Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Vice President JD Vance was in Kansas City on Monday to announce an operation that is allegedly targeting fraud that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vance spoke at the Kansas City FBI headquarters as officials announced “Operation No Doze,” which is starting in Missouri and Kansas.

A press release from the Department of Justice says the Western District Court of Missouri filed “has filed charges, secured pleas and sentences, and obtained civil judgments against 15 defendants, involving more than $60 million in actual or intended losses.”

That release says from June 12-Sept. 1, prosecutors in the fraud division were able to get felony charges against nearly 80 defendants “defendants responsible for approximately $100 million dollars in intended loss to the United States.”

“We are proud to stand with our federal and state partners in rooting out criminal activity of all kinds, especially defrauding the public,” Gov. Mike Kehoe was quoted in the release. “Fraud is not a victimless crime. Every dollar stolen is a dollar taken from hardworking taxpayers or from someone who depends on the programs those dollars are meant to support. In Missouri, we will continue working at every level to hold fraudsters accountable and protect those they seek to exploit.”

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former Boone County commissioner and magazine publisher is working to save the historic Katy Station from demolition in downtown Columbia.

Former Boone County Southern District Commissioner Fred Parry launched an effort on Facebook to try to save the building, arguing the historic structure is an integral part of Columbia’s history.

“I think that it’s important for us to look at surrounding communities like Fulton and Fayette and see how they have preserved history in their communities. We can learn a lot from those communities,” Parry told ABC 17 News. “We don’t have to tear down buildings to make them better.  We can restore buildings and repurpose them,  and it’d be nice if we could adopt that mindset here in Columbia.” 

Katy Station, located at 402 E. Broadway, was added to the Columbia Historic Register on Jan. 29, 1979. The building originally served as a depot for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad.

“For a long time the Katy station was a gateway to our community,  and that was the first impression that people had of Columbia, Missouri. It also speaks to the history of our community where transportation was involved,” Parry said. “One of Columbia’s greatest assets is the fact that we’re so accessible by highway, by river, by train, and it’s just a rich part of Columbia’s history that  really we don’t think a lot about these days.” 

Parry told ABC 17 News that more than 600 people have signed up to support efforts to save Katy Station since he launched the campaign.

The property is currently home to Shiloh Bar and Grill, which has operated at the location for nearly two decades after relocating from South Sixth Street in 2009.

In early September, the longtime Columbia staple announced on Facebook that the upcoming college football season would be its last. Owner Nic Parks later confirmed to ABC 17 News that the bar will close in December.

Parks said the closure is tied to the landlord’s plans to sell the property and alluded to a potential buyer’s plans to redevelop the historic Katy Station building.

Despite the Katy Station Building’s historical significance, the Historic Preservation Commission told ABC 17 News that nothing currently prevents the property from being demolished. The city can impose a 45-day delay on demolition to allow for further discussion, but beyond that, there are no additional protections in place.

One way for the city to provide additional protections for a historic building is through a zoning regulation known as a historic overlay, which places specific restrictions on a property or area to preserve its historic character. However, the Historic Preservation Commission said there is no historic overlay in place for the Katy Station Building.

Parry said most residents who have joined his effort are sensitive to the private property rights of the building’s current owner. While Parry acknowledges the owner likely has a buyer, he hopes members of the community can come together to make a counteroffer and prevent the historic station from being demolished.

“We think that the contract price on the building was between $5-and-$6 million. I think we as a community could raise that kind of money and  preserve that building for a long time to come,” Parry said. “I think the best plan is to find a single private buyer or organization or entity that would want to save this building for historic reasons and keep it a public structure if possible, or if not, just an adaptive reuse where the building could be used for a new purpose and still maintained and preserved for years to come.”

While Parry said ideally a wealthy person or corporation would buy the building, he said other options could include a GoFundMe campaign. However, having the city purchase it is not one of them. Columbia recently saved the McKinney Building and was part of the efforts to save Wabash Station. However, Parry believes the city should not be expected or encouraged to buy Katy Station. 

