Author: KMIZ

Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia is working with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform to find the reason for violent crime in the city.

The Office of Violence Prevention Advisory Committee met Thursday morning to discuss what data is necessary for the institute to begin its analysis on gun violence.

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The institute wants demographic data for the suspect and victim in both deadly and non-deadly shootings.

The city will have to pay more than $290,000 for the research, according to city council documents. The institute will also analyse which organizations are active in community violence intervention and how they serve people in need.

Office of Violence Prevention Administrator D’Markus Thomas-Brown said data from research projects on gun violence and Columbia’s resource landscape will show city leaders where violence intervention and prevention are needed.

The institute would need crime data from the past one to two years, Thomas-Brown said. The results would be available within four to six months once the institute receives Columbia’s data.

“I’m really looking to that as a fix — as a roadmap to the fix to be able to see what’s going on with our situations with youth violence here in Columbia,” Thomas-Brown said.

Within the first three weeks of 2026, Columbia has seen five shootings, two deadly, and at least two of those incidents involved juveniles.

Thomas-Brown said the Columbia Police Department has the suspects and victims in four of the shootings, which is different than previous years.

“We have perpetrators captured, we have situations understood. We have the victims–have been round up, and we know what’s going on. That’s not the case in years prior,” Thomas-Brown said.

The one exception is the Nelwood Drive shooting from Jan. 16 that left one man injured in north Columbia. The CPD hasn’t given an update since letting the public know they’re looking for the suspect and a dark-colored sedan.

Deputy Chief of Police Matt Stephens said having more police officers would allow the department to operate smoothly.

“We’re running ragged just trying to stay up with 911 emergency calls, which in some degree makes us incredibly reactive, not proactive,” Stephens said.  

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Department of Transportation and Missouri State Highway Patrol warned drivers to be careful this weekend as a winter storm bears down on the state.

Much of Mid-Missouri was placed under a winter storm warning on Thursday. The warning starts early Saturday and lasts through 6 p.m. Sunday. Up to 8 inches or more of snow is possible, with extreme cold also in the forecast.

The high Saturday in Columbia could top out in the single digits, with lows near 0 degrees. Those low temperatures will slow down snow-clearing operations, MoDOT officials said at a Thursday news conference.

Snow will move into the Columbia area from the southwest after midnight, moving to the northeast. The highest totals are expected south of Interstate 70. Sleet is possible in far southern Missouri.

MoDOT Deputy Director Ed Hassinger said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon that the department started coordinating preparations Wednesday and will have 3,000 MoDOT crews working 12 hour shifts to treat the roads before, during and after the storm.

During severe winter weather, MoDOT says it runs on a system when treating the roads with main roads with heavy traffic being first priority. That includes interstates like I-70, I-44 and I-55.

“Our teams will be fully deployed across the state until we get everything to near normal and open to traffic but that could be into next week because that could be until next week because the temperatures are not going to get much above freezing and there won’t be any sunshine until middle of the week next week,” Hassinger said.

MoDOT crews will be using salt around the clock to keep the roads clear, but how effective it is can depend on the temperature.

“It takes 10 times more salt at 10 degrees than it would at 30 degrees so it becomes ineffective but we do have chemicals that we can add to that salt magnesium, calcium, beet juice makes it more effective at lower temperatures, what we do is patrol and plow,” Becky Alleroth Chief Safety and Operations Office with MoDOT said.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol will also have Troopers out across the entire state during the storm and after to respond to calls as quickly as possible. However, they are short 100 Troopers statewide, according to Capt. Scott White.

“We will be visible and proactive during this weather event, our goal is to prevent crashes, injuries and loss of life, we have adjusted staffing across the state and this is based on the anticipated conditions,” White said.

White encourages drivers to not be out on the roads unless they absolutely need to be. He urges drivers to be prepared with several items in your vehicle because a minor incident could quickly turn life-threatening. He wants drivers to keep in mind conditions on the roads can slow down response times for Troopers.

“Help can take longer to reach people, if you must travel what people do before hand is really going to matter that means checking your tires or fuel levels, make sure you keep a winter survival kit with blankets, water food and a phone charger that important thats probably one of the best tools people can have out there,” White added.

To be aware of weather conditions, the MoDOT traveler’s map provides hour by hour weather conditions across the entire state.

Cole County Public Works wrote in a Facebook post that a small crew will work early Saturday, with a larger crew coming in for a day shift.

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Josie Anglin

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Voters in the Southern Boone R-I School District will decide on a $4 milllion bond issue in April.

The bond issue would fund improvements, renovations and repairs at the schools, according to the school district. The district’s debt service tax levy would not change.

If approved, the money would go to replace portions of the parking lot at all four schools, replace the roofing at the high school and primary school, and replace the HVAC system at the high school.

The Southern Boone Board of Education approved the resolution to be put on the ballot Wednesday.

The municipal election is April 7.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Students in the Sturgeon School District will learn from home on Thursday and Friday due to an illness outbreak in the small district and a bitterly cold forecast.

Superintendent Dustin Fanning wrote in a letter to parents on Wednesday that the school attendance rate had plummeted to 78% at dismissal time on Thursday because of illness.

