Author: KMIZ

Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

On Monday, Mayor Barbara Buffaloe will preside over her first Columbia City Council meeting of her second term.

Buffaloe won April 8’s municipal election with more than 14,000 votes in an expensive race for mayor over Blair Murphy and Tanya Heath. Buffaloe won handily, taking precincts around the city.

ABC 17 News anchor Lucas Geisler spoke with Buffaloe before she was sworn in on Friday to a second three-year term.

“I don’t think I learned anything new, I would say, but I think some of the issues that we know are important to Columbia residents, it just helped emphasize,” Buffaloe said. “So, the city needs to do better about communicating what’s going on. How are we doing about staffing levels? Where does funding go? Just what’s going on in the world, the importance of that.”

Buffaloe said she thought City Manager De’Carlon Seewood was making strides in keeping the council and community informed. The city recently launched a program of “community connectors” to inform residents of different projects and meetings. She said in the coming term, she’d like to see Seewood talk more around town about the work the city is doing.

“One of the things that I’m always pushing him on is that he needs to talk more,” Buffaloe said. “He needs to be out more in front. I think he can kind of rely on a lot of times, I’m always happy to talk, go and talk to a group as an extrovert. As an introvert, he’s not as interested in doing it as much. So I’m trying to encourage, and he has been, stepping up and going out more, conversations in public and at council meetings, because he’s very smart and he has the trust of his staff. So I think he needs to help show that more and show what progress has been done rather than waiting for other people to go up and make the conversation happen.”

Seewood recently hired D’Markus Thomas-Brown to lead the new Office of Violence Prevention, a program Buffaloe proposed in 2023 following a homicide. With a leader and budget in place, Buffaloe said she’s hopeful that Thomas-Brown will use his connections across the city and city staff to work on crime prevention.

“Some of the things that I hope he focuses on is working with our law enforcement on where do we see the trends and the data happening, building on those relationships that he has with the community and growing them to do more intervention opportunities within Columbia Public Schools and within the neighborhoods,” Buffaloe said. “And just being that trusted voice so that when we do have rumors of something’s that going to happen, he might be able to kind of connect with those involved, and let’s have some preventative nature so that it won’t actually happen and it will reduce our calls for service with our police department.”

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia City Manager De’Carlon Seewood has signed an emergency declaration for the impacts of severe weather that hit the city on Sunday, according to a Monday press release from the city.

“In addition, operation of the bioreactor landfill shall be temporarily suspended along with operation of the Bioenergy Plant until such time as repairs to such facilities occur to ensure efficient and safe operation of the plant,” the declaration reads. “Emergency clean-up operations shall commence at Cosmo Park and utility services restored in areas damaged by the severe weather event with the use of mutual aid as deemed necessary by the applicable department head.”

City facilities and infrastructure were damaged, causing power outages and service disruptions, the release says. The city’s recycling program is indefinitely suspended, the city said on Sunday, after its recycling facility was severely destroyed in the storm.

The National Weather Service determined the storm created an EF-1 tornado.

“It is pretty rare,” Seewood said when asked about signing the emergency declaration. “We saw significant damage.  Our material recovery facility, which is our recycling facility, was completely destroyed.”

The City Council reviewed the declaration and voted on an ordinance that would support the measure during Monday night’s meeting.

During the meeting, Mayor Barbara Buffalo reminded residents that Tuesday was Earth Day and the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” has recycle at the end for a reason, emphasizing the need to cut down on waste as the city figures out how to get its recycling services up and running.  

Rebuilding the facility could take more than a year, so the city could try to hire an outside service to handle recycling. 

“We have to do really do an analysis, see exactly what is possible,” Seewood said. “We really need to take time to really figure out exactly what the plan is, how to move forward.” 

The city is also temporarily closing its eight recycling drop-off centers, as are nearby towns that use Columbia’s recycling facility, such as Hallsville. However, there are some concerns that residents who ignore the closures could cause overflow, creating potential health and sanitation risks. The city is urging patience during this process. 