“I think if you ask the citizens of Columbia how they want their tax dollars spent, they’re going to tell you that they prefer that we invest it in infrastructure and we invest it in public safety,” Parry said. “We wanted to sort of remove this from the conversation that being publicly funded, because  I believe the vast majority of citizens  see much higher priorities for tax dollars.” 

Parry has already partaken in similar preservation projects, including renovating the “Inspiration Home,” a house built in 1914 for John Thomas Mitchell, a prominent Columbia banker, and his wife, Belle. 

“The house was in pretty poor condition when we bought it back in March, but we have spent the last six months restoring the home and bringing it back to its original grandeur and making it better than it was,” Parry said. “This is a great example of how a community can come together and save a historic structure and preserve it without costing taxpayers a dime and  showing that we’re proud of our heritage here in Columbia and that we want to find ways to protect it.” 

ABC 17 News has reached out to the city.

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ABC 17 News Team

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Judicial Discovery Center in Jefferson City held its grand opening on Monday.

The center, which cost $400,000 from money raised by the Supreme Court of Missouri Historical Society, will serve as an interactive space for residents to learn more about, “the rule of law, the role of courts in our system of government, how judges decide cases, and careers in the courts,” according to information from the state’s high court says. 

The space was previously used as a library. A press release from the Supreme Court says the grand opening was held on Monday as a prelude to Constitution Day, which is held on Sept. 17.

Judge Mary Russell said she believes the center will help teach the public about the judicial system.

“[The goal of the center is] to help them [residents] learn about how the judicial branch works,” she said. “How courts are here to protect people’s constitutional rights, how courts can resolve cases without violence and how we interact with our constitutional partners in the other two branches of government.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Moberly teenager had his case moved to Linn County on Friday, according to court filings.

Hunter Ames is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, tampering with evidence, second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage in the death of Kayla Huff. Court filings show he has a hearing scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1 in Linn County.

Alayna Mason is also charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. She’s charged in a related case with stealing a law enforcement vehicle, stealing a gun and escaping from custody. She has a hearing in both cases scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30 in Randolph County.

Christopher Hull is charged with first-degree kidnapping, tampering with evidence, second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage. An arraignment is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30 in Randolph County.

Julian Mason is charged with first-degree kidnapping, tampering with evidence, second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage. An arraignment is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23.

Skylar Powell is accused of helping hide Alayna Mason in her escape-from-confinement case His case was moved to Monroe County on Sept. 3. An arraignment is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1.

Previous reporting shows a juvenile was also charged in the murder case.

Huff was last seen May 6 before her body was found about a week later. Reporting from June says Ames and Alayna Mason allegedly told police that the group killed Huff by shooting her.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man accused of killing a woman at a motel on Range Line Street in Columbia last month was indicted by a grand jury on Friday.

Nicholas Ayres, 35, of Crane, Missouri, is charged in Boone County with first-degree domestic assault and second-degree murder in the death of Destiny Dunn, 37, of Kansas City.

Ayres is accused of beating Dunn to death at the By The Way Motel on Aug. 12.

Police allegedly found video on Ayres’ cellphone that showed him abusing Dunn.

He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. An arraignment was held on Monday. His next court date was not filed online.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Centralia man has been charged with a felony and two misdemeanors after he allegedly exposed himself to police during a standoff that occurred after a chase on Friday.

Brandon Baldwin, 40, was charged on Monday with aggravated fleeing, misdemeanor driving while revoked and misdemeanor first-degree sexual misconduct. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond and an arraignment was held on Monday. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 8.

Baldwin was also charged on Sept. 8 with three misdemeanors: Fourth-degree domestic assault, driving while revoked and resisting arrest. Court filings show he posted a $10,000 bond on Wednesday.

The probable cause statement in his new case says a Centralia police officer saw Baldwin driving on Friday and the officer knew Baldwin’s license was revoked. The officer then tried to conduct a traffic stop, which Baldwin first pulled over for before taking off again, the statement says.

The officer wrote that Baldwin drove through three stop signs during the chase, which allegedly coincided with school in the area letting out.

