Author: KMIZ

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Starting July 1 this year, the City of Columbia is set to roll out its recently approved median ordinance.

The City of Springfield, Missouri, has had a similar median rule in place since 2018. Both ordinances focus on medians in intersections with speed limits of 35 miles per hour or higher, average daily traffic volumes of at least 15,000 vehicles, or medians narrower than six feet.

The City of Columbia’s ordinance also will:

Prohibit crossing a major road anywhere except in a crosswalk, a pedestrian-control signal, or an intersection if those things aren’t available.

Prohibit being on a median fewer than 6 feet wide except when crossing the road.

Prohibit getting out of cars while in a traffic lane or within a major intersection.

Prohibit approaching cars on a major road unless the car is legally parked.

Prohibit people in vehicles from engaging with pedestrians at major intersections.

According to Maj. Eric Reece with the Springfield Police Department, the rule has made a difference in the number of pedestrians at medians.

“Yes, our hazardous intersections definitely have less people in the area, hopefully that’ll keep everybody safe,” Reece said.

Columbia’s median ordinance faced pushback the City Council approved it with a 5–2 vote on Monday night, with 39 speakers voicing concerns on the rule potentially targeting homeless individuals. Additional concerns include how the rule will be enforced by police.

“Enforcement is one of those questions that came up a lot in council last night, ‘well, how would this be enforced? Will enforcement make situations more dangerous than they are?’ and that was certainly some of my concerns,” said Mike Burden, who is the chief executive officer of the Columbia pedestrian and cyclist advocacy group Local Motion.

Reece said the Springfield Police Department handles median enforcement similar to traffic enforcement by adding it to typical patrol responsibilities for officers.

“We always try to educate first and then we move towards enforcement later on, so it’s really about the discretion of the officer,” Reece said.

Burden added while there may be community concerns about the ordinance targeting certain groups, he is looking to work with the city on other pedestrian safety legislation.

“We didn’t really feel like the ordinance was the right tool to improve pedestrian safety in our community,” Burden said. “However, I’m heartened by the conversations I heard from council members and members of the public who said, ‘this conversation continues.'”

Columbia is currently working on a pedestrian and road study on Business Loop 70, funded by a $2.1 million Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“The team has been working on site surveys of the planning area in preparation for some input meetings in the next couple of months,” Carrie Gartner, executive director of The Loop CID, said in a statement.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former corrections officer was convicted Tuesday of manslaughter in the 2023 death of a woman being held in the Cooper County Jail.

Robyn Pfeiffer was convicted Tuesday by a Callaway County jury of second-degree involuntary manslaughter, said Jackson County prosecutor’s office spokesperson Jazzlyn Johnson. A special prosecutor was brought in from Jackson County, Missouri, to work on the case.

Sentencing will be in April.

The trial began last week. Pfieffer was charged with manslaughter for the death of Brooke Bailey. Bailey died from untreated diabetes in her cell at the Cooper County Jail. Court documents say several jail workers told investigators with the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office that Pfeiffer brushed off Bailey’s complaints of feeling ill, saying the inmate was “playing games.”

Bailey was found dead in her cell with blood and vomit on the floor and on her clothing. Bailey was being held for a commitment to the Department of Mental Health.

A medical examiner found Bailey died from diabetic ketoacidosis and low sodium levels.

Another jailer charged in the case, Rachel Atherton, is scheduled to go to trial in April.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Several billboards in Mid-Missouri are promoting safer online exchanges.

Viewers may see those billboards from the group “Justice For Joshua Grey” across the area. Grey died in a 2018 Virginia shooting after setting up the sale of a cellphone on the internet.

The new billboards in Missouri come after Michael Ryan Burke was shot to death on Jan. 18 in the 1400 block of Ridgemont Court. Court documents allege Burke had used Facebook Marketplace to arrange to arrange a cellphone sale.

Tim Ketchum, of Lamar Advertising, says people need to think about safe places to set up online exchanges.

“It’s something that our community and all of us need to be aware of, because none of us are really absent of this happening in our life because it’s so prevalent that these platforms are used,” he said.

There will be nine electronic billboards around Columbia: One in Ashland, one near Jefferson City, one near Boonville and six around the Lake of the Ozarks. Since Columbia doesn’t allow electronic billboards, they are having static ads printed and placed in the city soon. Another seven will appear in Kansas City and Springfield, each, Ketchum said.

Three adults and a juvenile were charged in Burke’s shooting death.

Alexis Baumann, 18, of Hallsville; and Kobe Aust and Joseph Crane, both 18, of Columbia; were all charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action, felony murder and armed criminal action. All three people are being held at the Boone County Jail without bond.

The juvenile has not been named, but is the person described as the shooter in court documents.

A confined docket hearing for Aust was scheduled for Tuesday at the Boone County Courthouse and he was denied bond. A bond review is scheduled again for Feb. 10.

Hearings were held last week for Baumann and Crane, and they were denied bond. Crane and Aust have a preliminary hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, March 5. Baumann has a preliminary hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 10.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia’s city staff is seeking public feedback on a proposal to convert a 2.5-mile section of the COLT Railroad into a public-use trail.

