Author: KMIZ

Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

The scrutiny surrounding Reign Bar is part of a broader pattern of Black-owned businesses being singled out amid public safety concerns in downtown Columbia, a local non-profit claimed Thursday.

Race Matters, Friends plans to address what it calls the “state and municipal targeting” of Reign Bar during a virtual press conference Monday. The group said it will call for greater accountability from Columbia city leaders and push back against what it described as state interference in local government. They have also sent a letter to City of Columbia officals, demanding immediate council oversight, rejecting state intervention and ending “the selective scrutiny of Black social spaces.”

The group’s concerns come after Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway sent Reign Bar a letter Tuesday addressing what her office called “nuisance conditions” around the business. Hanaway’s letter said the area around Ninth and Walnut streets had experienced a noticeable increase in unruly activity since Reign opened late last year, citing a large fight and an incident involving gunfire. Reign was given 14 days to respond. 

The bar has also previously drawn criticism from University of Missouri System President Mun Choi, who warned students to avoid parts of East Walnut Street at night and specifically pointed to Reign. The area has been the site of several high-profile incidents in recent months, including a July street brawl that resulted in seven arrests, a shooting in August and an assault involving a security guard in September. 

Race Matters, Friends argues that officials are placing too much responsibility on Reign for incidents that occur in public spaces outside the business.

Demand Letter to Columbia City Council and City Manager_Race Matters, Friends_24 Sept 2026 (revised)Download

Susan Renée Carter, a member of Race Matters, Friends, said the group believes officials are disproportionately focusing on businesses along Walnut Street while overlooking crime in Columbia’s Third Ward, which she said does not receive nearly as much attention.

“If you look at the records of the calls that have been made and the things that have been said in the news, you’ll see that they’re targeting Walnut Street around Ninth Street,” Carter told ABC 17 News. “[Choi] has decided that downtown’s dangerous for students, even though if you look at the crime and some of those are crimes against people, not just stealing, the crime on campus is just as bad as it is downtown.”

Carter said the group also wants the city to establish consistent standards for businesses while maintaining local control over public safety.

“Singling out certain businesses is one of the things that we want to stop. We also reject state interference,” Carter said. “So the city council needs to exercise their authority over local administration and the state should not be interfering with what’s going on locally.”

The Columbia Downtown Community Improvement District has made a similar argument about separating a business from activity that occurs in public areas.

CID Director Nickie Davis said Wednesday that the district does not support assigning responsibility to an individual business without clear evidence that the business itself caused the activity. She also said businesses have limited authority over what happens on surrounding sidewalks and streets. 

Race Matters, Friends also said the controversy surrounding Reign fits into what it considers a much longer history of pressure on Black-owned businesses and gathering spaces in Columbia.

The group points to the destruction of the Sharp End during urban renewal efforts in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as more recent scrutiny involving Black-owned businesses including Peppers, Vibez Lounge and Plush Lounge.

Race Matters, Friends also argues that businesses like Harpo’s, Field House/Willie’s, and the Blue Note generate significant police calls and incidents on their blocks, yet officials treat those events as general downtown nightlife activity while allowing those businesses to separate internal operations from street behavior.

Jerrion Nelson, a former general manager at Reign Bar, said he has seen similar tensions surrounding Black-owned businesses throughout his life.

Nelson’s grandfather owned Lou’s Palace, a longtime staple of downtown Columbia.

“My grandpa had a bar here for probably 20 or 30 years. Lou’s Palace. If anybody’s from Columbia, if you know any older people from Columbia or went to Mizzou back in the day, they know who Lou was. That’s my grandpa. So he went through a lot of this stuff,” Nelson told ABC 17 News in August. “So I knew something like this was gonna come eventually. I just didn’t know when. I’m not even going to say it’s a race thing, I feel like stuff goes on they got to point the finger at somebody.”

Nelson’s comments stop short of attributing the current scrutiny specifically to race, but Race Matters, Friends says the broader history of Black-owned businesses in Columbia should be considered when evaluating the city’s response to public safety concerns.

