Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Former Mizzou football coach Gary Pinkel has been accused again of driving while intoxicated.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol report shows that Pinkel, 73, was arrested at 11:46 p.m. Monday in Camden County.

The arrest report says he was brought to the Camden County jail and was released. He was accused of a single count of DWI, the report says. He was not listed on the Camden County Jail 48-hour release roster. Charges have not yet appeared on Casenet.

Pinkel previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI in 2011 in Boone County. He was sentenced to two years of probation and completed the sentence.

ABC 17 News has reached out to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office and Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Pinkel served as MU’s head coach from 2001-15.

Pinkel’s lawyer, Bogdan Susan, said in a statement that Pinkel will not make any statements regarding the case, but he plans on pleading not guilty.

Check back for updates.

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Local after-school organizations are raising alarms about the Education Department’s plan to withhold nearly $7 billion in funds for the next fiscal year.

Those funds include money for programs such as the Boys and Girls Club.

If the funding is not released, Boys and Girls Clubs across the country could face widespread consequences, including summer camp closures, staff layoffs and the potential permanent shutdown of hundreds of locations in the coming weeks, the organization says.

“Our Club remains fully committed to providing the same impactful and critical services that our youth and families count on every day. We will not stop doing whatever it takes to build great futures for all youth in our community,” The Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbia and Jefferson City said in an online post.

Program leaders are urging the public to contact their members of Congress and ask them to push the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Education to release these funds immediately.

The Boys and Girls Club has posted a website that puts users in contact with U.S. senators immediately upon filling out the form.

The Department of Education’s decision this week to withhold $6.8 billion in federal K-12 funding for next year has sparked widespread concern among state education officials, school administrators and advocacy groups.

The funding loss will affect programs such as after-school activities, enrichment opportunities and language-learning services.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says those federal grants provide $64.3 million in funding to local education agencies and select state-level programs.

“DESE will continue to monitor the status of these grant programs and provide updates when they become available,” a department spokesperson said.

The Department of Education announced on Tuesday that several major federal education grants are still under review and have not yet been approved. Because of this delay, states have not received official notices or funding amounts for the upcoming year.

Programs affected serve nearly 1.4 million children and families nationwide. Among those, more than 220,000 are youth who attend one of 926 Boys and Girls Club sites.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A leader of the Missouri Senate said Tuesday that she wants MU Health Care to accept terms offered by insurer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield by the end of the week.

“This contract needs renewed this week,” Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin (R-Shelbina) wrote on Facebook. “I have contacted a few other senators to get their input and they agree; sign the contract. Yes I know that I am not on the inside nor the CEO of either but from what I’ve been told this seems a reasonable offer. I’m encouraging the contract be signed by Thursday so the thousands of people insured and seeking access to their doctors can once again resume their healthcare.”

O’Laughlin and other lawmakers held a committee hearing last week to talk with Anthem and MU Health leadership about the contract dispute.

Anthem customers using Medicare Advantage plans have been out of MU Health Care’s network since February. Other customers have been out of network since April, after the two parties failed to reach an agreement for a new contract. MU Health has said Anthem is slow to pay claims and wants too high a reimbursement rate. Anthem maintains that it can’t afford higher reimbursement rates.

Anthem, which covers about 90,000 MU Health patients, gave two new offers during last week’s hearing. O’Laughlin wants MU Health to take one of them.

“Anthem doubled their rate increase offer,” O’Laughlin wrote. “They also will allow policy exceptions to remain in place (those exceptions allow MU to receive extra insurance coverage on services.) The Anthem proposal increase includes paying doctors more.”

“These two entities started a long ways apart but I believe it is time to renew. Anthem has come up substantially and there’s too many people negatively affected and going without coverage to see their doctors at MU Health.”

Anthem highlighted its two proposals in a statement and said a follow-up session was held.

“During the recent public hearing, Anthem presented two distinct proposals to MU Health Care in an effort to resolve our contractual differences,” the statement says. “In a private session following the hearing and again as recently as yesterday, we extended an additional offer aimed at moving toward a resolution. Our goal remains clear: to restore MU Health Care to our network at rates that preserve access while keeping coverage affordable for all Missourians, including those covered by the Missouri Consolidated Health Plan.”

