Category: kmiz-local-news

Euphenie Andre

COLUMBIA, MO. (KMIZ)

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, medical experts are reminding families to keep safety at the heart of their celebrations. Overeating and holiday stress can pose health risks, especially for people with underlying conditions, according to experts, so planning your meals carefully is key.

Macaroni, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes are staples on many Thanksgiving tables. While these comfort foods are a favorite, Dr. Regina Depietro with MU Healthcare emphasized the importance of having a balanced plate to avoid bloating and other post-meal issues.

“Try to arrange your food so that you’re getting a good amount of fiber on your food,” Dr. Depierto said. “So, that would be like half of your plate is fiber and vegetables, a quarter of your plate, protein and then a quarter of your plate are those delicious rich food like mashed potatoes and corn casserole.”

Depierto also advises people to eat smaller meals throughout the day to avoid overindulging once dinner is served. Starting your meal with vegetables or fiber can help prevent overeating and control blood sugar spikes.

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, heavy meals and holiday stress can trigger health complications, particularly for those with pre-existing health issues.

“Sometimes overindulging can increase your risk of having a health event later in the day, especially if you’re adding alcohol into the mix. So, just be careful of not overeating and not over drinking during the holidays,” Dr. Depietro said.

If you find yourself feeling sleepy after a meal, it’s often due to too many carbohydrates. Balancing your meal with proteins, carbs, and fats can help maintain steady energy levels.

Dr. Depietro recommends staying upright for about an hour after eating and taking a walk to aid digestion. While it’s normal to indulge during the holidays, being mindful of portion sizes and food choices can keep your celebration safe and enjoyable.

Medical experts also warn that foodborne illnesses can mimic flu-like symptoms, though they typically do not cause a fever. The American College of Emergency Physicians estimates that each year:

48 million people get sick from foodborne illnesses

128,000 are hospitalized

3,000 die

Food poisoning can be caused by bacteria, such as Salmonella or Clostridium botulinum. Most cases resolve within a few days, but symptoms may include:

Headache

Nausea

Vomiting or diarrhea

Stomach cramps

More severe symptoms can include blurred vision, fatigue, and dry mouth. Symptoms usually appear within two hours to two days after consuming contaminated food.

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Nia Hinson

MORGAN COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 15-year-old boy from Versailles was seriously injured while rollerblading in Morgan County on Saturday.

According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, the boy was rollerblading on Route D– three miles north Gunn Road– when he was hit by a 2009 Ford Focus.

He was taken by ambulance to University Hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the vehicle– a 38-year-old man from Versailles was not injured.

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Nia Hinson

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A home in Boone County is considered a total loss after a fire broke out late Saturday night.

According to the fire dispatch log, Boone County Fire Protection District crews were called to the 5600 block of North Pintail Lane around 9:20 p.m. Saturday.

Boone County Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp told ABC 17 News on Sunday that the fire originated in the garage of the home, before it spread to the attic. Blomenkamp said family members were at home when the fire began but no injuries were reported.

The estimated loss of the home from the fire is estimated to be $750,000, according to Blomenkamp.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

An ABC 17 News reporter on scene saw several BCFPD vehicles at the scene around 10 p.m. and what appeared to be flames coming from a home.

Front of Boone County home that caught fire, taken around 3 a.m. on Nov. 23, 2025.

Sunday morning, another ABC 17 News reporter saw small flames and smoke coming from the home. The reporter also saw firefighting foam on the home’s front lawn and walkway. All four of the home’s walls and the first floor were collapsed due to the fire by 9 a.m.

Front of Boone County home that caught fire, taken around 6:40 a.m. on Nov. 23, 2025.

First floor of Boone County home that caught fire, taken around 6:40 a.m. on Nov. 23, 2025.

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Nia Hinson

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Kansas City, Kansas man was seriously injured in a crash in Camden County early Saturday morning.

According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, the crash occurred on Route Z just after 1 a.m. The report says the 49-year-old was driving a 2006 Ford E250 north, when the vehicle traveled off the right side of the road and hit a tree.

The man was taken by ambulance to Lake Regional Hospital.

According to the report, he was wearing a seatbelt when the crash occurred.

