Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council on Monday passed several projects to improve Columbia Regional Airport.

The city approved roughly $13.1 million in projects around the airport, with federal funding covering a large portion.

The first of which includes renovations to its northern parking lot, which includes paving the existing lot and adding about 250 more spaces. The city previously stated it expects for the additional parking to be available before head of Allegiant Airlines starting services to Florida in June.

That project will cost $3.2 million, with all of the funding coming from the transportation sales tax, according to city documents.

Another approved project is the construction of a fourth terminal boarding bridge. It will cost $1.8 million, with 90% coming from the Federal Aviation Administration. It will cost the city $60,000 for the design and the 10% match for construction, meeting documents show. The project will take roughly two years to complete.

The city also approved a deicing pad and containment facility project. Meeting documents show 90% of the $4.7 million needed for the project will come from federal funds.

“This system will capture excess deicing fluid (glycol) applied to aircrafts during inclement winter weather, that currently flows into the stormwater system,” document say.

Construction for that project is expected to be done by this winter or spring 2027.

The council also approved the reconstruction of the terminal building loop road from the terminal to Airport Drive. Documents say 90% of the $859,381 needed will come from the FAA.

The city will pay for all of the $828,176 needed for the airport’s new kitchen. Funding will come from the terminal project account.

The city will also spend $1.7 million to rebuild 1.3 miles of Airport Drive. Funding will come from the transportation sales tax.

Click here to follow the original article.

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude told ABC 17 News in an interview before Monday’s City Council meeting that the department will not have the staff to reestablish a standalone downtown unit in May.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had several retirements and we have quite a few people that are out either military or injured, so we’re gonna have to push that back a little bit,” Schlude said.

Schlude introduced the idea of bringing the unit back in an October interview, following the death of a Stephens College student in downtown Columbia at the end of September

Schlude had previously stated in October that May would be the earliest in which CPD could have had its downtown unit up and running, following recruits graduating from the academy. She had also listed June as a possible target date.

Police Lt. Clint Sinclair told ABC 17 News in February that new officers would be ready to go solo by the middle of May.

Schlude did not give a clear timeline on Monday night for when the unit could potentially launch. However, during the City Council meeting, she said it could be revisited for the fall. CPD wants to have “at least six officers and a supervisor” in the downtown unit, Schlude said during the meeting.

However, Schlude said before the meeting that CPD has found an alternative to help meet the downtown safety needs in the meantime.

“The good news is the patrol commander has figured out a way to up-staff downtown by adding extra officers in the downtown beat during bar time,” Schlude said. “So we’re going to try to find a little bit of a stopgap.”

The Columbia City Council will also make a final decision Monday to implement a Downtown Ambassadors Program. Schlude believes the extra visibility will complement CPD efforts.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Council on Monday night unanimously approved a new 10-year contract with Republic Services for its trash pickup.

The current deal ends on May 31. Rates are expected to increase at a similar rate of the current contract, which meeting documents say are “based off of Water/Sewer/Trash index.”

Tables shown in meeting documents say expected rates “are based on the maximum of a 6% increase each year.

In the short term, rates for single family residential curbside pickup will rise by 29 cents for 35-gallon pickup, 41 cents for 65-gallons and 53 cents for 95-gallon pickup.

Current rates, per the Jefferson City website

Residential rates in the first year are listed a $17.55 for 35 gallons, $19.52 for 65 gallons and $22.03 for 95 gallons and have the chance to raise as high as $29.64, $32.99 and $37.22, respectively, by the 10th year of the contract.

All possible changes to rates can be viewed in the images below.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Friday night house fire in south Columbia was determined to be accidental.

Columbia Fire Department spokeswoman Skyler Clark told an ABC 17 News reporter on Monday that the fire was accidental.

CFD wrote in a Saturday post that crews were called to the 200 block of West Old Plank Road for a report of a house fire.

Crews found heavy flames and “dense smoke” in the garage and the fire went into the home’s attic, the release says. It took about 20 minutes for the fire to be put out.