Eventually, Baldwin drove to his residence and went inside the home, but came out a few times to talk with officers during the standoff, the statement says. During one of those instances, Baldwin allegedly exposed his genitals to police, the statement says.

The statement says officers eventually used “less-lethal” shotgun rounds. Court documents allege that Baldwin eventually surrendered peacefully.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man has been charged with a felony after he allegedly assaulted a security guard at a downtown Columbia bar over the weekend.

Dorice Smith, 34, of Columbia, was charged on Monday in Boone County with first-degree assault. He is being held by the Department of Corrections and was detained on Sunday.

Court documents allege he is on parole for a burglary charge. He pleaded guilty in 2021 to first-degree burglary, two counts of illegal gun possession, two counts of stealing a gun and one count of resisting arrest. He was sentenced to five years in prison for that case. The DOC confirmed he was released in December.

Court documents say police were called to The Basement in the 800 block of East Walnut Street around 1 a.m. Sunday for a report of an assault. Multiple witnesses in the probable cause statement described Smith having to be removed from the bar for “unreasonable behavior. “

One of the witnesses allegedly told police that Smith returned to the bar to assault the security guard, who police found unconscious with a “pool of blood” around him, the statement says. The officer wrote the victim likely had a skull fracture.

The victim allegedly told police at University Hospital that he had to use pepper spray on Smith “due to his violent behavior” and could not remember anything afterwards, the statement says.

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Ellyse Edwards

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Diesel prices reached record highs again in Missouri and Columbia on Monday, putting more burden on farmers already facing high operating costs and tight profit margins.

AAA reported Missouri’s average diesel price at $5.91 per gallon Monday, up more than 36 cents from $5.549 one week ago. The statewide average has increased nearly 94 cents from $4.972 one month ago and about $2.50 from $3.406 one year ago.

AAA lists Monday’s statewide average as the highest diesel price recorded in Missouri.

“Record diesel prices are another significant blow to farmers who are already dealing with historically high input costs and tight margins,” Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins said in a statement to ABC 17 News. “Fuel touches nearly every part of a farm operation, from running tractors and combines to hauling grain, livestock and supplies. When diesel prices rise, the cost of producing food rises with them.”

Hawkins said farmers are often unable to pass their increased operating expenses directly to customers.

“Farmers are price takers,” Hawkins said. “We don’t get to simply pass higher fuel, fertilizer, seed and equipment costs along to our customers. Those expenses come directly out of the farm’s bottom line.”

LINK: ABC 17 Fuel Finder

Columbia’s average diesel price also reached a record high Monday at $5.903 per gallon. That is up more than 39 cents from $5.510 one week ago and more than $1 from $4.891 one month ago.

Diesel averaged $3.449 per gallon in Columbia one year ago.

Some stations in Mid-Missouri are selling diesel for $6 per gallon or more.

GasBuddy reported the national average price of diesel increased 31.6 cents during the past week to $6.183 per gallon.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, attributed the increase to several international developments, including tensions between the United States and Iran, hostilities in the Red Sea, the shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline and attacks that took two Russian refineries offline.

“Diesel prices could climb even faster in the wake of the new refinery attacks,” De Haan said. “While most of the country transitions to cheaper winter-blend gasoline this week, the scale of ongoing geopolitical escalations makes meaningful price relief unlikely in the near term.”

Gasoline prices are also increasing across Missouri.

GasBuddy reported Missouri’s average gasoline price increased 15.9 cents during the past week to $3.99 per gallon Monday. The statewide average is 15 cents higher than one month ago and $1.11 higher than one year ago.

The national average price of gasoline increased 17.2 cents during the past week to $4.25 per gallon. That is 19 cents higher than one month ago and $1.14 higher than one year ago.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A brawl involving eight people ended in the stabbing death of a person in Owensville.

Henry W. Lorton, of Owensville, was charged Monday with second-degree murder and three counts of first-degree assault. The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified the man who died as Trey R. Johnson.