The group is calling on Columbia leaders to establish uniform public safety standards for downtown businesses and to avoid what it describes as selective enforcement.

The nonprofit also wants city officials to maintain control over local administration rather than defer to state officials.

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe has said she shares concerns raised by the Downtown CID about Hanaway’s letter and the lack of communication with the city before the attorney general’s office contacted Reign. 

The city and state have continued to face pressure to address public safety downtown following several violent incidents. Choi has repeatedly called on city leaders to take additional action, while city officials and downtown business leaders have discussed additional police presence, safety measures and other approaches. 

Race Matters, Friends will hold its virtual press conference at 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28.

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Olivia Hayes

CENTRALIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Staff at the City of Centralia have some new guardrails in place around the use of generative artificial intelligence.

The Centralia Board of Alderman approved the new rules at its Monday meeting, as well as a policy form city staff must sign outlining when AI use is appropriate and when it’s not. The policy notes that AI tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini can be useful for drafting, research and other routine work, but they can also produce inaccurate information and create security concerns.

City documents showed the city believes this policy will not only provide a process to address improper AI use, but also give them a baseline to adjust as AI advances.

The policy says city employees may only use generative AI models for city business only when approved by their supervisor. Authorization may be employee specific, position-based, department-wide, project-specific or as appropriate. Employees still remain responsible for reviewing and verifying the AI-generated work.

The city also put in guardrails for which city documents and information cannot be input into the AI models. The banned material includes law-enforcement-sensitive, protected and confidential documents along with information tied to personnel, utility customers and cybersecurity.

Any AI-related records used for city business will remain subject to Missouri’s Sunshine Law and records-retention requirements.

Moving forward, the approved policy will be distributed to city employees for them to sign. Supervisors will communicate permitted uses and restrictions within their departments.

The city said identified no financial impacts.

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Steven Lambson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Utilities will hold two public meetings in early October to garner feedback on an upcoming transmission line project, the city said in a news release Thursday.

The meetings will be at Forum Christian Church, 3900 Forum Blvd., on October 6. The first meeting will go from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the second will start at 5:30 p.m. and go until 7:30 p.m.

The city said the meetings will be open house-style so people can talk to city staff and ask questions.

The project involves a 161-kilovolt transmission line that would run along Vawter School Road and connect the Grindstone and Perche Creek substations. The city said the proposal was approved unanimously by the city council as the most cost-effective option.

“Building the transmission line will strengthen the interconnection to the grid, help with maintaining the grid and continue to bring reliable power to the community,” the news release said.

People who can’t attend either meeting can submit questions and comments for utility staff at beheard.como.gov.

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Euphenie Andre

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Flu cases in Missouri remain relatively low, but medical experts said that could change as the season gets underway.

Flu season officially begins Oct. 1, and health experts are encouraging people to take steps now to protect themselves.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ latest weekly flu report, there have been more than 160 reported flu cases in the state so far this season, including 96 cases of influenza A and 68 cases of influenza B.

Dr. Lana Zerrer, chief medical officer at Boone Health, said the hospital has only seen a few flu cases so far.

“We’ve only had a few here at Boone Health so far this year. It’s still really early,” Zerrer said.

Zerrer added it is too soon to know how the flu season will play out. She said health officials often look to the Southern Hemisphere’s flu season for clues about what to expect in the U.S.

“The southern hemisphere had a milder flu season this year, and that’s usually what we look at to see what our flu season is going to look like. So hopefully this flu season will be better than last year,” Zerrer said.

Medical experts said older adults and people with certain underlying health conditions can face a higher risk of serious flu complications.

Zerrer said adults 65 and older who also have conditions such as heart disease, lung disease or diabetes are at greater risk.

“People who are elderly, and when I say that, I mean over 65, if they have any kind of comorbid conditions, so that means they have something like heart disease or lung disease or diabetes, then they’re higher risk for complications for the flu,” Zerrer said.

Zerrer said people experiencing shortness of breath, a high heart rate or low blood pressure should seek medical treatment as soon as possible.

Local in-home care providers are also taking precautions to protect senior patients and caregivers.