MU Health Care also confirmed it’s been in communication with Anthem since the hearing.

“MU Health Care and Anthem have been in active conversations since the hearing last Monday, and we received a proposal from Anthem late yesterday afternoon. Our goal remains to reach an agreement and return in-network access for Anthem members to MU Health Care clinicians and facilities,” said MU Health Communications Specialist Rochita Ghosh.

Sandy Smith, a cancer survivor who has relied on MU Health Care since 2016, said she’s had no issues with Anthem until this year.

“I have a condition called Lynch syndrome, which makes me more susceptible to other cancers. And so I don’t feel like I can just go to anybody that’s not familiar with that,” Smith said. “So when I heard that they weren’t renewing the contract, I was just going to wait until the marketplace opened again and then I would have to go with UnitedHealthcare. Any appointments I have from now until the end of the year, I was just going to postpone them until I get different insurance.”

Smith said she called Anthem to try to enroll in continuity of care, but was told she already had a doctor in her town.

“When I look that doctor up, it’s a male and I go to females for my kind of cancer and treatments. And so that was a “no.” And it wasn’t an oncologist gynecologist,” Smith said. “So they think that there’s options, but when you need certain specific doctors and gender it’s not an option. So it is very frustrating and it can be stressful.”

Smith added that while her current care is primarily preventive, the ongoing dispute is much more stressful for patients actively undergoing treatment.

“I’m one of the healthier ones, because all mine are preventative. I think more of the people that are going through cancer treatments right now and having to deal with this, my heart goes out to them,” Smith said. “We are people. We’re not just numbers. And so when you’ve gone through treatments or you’re facing things, you need people with compassion and they need to show some compassion towards us as human beings.”

Rep. Gregg Bush (D-Boone County), a nurse and Anthem customer, said the issue is deeply personal.

“There’s an old proverb that when elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers,” Bush said. “And what we have is we have Anthem this big institution. We have MU that has been filling the gaps with rural health care, and that when they’re in conflict, it’s the rest of us that are suffering.”

Bush said he moved to Anthem insurance earlier this year and immediately felt the impact.

“It was a little bit of a gut punch, frankly. My family has been using MU Health Care for almost two decades,” Bush said. “In some ways, I don’t want lawmakers kind of involved in this, but we can’t not be. We are talking about the people who assist us throughout the whole Capitol. We’re talking about Missouri State Highway Patrol members. These are the people that serve us, that protect us. And if we have any sort of clout whatsoever, we should exercise it to try to make sure that they get the best care for themselves and for their family.”

Bush also said MU Health Care is vital to rural Missouri.

“MU Health Care has kind of been in the gaps where for-profit health care has fled rural Missouri and MU Health Care has taken up the slack,” Bush said. “We have legislators that come from all over the state. And there’s only one network that is in all the state, and that’s MU Health Care. It’s just the reality.”

He added that Anthem’s for-profit model adds to the burden on patients.

“We have institutions that are basically taking money out of health care and putting it into stock buybacks, taking money out of people’s care and putting it into dividends,” Bush said. “And MU Health Care doesn’t do those kinds of things. They take all of their margin that they’re making and they end up opening clinics in rural parts of Missouri because they’re not allowed to make a profit and pay shareholders.”

Bush said he’s heard from constituents across the state, but the issue also hits close to home.

“I have children that need pediatricians and there’s only one provider in our county that has a network of pediatricians and that’s MU Health Care,” he said. “When they don’t accept Anthem, that’s a significant issue. Now in our health care oasis, which is Columbia, now we’re having to drive two hours to go see a provider.”

As of Tuesday evening, MU Health Care had not indicated whether it would accept the latest proposal from Anthem. O’Laughlin urged the health system to finalize a deal by Thursday. The contract dispute remains unresolved.

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Lucas Geisler

(Editor’s note, 7/8: This story has been updated with a new quote from Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick.)

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone Health is seeking a partner to help it expand, according to the independent system’s top executive.

Boone Health announced on Tuesday its search for a possible new “strategic partner.” Boone Health wants to find another health care company to help it grow as the medical system goes through one of its best years since going independent, according to CEO Brady Dubois.

