Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A mental evaluation was granted on Monday to a man accused of murder and arson.

Steven Strumpf, 32, of Columbia is in the Boone County Jail after he was charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, second-degree arson and credit card fraud in David Strumpf’s death. A hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday, June 16. He is currently being held at the Boone County Jail.

Steven Strumpf’s attorney filed the request for a mental evaluation on May 7.

Court documents in previous reporting say that on Jan. 19, 2024, firefighters discovered a body under debris in a garage on Deerfoot Way. They found the body later when looking for hot spots.

Steven Strumpf was allegedly seen that night moving items out of the house just hours before the fire. Police were also alerted to a fraudulent hotel charge on a Commerce Bank account for a stay that evening and found that Steven Strumpf had rented the room, previous reporting indicates.

He allegedly admitted to stabbing the victim multiple times and setting the body on fire, court documents in previous reporting say.

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Erika McGuire

Editor’s Note: Phrasing in this article has been updated to reflect updated information from the source.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A City of Columbia lineman suffered from an electrical shock Monday night while working to restore power during an outage in south Columbia.

A second worker was also injured while helping lower the other lineman to safety, according to a Tuesday email from City of Columbia Utilities spokesperson Jason West.

According to West, the two were part of a crew replacing a transformer on a pole when one of them was shocked. The crew was able to use an AED and administered CPR utility EMS arrived on scene, West wrote.

West said the city could not comment on the injuries that were suffered.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two people were charged with misdemeanors after deputies found several malnourished dogs at an empty residence in Keytesville.

Vincent Brummer and Emily Brummer were charged with three counts of animal abuse and three counts of animal neglect. Warrants were issued on Monday and $1,500 bonds were set.

According to the probable cause statement, a neighbor called law enforcement saying that a German shepherd had been tangled in a chain in a backyard for several days. A Chariton County deputy on Sunday knocked on the door of the residence – where he wrote he knew both Brummers lived – and heard other dogs barking, the release says.

The deputy saw a utility shut-off notice that was taped to the door that had a Friday date. Mail for both people was in an open mailbox and postmarked for May 13, the statement says.

The deputy went to the backyard and saw a malnourished German shepherd chained to a board with an “intentionally shortened chain,” the statement says. Empty buckets and bowls were in the area and the deputy poured water out of a spigot from a neighboring yard, the statement says.

The deputy filled a 5-gallon bucket and the dog drank 5 inches from it immediately, the statement says. The deputy then went inside the residence and was “overwhelmed by a strong, putrid odor, intensified by the heat inside the uncooled home. Dog feces were present in several rooms.”

An emaciated pit bull was found, along with a dachshund that was locked in a crate without food or water, the statement says.  

“Both dogs appeared extremely malnourished and lethargic. Neither responded significantly to my presence, which I believe to be due to extreme dehydration and starvation,” court documents say.

Temperatures in the days leading up to Sunday eclipsed 80 degrees. After the dachshund was let out of the crate, it immediately ran to an empty water bowl, the deputy wrote. Law enforcement estimates the animals were without care for four or five days.

A vet determined the dogs had poor care for about six months, court documents say. The statement says that the dogs were brought to Saving Dogs Rescue in Moberly.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia held its annual labor group presentations Monday night, hosting union representatives from the Columbia Police Officers Association, Columbia Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 1055 and LiUNA Local 955, which represents a large portion of the city’s workforce.

All three unions expressed concerns over how the city was handling negotiations. 

The Annual Labor Group Presentation allows the City Council an opportunity to hear about how negotiations with city staff are going, since labor negotiations are primarily handled by the city administrator’s office. Dozens of city employees were in attendance on Monday night. 

Columbia is looking to balance its 2026 budget, as it projects to draw $31.1 million from its cash reserves during the next six years, as sales tax revenue falls short of expectations and employee wages and benefits continue to rise. However, union representatives feel that the city is not prioritizing its employees. 

Columbia Police Officers’ Association

Don Weaver, a lawyer who represents CPOA, told the City Council on Monday that they want to see changes to next year’s budget, calling the financial issues cited by the city “fabricated” and adding that if the city wants to prioritize public safety, it should be prioritizing working with CPD to help address its staffing shortage. 

On May 5th, Columbia Police Chief Jill Schulde told ABC 17 News that the department currently has 15 officer vacancies and 2 sergeant vacancies. 

“CPOA is asking the City to implement a pay step plan (predictable pay adjustments commensurate with time of successful service) to ensure CPD can attract and retain the best and brightest,” Weaver wrote in a statement to ABC 17 News. “Implementing long-term solutions to CPD’s staffing crisis is an essential step toward improving community safety.” 

The lack of a pay step plan was a point of emphasis for Weaver on Monday night, who told the council that most progressive cities in Missouri have a step plan. He added the CPOA has only had one meeting with the city since submitting its plan. 

“It would be good for the city, and for CPOA members and for the community to give officers and sergeants predictable pay increases,” Weaver told the council. 

Columbia Professional Firefighters LOCAL 1055

The Columbia Professional Firefighters’ union pointed to several longstanding issues within the city, including stagnant wages that are not competitive with comparable markets, salary compression caused by past wage freezes, and ongoing challenges with recruitment and retention as employees leave for better pay and benefits elsewhere.

“We’re at a place where we’re not making progress and the city has decided to hit the panic button, which always comes back to the employees,” Local 1055 President Zack Privette told the city council on Monday. 

Privette asked the council to build its next budget around employees to help meet inflation and CPI rates with wage adjustments. He says that employees who work to earn advanced training do not get compensated, and because of this, he feels the city is taking advantage of employees. 

