Author: KMIZ

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. KMIZ

A state Senate bill is heading to the governor’s desk that could affect ballot language and may also take out abortion access in Missouri.

The most controversial aspect of the bill will allow the attorney general to appeal any preliminary injunctions issued before Aug. 28. A preliminary injunction allowed abortion access to open back up in the state after voters approved Amendment 3 in November.

“When you allow a party to go back in and say, ‘I want a do-over’ after the court has already ruled, that is inappropriate and it tears down our existing system of checks and balances,” Director of Missouri Voter Protection Coalition Denise Lieberman said.

The House also approved the emergency clause, making the attorney general provision effective as soon as the governor signs SB 22.

In a statement, Missouri Right to Life asked legislators to pass Senate Bill 22 to Kehoe’s desk as soon as possible.

Ballot summaries or titles are written for initiative petitions. Titles are limited to 50 words and have to be finalized at least 56 days before the election. Signature collection could also can also be put on pause if a petition’s title is being challenged in court.

The secretary of state typically handles writing ballot titles to prevent petitioners from using persuasive language in titles. If deemed misleading, courts can take over and rewrite the ballot.

Under SB22, the secretary of state would have up to three tries to rewrite a ballot title before a judge steps in. It also pushes the deadline for the finalization of ballot titles to 70 days before the election, making the window for finalization closer. If the bill reaches the deadline in the middle of the revision, the most recent title will be used, regardless if it was approved by the courts.

The bill will also allow up to 100 words in a title and allow signatures to be collected in the middle of a title being disputed and rewritten.

Supporters argue that the changes will help clearly define what an initiative petition will do and also accelerate the finalization process.

The bill’s sponsor Sen. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) added that courts have previously overstepped in bill title rewrites for Amendment 3 during a hearing for the bill in January, adding that the task isn’t their role as a judicial official.

“We had a Secretary of State that wrote the ballot language, it was challenged and the courts rewrote that.” Brattin said. “They completely rewrote it to slant in favor of Amendment three and I think that’s egregious.”

Opponents argue that SB22 gives too much power to the secretary of state and possibly politically biased officeholders. With the tighter deadline, there is also concern that the back-and-forth of hearings and revisions was done purposefully to have the title fall on the secretary of state. The multiple changes could also confuse people signing petitions.

“We did the math, we laid out these deadlines on the calendar, and what this would allow is the secretary of state or other partisan actors to keep the debate tied up,” Lieberman said.

Rep. Kathy Steinhoff (D-Columbia) — who voted against the bill on Monday — said that just one back-and-forth could take up to three weeks.

“Certain timelines that have to be granted for people to respond to requests for these sort of things, three weeks is not nearly enough time to be able to take care of that.”

Steinhoff adds that if the bill stands, the risk of biased ballot titles can affect both parties, depending on the secretary of state.

During the January hearing, Brattin stood by the changes.

“I think it’s absolutely workable,” Brattin said. “Is it not also the constitutional duty of the court to ensure that the actions that we take in that the executive branch take are fair and in line with the law? That’s by their interpretation, where they interpret that, not where they rewrite it.”

Republican lawmakers are also working to put a ballot measure to overturn Amendment 3 on the ballot. The House perfected the bill on Tuesday. A final vote had not been scheduled by Tuesday evening.

Gov. Mike Kehoe has not said publicly if or when he will sign SB 22. In a statement to ABC 17 News, Kehoe’s office said, “SB 22 is still going through a bill review process.”

ABC 17 News reached out to Brattin for an updated statement and SB22’s co-sponsor Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold). State Rep. Ben Keathley (R-Chesterfield) declined to comment.

Erika McGuire

MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Department of Corrections is working with the Missouri Prison Transformation Project and the University of Missouri to improve the quality of life and well-being of prison inmates and staff.

The project held an open house Tuesday morning at Moberly Correctional Center to provide a firsthand look at a redesigned housing unit that is aimed at creating a more rehabilitative environment.

The Missouri Prison Transformation Project is a five-year-long study and was designed in partnership with the DOC.

Arnold Ventures allocated $50,000 toward renovations at Farmington Correctional Center, South Central Correction Center and the Women’s Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center.

“Researchers are exploring how changes to the physical environment including increased privacy, comfortable communal spaces and aesthetic upgrades such as paint, plants and lighting affects an inmate behavior,” Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said.

Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Missouri Kelli Canada said the research is done in a randomized controlled trial, with inmates living in renovated wings and a controlled condition with inmates living in prison wings how they normally would.

“We will collect information from them, when they enter the facility about their quality of life, their connection to the other people they are living with, their connections with staff and kinda the culture and climate of the prison,” Canada said.

Anthony Masiero is an inmate at the Moberly Correctional Center serving a 13 year sentence for first-degree-robbery. He’s been living in the newly renovated wing for about eight months and said it has improved his daily life behind bars.

“Big difference, in here it is just cleaner, a more home feeling you have couches you have a little bit of get away space, out there you don’t, out there you have a bunch of different people not giving a care,” Masiero said.

The renovated wing also offers a kitchen, games and a single-person cell that gives inmates more privacy.