BrightStar Care typically serves about 50 patients, with roughly 40 receiving frequent visits from its team of about 12 nurses.

Shelly Smyser, director of nursing at BrightStar Care, said the service encourages patients and caregivers to get vaccinated and keeps track of who has received a flu shot.

“Before October, we do a reminder. Everybody has to either get a flu shot or fill out a form declining why they don’t get it,” Smyser said. “If we have homes where people are really sensitive, then we’re sending the vaccinated people.”

Caregivers also have personal protective equipment available in patients’ homes, including masks, gowns and hand sanitizer. Smyser said the supplies are available to help protect both patients and caregivers from illness.

Patients also self-report their current health status to caregivers. Smyser said patients are screened before a caregiver arrives at their home, allowing staff to prepare for any symptoms, including fever or cough.

Smyser said the severity of patients’ illnesses can vary, but BrightStar Care receives referrals from hospitals each year for patients recovering from serious cases of the flu.

“Every year we get at least one or two referrals from the hospital for people that have been really sick and people that have underlying conditions like diabetes and heart disease,” Smyser said. “And so they get really ill with the flu, and then they call us when they’re going home because they’re weak and they need help.”

Boone Health said flu vaccines are available and can be covered through patients’ insurance. MU Health Care will also host its second free flu shot clinic this Saturday.

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Steven Lambson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A federal judge sentenced a Jefferson City man to eight years in prison Thursday for being a felon in possession of a gun.

Derrick Crumble, 34, pleaded guilty in February, and was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison without parole and three years of supervised release.

According to a news release from the Department of Justice, police arrested Crumble in June 2025 while responding to a shooting. Officers reported seeing Crumble with a backpack, and while searching it found a gun and 60-round magazine.

Crumble claimed he found the gun and planned to sell it. Because of a prior felony conviction, Crumble isn’t allowed to possess a gun.

The release said ATF assisted Jefferson City police in the investigation.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman charged in the murder of a 4-year-old in Benton County has waived her right to a jury trial.

Kourtney Aumen is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, child endangerment and assault. She is accused of being part of the murder of 4-year-old Jessica Mast in December 2020. Mast’s parents have pleaded guilty. The sheriff’s office says Jessica was severely beaten before she died.

Her father reportedly told authorities that Jessica had been beaten, submerged in a pond then left outside in the cold before being taken back inside.

Court documents show that through her lawyer, Aumen waived her right to a jury trial.  She still needs a judge’s approval, but this would mean a judge would decide if she is guilty.

Aumen was ruled competent to stand trial this week.

 

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Nearly a year has passed since a Stephens College student was shot and killed in downtown Columbia, and the police department still doesn’t have a unit dedicated to downtown — an area that has become a flashpoint between the city government and University of Missouri leadership.  

“I believe there is much more that we need to do, given the number of incidents that we’ve seen,” University of Missouri President Mun Choi told ABC 17 News in a recent interview. 

Following 21-year-old Aiyanna Williams’ death on Broadway last September, Choi started pushing the city to get crime under control. One month later, MU and the city put out a joint list of actions to do just that. 

One of those points was to increase law enforcement downtown, and throughout the past year, the idea of reinstating the Columbia Police Department’s downtown unit has come up multiple times. 

However, in an April interview with ABC 17 News, CPD Chief Jill Schlude said that wasn’t going to be possible until at least the fall because of staffing, but extra officers have been assigned to patrol downtown. 

Schlude declined an interview for this story. City spokesperson Christopher Ave said Schlude declined out of respect for the Williams family. 

Ave said in an email that CPD had 163 sworn police officers as of early September, but that number fluctuates because of attrition rates. He also said CPD is understaffed by 23 positions.

Although eight people will start in the police academy at the end of September, Ave said, they won’t be ready to be on the streets for about 10 months.

Choi said he likes the idea of bringing back the dedicated downtown CPD unit, which Ave said was formed over 15 years ago. It was disbanded in 2019 because of staffing.

The key to reviving the unit could be in the public safety sales tax the Columbia voters approved in August. The 1% sales tax would take effect on Jan. 1, and the city would start to receive the revenue generated in March.