Privette also added that multiple classes of employees within the fire department are earning the same pay regardless of how long they have been with the city, which has hurt their recruitment efforts as employees continue to leave for better pay and benefits elsewhere. 

LiUNA Local 955

Local 955 union claims it proposed a 7% adjustment to the current pay scale. The proposal also called for all eligible employees currently on the step scale to receive a one-step increase. 

Employees not currently on the step scale would move to the closest step without a reduction in pay, followed by a one-step increase. In addition, the union requested that three steps be added to the top of each pay scale and that the merit process be reviewed with the city administrator. According to the union, the city administrator rejected the proposal and offered no economic counter.

Andrew Hutchinson, the public employees union representative for LiUNA Local 955, told the City Council that Columbia is one of the only cities he has worked with that offers no cost-of-living adjustment.

Hutchinson told ABC 17 News that they will be meeting with the city again on Wednesday morning. 

ABC 17 News reached out to the City of Columbia for comment. Check back for updates.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

No charges will be filed in a Sunday afternoon shooting.

The Columbia Police Department confirmed in a Tuesday press release that a road rage incident preceded a fatal shooting at the McDonald’s on Nifong Boulevard.

Police on Monday said they were not willing to discuss a possible motive, though D’Markus Thomas-Brown – of the Office of Violence Prevention – stated road rage was a likely reason.

Police wrote that Derek Gonzalez, 32, of Columbia, was pronounced dead at an area hospital after he and another driver “encountered each other in traffic” around 12:40 p.m. Sunday. The drivers pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot and fired shots at each other.

CPD wrote that it reviewed the case with the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office and that no criminal charges will be filed. However, police note the investigation is “ongoing.”

“It was two individuals, not interpersonal, traffic signal parking lot discussion, an altercation, and then followed across the street at McDonald’s to the individual getting shot and killed, and another individual being shot,” Thomas-Brown told ABC 17 News on Monday. “And so, just road rage that lends itself to a lost life.”

One person was detained at the scene but later released.

Check back for updates.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri’s hot-weather law is in effect from June 1-Sept. 30.

A Tuesday press release from the Missouri Public Service Commission says the law was made to protect residential customers of investor-owned utilities from having electric or natural gas services disconnected when extreme heat is expected.

Utility companies are prohibited from disconnecting service if the National Weather Service is predicting the temperature to rise above 95 degrees or if the heat index eclipses 105 degrees. Utility companies aren’t allowed to disconnect for the following 24 hours if that temperature is expected from 6 a.m.-9 p.m.

Consumers are still responsible for paying their bills, the release says.

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CNN Newsource

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren grilled former Missouri congressman Billy Long on Tuesday about whether the president can order the IRS to take away a nonprofit organization’s tax-free status.

Long is President Donald Trump’s nominee for IRS commissioner. Long represented southwest Missouri in Congress for 12 years before stepping down in 2023.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was charged after he allegedly assaulted a woman at a Kingdom City hotel on Feb. 28 and March 1.

Richard Allen Tripp, 34, of New Bloomfield, was charged on Monday with first-degree domestic assault, two counts of third-degree domestic assault and one count of tampering with a victim in a felony prosecution. He was booked into the Callaway County Jail on Monday evening.

The victim allegedly told law enforcement on March 13 that Tripp assaulted her multiple times during their stay at the Quality Inn in Kingdom City, according to the probable cause statement.

The victim allegedly told law enforcement that she was strangled to the point of losing consciousness and claimed Tripp said he was going to kill her, court documents say.

Tripp also allegedly assaulted the victim while she was driving on Interstate 70 on March 1, court documents say. Law enforcement reviewed medical reports from University Hospital that detailed several injuries, the statement says.

Trip is also charged in Randolph County for allegedly assaulting the same victim. He was charged on March 31 with first-degree property damage and third-degree domestic assault.

He posted a $5,000 bond in that case on April 10 and a hearing was scheduled for Monday.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Three meetings are scheduled for next week for the city to gather community feedback on the Douglass Park court renovations, a Tuesday press release from the city says.

Meetings are scheduled for:

6-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 27 at the Activity and Recreation Center

11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 28 in conference rooms 1A/1B at City Hall

10 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 31 in conference rooms 1A/1B at City Hall

Feedback can also be submitted online on the city’s BeHeard website. The release says city staff “also anticipates collecting additional information about existing park amenities and future improvements. Staff will address immediate concerns presented at the meetings, such as trash pickup or mowing.”

The release says “broader concerns” can be incorporated in next year’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan.

“The City of Columbia is committed to listening to our residents and making sure their voices are heard, especially when it comes to decisions that directly impact their neighborhoods and quality of life,” Parks and Recreation Director Gabe Huffington said in the release. “We value open dialogue and meaningful engagement, and we hope community members will take part in these meetings to help shape the future of Douglass Park. Your feedback matters, and we are here to listen.”

The city announced in February that it would seek additional feedback after community pushback over the new name of the court. The city wants to name one of the courts for former University of Missouri women’s basketball assistant coach Willie Cox.

Some community members said in February that they wanted to see courts named after others involved in basketball programs at the park.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Traffic on Stadium Boulevard near Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City will be closed for a portion of Friday and Saturday for the state track meet, according to a Tuesday press release from the Jefferson City Police Department.

Traffic will be restricted from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. both days between Jackson Street and Mesa Avenue.

“There will be a large number of pedestrians in the area and drivers are urged to be diligent should they be in the area. Motorists are further advised to follow the directions of police officers assigned to the detail,” the release says.

This weekend’s meet is for classes 1-3. Tickets are available on MSHSAA’s website.  Larger classes will compete May 30-31.

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