Investigators identified Lorton from surveillance video from a bar and restaurant that was near the fight, which occurred in a parking area in the 100 block of North First Street, according to a probable cause statement. One person was stabbed in the chest and pronounced dead at the scene, while three other people suffered cutting injuries, the statement says.

Two of the victims were taken to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis for treatment.

The fight happened at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, and authorities arrested Lorton at his home about four hours later.

Lorton admitted to being in the fight and getting jumped by four men when he tried to walk away, according to the statement. He allegedly said he blacked out and the men were gone when he woke up.

Henry Lorton PCDownload

Lorton told authorities that he did not have a knife and that he didn’t stab or cut anyone, according to the statement.

Lorton is being held at the Franklin County Jail without bond. An initial court hearing was set for Tuesday.

In an interview with ABC 17, Scott Griffith, Owensville Police Chief, said that they have not seen a crime like this in a decade.

“In Owensville, we don’t have a lot of major crime. Our last incident that would be considered a homicide occurred ten years ago. So we don’t have this, a lot, as other places do,” said Griffith.

Griffith said that because Owensville does not have crimes like these, it will take time to heal.

“Well, this is a tragic event for Owensville as we don’t have, much, you know, major crimes such as this here. So people are just, you know, coming to terms with something that happened here, and that, we’ll have to try to move past,” said Griffith.

He added that he is grateful for the Missouri State Highway Patrol and other outside help to have a timely arrest, noting that the arrest happened roughly 16 hours after the crime.

“And all the other first responder agencies that came together that night in a small town where you have minimal staff on at any given time at that time of night that came together to make an efficient investigation,” said Griffith.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The former head of election integrity for the State of Missouri sued his ex-boss on Monday, alleging retaliation after he reported wrongdoing.

Hoskins is accused of firing former Director of Election Integrity Nicholas La Strada for “blowing the whistle on fabricated evidence and a decision to overturn a certified election,” according to La Strada’s legal team. La Strada is a Republican and was appointed by Hoskins to serve in the role.

A spokesperson for Hoskins said he declined to comment on “pending litigation involving a personnel matter.” However, his response is due to Cole County Judge Cotton Walker within 30 days.

La Strada’s attorneys talked about the lawsuit Monday on the steps of the Cole County Courthouse. La Strada was out of the country observing elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the State Department.

La Strada alleges he was fired for blowing the whistle on illegal and unethical conduct within the Secretary of State’s Office, including a plan to fabricate evidence in a federal hearing and the decision to overturn a certified municipal election in Marshall. He was in that position for over a year before he was fired.

“When Plaintiff told Defendant Hoskins that only a court can change a certified election result and that the Office could not threaten the City of Marshall’s officials into accepting a winner the Office declared, he was ignored,” attorney Erin Vernon wrote in the petition.

The lawsuit also alleges that chiefs of staff in the secretary of state and auditor’s offices plotted to create a “fabricated whistleblower submission” using an internet address scrambler and burner phone to accuse others of illegal conduct. La Strada reported the information to Hoskins, who then blocked him from a hearing in the matter, the lawsuit states.

Hoskins fired La Strada a few days later, according to the lawsuit.

According to Missouri law, retaliating against an employee, agent, or contractor for exposing wrongdoing is unlawful.

Hoskins whistleblower lawsuitDownload

The allegations around Marshall center on the April 2026 election. City officials certified the election for the city council’s Ward 3, only to recertify it after the Secretary of State’s Office took up its own count and told city leaders to change the winner.

Hoskins’ office became involved in the election after a complaint about the counting of write-in votes.

Vernon said at a news conference Monday that La Strada hasn’t been replaced.

“I think that’s a very big problem heading into elections,” Vernon said. “They’ve shown they don’t want someone telling them what they can’t do and what the law, in fact, is. So, I think everyone should be concerned that there may be no one left there to say, ‘this is illegal, and we can’t do it.'”

La Strada is asking Judge Walker to award him actual and compensatory damages, emotional pain and suffering damages, and prevent Hoskins from engaging in similar actions again. La Strada’s legal team is asking for this to be a jury trial.

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