Author: KMIZ

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department is getting $1 million in the newly signed state budget to use specifically on downtown public safety.

When exactly the money hits the city’s account depends on Gov. Mike Kehoe releasing the funds, according to State Sen. Stephen Webber.

Webber said a conversation with Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude and his local roots prompted his push to secure the funding during this legislative session.

“I went to the Senate Appropriation Chair Rusty Black and I asked Rusty if he put $1 million in the budget specifically for the Columbia Police Department specifically to be spent on public safety in downtown,” Webber said. “I’m concerned about crime and I want it to be a thriving area.”

ABC 17 News reached out to Schlude to discuss the funds and she deferred us to Webber.

Webber said what the money is used for may be influenced by August elections, as a 1% Public Safety Sales Tax is up for a vote. The tax is projected to generate an additional $38 million in funding for police and fire.

However, Webber said the $1 million dollars in funds coming to police should not influence voters’ decisions.

“It’s significantly more money, that’s for ongoing expenses,” Webber said. “This is just an extra thing I could do as a state senator, from the state level, to bring some more resources to our community and try to do my piece of the puzzle, but it’s certainly not the entire puzzle.”

City leaders also gathered Monday to discuss the 2027 fiscal year budget proposal that includes nearly $2 million in funding cuts for police. On her way into the meeting Ward 1 councilwoman Valerie Carroll told ABC 17 News that city council was aware of the incoming funds, but discussions around what the money will be used for are still ongoing and nothing has been voted on yet.

Along with funding resources for downtown safety, Webb also filed legislation related to restricting juvenile gun access. That legislation did not make it through to Kehoe’s desk, but Webber said he plans to refile.

“I think people don’t believe that it’s the policy in Missouri right now that a 15-year-old can can drive around in backseat of a car with a handgun at two in the morning and nobody can do anything,” Webber said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia city attorney Nancy Thompson will retire on Oct. 14, the city announced in a Monday afternoon press release.

Thompson has been the head of the city’s law department for the past 13 years and has been representing Missouri cities for more than 40 years, the release says. The city wrote that Thompson is retiring to “to devote more time to her family and will consider other opportunities after taking a break from service.”

The head of the law department provides legal advice City Council, city manager, department heads and boards and commissions, the release says. The position is appointed by the city manager and is approved by the City Council, according to the release.

“I will miss my colleagues at the city dearly, but I look forward to having more time with my husband, Randall, and our children and grandchildren,” Thompson said in the release. “The City of Columbia is an incredible community and I have been fortunate to have played a small role in its growth and progress over the last decade. I will treasure that as I watch what is accomplished in the future.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe on Monday signed a slew of bills into law, including one that can increase the speed limit on rural roads.

Kehoe’s office announced in a Monday press release that the governor signed Senate Bill 1408. The bill allows the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and the Missouri Department of Transportation to raise speed limits from 70 miles per hour to 75 mph on rural interstates and freeways.

JoDon Chaney with the Department of Revenue confirmed to ABC 17 News that Kehoe signed SB 1408 in its original form, which only covered the speed limits. Additional provisions added later, but not included in the final verson, would have cut requirements for safety inspections and extend the option to buy five-year registration tags for $45. Previously, tags were capped at two years.

A later version of the bill also included a provision regarding drivers and language proficiency. That provision was not in the version signed Monday. It said commercial motor vehicle operators must “be able to read and 2 speak the English language sufficiently to: (1) Converse with the general public; (2) Understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language; (3) Respond to official inquiries; and (4) Make entries on reports and records.”

The provision stated a driver who is in violation of the language proficiency requirements will be prohibited from driving a commercial vehicle in the state. The provision was debated after a high-profile wrong way driver incident occurred in Lincoln County.

A further provision not included in the signed version of SB 1408 would have stopped new Kansas City Chiefs plates from being issued in the state.

Editor’s Note: this story has been updated to correct the version of SB 1408 which Gov. Kehoe signed Monday.

SB1408Download

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Rolla man was charged with 11 felonies after a child was reported to have several serious injuries when they were brought to a Phelps County hospital on Jan. 14, 2025.

Devin McCollum was charged with one count of first-degree sodomy of a child younger than 12 years old and 10 counts of child abuse. A criminal summons was issued on Monday. An arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8.

The probable cause statement says the victim stayed with McCollum and another person from Jan. 10-14, 2025. When the youth’s parents picked them up on Jan. 14, they brought the child to a hospital because of their injuries. The child was then sent to Children’s Hospital in St. Louis due to the extent of their injuries, the statement says.

Court documents listed a large number of injuries, including cracked ribs, cuts to their liver, a bite mark, bruising that was described as “too numerous to count,” and more.

McCollum allegedly told authorities on Jan. 23, 2025, the child was injured after they tripped over a dog on Jan. 12, the statement says. But authorities wrote that they found video footage of the youth in public the next day without any noticeable injuries.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A California, Missouri, man was charged with three felonies after he was accused of hitting his own father with a hatchet on Sunday night.

Dustin Coffelt, 40, was charged in Cooper County with second-degree domestic assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. He is being held at the Cooper County Jail on a $20,000 bond. A court date has not been set.

Deputies were called to a trailer just before 10 p.m. Sunday after Coffelt allegedly hit the victim in the head with a hatchet, the probable cause statement says. The victim heard banging on his trailer, went outside and saw Coffelt with a hatchet, the statement says.

Coffelt allegedly swung the hatchet at the left side of the victim’s forehead and the deputy noted the injury in the probable cause statement. The hatchet then broke off the handle and Coffelt allegedly tried to attack the victim with the handle and a struggle over it ensued, court documents say.