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Euphenie Andre

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The NCAA Cross Country Championships drew one of the largest crowds Gans Creek has ever seen — and that turnout is expected to bring in more than a million dollars into the local economy.

Mizzou Cross Country Assistant Head Coach Paige Duca confirmed to ABC 17 News on Saturday that 6,085 tickets were sold for Saturday’s meet. By comparison, the NCAA reported on social media that roughly 5,000 tickets were sold for the 2023 championship at the University of Virginia, a number that reflected a sold out crowd.

With a crowd this large, some traffic was expected. After the meet concluded around noon, Route 63 experienced minor congestion comparable to typical rush-hour traffic. Meanwhile, East Gans Road, Bristol Lake Parkway, and Discovery Parkway remained clear due to the shuttle services that helped alleviate traffic.

Large school buses acted as shuttles, transporting thousands of fans back to their vehicles throughout the morning. Fans traveling from several hours away said parking and shuttles were easy to navigate.

“I had a great experience. I pulled up to the parking lot that I had a ticket with and the shuttle was pretty much ready to go. It took like 5 minutes to get here. I didn’t have any traffic getting here,” David Mannella said.

Many attendees complimented the city and university for organizing a smooth, well-executed event.

Megan McConachie with the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau told ABC 17 News about the extensive planning and logistics involved in hosting the meet.

“The turnout is amazing,” Head Coach at the University of Oklahoma James Thomas said. . “It’s almost impossible to navigate in person because it’s a huge turnout for a cross-country event. I’ve been to about five or six of them in my day. This was my second time as a head coach and I haven’t seen anything like it, so far incredible.”

Saturday’s championship announcer David Lile said the event was years in the making.

“Some of the Parks and Recreation guys were hired five years ago and this was immediately their concern. So, this took a lot of work by a lot of people in this community,” Lile said.

2024 Olympian Isabella Whittaker was among those in attendance and said Gans Creek is a spectator-friendly cross-country venue.

“I think it was great because I got to see her [her sister, Juliette Whittaker] run several times throughout the race. The course is built very well for spectators,” Whittaker said.

The crowds didn’t just fill the concourse — they filled the city. The Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates the event will bring in $1.2 million.

Lester Hampton, father of former Mizzou Track and Field star Gabi Jacobs– who recently competed at the 2025 Outdoor World Championship in Tokyo– said he visits Columbia often. When he’s in town, he said his daughter always takes him to local favorites, like Booches and the Broadway Diner.

Stanford athlete Juliette Whittaker told ABC 17 News the team enjoyed a group dinner at Addison’s restaurant downtown earlier in the week. She said she and Stanford alumni explored the city during their free time and noticed an unmistakable “championship atmosphere,” with athletes and families filling nearly every corner of downtown.

Local businesses also felt the rush. On Thursday, ABC 17 News spoke with The Park Restaurant, located just minutes from Gans Creek, which reported an influx of customers tied to the championship. Another business, the Travelin Tom’s Coffee pop-up truck, set up directly in the course’s parking lot and served spectators for hours.

“It’s been super busy all morning, but we love it,” Jackson Deney, an employee said. “It’s a really big community event and we love to come to stuff like this.”

Deney said they were told to prepare for roughly 5,000 customers. He could not provide an exact number of drinks sold but estimated the total to be well over a thousand.

Mizzou coaches and the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau told ABC 17 News that they would welcome the opportunity to host more major championships in the future.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

More than 100 volunteers woke up early Saturday morning to help with Columbia’s first-ever NCAA Division I National Championship.

Katie Martinez, the University of Missouri Assistant Athletics Director for Student Athlete Development and Volunteer Coordinator for Saturday’s event, told ABC 17 News that recruiting for volunteers started back in July through an interest form.

“We assign [volunteers] a few weeks ago to their roles and how they’re going to execute at this event and help us out,” Martinez said. “We have also multiple staff and students helping us out.”

Martinez said that she’s excited to help out with such a historic event for the city.

“This is such a great opportunity for us to showcase, ‘What does Columbia have and how is it a hidden gem in the state of Missouri?’ We have such a fantastic course to show off,” Martinez said.

University of Missouri senior Blake George got the opportunity to volunteer through his sports management class.