“We’re going to develop a plan and develop a process. But as we’re developing this process, I’ll just ask people to be patient,” Seewood said. 

An evaluation done in 2023 found that the city’s recycling plant was becoming outdated, and left the city missing out on money due to inefficiency. 

Columbia’s Material Recovery Facility was built in 2002, which is one of the things that prompted the city to launch the study.

“It’s nearing the end of its useful life, a lot of the machinery is aging rapidly,” Columbia Utilities spokesman Matt Nestor told ABC 17 News last April. 

The city was planning on building a new facility, but Seewood said the storm could expedite the process. 

“We talked about doing a replacement of the Material Recovery Facility, and that was planned out for, I think 2027, 2028. And so that may speed that up,” Seewood said. 

20250421_columbia_declaration_of_emergencyDownload

Two $1 million+ items pass the council

A $1.5 million project to pave the Columbia Regional Airport parking lot across the from the terminal was passed by the council on Monday night.

The City Council also approved a $1.7 million agreement for a beautification project at the Highway 63 connector bridge and St. Charles Road Bridge. That dollar amount will be split with the city, county, University of Missouri and other sources.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-2 tornado touched down in southern Callaway County on Sunday.

Severe storms caused damage and power outages throughout Mid-Missouri on Sunday, with many areas still feeling the effects on Monday.

The NWS wrote that the tornado developed northwest of New Bloomfield and moved northeast past Guthrie from 1:31-1:36 p.m. Sunday. The length went 2.7 miles with a width of 100 yards.

Emergency Management in Callaway County stated on Sunday that some outdoor warning sirens in Fulton were not operational because of technical malfunctions.

The sirens are now operational as of Monday afternoon and issues rose from a low battery, according to Callaway County Office of Emergency Management Director Michelle Kidwell.

“The vendor advised that even though it was showing low battery leading us to believe they may not work during the second storm, they likely would have continued to work.  They did work for the first round of storms (thankfully) it was the second round we were concerned and wanted to let the public know,” an email from Kidwell states.

Haley Swaino

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Local Catholics began a nine-day mourning period Monday after the death of Pope Francis.

Francis died Easter Monday at the age of 88, the Vatican announced.

His death comes one day after blessing Catholics who gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday. In his last speech, the pope called for an end to the wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.

Catholics in the Diocese of Jefferson City began Novendiale on Monday, a nine-day mourning period that follows the death of a pope. This time of mourning is an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church.

The Diocese of Jefferson City serves 75,000 Catholics in 38 counties and is home to more than 90 Catholic parishes.

Bells will ring out 88 times Monday at all churches in the diocese, according to a news release. Each toll will represent one year of Pope Francis’ life.

Tuesday, a Rosary will be prayed for the pope at all diocesan Catholic schools, the release says. Schools are closed on Monday in observance of Easter.

Friday, a memorial mass will be held for Pope Francis at noon at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City. The release says that additional memorial masses will be held at other locations around the diocese. In the meantime, special accommodations will be made for people wanting to pray at churches.

Catholics will be invited to watch the funeral of Pope Francis together. More details and the location will be announced when available, the release states.

The Rev. Shawn McKnight, recently appointed archbishop-designate of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, said in a statement Monday that mourning should be used as a time for reflection.

“As we mourn, let us reflect on this remarkable chapter in the life of our Church — one embodied by a Pope who lived the Christian virtues of humility, authenticity, openness, and hope,” McKnight said in a statement.

After being appointed by Pope Francis, McKnight was ordained the fourth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City on Feb. 6, 2018. He said the pope modeled a life of compassion with an open heart and mind.

“He helped us see the universal nature of our Church, reminding us that we are one body in Christ, regardless of nationality or status,” McKnight said in a statement. “And at a time in history marked by growing division, Pope Francis showed us how we can seek to sow unity — by simply speaking with one another and listening with an open heart.”

John Frymire — an associate professor of history at the University of Missouri — said Pope Francis will be remembered for his morals.

