Category: kmiz-local-news

Steven Lambson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia city council members discussed next year’s budget at a work session Monday evening.

In a presentation to the council, members heard the city is expecting a 1% increase in its general fund. But the city is looking at more than $7 million in cuts to department requests in order to balance the budget.

City staff also mentioned seeing record amounts of marijuana sales tax coming into the city so far this year.

The budget for FY 2027 has to be finished and passed by September 30. The fiscal year starts October 1.

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Steven Lambson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Callaway County Public Library, a branch of the Daniel Boone Regional Library located in Fulton, opened back up to the public Monday, following an extended closure for HVAC replacement.

“We can now control the building’s temperature and make it comfortable for everyone,” Callaway County Public Library manager Sara Henry said in a news release.

The library building has been in service since 1912. After the building closed in April, the library used a temporary location to continue to serve library patrons.

Funding for the HVAC replacement came in part through donations.

The library invites the community to a reopening celebration on July 17 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

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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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