The tax is expected to bring in $38 million. Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said the police department estimates hiring 50 more police officers over four years with that funding, along with an updated building and higher pay for police.

“This will allow us to have a sustainable funding stream in addition to what we’re already giving from the general fund to the police and fire department,” Buffaloe said.

Choi said he supports CPD and its efforts to increase downtown safety, but still pushes the city to do more.

“When I believe something is very important like this, I will continue to advocate for it. And I’ll ask all members of our community to help support more police, the need for more police in downtown,” Choi said.

Williams’ death sparked Choi’s public advocacy, but constant violence in one area of downtown pushes him to continue.

Following a large street brawl and a shots-fired call over the summer, Choi sent emails to the city again, asking city leaders to revoke the liquor license for Reign Bar–-the establishment he believes is the cause of the fights and crime in the section of East Walnut Street that intersects with Eighth through Tenth Streets. 

He also warned students to stay away from that area at night.

“It’s probably not the only establishment that has caused this type of situation, but it is a very prominent bar in that location, Ninth and Walnut, where these violent incidents are occurring,” Choi said. 

Buffaloe agreed that something needs to be done.

“We want to make sure that people are safe, and we know that once it gets like after midnight or closer to bars close, people have been drinking and there’s a lot of young people downtown, and we want to figure out ways that we can try to proactively message about that,” Buffaloe said.

She mentioned that CPD met with bar owners to establish a line of communication. Schlude said after the meeting that many of the bar owners expressed concerns about CPD staffing and people tailgating in their cars.

A manager at Reign Bar told ABC 17 News that he believes the people who are involved in violence near the bar aren’t patrons, and the problem is the people who stay outside with open containers.

Last fall, CPD ramped up its enforcement efforts downtown to try to reduce violence. Between August 2025 and 2026, CPD issued 11 open-container citations and made 41 arrests. CPD also cracked down on jaywalking, and since August 2025, the department has issued 54 citations and made 16 arrests.

MU brings over 30,000 students to Columbia, and Choi said he feels responsible for their safety. 

“There are sections of downtown that are dangerous that I wouldn’t want my family to go to. As well as, I am responsible for the safety of thousands of students that live in downtown, that work in downtown establishments and those that visit downtown during weekend hours and so forth,” Choi said.

Choi said there are a few things that could help increase public safety downtown, including adding more CPD police officers, providing them moral support, allowing CPD to collectively work with the University of Missouri Police Department and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, and getting the Columbia City Council to pass an urban camping ordinance.

Choi sees some of the activities of homeless people downtown as a potential safety hazard for students and their families.

Columbia’s Downtown Improvement District has already submitted a letter asking the Columbia City Council to consider and research an urban camping ordinance. It was signed by nearly 80 businesses.

However, the District has pushed back against Choi for his focus on Reign Bar, saying any crime issues downtown should not be pinned on a particular business.

CID Executive Director Nickie Davis said an urban camping ordinance would provide clarity on what to do when a homeless individual is sleeping, blocking or using the space in front of a business.

“Everything seems to be unclear. So really, we are looking for a clarification of what is and isn’t enforceable. Are they being enforced already? And what can we do to make things a little bit more clear for everybody?” Davis said.

The letter was submitted to the council Aug. 17. However, council members haven’t taken action on the proposal or asked the city administration to conduct research.

“We know this is something our businesses need. They are struggling,” Davis said. “So, we will continue to work for that until city council can give us an answer one way or another and/or put in the time and research on what this could look like.”

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Melissa Houston

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

EDITOR’S NOTE: The story has been corrected to reflect that the person involved was not an MU student.

The University of Missouri said Thursday that it is investigating a person for comments made during a Turning Point USA “Pick up the Mic” session on Speakers Circle.

During the session Wednesday hosted by Shane Winnings, Chloe Carter came to the mic to discuss the First and Second Amendments.

“It is worth it to have a couple gun deaths every couple years to keep our Second Amendment right,” Carter said.

Winnings responded with “I agree.”