Boone Health’s last partnership, with BJC Health Care, ended in 2021. In an interview with reporters on Monday, Dubois said the hospital’s board of trustees has already reached out to more than a dozen health systems to gauge interest. The board has also hired Juniper Advisory to help them with the search.

“It’s about finding a partner in another health system that has the same values, the same culture that wants to invest in health care in Mid-Missouri,” Dubois said.

Dubois said Boone Health’s quality and “culture” would not be sacrificed as part of the search for a partner.

“People want to be loved on, they want to be cared for,” Dubois said. “They want clinical excellence when they come into a hospital. That’s the most important thing we offer for Mid-Missouri. And so that’s our never capitulate on, never give on, that’s our hard and fast.”

Dubois said Boone Health has seen steady patient growth in 2025. Emergency room visits have gone up from a monthly average of 2,200 people before independence to 3,300 so far this year. Hospital admissions are up nearly 8% for the first five months of 2025 compared to the same time in 2024. Financially, Boone Health has $195.5 million in operating revenue from January to May 2025, up from the $183.3 million made in that time last year.

New numbers about expenses aren’t yet available.

Dubois said that emergency room growth, though, has taken place with the same 16-bed emergency room it had before the hospital went independent. Couple that with the system’s need for space to grow and an ongoing project to re-open the shuttered Audrain County hospital in Mexico, and Dubois said the time is right to explore a partnership.

“How do we take care of tomorrow’s patients?” Dubois said. “We’re taking care of them today, but how do we build access points, how do we build our ability to not only reach out, but also just meet current demand with a new ER, further expansion of services here at Boone, and those things are why we’re doing this.”

Dubois said Boone Health was most interested in either a membership substitution or a joint venture with another health company. A partnership would likely turn Boone Health’s two boards — the elected Board of Trustees and appointed Board of Directors — into advisory roles for the health system at Boone Hospital.

Any potential sale of Boone Hospital would need further discussion between the board and the county commission. Dubois said Boone Health had a list of well-known national players in the industry as well as some it had worked with in the past that it would let know about the process.

“There’s different nuances with all of them, but all the health systems are invited throughout the state,” Dubois said.

Presiding commissioner Kip Kendrick told ABC 17 News Tuesday morning that he felt the exploration of a strategic partner was a good move for Boone Health.

“Greater access to health care in the mid-Missouri market will ensure that Boone County remains a destination for health care needs,” Kendrick said in a text.

Liberty Hospital, a publicly-owned hospital just north of Kansas City, last week celebrated one year of its partnership with the University of Kansas Health System.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Starting Tuesday night, a traffic shift will occur on Eastbound I-70 in Columbia, between Paris Road and Highway 63, as the Missouri Department of Transportation continues the Improve I-70 Project.

MoDOT has completed new lanes in the median between Eastbound and westbound I-70 and will begin reconstructing the existing Eastbound lanes. For the reconstruction to happen, Eastbound traffic will be shifted onto the newly constructed lanes starting Tuesday night. Two Eastbound lanes will be open for motorists to travel on, with speeds reduced to 55 mph.

A large part of this traffic shift will require the Eastbound I-70 ramp to Highway 63 to be closed until the morning of July 12.

Drivers will need to find an alternate route. MoDOT says drivers traveling West of Columbia will be directed to Stadium Blvd. to southbound Highway 63, while all other travelers will be directed to exit at Range Line Street.

This project could be delayed by the weather.

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Matthew Sanders

Flash flooding is big news this week after a massive storm inundated parts of Texas.

The system created flooding that has claimed more than 100 lives. The tragedy has touched Mid-Missouri, with Columbia-based Task Force 1 called up to help with the search operation.

Mid-Missouri is also prone to flooding, with flash floods a common occurrence here. Do you live in a flood-prone area?

Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was arrested in Sedalia after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman and pointed a gun at a police officer.

The City of Sedalia shared in a social media post on Monday afternoon that police arrested Sam Newl, 24, on suspicion of first-degree assault, attempted rape with a weapon, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault, second-degree sodomy, second-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

Charges were not filed on Casenet on Monday evening and a mugshot was not immediately available. He was brought to the Pettis County Jail and put on a 24-hour hold, the post says.

