Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man was charged with a felony and several misdemeanors after he allegedly pointed a gun at five youth during a car chase on Saturday.

Cassius Bello, 21, was charged on Tuesday in Cole County with unlawful use of a weapon and five counts of misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. He is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond. An initial court appearance is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday.

The probable cause statement says a Jefferson City police officer was flagged down by five juveniles at 10:40 p.m. Saturday on the westbound Highway 50 ramp from Dix Road. The victims claimed a man in a purple Dodge Charger started chasing them from the Olive Garden, the statement says.

The youth allegedly told police that they saw Bello point a rifle with a laser at them while making threats, the statement says.

Officers found the vehicle at the Olive Garden parking lot and Bello allegedly admitted to chasing another vehicle, but denied pointing a gun, the statement says. He allegedly told officers that he grabbed the gun after it fell on the floor of the vehicle during the chase, the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man has been charged after law enforcement claims he possessed child sex abuse materials in Boone County.

George Haynes III, 44, was charged on Tuesday with six counts of possessing child sex abuse materials. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled in this case.

The probable cause statement says Columbia police were investigating Haynes on Aug. 8 at the Columbia Police Department in connection with a “drug related” crime. Officers searched Haynes’ phone and allegedly found several images showing child sex abuse, the statement says.

Haynes was charged with drug possession in Boone County on June 20 and was indicted by a grand jury on Aug. 21. An arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 21.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Missouri secretary of state to use a 2025 congressional map, just days after the Missouri Supreme Court said the new map was not law.

Judge Stephen Clark ordered Tuesday that Secretary of State Denny Hoskins implement the map in the November 2026 election, instead of an older map that a Missouri Supreme Court decision ordered used last week.

The 2025 map breaks up the safely Democratic Fifth District of Kansas City, subsuming it into several other districts and theoretically giving Republicans a 7-1 advantage in U.S. House seats in Missouri. Hoskins had ruled that a petition challenging the map was unconstitutional.

However, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled last week that the petition was lawful, that it should have been certified for the ballot, and that the petition suspended the law that created the new map.

Republican congressional candidates Bob Onder and Rick Brattin sued to stop the use of the old map in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Clark issued a restraining order requiring the use of the 2025 map for 14 days while the Eastern District court hears arguments in the case.

“Using a different map for the general election would wreak havoc on the fairness and orderliness of Missouri’s congressional elections, calling into question the candidacy of those nominated in the primaries and the votes of those who voted in the primaries,” Clark wrote.

People Not Politicians filed an emergency application with the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday night in an attempt to hold Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt.

The attorney for PNP alleges in the filing that an email from Hoskins stating to use House Bill 1 following a federal TRO being filed “is a direct violation of this court’s injunction”

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Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway issued a statement in support of the ruling.

“Missouri is prepared to follow and comply with Chief Judge Clark’s order that binds the state to using the Missouri First map for the November General Election. We appreciate Judge Clark’s support of the rights of Missouri voters, and intend to comply with this federal ruling. We maintain that changing the congressional map in between the primary and general elections is simply not feasible and profoundly unjust to Missouri voters,” Hanaway was quoted in the release.

Secretary of State Denny Hoskins issued a statement in favor of the TOR.

“The Missouri First Congressional Map stands as the Law of the Land. I promised I would never stop fighting for Missourians and I have gone to the mat on that. Today United States District Court, Eastern District Judge Stephen Clark issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), mandating use of HB-1, the Missouri First Congressional Map,” Hoskins’ statement says. “This victory halts a full-on constitutional crisis. It ensures the candidates Missourians nominated in the August primary election are the same candidates running in the same congressional districts they will vote on in the November general election. This is a win for Missouri-and a win for constitutional conservativism and I am proud to lead this charge.”

Republican State Sen. Rick Brattin – who is running for the Fifth District — issued a statement in favor of the federal court’s TRO.

“While I am disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court was not able to grant relief, I understand that the standard for review in our nation’s highest court limits what they can do in an unprecedented case such as this one,” the statement says. “I am glad for the citizens of our state that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri issued a stay that will allow the use of the Missouri First map for the general election, ensuring voters will not be disenfranchised by being forced to vote in a different district for November.”

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Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon wrote on her social media that her office is “is unclear how the state’s 5pm deadline interacts with federal courts.”

The 2025 map was used in the August primaries to select party nominees after Hoskins declared the petition drive invalid. The Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling last week overturned Hoskins’ decision about the petition and said the 2025 map was not in effect.

However, voters in November will decide on whether to carry the Republican-friendly 2025 map into future elections.

Republicans in the General Assembly approved the new map last year at the urging of Gov. Mike Kehoe and the White House, overriding a map redrawn after the 2020 census.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday also rejected Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s request that the high court intervene.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man who was accused of trying to toss someone out of a two-story window in January has been booked into the Boone County Jail.

