies, including a community violence interrupter program, which employs neighborhood change agents to mediate conflicts and connect at-risk individuals with resources. Brown said the office is also exploring a Clean, Safe Neighborhood Initiative, modeled after efforts in St. Louis, to improve housing and safety conditions in high-violence areas.

Johnson, a member of the advisory committee, said partnerships between law enforcement and federal agencies have helped reduce shootings by about half compared to last year.

“The local community in Columbia has [had] underfunded public safety for decades,” Johnson said. “The city has invested in hiring new police officers, and that’s a big step. It’s not a problem that’s going to solve itself overnight, but we are seeing positive outcomes.”

Johnson said the committee is also looking at focused deterrence, which pairs law enforcement with social services.

“That’s the kind of stick side of focused deterrence and we’re hopeful that the Office of Violence Prevention can help on the carrot side, which is you present people opportunities to get out of crime, you provide them services and support if they’re willing to do that with them, knowing that if you don’t, then we’re going to be cracking down on them on the criminal side,” Johnson said. 

The committee includes members from local nonprofits, law enforcement, and community organizations. The next steps involve finalizing prevention priorities and identifying funding for upcoming initiatives.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Waynesville Police Department is asking the public for help in identifying remains discovered on Jan. 9, 2023, according to a Wednesday social media post from the department.

Skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near St. Robert, the release says. A sketch was used to create a possible recreation of the man’s face, the release shows.

The release says that the man was white, between 5 feet, 7 inches and 6 feet, 2 inches and was between the ages of 55-80.

The release says that there may be differences between the sketch and his real face. It’s not known if the man wore glasses.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The company planning to build a high-voltage transmission line for wind energy across Missouri has asked the courts to stop the attorney general’s demands for documents.

Grant Belt Express filed a petition in Cole County Circuit Court on Wednesday, asking a judge to kill Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s civil investigative demand against the energy company. Bailey said in a release that he had issued the demand — similar to a subpoena — on July 2.

Bailey claims Grain Belt has misled consumers, overpromising on the energy it will deliver. He also criticized the company’s use of eminent domain to seize land for the transmission line.

The Missouri Public Service Commission, which regulates private utilities, has already approved the project.

“The Attorney General has no authority to interfere with the Missouri Public Service Commission or its final approval of this project,” Catherine Hanaway, lead counsel for Grain Belt, said in a written statement. “Grain Belt Express seeks to bring an end to the AG’s unlawful and politically motivated investigation.”

Wednesday’s petition states the Missouri Supreme Court denied review of the PSC’s approval in January and that the PSC’s order cannot be appealed because the deadline has expired.

Petition to Quash and Set Aside Civil Investigation Demand No. 25-37Download

The petition says the PSC confirmed at a public meeting Wednesday that it does not have the authority to revoke the project’s authorization.

The project will cross Missouri to deliver power from western wind fields to Illinois. The route will run through Mid-Missouri and a connection is planned from north of Centralia to near Kingdom City. That route includes land in Monroe, Audrain and Callaway counties, according to the Grain Belt website.

The main line will also run through Chariton and Randolph counties.

Grain Belt’s parent company, Invenergy, also inked a supply chain deal with Centralia’s Hubbell Power Systems.

The project has contracts with 39 municipal utilities in Missouri, including Columbia Water and Light. Project leaders say Grain Belt could save Missouri energy consumers billions of dollars.

The first eminent domain lawsuit was filed in Callaway County, according to reporting in the Missouri Independent.

Grain Belt’s website says construction on Phase 1 is expected to start next year.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Board of Realtors hosted a forum for the candidates for Columbia’s Second Ward on Wednesday.

Candidates Ken Rice and Vera Elwood each took questions. The special election for the vacant Ward 2 seat will be held Aug. 5.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper has been arrested after he allegedly took THC gummies and punched a Jefferson City police officer on Wednesday morning.

Collin Stosberg, 52, of Columbia, was charged on Wednesday with two counts of third-degree assault, misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and felony resisting arrest. He is being held at the Cole County Jail on a $10,000 bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

MSHP spokesman Kyle Green told ABC 17 News in an email that Stoserg retired from the patrol about six months ago. A 2020 press release indicated his rank at the time was a lieutenant and joined the patrol’s public information and education division. He was first appointed to the patrol in 1997, the 2020 release says.

The probable cause statement says that paramedics in Jefferson City requested assistance from police at 2:10 a.m. for someone who was having a “severe adverse reaction to THC-infused gummies.”

Stosberg allegedly told police that he was “freaking out” after eating an unknown amount of gummies, the statement says.

Stosberg allegedly hit a paramedic’s laptop while law enforcement spoke with his wife, court documents say. An officer allegedly told him to stop before Stosberg punched him in the face two times, court documents say.

He then started pushing a paramedic before punching another. Police had to use a Taser to subdue Stosberg, the statement says.

Cole County EMS Chief Eric Hoy told ABC 17 News in an email that paramedics declined to be evaluated.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Mexican national who was living in Sedalia was sentenced Wednesday to 14 months in federal prison, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Jesus Mendoza Cortes, 35, pleaded guilty on Feb. 20 to illegally reentering the country after being previously deported, the release says.  

Mendoza Cortes had previously been removed from the country 11 times dating back to 2006, the release says. More recently, he returned in 2018 before getting arrested by Pettis County deputies on June 1, 2024, the release says.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said in a July 26, 2024, statement that Mendoza-Cortes was arrested at a motel after he allegedly pulled a machete out at another man and threatened him.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Overnight roadwork for a number of downtown Columbia streets and roads near the University of Missouri’s that was set to begin Thursday will now be moved to Monday, according to a Wednesday press release from the City of Columbia.

Work begins 5 p.m. Monday. Crews will mill and overlay pavement for about three weeks, with an expected completion set for 7 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, the release says. Vehicles parked in in working areas may be towed. Parking garages in the city are free from 6 p.m.-8 a.m.

The release says that work will begin near campus and move north. The list of affected streets includes:

Rogers Street from Rangeline Street to North College Avenue

East Broadway from Tenth Street to Hitt Street

Cherry Street from Hitt Street to South Seventh Street

Locust Street from South Providence Road to South Fifth Street

University Avenue from South Ninth Street to South College Avenue

Hamilton Way from Hitt Street to Waugh Street

South Fifth Street from Turner Avenue to East Stewart Road

South Fifth Street from Cherry Street to Ash Street

South Seventh Street from Park Avenue to Locust Street

South Eighth Street from Park Avenue to Elm Street

South Ninth Street from Park Avenue to East Broadway

South Ninth Street from Cherry Street to Conley Avenue

South Tenth Street from Rogers Street to Elm Street

Conley Avenue from South Fifth Street to the concrete west of Tiger Avenue

Conley Avenue from South Ninth Street to the concrete east of Tiger Avenue

Tiger Avenue from Conley Avenue to Kentucky Boulevard

Richmond Avenue from Rollins Street to Kentucky Boulevard

Rollins Street from South College Avenue to Hitt Street

Rollins Street from Hitt Street to Tiger Avenue

Hitt Street from Rollins Street to Lake Street

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