“This is luxury,” Masiero said. “It automatically gives you a comfortable feeling but you still have to realize you are still in prison and not on the street,”

Inmate Tevin Lynch is serving a 12 year sentence for voluntary manslaughter and has been living in the new wing for about four months. When comparing a regular housing unit to the new unit, Lynch said the difference is night and day.

“It’s more clustered, this place over here since we have single man cells it opens a lot more for your mental.” Lynch said. “You build structure within yourself living conditions and it helps build that within yourself that you can carry on when you leave,” 

“Its loud, the noise bounces off the hard surfaces there is just a lot of stuff going on there is a lot of plain colors and not a lot of visual stimulation that happens in a lot of these spaces,” Canada said. “There is not a lot of privacy, its very loud, it can feel very chaotic, there is not anything interesting to look at so we wanted people to talk to through what would make this environment feel different for you and healthier to live and work in.”

The project will track changes to training and communication, physical environment, self-improvement and community connections in prison.

The project anticipates outcomes of:

Fewer inmates with conduct violations

Lower rates of reincarceration

Fewer grievances filed about prison staff

Enhanced perceptions of prison culture and climate

Improved health, sense of belonging, civic engagement and qualify of life, pre- and post-release

Better staff job satisfaction and health; fewer work absences

According to Canada, more studies are taking place at prisons across the country. She said similar studies have been done internationally and showed less people are returning to prison.

Throughout the five years of research, Canada said researchers will do surveys with he inmates every three months and 18 months after they are released from prison.

Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former Jefferson City private school volunteer was sentenced to probation Monday.

Judge Daniel Green sentenced Jennifer Cecil to five years of probation on a felony count of first-degree sexual abuse. If Cecil violates her probation, she could be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

She was charged in July 2023 after the victim told law enforcement about their relationship and the victim’s parents confronted Cecil, according to court documents. The victim said Cecil initiated the relationship.

Lighthouse Preparatory Academy in Jefferson City, where Cecil volunteered, said in a statement at the time that it had launched an internal investigation and was cooperating with police.

Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

March was a busy month for wildfires around Mid-Missouri.

The spate of fires led to a spike in calls for the Boone County Fire Protection District.

The Boone County Fire Protection District responded to 419 calls during March, according to a BCFPD Facebook post. Of those, 159 were for fires.

Fire calls in March were considerably higher than in the preceding two months. BCFPD firefighters were sent to 81 fire calls in January, 54 in February and 159 in March.

There were also 66 more fire-related calls for service in March compared to the 93 the fire district received during March 2024.

The surge in calls was partly driven by periods of extreme wildfire danger during the month. Wildfires forced evacuations in southern Boone County on March 14 near Hartsburg. Evacuations were also necessary during two separate wildfire outbreaks in Camden County that week.

“Without question, that was the increase in our calls.” Boone County Fire Protection District Assistant Fire Chief Gale Blomenkamp said. “Wildfires.”

Blomenkamp has said earlier this year that February through April is the typical fire season for Mid-Missouri, previous reporting shows.

The fire danger continued Tuesday, with Boone County firefighters battling a wildfire off Route VV near Prathersville. BCFPD was called to the 6400 block of N Route VV around 12:30 p.m. and battled the blazes for about four hours.

Balers were working in the field when a small fire started, Blomenkamp said.

“They [balers] tried to extinguish that [small fire] with their fire extinguishers,” he said. “That was unsuccessful. And by the time crews arrived, we had several acres of miscanthus grass burning.”

More than 20 firefighters were on the scene around 2 p.m. At that point, Blomenkamp said it was a controlled burn. The fire burned about 25-30 acres and likely started from baling equipment hitting rocks and sparking.

“It’s the time of year that you cut it [miscanthus grass] and bale it,” Blomenkamp said. “Even a single spark from a rock could set that thing on fire.”

The ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Team is tracking fire danger for most of Mid-Missouri on Tuesday. The National Weather Service in St. Louis put out a hazardous weather outlook saying elevated fire danger is possible across Central and northeast Missouri.

The high winds, with gusts of nearly 30 mph expected in Columbia, will combine with dry air to make burning hazardous.

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia stabbing victim told police that he interrupted his assailant trying to steal from him before the attack, according to court documents.

Arthur W. Hooks, 70, was arrested Monday after police responded to a stabbing in the 2900 block of Leeway Drive in north Columbia. Prosecutors charged Hooks with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

Hooks was jailed without bond and an initial court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Police spoke with the victim at Boone Hospital. The man told them a man named “Arthur” stabbed him after he had interrupted the man stealing from a wooden chest, according to a probable cause statement. Hooks stabbed the victim in the arm, and the wound was about 2 inches wide and 1 inch deep, police say.

The man said Hooks chased him and tried to stab him more, the statement says.

A witness allegedly saw Hooks holding a 6 to 8-inch blade. Another witness told police he had heard Hooks tell someone he would stab and murder them.

Documents say that Hooks didn’t give a statement but spontaneously uttered that “he hoped the victim would die.”

Hooks’ landlord, Frontier Property Management LLC, sued Hooks last month to evict him from his Leeway Drive apartment. The lawsuit claims Hooks was using methamphetamine, keeping stolen property in the apartment, storing trash outside the unit, allowing unauthorized people to stay in the apartment and that he had prostitutes at the apartment.

The lawsuit also claims he created bonfires in the apartment building yard.