Michael Wright, 39, of Columbia, was charged in February with first-degree domestic assault and fourth-degree domestic assault. He was booked into the jail at 11:04 p.m. Monday. He is being held without bond. An initial court appearance was held on Tuesday.

The probable cause statement says deputies were called to an apartment after the victim claimed Wright tried to kill the victim after Wright threw their phone out the window. The statement says the victim woke up Wright so they pick up their children and an argument started.

Wright then allegedly picked up the victim and tried to throw them out of a window. A youth in the apartment reportedly also told police they had saw Wright pick up the victim.

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Ellyse Edwards

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved an ordinance that will nearly double the number of downtown parking spaces designated for taxis and rideshare services.

The proposal expands the downtown taxi and rideshare footprint from 34 spaces to 66. It would expand the start time to 9 p.m., two hours earlier than the previous 11 p.m. start time. The stands will continue operating until 2 a.m.

The designated areas would include parking spaces along Broadway, Cherry, Ninth, Tenth and Walnut streets.

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The ordinance would also include food and package delivery drivers, impose a 15-minute loading and unloading limit and allow emergency services to use the designated areas while the ordinance is in effect.

Columbia Public Works and the Columbia Police Department proposed the changes in response to increased rideshare use downtown. According to a council memo, the city intends for the ordinance to reduce traffic congestion, illegal stopping and double parking while improving pedestrian safety.

CPD reported an increase in overnight traffic congestion connected to rideshare operators and customers violating traffic laws in August 2025. The city said those problems stemmed from a lack of designated places for operators and customers to use rideshare services.

Documents state the city tested portions of the proposed ordinance during two University of Missouri football game weekends last fall.

On Sept. 19-20, 2025, the city temporarily blocked metered parking spaces to create a rideshare pull-off zone. The following month, the city again blocked off metered parking and worked with Uber and Lyft to test designated pickup and drop-off areas.

During the October pilot, Uber and Lyft directed customers to the designated locations through their smartphone applications. The city said both pilot weekends resulted in a dramatic reduction in traffic violations and an overall improvement in pedestrian safety.

“During this testing both rideshare platforms guided patrons to the specific locations for pick up inside of their smartphone applications. The results of both of these pilot weekends saw a dramatic reduction in traffic violations and an overall improvement in pedestrian safety,” city documents say.

A council memo says the city also asked for feedback from rideshare drivers and customers during the pilots and received positive responses. According to the memo, rideshare drivers reported that the arrangement felt safer, while one driver said drivers needed clearer directions for operating downtown.

The Community Improvement District provided positive feedback on an earlier version of the ordinance. The city says a majority of the district supports updating the ordinance’s hours.

The city estimates updating signs at the designated stands will cost $750, with a negligible long-term financial impact.

The city wants to have the new ordinance in place ahead of the next Mizzou home football game on Sept. 19.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up a case over which congressional map should be in effect in Missouri.

The court’s docket entries show that Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s application for a stay of a Missouri Supreme Court ruling was denied Tuesday by Justice Brett Cavanaugh.

“We are disappointed by this ruling, and are evaluating next steps as related litigation continues,” the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.

People Not Politicians, the group involved in this court case and backing the referendum on the congressional maps, said Missouri law won.

“Today’s victory belongs to them. People, not politicians, will have the final say when they vote NO on Proposition A this November,” executive director Richard von Glahn said.

Hanaway has sought a stay of the state high court’s ruling that a Republican-backed congressional map passed by the General Assembly was not in effect.

The new map, which was pushed by the White House, would break up a safely Democratic U.S. House seat that represents Kansas City, spreading its population among more rural districts that are likely to elect Republicans.

Hanaway filed the emergency request for a stay with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday — the day after the state court decided the 2025 map was not in effect for the November election. The court also ruled that voters would decide in November whether the new map is valid, or whether the state should return to the 2022 map redrawn after the 2020 census.

Hanaway’s application didn’t address whether the map should appear on the November ballot. Instead, it focused on which map will be in effect for the November midterms — the new map used in the August primary, or the 2022 map, last used for a congressional election in 2024.

Florida and Texas also filed a brief on behalf of 18 other states in support of Hanaway’s appeal.

People Not Politicians, the group that led the charge to put a question about the map on the November ballot, argued the U.S. Supreme Court should not take up the case because it is one of state, not federal, law.

Meanwhile, Hanaway and Hoskins, with support from the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and the Missouri Republican State Committee, argued that voters chose candidates in the August primaries, and changing districts before the general election vote would disenfranchise them.

They argued the ruling has done immediate harm to candidates and voters that must be addressed with a stay of the Missouri Supreme Court ruling.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon told ABC 17 News during an on-air interview Tuesday that her office stands ready to implement the map, and tools on its website to help voters know which district they’re in before they vote.