No injuries were reported and firefighters saved four kittens from the basement of the home, the release says.

Significant damage was seen in the garage and siding when an ABC 17 News reporter was at the scene.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The county clerks of Mid-Missouri’s two-largest counties are expecting low voter turnout on Tuesday.

Boone and Cole counties have several items up for a vote on Tuesday, including voting for school board members in several districts, propositions and people running for city government. You can view everything being voted on at our Voter Guide.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon told ABC 17 News that she expects 12% of voters to turn out for the election. Boone County has had 1,400 absentee voters, with 900 occurring in person and 500 by mail, Lennon said.

During the November 2025 elections, there was a 25.16% turnout, though only 5,743 voters in two precincts were eligible to vote in that election. The August 2025 election saw a 12.59% turnout in Boone County out of 125,645 registered voters. The April 2025 election — which included the Columbia mayoral race — saw a 25.23% voter turnout.

The November 2024 election — which included the presidential election — had a 67.95% voter turnout, while the August primary had a 24.58% turnout and the April 2024 election was 16.37%.

Cole County

The Cole County Director of Elections Matt Musselman told ABC 17 News on Monday the county is expecting a 14% turnout. Musselman said there have been 511 total absentee ballots cast so far, with 269 voting in person and 242 occurring by mail.

The November 2025 election saw a 15.63% turnout, though that election had just one question and 28,192 eligible voters. The April 2025 election saw an 8.2% voter turnout,

The November 2024 election had a 73.3% turnout in Cole County, while the August primary had a 33.63% turnout and the April 2024 election had 14.81%.

Click here to follow the original article.

Mitchell Kaminski

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) 

The Jefferson City Council took the next step Monday night in filling a vacant Ward 2 seat, continuing a multi-step process that could lead to a replacement being selected later this month.

The vacancy was created following former Councilman Aaron Mealy’s resignation in March. Mealy, who was elected in 2023 and had one year remaining in his term, cited concerns over “trust, honesty, and accountability issues with city hall administration” in his resignation email. His replacement will serve the remainder of that term.

Under the city’s process, council members are expected to nominate candidates during Monday night’s meeting. Each nomination must receive a second from another council member to move forward. Those nominees will then have until the end of the week to file a formal statement of candidacy with the city clerk, including a cover letter and resume.

Under the current city ordinance, Jefferson City must also hold a public session between April 10-20. During the council’s March 16 meeting, the council voted 8-1 to hold that session on April 13. During that public session, candidates will have an opportunity to address and answer questions from the city council.

During the April 13 hearing, candidates will have the opportunity to answer questions from the council. The council is expected to vote on a replacement by April 20, with a simple majority required to fill the seat.

Three letters of interest were submitted to the city clerk. Those include Alicia Edwards, Edith Vogel and Cody Holts. However, Holts was the only candidate nominated by the council on Monday night.

ABC 17 News obtained copies of the letters of interest, and Holt’s submission was the most detailed, spanning two pages. In his letter, he outlined several priorities, including addressing homelessness, promoting responsible economic development, and improving the city’s core infrastructure.

According to the letters submitted, Edwards currently serves as the executive director of Building Community Bridges. Vogel, a lifelong Jefferson City resident, represented Ward 2 on the council from 1999 to 2007. Holts wrote in his letter that he moved to Jefferson City for law school and now works as an attorney with Dodson and Waters LLC while also serving on the Jefferson City Homeless Task Force.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman who was accused of repeatedly crashing her 2004 Honda Pilot on Friday night was charged on Monday with a misdemeanor and three felonies in Boone County.

Cassandra Albright was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, two counts of first-degree assault and a count of leaving the scene of an accident. Police wrote in a press release that she is from Kingdom City, but court information says she is from Columbia. She is currently at University Hospital and is in fair condition. A no-bond warrant was ordered.

The probable cause statement says Albright drunkenly crashed the vehicle into a residence on Stevendave Drive that contained several children and two adults before crashing into a fence and a tree.