The post says a woman flagged down police at 2:20 a.m. Sunday in the 200 block of West Broadway Boulevard. She allegedly told police that she was pinned and sexually assaulted by a man who may have had a knife, the post says. She was able to run away and find police, the post says.

The city wrote that police found Newl in the area, he ran away and a chase occurred. Police found him “behind an obstruction” while he was holding a gun and walked toward an officer, the post says. He eventually put down the gun after officers told him to, the post says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged with two felonies after he allegedly set a backpack on fire and threw it on top of a home on Paris Road last month.

Brandon Butchkoski, 47, was charged on Monday with first-degree arson and drug possession. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond and had a hearing on Monday afternoon. Police announced Butchkoski’s arrest on Friday morning.

The probable cause statement says that someone knocked on the victim’s door on June 29 to say their roof was on fire and the victim was able to put it out with a hose. There was a cleaner bottle, drink container and latex gloves filled with gasoline inside the backpack, the statement says.

Butchkoski was found in the area but was initially let go because of a lack of evidence, court documents say.

He was later seen on RING video throwing the backpack on the roof of the house, the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri Task Force 1 has been activated by FEMA to assist in rescue operations following catastrophic flooding in Texas’ Guadalupe River. The Boone County Fire Protection District announced the deployment Monday afternoon.

At least 95 people have died in the flooding, according to reporting from CNN. The task force will focus on water rescues and human remains detection efforts.

A 52-member team left BCFPD’s Columbia headquarters around 7:30 p.m. Monday and will head to Kerr County, Texas. Missouri Task Force 1 is expected to be on the ground for up to 14 days.

“While the final destination has not yet been confirmed, the team will support search and rescue operations in response to the historic flooding affecting the region,” the release says.

Assistant Fire Chief Gale Blomenkamp said the team is deploying in a Type 3 configuration with additional personnel.

“There’s several different configurations that we can be deployed as,” Blomenkamp said. “A Type 1, a Type 3, a Type 4 or just a mission ready package. So FEMA requested a Type 3 task force, which is 35 people plus 10 for ground support, makes 45 people deploying. However, on this mission we have added four HRT, human remains detection, K-9 and handlers, and one additional search team manager.”

Blomenkamp said this mission includes an enhanced water rescue component due to the scale of the flooding.

“We’re going down with an enhanced water rescue package. And most of the members that are being deployed are either swift-water and/or boat-operator certified,” he said. “So we have that enhanced capability for water rescue anticipating this being a flooding event. That’s going to be some water. There’s going to be some debris and a lot of wide area search going on.”

Blomenkamp also compared the devastation to what the team experienced during flooding in Kentucky in 2022.

“The extent of damage that we’ve seen on TV, the amount of water that went through that area is really kind of unbelievable,” Blomenkamp told ABC 17 News. “It’s a lot of what we saw in Kentucky last year during those floods, just sheer devastation. So we are we’re prepared for that. We’ve seen it before. But those families down there, they need some closure.”

Preparation for the deployment was fast and detailed. Blomenkamp said the team had just four hours to mobilize after receiving the call. The team packed approximately 100,000 pounds of equipment for the mission.

Missouri Task Force 1 will be joined by Colorado Task Force 1 on Tuesday as recovery efforts continue.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri’s attorney general said Monday that he is appealing a Jackson County judge’s injunction, issued last week, that allowed abortion to proceed in the state.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a news release that his office has filed an appeal of the injunction issued last week. Judge Jerri Zhang issued the ruling on Thursday. The Missouri Supreme Court had blocked one of Zhang’s similar rulings in May and told her to reconsider under a different legal standard.

Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas City had said they would resume services Monday after last week’s ruling.

The lawsuit centers on state regulations that abortion choice advocates say make abortion de facto illegal. Planned Parenthood argued those regulations were at odds with Amendment 3, which was approved by voters in November and enshrined a right to abortion in the state constitution.

The injunction stops enforcement of those regulations while the lawsuit proceeds.

Bailey and other abortion opponents say the regulations are needed to protect women’s health.

Bailey claimed in a news release that the Jackson County injunction means the state can’t enforce laws against coerced abortion, require sterile equipment and clean facilities or require emergency complication plans. The injunction also means abortion providers can refuse to let pregnant women see an ultrasound of the fetus, Bailey claims.

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