The conversation then moved to talk about Charlie Kirk when the person said that Charlie Kirk would have agreed and “died by his word.”

Winnings then said that Kirk died with the same mindset, calling it a conviction, and recommended the student “finds out what that means one day.”

Winnings asked if Carter was “for people being killed for freedom of speech.”

Carter responded with “yeah, absolutely.”

In a social media post, the university commented that it will investigate Carter and will “hold the individual to account.” An MU spokesperson later said that Carter is not a student and has been trespassed from campus.

Zach Greenberg, Director of faculty legal defense with the FIRE organization, said that the First Amendment protects any discussions of violence. The only time it does not, is when it falls into a category of true threat.

“The First Amendment protects, calls for violence, discussions of violence, even justifications for the moral propriety of violence,” said Greenberg. “It protects speech unless it falls into the narrow protected category of a true threat: the serious intent to commit unlawful violence, direct, imminent, specific.”

Greenberg said technically Carter’s comments did not violate the First Amendment; however, the university trespassing on Carter could be a violation of her First Amendment rights because it is a government state university.

“I think that’s a punishment that government inflicting for the exercise of someone’s free speech rights, so their student are not student you shouldn’t be punished for expressing yourself,” said Greenberg.

Carter could potentially take legal action against the university for being trespassed from a public campus, according to Greenberg.

“I think if the university were to say to ban the speaker from campus, you know, maybe a no-contact order, or a trespass order, it would be problematic if it’s based on the students’ or the speaker’s protected speech,” said Greenberg.

The university says the Columbia Police Department and FBI have been contacted, in addition to the University of Missouri Police Department.

“We denounce any form of violence, and it is totally unacceptable to wish harm upon a person for exercising their First Amendment rights. This is a very serious matter for which we’ve launched a full investigation. We will hold the individual to account,” the university stated in a social media post.

State Sen. Stephen Webber (D-Columbia) criticized Carter’s statements in an X post.

“This is deeply sick behavior (and so were the words). If you see someone acting like this at Mizzou (or anywhere) you should absolutely call them out for it,” Webber wrote.

Carter said that she knew she was taking a risk stepping up to the mic, but did not realize how far people would take the backlash.

“I didn’t expect the situation to get quite this large. I knew that what I was doing was provocative and that there would be some kind of backlash, but this has really caught on in right-wing social media,” said Carter. “Honestly, the worst part is that people are coming after everyone associated with me as well.”

Carter criticized the backlash, saying that right-wing media figures frequently talk about and celebrate violence, such as the death of George Floyd, Israel’s attacks in Palestine and shooting deaths tied to ICE agents.

“These are the people who were anti-cancel culture in the late 2010s and the people who are supposedly the strongest supporters of the first amendment, but you see them here calling for me to be expelled, fired, imprisoned, and even killed,” said Carter. “People often forget that the American right is an ideology based entirely off of the normalization of violence and oppression.”

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Demetra Alarcon

COLUMBIA, MO. (KMIZ)

Prosecutors have charged a man with first-degree terrorist threat and resisting arrest following a four-hour standoff on Wednesday.

Police identified the suspect as 34-year-old Christopher Dow of Columbia. Officers arrested Dow shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday at his home on Hidden Creek Court on a warrant for third-degree domestic assault.

According to a probable cause statement released by CPD, an officer made contact over the phone with Dow. Dow told officers that he was armed and that if any officers entered the residence, Dow would open fire.

The officer stated that Dow said he would shoot the gas line and blow up the house, “to kill himself and as many officers as he could,” said the probable cause statement.

The home is in a residential area, and school buses were dropping off children nearby during the standoff. Police escorted children to their homes from the bus stop.

According to the statement, Dow showed an officer during a video call that he was standing next to a gas water heater with two different handguns. Dow reportedly told the officer he “would blow up the house and kill everyone he could before he came out.”

According to the statement, there were approximately 20-30 officers at the scene. Officers cleared the street and evacuated nearby residents in fear that Dow would carry out his threats.

Dow did not leave the residence until officers deployed gas.

The statement says they believe Dow will not appear in court if he receives bond, writing that “Dow stated he would rather die than spend one night in jail,” according to the statement.