The statement says Albright was upset that one of the victims did not allow her to drive her child and tried to stop her from driving in general because she was drunk. Albright then punched the victim in their face before getting into the driver’s seat and crashing the vehicle, the statement says.

Multiple people, including youth, told law enforcement about seeing the crashes, the statement says. After crashing into the home, she allegedly drove westbound on Stevendave Drive and crashed into the fence, the statement says.

Police wrote that they found Albright lying on her back outside the vehicle.

Click here to follow the original article.

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council unanimously approved moving forward with a proposed Downtown Ambassador Program.

The program will cost $504,390.03 per year and will be split three ways between the City of Columbia, the University of Missouri and the Downtown Community Improvement District. Each party will pay $168,130.01, according to meeting documents.

The city began having meetings regarding downtown safety, including bringing up the ambassador program, after a Stephens College student was shot and killed downtown in September 2025, according to previous reporting.

The uniformed and unarmed ambassadors employed by Block by Block will help law enforcement to patrol the downtown area and serve as additional eyes and ears for public safety concerns, meeting documents say. The Downtown CID will serve as the primary program administrator, managing day-to-day operations and providing quarterly reports to the city and MU. The group will be seen walking and riding bicycles downtown.

Ambassadors will also help to conduct outreach with homeless individuals to connect them with appropriate service providers, give after-hours safety escorts for downtown employees or visitors when requested, provide documentation of incidents or concerns to law enforcement, and document things like graffiti, trash, or other concerns.

The idea was first introduced to city officials on a staff retreat to Columbia, South Carolina. Other cities apart of the Block by Block Ambassador program include: Gainesville, Florida; Iowa City, Iowa; Fort Worth, Texas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Louisville, Kentucky; Columbus, Ohio; Austin, Texas; and Pasadena, California.

The city believes the program will increase a visible presence in the downtown district, improve coordination between the City, CID, and MU, provide a structured documentation of quality-of-life concerns and fixes in the area and allow sworn officers to remain focused on higher-priority enforcement needs.

Downtown CID Executive Director Nickie Davis said earlier this year that the ambassadors would have to go through training. She also said they’ll work to ensure all street lights downtown are working properly and that all streets are lit. Davis also previously said the District was also considering getting businesses “No Trespassing” and “No Concealed Weapons” signs

The contract will run through March 31, 2027, with the option of four renewal periods through 3031.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former West Middle School teacher who was charged with statutory sodomy and a slew of other child sex crimes is now charged in another case.

Zachary Hutchinson, of Columbia, was arrested on Friday and charges appeared on Monday in his new case. He is now charged with three counts of child porn possession. He is being held in the Boone County Jail without bond. A hearing in his new case has not been scheduled, but one for his original case was set for Monday morning.

His was charged in his first case from January with three counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, one count of child enticement, sexually exploiting a minor, misdemeanor giving porn to a minor, second-degree promoting child porn and 10 counts of child porn possession.

He was originally put on house arrest after he bonded out of jail on Feb. 4.

The probable cause statement in his new case say police put in a search warrant request of Hutchinson’s Discord account, which is an app used for messaging. Police received information from Discord on April 3, which appeared to show seven videos and 16 pictures of child porn, the statement says.

The probable cause statement in his original case says Hutchinson encouraged the victim to go into his vehicle to perform sexual acts. The victim’s mother allegedly found nude photographs of Hutchinson on the victim’s phone and additional messages appeared to show Hutchinson making plans to meet with the youth.

Text messages described in court documents took place over the course of several days and showed explicit conversations and details of illicit photos between Hutchinson and the victim.

Authorities have repeatedly said that the victim in that case did not meet Hutchinson “as a result of his employment, nor did any known contact occur on school property.”

Click here to follow the original article.

ABC 17 News Team

President Donald Trump held a news conference from the White House on Monday afternoon.

The president began by talking about the operation to rescue two downed pilots from an F-15E in Iran before moving on to topics like the Iran war in general and the operation to bring Venezuela’s president to the United States for trial.

Watch it here.

Click here to follow the original article.