“It’s a little intimidating just because of how big of an event it is and how historic it is for the university, but it’s a great opportunity,” George said.

Volunteer roles included checking in and greeting visiting teams on Friday and Saturday, running the event’s merchandise booth, and stepping in wherever needed.

“All the volunteers are so upbeat. They started checking in at 5 a.m., and they’re like, ‘Where do you need me? Where do you want me?’ They’re taking the initiative to make sure that we can put our best foot forward,” Martinez said.

Event volunteer and Mizzou Cross Country Alum Bonnie Belfield was also excited to help out, adding that the energy at cross country events is special.

“When I heard that they were hosting this for the first time, it was very easy to say, ‘Yes, I will be there,'” Belfield said. “It’s really amazing, the facility is spectator-friendly, which is what you really need with a cross-country course.”

Other volunteer opportunities can be found on the University’s website.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, about 200 cars wrapped around the Parkade Center in Columbia, nearly two and half hours before the Powerhouse Community Development Corporation was supposed to start giving out free turkeys and food boxes.

The giveaway had to start 15 minutes early because about 500 cars had pulled into the parking lot and some were stalling traffic in the roadway, Powerhouse CEO Charles Stephenson said.

“Everybody’s going to get a turkey and a food box,” Stephenson said. “We’ve never run out to date.”

Powerhouse purchased about 600 more turkeys this year, because they’ve seen about a 40% increase in need, Stephenson said.

SNAP benefits were released earlier this month, but Stephenson said there’s lasting financial strain from that.

“People had already started spending some of their disposable income to buy food and groceries, and now they got the SNAP, but they don’t have the cash to pay bills,” Stephenson said.

Hope Edwards was at the Thanksgiving giveaway, and she said she isn’t eligible for SNAP because her partner is still in school, but they’re living on one income.

“This then allows us to have a more normal Thanksgiving,” Edwards said. “All the food’s expensive, even like ground beef is so expensive right now, so this helps a lot with that.”

Miss Boone County Colleen Finney got up early Saturday morning to help pack cars with turkeys and food boxes. She said helping her community is worthwhile.

“The holiday season is coming up, and we have to remember that there are those that are in less fortunate situations,” Finney said.

Powerhouse is having a hot meal giveaway on Thanksgiving from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fifth Street Christian Church.

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Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Charges against a man named Jimmy Kenda have been dropped after a man who harassed a woman at a gas station and led police on a high-speed chase in Jefferson City on Friday provided a false identity, police say.

Kenda was wrongly charged Friday with first-degree sexual abuse, aggravated fleeing a stop and first-degree harassment.

Officers say around 4:30 p.m. Friday, they learned that the suspect gave them the name and identifying information of another person to avoid arrest.

The felonies against Kenda were rescinded, and formal charges are pending against the suspect, police said Saturday morning. The suspect’s name will be released after formal charges are filed.

Officers were called to the Break Time at 326 Ellis Blvd. around 2:45 a.m. on Friday, where a woman said a man repeatedly made unwanted advances that included touching her and offering to pay her for sex, according to a probable cause statement. The man followed her to the drink station and continued to touch her inappropriately, the victim told police.

The suspect’s vehicle was soon found at another gas station. An officer began to question Kenda, who took off down Route C at speeds up to 100 mph in heavy rain, the statement says. Kenda crashed at the intersection of Route C and Rock Ridge Road and was arrested, police say.

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Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 49-year-old man from Kansas City, Kansas, was seriously injured Saturday in a crash on Route Z in Camden County, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report says a 2006 Ford E250 – driven by the man – was headed northbound when it went off the right side of the road just before 1:30 a.m. and hit a tree at 1865 Route Z.

The man was brought to Lake Regional Hospital by ambulance with serious injuries, the report says. He was wearing a seatbelt, and the truck was totaled.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The parking lane on Stadium Boulevard outside of Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City will be closed for a few days next week as sidewalk repairs occur, according to a Friday press release from Jefferson City Public Works.

Crews will work from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday.

Lane closures are also planned for the northbound lane of Myrtle Avenue, which is also next to Helias. Crews will work 9 a.m.-noon Monday and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday.

Message boards and signage will be in place. Helias’ academic calendar shows the school’s Thanksgiving break begins Wednesday.

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