The project focuses on a stretch of track located along Paris Road, extending from Rogers Street to East Brown Station Road. City officials are gathering community input to decide whether to proceed with transforming the unused railroad corridor into a recreational trail.

This initiative would use railbanking, a process previously used in Mid-Missouri to establish Katy Trail State Park.

The feedback would help the city determine what to do with the railroad section that is no longer in service. Community members can submit their thoughts and comments regarding the proposal via the BeHeardCOMO.

The 2.5-mile stretch runs specifically along Paris Road on the city’s east side. The proposed trail would start at Rogers Street and end at East Brown Station Road.

An open house is scheduled for Feb. 12 at City Hall.

 

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Madison Stuerman

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri State Capitol Commission is moving forward with renovation plans for the state Capitol totaling nearly $600 million.

The commission approved a motion Monday allowing the Office of Administration to begin the process of hiring an “owner’s representative” to oversee the project.

A $595 million budget has been set aside for the work. The approved motion authorizes the state to prepare a request for proposals for the representative position, which will help manage the multi-million dollar budget.

The renovation will include building restoration and updated parking around the Capitol grounds. The project includes upgrades to ensure the building meets Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

State Rep. Rudy Veit (R-Wardsville) serves as the chair of the Capitol Commission. During the meeting, Veit explained that hiring an owner’s representative will help the commission manage the large-scale project and its costs.

“This will allow them to address issues and stay on budget,” Veit said. He added that the oversight would also help the commission “stay fiscally responsible” throughout the renovation process.

The Office of Administration will now move forward with preparing the request for proposals for the owner’s representative.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Marshall, Missouri, man was charged on Monday with a pair of felonies in Cooper County after he was accused of pulling out a gun while trying to take a phone.

Dontri Harris was charged with first-degree robbery and illegal gun possession. A $100,000 warrant was issued on Tuesday. He was not listed on the Cooper County Jail’s online roster on Tuesday afternoon.

The probable cause statement says Boonville police were called at 8 a.m. Jan. 22 for an assault that occurred earlier in the morning.

The statement says the victim drove to a coworker’s residence to pick them up when Harris drove by and eventually walked up to her vehicle. He then allegedly opened her driver-side door and demanded the victim to give him her phone. The victim allegedly saw a gun in Harris’ waistband.

A struggle over the phone ensued and Harris allegedly pressed the barrel of the gun on the back of the victim’s head, the statement says. The coworker then came out of the residence and Harris threw the phone into the back of the vehicle before running away, the statement says.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou women will head south of the border this week to take on Arkansas.

The Tigers and Razorbacks tip off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Fayetteville. Watch Coach Kellie Harper talk about the team’s season so far and preparation for the game.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A power outage in southern Boone County halted operations at Columbia Regional Airport for about an hour on Tuesday.

The airport shared on Facebook at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday that a power outage is affecting services. The online flight status information shared on the airport’s website was down due to the outage.

Airport Manager Mike Parks said the outage lasted for about an hour and stopped screening and air traffic control operations. The Boone Electric Cooperative online outage map showed about 16 members south of Ashland affected by the outage.

The map showed that the outage happened at noon.

A Boone Electric spokesperson did not immediately have details about the cause of the outage.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway reached a deal with her former client, Grain Belt Expres,s in the company’s lawsuit over the state’s demand for documents.

Hanaway was the lead counsel for Grain Belt when she worked at law firm Husch Blackwell. She left that job when she was appointed attorney general last fall.

Grain Belt sued the attorney general’s office last July after then-Attorney General Andrew Bailey demanded that the wind energy company turn over documents as part of a civil investigative demand. The demand is similar to a subpoena.

In court filings last week, Grain Belt agreed to supply Hanaway with documents she sought.

The project would route a high-voltage wind energy transmission line through parts of Central Missouri. The company has promised economic impact through construction jobs, and has said a Hubbell Power Systems in Centralia will make components for the project.

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 has also filed several eminent domain lawsuits to obtain easements on private land.

The Missouri Public Service Commission has approved the project.

As Grain Belt’s lawyer last July, Hanaway said the attorney general had “no authority to interfere with the Public Service Commission or its final approval of this project.”

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.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man who suffered serious injuries in a north Columbia shooting last week was charged Tuesday with eight felonies.

Michael D. Gilmore Jr., 21, of Jefferson City, was arrested Monday. Boone County Assistant Prosecutor Paul Wade charged Gilmore on Tuesday with three counts of first-degree assault, four counts of armed criminal action and a count of unlawful use of a weapon, according to online court records.

Police found Gilmore injured on Thursday in the 1700 block of Ballenger Lane after a reported shooting on nearby Alan Lane, according to court documents. Gilmore is accused of being part of a group on foot who shot at three people in a car.

A co-defendant, Ammanuel Minuye, was charged last week.

Police believe Gilmore and Minuye were on foot when they fired, and the people in the car fired back. The people in the car told officers that a group of three people shot at them, but Minuye told officers that only Gilmore was with him, according to a probable cause statement.

The people in the car drove to Casey’s on Clark Lane, where one of them sought help for a minor gunshot wound, court documents say.

Minuye allegedly told police during an interrogation that he and Gilmore had been shot at.

Gilmore was in the Boone County Jail without bond on Tuesday. No hearings had been set as of Tuesday morning.

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