“When he attempted to do diplomacy, he did it on the basis of his moral authority,” Frymire said. “So for example, he went to Africa in the midst of a civil war, risked death. It was a combat zone. He brought in Zelensky from Ukraine. He attempted to bring peace.”

Frymire worked at the Vatican from 1997-99. He said Francis’s pontification marked many firsts.

“The first thing that you should distinguish with Francis was the guy comes from South America, No. 1. No. 2, he’s a Jesuit. No. 3, he’s a missionary,” Frymire said. “He doesn’t look inward to Europe or the United States or the places we think most Catholics would be. He looks outward. He looks to Africa. He looks to South America, where the church’s population is growing. And his mission was always to speak to those people.”

Frymire said Jesuit popes are rare, as many are Franciscans or Dominicans.

“He was exactly the kind of pope we needed at this time,” Frymire said. “I would also say he’s exactly the kind of pope that certain people in power will ignore or acknowledge, depending on their perspective.”

Pope Francis met with Vice President JD Vance on Sunday, making Vance one of the last leaders to meet with him.

“The current political climate in the United States made him very uncomfortable,” Frymire said. “So the key moving forward will be to see what the College of Cardinals does. Are we going to get another Francis or somebody much more on the other side. Because the Catholic Church has both sides.”

Frymire added that Pope Francis was utterly humble and at the same time brilliant.

“One of his more famous statements is, ‘Who am I to judge,'” Frymire said. “The reference was to the question of homosexuality.”

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An EF-1 hit Columbia on Easter Sunday, the National Weather Service determined.

Weather service crews were in Columbia assessing damage Monday. The Boone County Office of Emergency Management said in a news release Monday afternoon that an EF-1 tornado was responsible for the damage, including at the city’s landfill and recycling center.

The release said the tornado touched down briefly.

Columbia’s city manager also signed an emergency declaration ahead of Monday night’s city council meeting.

City of Columbia utility workers were replacing 15 broken high-voltage poles along Paris Road, the utility said in a social media post Monday morning.

About 100 customers are affected, the utility said.

“The current estimate is it will take 72 hours to complete the repairs,” the post says.

About 4,000 customers were dark at the peak of the outages on Sunday. Boone Electric Cooperative also reported about 4,000 members without power, but power was restored to nearly all of them by early Monday.

Boone County Office of Emergency Management Deputy Director Jake Waller said in an email that Boone County’s Community Emergency Response Team deployed 12 volunteers to conduct preliminary damage assessment throughout the community.

The assessments, in partnership with Columbia-based Missouri Task Force 1, was ongoing Monday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Beitscher said Monday afternoon that the assessment could take days or even weeks. He said no deaths were reported in the storms and just one injury — in New Bloomfield.

“We encourage anybody who has damage that they have not yet reported to either local law enforcement or the National Weather Service to do so,” Beitscher said. “The surveying process starts today, but it takes days, weeks, sometimes months to finalize, and any new information is very helpful. So any information they can provide about damage when it occurred, and pictures would be fantastic.”

The damage appears to be from a mix of straight-line and tornado winds, Beitscher said. Winds gusts of over 60 mph were recorded in Columbia on Sunday evening.

In a news release from the city, the Columbia Fire Department reported damage around Creasy Springs and Paris Road. CFD also responded to around 30 calls, including damage to about five homes and several city buildings.

Columbia Utilities also reported significant damage to the City of Columbia Material Recovery Facility. The city’s recycling has been suspended indefinitely. City spokeswoman Sydney Olsen said the biogas plant at the landfill — which harvests methane to generate electricity — was also damaged.

City of Columbia Communications and Outreach Supervisor Jason West says resident are urged to hold onto their recyclables for now as they work to figure out options to move forward.

“Make sure everything is properly vetted, hopefully thats just going to be a couple of days and we can start up some type of service but maybe a partial service,” West said.

The facility is located off Route B in northeast Columbia and has been in operation since 2022. It is a manual facility meaning employees sort materials by hand. However the city was already in the process of getting a new building.