“In addition to the illness, Friday’s forecast is calling for bitterly cold temperatures and wind chills,” Fanning wrote. “And potential for snow. The pending weather and the student illness make this a great time to take advantage of our AMI days.”

AMI stands for “alternative methods of instruction.”

Fanning says the district will disinfect school buildings over the weekend to reduce the spread of illness.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Three 18-year-olds charged in a deadly shooting in southwest Columbia on Sunday will make their first appearance in a Boone County courtroom Thursday afternoon.

Alexis Baumann, of Hallsville; Kobe Aust and Joseph Crane, both of Columbia; were charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and first-degree robbery.

A juvenile is also facing the same charges along with felony theft.

Baumann, Aust and Crane will be in front of Judge Kayla Jackson-Williams at 1 p.m. in the Boone County Courthouse.

Officers responded to a shots fired call in the 1400 block of Ridgemont Ct. around 8:15 p.m. Sunday. When officers arrived, they found Michael Burke, 42, with life-threatening injuries. He later died at the hospital.

Court documents filed in the case say that Baumann and the group arranged to buy a phone from the victim, Michael R. Burke. The group had already met with and stolen from at least two other victims in the two days before the confrontation that led to Burke’s death, documents say. Those incidents occurred on Claudell Lane and Northampton Dr.

Baumann told police that the juvenile would set up a meeting with someone through Facebook Marketplace to buy a phone. The group would then steal the phone and sell it for cash at a local ecoATM.

Baumann allegedly told officers that the juvenile and Crane went into Burke’s home and minutes later, she heard three gunshots. They then took his iPhone and sold it at an ecoATM at the Walmart on Conley Road.

The juvenile appeared before a Boone County judge on Wednesday for a detention hearing. The state requested that he be kept at the juvenile detention center until an adult certification investigation can be completed. The defense requested in-home detention.

The judge ordered the juvenile to stay in juvenile detention until his next court hearing on Tuesday.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Sedalia announced a temporary closure for Ohio Street on Wednesday after a Union Pacific train derailed.

No injuries were reported in the freight-train derailment, but the Ohio Street Crossing and W.T. Morris Avenue was blocked, the city announced on its social media. All other railroad crossings in the city remained open, the city wrote.

The city for motorists to avoid the Ohio Street crossing and use alternate routes while crews worked in the area, and claimed “they will likely be there most of the night and moving back and forth.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Gravois Mills man was charged with 17 counts of possessing child pornography on Wednesday in Morgan County.

Matthew Steenrod, 38, is being held at the Morgan County Jail on a $250,000 bond. His mugshot was not available on Wednesday evening. A court date has not been scheduled. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says a victim spoke with authorities on Nov. 25 detailing an alleged sexual assault by Steendord. Authorities met with an older victim on Dec. 1, claiming they found wiring and cameras and believed they were being recorded.

The next day, authorities searched for open sources online and IP addresses used by Steenrod and found a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the statement says. Steenrod allegedly uploaded a photo of child pornography to Pinterest in 2016, the statement says.

A search warrant was conducted at Steenrod’s residence on Dec. 12 and authorities allegedly found small cameras throughout the home, the statement says. Law enforcement allegedly found child porn on electronic devices found at the home, the statement says.

He was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty on Jan. 3, 2023, to drug possession and resisting arrest. The sentence comes with a four-year suspended sentence. A disposition hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, March 9.

He is also charged in Morgan County in another case with two counts of illegal gun possession. Court information shows he pleaded guilty on Feb. 24, 2025, and has a sentencing hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, March 23.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man accused of killing a man in 2023 near Vandalia had his case moved to Warren County.

Charles Armour, born in 2006, of Paris, Missouri, was charged in Audrain County in 2025 with first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of first-degree robbery in the Nov. 30, 2023, death of Matthew Stewart. Stewart, 23, was found dead with gunshot wounds on County Road 556 near Vandalia.

On Wednesday, a case review was scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 19.

Another person, Christopher Brickey, was charged in Audrain County with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. He has a case review scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 18.

A probable cause statement says deputies found Stewart bleeding in a ditch from his head and torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Law enforcement also found shell casings at the scene, the statement says.

Stewart allegedly planned on selling a gun to Brickey and Armour and the three left a home to “range test” it, the statement says. Stewart’s roommate called him after some time and Stewart allegedly stated he was shot by the defendants, the statement says.

The statement says Brickey told deputies that Armour planned on killing Stewart, but planned on Brickey shooting first. Brickey allegedly admitted to shooting Stewart with Stewart’s gun.

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick gave the Missouri Lottery Commission an overall “good” rating, even as a newly released audit shows lottery funding for schools dropped by more than $35 million while advertising spending increased by $5 million during fiscal year 2024.

The audit, released Tuesday, found advertising expenditures jumped from $399,973 in 2023 to $5.4 million in 2024. During that same time, total revenue also saw a drop of $49 million, meaning despite higher advertising spending, both revenue and transfers to education declined.

Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said Wednesday, there have been fluctuating transfers to education and money spent on advertising in the past.