Coffelt is on probation for a drug possession charge he pleaded guilty to in 2022, court filings show. A seven-year suspended sentence was included in that case.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Dall Hedges will be the new chief of police in Fulton on Aug. 3, the city announced in a Monday afternoon press release.

The announcement comes after the city announced the retirement of Chief Bill Ladwig on Friday. His last day will also be Aug. 3.

The release says Hedges was picked for the role after “the city conducted an internal interview process.” Hedges joined the Fulton Police Department in 2011 as a lieutenant and was eventually promoted to deputy chief in 2022, the release says.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the police department in the town I grew up in,” Hedges was quoted in the release.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cole County deputies arrested a man on Monday who is wanted for murder in Franklin County, a press release from the Cole County Sheriff’s Office says.

Jacob T. Davis, 30, was arrested at 11:30 a.m. Monday in the 700 block of Cliff Street on suspicion of second-degree murder and first-degree drug trafficking. Charges have not appeared on Casenet.

The release says Davis was brought to the Cole County Jail and was awaiting extradition to Franklin County. He is listed on the Cole County Jail roster, though a mugshot was not available on Monday evening.

The release says deputes were assisted by the MUSTANG Drug Task Force and members of the Operation Relentless Pursuit Task Force.

Check back for updates

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 29-year-old woman from Macon was seriously injured in a Sunday afternoon crash on Highway 63, about a mile south of Cairo, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Three children 8 years old and younger were in the 2016 Ford Explorer with the woman when it crashed, the report says. The vehicle was going northbound when it went off the left side of the road, hit an embankment and overturned in the median, the report says.

The children had minor injuries and were taken to University Hospital in Columbia by ambulance, along with the woman, the report says. Everyone in the vehicle was secured in a safety device, the report says.

The vehicle was totaled.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Board of Education member Jeanne Snodgrass resigned from her position during Monday’s meeting.

She wasn’t at the meeting in person, but the board read her letter of resignation.

Snodgrass submitted the letter dated July 9 saying that she is moving next month “and will no longer live within the eligible boundaries.”

At Monday’s board of education meeting, members said they will put an application online for any members of the public who want to apply.The board will then review the applications and have an open meeting to discuss applicants.

At a later date, the board will invite up to give applicants to a meeting to ask questions, at which point the board will vote on a candidate.

Snodgrass’ replacement will serve the remainder of her term, or about one year. The board said they don’t expect to have anyone sworn in by the start of the fall semester.

Snodgrass was first elected to her role in 2021 and won a reelection bid in 2024. Her term was set to end next years.

“It has been a true privilege to be part of the work this board has done for over five years in supporting and advocating for public education generally and our Columbia public schools specifically,” her resignation letter states. “I am proud of the many accomplishments of the students, teachers, and staff of our district. Columbia is a community that cares about education and I leave knowing that the other current board members share a commitment to helping every child in our district succeed.”

Board delays moving forward with bullying policy updates

The Columbia Board of Education also delayed action on proposed changes to the district’s anti-bullying policy, saying it wants more feedback from the community before moving forward.

Board members were expected to discuss revisions to the policy Monday night, but instead opted to postpone the discussion until their next meeting after saying most of the feedback received so far has come from district staff and administrators.

“Optimally, we’d love to have more feedback from the community and not just parents. I mean, we’re supposed to be getting it from students, administrators and staff in general. We’ve gotten it from administrators and staff. We haven’t really gotten a lot of input from the community. We always want feedback from the community for our policies,” Board Vice President Paul Harper told ABC 17 News.

The proposed revisions would shift the district’s approach from primarily requiring staff to report bullying incidents to also expecting employees, substitutes, volunteers and educational contractors who work directly with students to intervene when appropriate, assist the student being bullied and then report the incident to a building principal or designee.

The draft policy also expands victim support by requiring schools to provide supportive measures during investigations, including possible safety plans, counseling, schedule changes and no-contact agreements. The proposal also directs schools to move the alleged perpetrator rather than the victim when students must be separated.

Other proposed changes would clarify when the district can respond to off-campus cyberbullying, continue accepting online bullying reports year-round and require written investigation findings to be shared with families after an investigation is completed.

Harper said the revisions are intended to make the policy easier for families and staff to understand while ensuring students receive appropriate support.

“To put it simply, the bully policy needed to be updated. We needed to ensure that the process was better known to all of our families and to our staff. So really the goal is to make it readable, to make it a process that everybody understands and also that supports some of our students when they are in these situations, both for the student who has been bullied as well as the bully themselves because we’re an educational entity.”

Harper said the board will review any additional public feedback, determine whether changes should be made to the draft and hopes to bring the policy back for approval in August or September.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jefferson City is seeing a sizable difference in the money collected from parking enforcement after changing the rates for metered parking fines earlier this year.

Previous reporting shows the city issued 4,674 expired meter citations between Jan. 6-June 30 this year, compared with 3,963 during the same period in 2025. 

From Jan. 6- June 30 this year, $94,016.40 has been collected from parking tickets, records obtained by ABC 17 News show. The total during that same period in 2025 was $37,794.50, marking a 148.75% increase.

The increase comes after Jefferson City contracted with PCI Municipal Services LLC to provide parking management and enforcement at the beginning of the year. The City Council also increased the fine for expired meters from $6 to $25.

Previous reporting shows ticket totals were higher early in the year before gradually declining each month. The city issued 998 expired meter tickets in January; 1,020 in February; 840 in March; 696 in April; 635 in May and 485 in June.

During the same months in 2025, the city issued 182 tickets in January; 639 in February; 1,110 in March; 889 in April; 546 in May and 597 in June.

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