“We are in the process of updating our GIS maps so that when you use the lookup tool where you’re seeing an actual address on a map, that will be up to date back to the congressional districts for 2022,” Lennon said. “But you will also see that on your sample ballot.”

Check back for updates to this developing story.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man has been charged in two cases after he allegedly stole from separate vehicles on Sept. 1 and 3 in Jefferson City.

Sajan Karki, 31, is charged in two Cole County cases with second-degree burglary. He is being held on $5,000 bonds. A bond review hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday.

One of the probable cause statements say police responded to Paddlewheel Circle after a backpack, cellphone and folder were stolen from a vehicle.

The phone was found nearby and several items were found the next day in the 300 block of Ellis Porter Drive, the release says. At that location, an officer also took a report of a man defecating on a pool deck, the statement says. Karki was allegedly caught on video committing the act, court documents indicate.

At 4:23 am. Sept. 3, officers were called to the 1300 block of East Dunklin street and the victim reported money was stolen from their vehicle and had Karki on camera entering it, the statement says. “Multiple vehicles were located with their doors wide open and appeared to be rummaged through,” court documents allege.

Karki was then found in the 600 block of Clark Avenue with “large amounts of cash,” as well as multiple purses and bags containing credit and debit cards, the statement says

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Police Department on Tuesday announced that it found no evidence of “foul play or criminal activity” after a 70-year-old man was found face down in the Missouri River last week.

JCPD wrote in a press release that Michael Blecher was the man who was found in the river near the Noren River Access on Friday. An autopsy was completed on Tuesday. Blecher’s family has been notified of his death, the release says.

JCPD wrote that it will continue to work with the Callaway County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri State Highway Patrol announced that more traffic deaths occurred this Labor Day weekend than last year.

Eight people died on state roads between 6 p.m. Friday through 11:59 p.m. Monday. Last year during the same time period, six people died in total, with MSHP investigating four, MSHP wrote in a Tuesday press release.

This year, MSHP investigated 213 crashes where 82 people were injured and eight died, the release says. There were 123 arrests for driving while intoxicated. Last year, the patrol investigating 252 crashes, 123 injuries and four fatalities. Statewide last year, six people died and 423 people were injured in 931 crashes.

During this past weekend, one person was injured in the nine boating crashes that were investigated, the release says. Five boating while intoxicated arrests were made.

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Demetra Alarcon

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Construction of a roundabout at the intersection of South Fairview Road and Chapel Hill Road began Tuesday.

According to a news release from the City of Columbia, the project is intended to improve safety and traffic flow at the intersection. The construction also includes stormwater improvements, along with sidewalk improvements along the north side of Chapel Hill Road east of Fairview Road for pedestrian safety.

This project was first introduced in 2015, but was postponed in 2016 due to resident concerns about safety and pedestrian crossing.

The project was met with pushback from residents when it was reannounced in 2023.

When the city council held an interested parties meeting about the new roundabout, a majority of speakers were against the idea.

After speaking with residents in the neighborhood that is directly affected by the roundabout, none of them said they were for it.

In an email to ABC 17, Bill Edwards, an affected resident, said that he has personally expressed his disagreement with building this roundabout as an unnecessary priority and expense.

“The need for this particular roundabout has not been justified.

·       Traffic flow was tremendously improved by adding left-hand turn lanes several years ago.  Similar improvement would occur by adding a right-hand turn lane from Chapel Hill onto Fairview.  This was discarded outright by the department,” said Edwards.

The first phase of the project, starting Tuesday, will require lane restrictions on Chapel Hill Road and lane closures on Handley Place.

Phase two will require lane restrictions on South Fairview Road and Chapel Hill Road.

Phases three to five will require the closure of South Fairview Road north of Chapel Hill Road.

Chapel Hill Road will remain open to traffic throughout construction, with lane restrictions and temporary closures occurring. Drivers should expect delays and are encouraged to use alternate routes when possible

The estimated cost of the roundabout is $1.5 million, with funding provided by the City’s 2015 quarter-cent Capital Improvement Program sales tax extension.

John Ogan with City of Columbia Public Works said that the city expects a higher volume of traffic in this area in the future.

“We expect over the next 20 years for this roundabout to be much busier than it is now. And we believe that due to the results of this traffic study, a roundabout would be appropriate,” said Ogan.

The city says that this will be a larger roundabout, with 5-foot-wide sidewalks being added in and around the area.

“So a roundabout is going to be needed here. It’s not going to be a smaller roundabout like the one on Rawlins that many people talk about. This is going to be a full roundabout similar to the one that we constructed last year at Route K,” said Ogan.

The project is expected to be completed in winter 2027, weather permitting.

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