“We’ve suggested that the lottery consider the value of the advertising and whether it’s really driving increased activity for the lottery,” Fitzpatrick said. “That activity is more tied to larger jackpots and things like that, that are kind of unrelated to advertising,”

In 2023, according to the audit, $425,038,869 was transferred to education compared to 2024 when $389,788,014 marking a $35 million drop.

The $35 million that would went to schools would have averaged $63,000 per school district. Fitzpatrick emphasized that while the drop is notable, lottery funding makes up a small share of education spending and did not affect total state funding for schools.

“There’s a pretty small number, even with that decline in funding from the lottery, schools are still receiving record amounts of money from the state,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s not a situation where that is like $35 million is what well under 1% of what we’re spending on K-12 education right now,”

A previous audit report from 2018-23 found the lottery’s advertising budget decreased by $16.7 million during that time frame while transfers to education increased by $53 million, highlighting advertising spending and money toward education remained steady in that stretch of time.

Fitzpatrick said the “good” rating he gave Missouri Lottery reflects the lottery’s operation as whole and not money sent to schools across the state.

“The rating is an indication there weren’t a lot of other findings. We didn’t have any internal control findings about making sure the prize money paid out appropriately or that there were issues with verifying winners or anything like that,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think it’s an indication the lottery itself is a well-run enterprise,”

According to a news release, lottery officials indicated the changes in advertising expenditures are not only the factor that affects lottery sales, and other factors can play a substantial role in lottery sales.

For example, according to Fitzpatrick, Lottery officials say national jackpots can draw more media attention and boost sales, especially when jackpots are greater than $500 million.

Fitzpatrick noted the Missouri Lottery is increasingly competing with slot machines now found in many convenience stores, where most lottery ticket sales occur.

Missouri’s advertising spending remains low compared to other states. For fiscal year 2024, the Lottery’s advertising budget of 0.31% of sales ranked 44th out of 46 states that sponsor a lottery. In fiscal 2023, the lottery had the smallest advertising budget of any state and the District of Columbia at 0.02% of sales.

Missouri Lottery cited their reason for the significant increase in advertising spending in a Dec. 22 statement to Fitzpatrick.

“Lottery advertising plays a key role in maintaining the current customer base and helping to attract new customers just as any billion-dollar business would do. It helps keep lottery games relevant in a marketplace climate of rising prices and increasing gaming/entertainment options, particularly with sports betting going live in Missouri earlier this month and the amount of money sports betting companies are spending on advertising.”

An annual report for Missouri Lottery broke down their advertising budget of $5.4 million and laid out its positive effects.

Advertising aware is 55% up from 35% in fiscal year 2023 when advertising budget was $400,000

Advertising helps to grow approval of the Missouri Lottery. Approval improved from 64% in fiscal year 2023 when the advertising budget was $400,000 to 66% in fiscal year 2024 when the advertising budget was $5.4 million

The perceptions that the state of Missouri should continue offering lottery games that Lottery is a good way to raise money for education, and that Missouri Lottery proceeds help support public education increased from 2023-24 with the increase in advertising budget.

Since 1993, Missouri law has require that lottery proceeds be transferred to education.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. 

The City of Columbia Sewer Utility is proposing to replace a privately maintained sewer system near the intersection of South West Boulevard and West Stewart Road. 

If approved, the utility would construct a new public sanitary sewer to serve the affected property owners.

According to Assistant Utilities Director Tom Ratermann, the project will affect just five homes on West Stewart Road and one on South West Boulevard. The plan calls for a new sewer line that would connect each property to the public system.

“These private sewers, they don’t have a lot of access points to them. So, if there is some kind of stoppage in the line, there’s no good way to  remove it and to clean it and to get the stoppage out,” Ratermann said. “So what the city plans on building will have a structure at least every 400 feet, and every place where there’s a bend in the line so that they can be maintained.” 

Ratermann added the city is at least a year away from starting construction, as officials still need to finalize the design and secure easements from property owners. No major traffic disruptions are expected, aside from a possible lane closure on South Greenwood Avenue.

The project is part of the city’s ongoing Private Common Collector Elimination program, which started in 2008. Private common collectors are major sources of stormwater inflow and infiltration into the sewer system, and the city says replacing outdated private sewers helps prevent backups and overflows.

“This project is more preventive maintenance,” Columbia Utilities spokesman Jason West said in an email. “There have not been any major issues yet, but these private common collector systems can cause bigger problems because the city is not able to properly maintain them. The PCCE program helps the city perform regular maintenance to hopefully avoid major problems down the road.”

West said the PCCE is funded through an enterprise fund included in the city’s budget.

Since 2008, the PCCE program has included multiple projects throughout the city, though officials do not have a total cost available for all 18 years of work. Currently, the city is working on nine PCCE projects, with at least five more planned.

“The overall system is functioning well and as intended,” West said. “While there are newer parts that are functioning at a high level, we are also focused on repairing and updating older parts such as this one to keep the system functioning properly.”

The city held a public meeting Wednesday at City Hall to discuss the proposed sewer improvements.

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