Dow remained in jail without bond on Thursday morning.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

University of Missouri students report drug use is “prevalent” among the student body as conversations surrounding college drug use grow following a death investigation at the University of Mississippi.

Two students at Ole Miss were found dead in their off-campus homes Monday. They were identified as 20-year-old Robert Strang from Atlanta and 18-year-old Aidan Hamilton from Colorado. Authorities reported that the unregulated drug kratom was found nearby, with student groups circulating warnings about a new fentanyl-like synthetic opioid called cychlorphine.

The University of Missouri Interfraternity Council later notified students about the risks of drug use in a Facebook post in support of the University of Mississippi Interfraternity Council.

“The Mizzou Interfraternity Council Stands with the Ole Miss Interfraternity Council, the University of Mississippi community, and everyone affected by the events that occurred in Oxford this weekend,” the Facebook post said. “We have a responsibility to look out for one another and to take seriously the risks that can come with unknown or counterfeit substances.”

Authorities in Mississippi are yet to say whether kratom and cychlorphine had a role in the deaths.

ABC 17 News spoke with around a dozen University of Missouri students, with around half reporting they have seen a culture of drug use at the school. One student even shared that a friend who began using while at the University of Missouri later died of a cocaine overdose after college.

“The main one is cocaine, and it’s is very prevalent within like off-campus, like when you’re out at a bar in the bathroom or something like that and people are either offering it to you or asking you for it,” the student said.

“Kratom is very popular I would say, around downtown with students,” another student said. “It used to be like 18+ and they don’t even check for that, so if you just walk into the store and look like somewhat young adult, they’ll just give it to you.”

Both students added that they have seen several smoke shops and convenience stores downtown continue to sell kratom and 7-OH despite recent state government crackdowns.

Cychlorphine has gained notoriety for being more than 10 times stronger than fentanyl and has been increasingly seen in domestic Midwest drug markets. It also has no smell or taste and does not appear on fentanyl test strips.

“There’s an increased risk of overdose from people that may be using those drugs,” Boone County Public Health and Human Services Public Health Information Specialist Austin Krohn said. “Important to note, Narcan still works, but it may require additional doses and maybe up to more than two that usually come in the packages.”

According to the City of Columbia, Narcan, which stops opioid overdoses, can be found 24/7 in distribution boxes across the city, including at the Columbia Fire stations, the local health department and the Activity & Recreation Center.

University of Missouri sophomores Neer Patel and Grady Wright are working to bring awareness to drug education and safety through the Atlas Health Equity Group. The group hopes to lead state initiatives on naloxone access and public health education, including handing out free boxes of naloxone on campus.

“I think as of yesterday, we gave out 3,500 units and then today we’re planning on giving out another 1000 units,” Wright said. “We want to keep 500 in storage so we can hand that out to the bigger Greek life around campus.”

The naloxone is supplied by the University of Missouri St. Louis Addiction Science Team.

“I think it’s a misconception of naloxone that people think if they have it, they’re considered drug users, but naloxone is not for yourself, because if you’re overdosing, then you’re not going to be able to use naloxone, it’s just in case something ever does happen,” Patel said.

Both students add that their work comes from their own experiences of seeing overdoses while living in Columbia and Kansas City.

“Last year I saw someone overdose outside of the student center, which was kind of crazy because it takes so long for EMT to respond even when they’re so close, so that kind of prompted me to kind of get on it more for sure,” Wright said.

According to the University, naloxone can be found at the Wellness Resource Center inside the Student Center.

Students ABC 17 News spoke to added that naloxone can be found in some dorm halls.

“You talk to one of the members there, they can get you in contact with one of the people there that is able to do big group orders of Narcan as well as single ones,” one student said.

“The Mizzou IFC encourages every member of our community to educate themselves about overdose prevention, know where to access Narcan, and take action when a fellow student or brother may be in danger,” the University of Missouri IFC said in its Facebook post.

Krohn adds that 911 should be on the line during an emergency scenario before naloxone is given and to follow instructions throughout the treatment.

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