“Recommendation was a brand new facility, it would probably be a different location on the landfill property itself,” West said. “It would be more automated, instead of a two stream it would be a single stream that does all of the sorting, that is something we are talking to the city council about,”

“This will probably expedite the process,” West said.

Olsen said Columbia residents will get details about the resumption of recycling as soon as possible.

According to West, about four employees were at the facility conducting service drop-offs and left at about 5:15 p.m., which was about 15 minutes before the tornado warning in Boone County.

Employees were told not to show up for work Monday. The city says it is working on a temporary placement for staff while clean-up is underway.

“Obviously we’ll have some clean-up out here that they could help with as well but then we’ll find another spot for them in the city as we’re working on the next step,”West said.

If you do have storm debris that you need to get rid of, West said it can be dropped off at the landfill or at any of the mulch sties in Columbia as those are still open.

The city is responsible for the clean-up as it is in the city limits but it hopes other agencies will step up to help out.

As for payments made to the city for recycling services, West said that’s still being worked out and he’s asking residents to be patient as they figure out next steps.

Columbia’s Public Works Street Division crews responded to downed trees, street debris and temporary street flooding. The department will continue monitoring conditions and cleaning up debris in the area as the week progresses.

Residents are asked by Columbia Utilities and the Columbia Fire Department to avoid any remaining downed power lines and to never attempt to move them.

If you see downed lines, stay at least 30 feet away. If you see a downed transmission line, stay 100 feet away. To report a downed line, Columbia Utilities can be reached at 573-875-2555.

Residents can report property damage to the Boone County Office of Emergency Management at EM@BooneCountyMo.org. The United Way of Mid-Missouri is also providing resources to residents impacted by the storm and can be reached at 800-427-4626.

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Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia has indefinitely suspended commercial and residential recycling pickup after the city’s recycling plant was damaged during a strong storm Sunday afternoon.

Columbia Utilities spokesman Jason West said this also applies to the public drop-off centers, saying they will be unavailable to the public. Recycling workers have been asked not to report for work on Monday.

The Material Recovery Facility at the Columbia Landfill in the northeast part of the city handles all recycling for the city. The city was already researching options on how to improve or replace the MRF. The building was nearing the end of “its useful life” due to aging equipment.

The National Weather Service will survey damage in Boone County on Monday. First responders kept busy throughout the city on Sunday with fallen trees and power lines. The Columbia Fire Department responded to 30 calls across the city, including five homes and several city-owned structures. No one was reported hurt in any of the calls.

“The majority of the damage appeared to be in the northeastern section of town, including the Creasy Springs and Paris Road areas,” a city news release said.

Columbia resident Brad Belcher has lived in a home on Bear Creek drive in Columbia for five years. Belcher said he was standing in the doorway of his home around 5 p.m. Sunday, when he heard a loud burst of wind and saw a tree coming toward his home.

“It’s totaled. Like you can see through my house…there’s trees in the living room, in the kitchen,” Belcher said. “It fell on my truck, too like so you gotta worry about cars, you gotta worry about your home.”

Belcher said he, and his two daughters who were in the basement when the tree fell onto the home all made it out safely.

Cara Joos lives next door to Belcher and said she heard a loud noise around the time the tree fell onto the home. Joos said it was hard to tell what was happening when she looked outside due to the heavy rainfall at the time.

She said it was the most she’s ever felt in danger during her years of living in Missouri.

“I’ve lived in this part of the world for a long time, so tornadoes aren’t anything new and everybody says it sounds like a train and it was like the closest… It was like a train that was far off but it was really loud,” Joos said.

The Columbia Utilities outage map reported more than 2,600 customers without power as of 7:50 p.m. It had reached a peak of nearly 4,000 customers after a strong storm went through the city just before 6 p.m. The Bradford Research Farm in Columbia recorded a 66 mph gust during that storm.

Boone County emergency management authorities reported power lines and trees down, along with flooded roads across the county.

A line of storms earlier in the day caused significant damage in part of Callaway County.