Category: kmiz-local-news

Demetra Alarcon

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia’s geographic and demographic growth are helping to push city government expenditures higher, creating larger budgets, the city manager said at a budget town hall on Thursday.

The City of Columbia has been hosting a series of town hall meetings. The meeting Thursday was designed to engage residents in the budget process.

Columbia City Manager De’Carlon Seewood and Finance Director Matthew Lue gave a presentation breaking down the “how we got here” phase of the fiscal year 2027 budget.

According to Seewood and Lue, since 2000, Columbia’s geographic area has increased by 15.8 square miles, which is 28%.

The presentation also included how costs have been outpacing the revenue due to things like:

High inflation

Supply chain issues

Slow economy

Unpredictable federal grant funding

Officials said these issues led to a decade of city pay issues that has drained knowledge and experience from city government.

A breakdown of City of Columbia spending presented at the meeting.

Seewood said after the meeting that the budget sessions were a way to gauge public priorities.

“This what this was is really an opportunity to engage with residents, to find out exactly what our priorities are, and we build that budget around those priorities. And so what I will say is our budget is built upon what our residents are asking for,” said Seewood.

Seewood and Lue said during the presentation that funds are restricted. The City of Columbia budget is made up of six different fund types, and each is unique.

The fund types are:

General Fund: supports the administrative operations and essential services of local government

Enterprise Fund: used to provide services to the public on a user-charged basis

Internal Services Fund: used to account for goods and services provided by one department to another, on a cost reimbursement basis

Special Revenue Fund: account for specific revenues that are legally restricted to particular purposes

Capital Project Fund: account for the acquisition and construction of major capital facilities or improvements within the general government funds

Debt Service Fund: accounts for the resources, financing, and expenditures related to long-term debt

Some attendees brought up Proposition 1, the public safety sales tax on the ballot Tuesday. Seewood and Lue made it clear that this budget does not include take into account funds the tax could bring in if approved.

If Prop 1 does pass, its estimated $38 million annually would add to the budget of the Columbia Police Department and Columbia Fire Department.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Daniel Boone Regional Library has responded to state Sen. Rick Brattin’s Sunshine Law request.

Brattin (R-Harrisonville) had filed a request earlier this week surrounding an LGBTQ+-themed event that was held on Saturday. The Columbia Public Library held a “Rainbow Storytime” event on Saturday that included readings of “Rainbowsaurus” and “Big Wig.”

Secretary of State Denny Hoskins had threatened funding for the library after Attorney General Catherine Hanaway issued a letter about the event.

Brattin and Hoskins held a joint news conference on Tuesday, where the pair compared the books to sexual grooming. Hoskins at the news conference said he did not read the books, while Brattin did not indicate if he read them.

DBRL responded to Brattin’s Sunshine Law request, saying it received his request on July 24. Brattin had requested records dating back to Jan. 1, 2025 in regards to the planning of the Rainbow Storytime event.

DBRL indicated his request should be fulfilled by Sept. 21

Brattin responded to DBRL with a letter of his own that took issue with the length of time the request would be fulfilled.

“I am concerned that your anticipated production date of September 21 is 59 days after my request was submitted. That is an exceptionally long time for a Sunshine Law request, and I see no reason why these records cannot be produced well before then,” Brattin wrote.

Both letters can be viewed in full below.

SUNSHINE LETTER- From DBRLDownload

Senator Brattin Letter in Response to DBRLs Sunshine Request ResponseDownload

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Deaths by drowning are up 80% compared to last year, according to a Thursday press release from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

MSHP wrote that from Jan. 1-July 30, it has responded to 27 drownings, marking an 80% increase from the same period in 2025. There have also been 30 total water deaths, a 36% increase from last year.

The release reminds residents that state law requires children younger than 7 years old to wear a life while on a boat or other watercraft.

MSHP gave tips in the release to avoid drowning, including:

Being aware of hazards such as current, waves, rocks, vegetation and drop offs.

Avoid alcohol.

Use extra precautions if you have a medical condition that can increase your risk of drowning.

Swim with at least one other person.

Never leave children unattended while on or near the water.

If someone is in danger of drowning, help them from land or boat “by extending a pole, branch or throwing a flotation device to the person.”

Click here to follow the original article.

Melissa Houston

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Voters in Boone County are having to navigate an updated congressional map following state redistricting that shuffled the districts that cover Central Missouri.

Under the revised congressional map, Boone County is now split between Missouri’s Third and Fifth Congressional Districts. Under the previous map put in place after the 2020 census, the county was divided between the Third and Fourth.

That map changed when the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly approved a new, GOP-friendly map during a special session last summer.

Despite the shift in districts, Charles Zug, a political science professor at the University of Missouri, said the dynamics for local voters are unlikely to see a dramatic change.

“The consequences of that in terms of electoral politics I don’t think will be significant because all of those districts now, the Fifth and the Third, they’re still Republican districts,” Zug said.

Zug explained that the redrawing of boundaries reflects a redistricting strategy called “cracking” and “packing.”

“Cracking” involves dividing a concentrated group of voters across multiple districts to dilute their collective voting share of a party, while “packing” consolidates voters into a single district.

“The state legislature in Missouri has done both of those for this. It’s packed as much possible Democratic vote into the single St. Louis congressional district. That’s still going to go Democratic, it sort of consolidated all that,” Zug said. “Also cracking the influence of Democrats in counties like … Boone, for example.”

Expanding District Five, which is currently Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s district, into a much larger geographic area that includes parts rural Missouri and Boone County is what Zug refers to as cracking District Five. This expansion of District Five created wider Republican-leaning margins.

“The old Fifth District used to be a blue district,” Zug said. “State legislature cracked that district, basically took that concentration of Democratic voters and spread them out over the course of three newly drawn districts Six, Five and Four.”

As a result of these changes, voters in the northwestern region of Boone County now share a new congressional district with parts of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Any representative elected to the Fifth District will have to balance competing priorities of a major urban center along with the smaller rural communities, according to Zug.

The redrawn lines present another hurdle: voter awareness.

There are no statewide agencies required to send boundary line updates directly to voters’ homes, Zug said. Unless residents are actively staying up to date with state election databases or mailings from their county clerk, they may not realize their congressional districts have shifted until they receive a ballot or arrive at the polls.

Zug said that in the northwestern part of Boone County, where the district lines might be harder to find, it might not be clear which district you are in. Map boundaries rely on precise residential street addresses rather than just a broad ZIP code.

“Some voters don’t even pay attention to that. Right. They’re just like, ‘oh, here’s my ballot vote and don’t pay attention to what district I’m in,'” said Zug. “But other voters, you know, if you’re aware that you are in the Third District last time and, you know, suddenly it says the Fifth District, you might be aware of that.”

ACB 17 asked residents in downtown Columbia to see if they are aware of which district they will be voting in for the upcoming August primary election. The responses varied in knowledge.

“I do not, I just know where to vote,” said Linda Martin, a resident of Columbia.

Other residents who did not want to be on camera said they were not aware that there were separate U.S. House districts.

“I have no idea, no idea what district I’m voting in,” said Ashton Conner, resident of Columbia.

One resident, Marsha Hamby, said she was aware of her district because she had to renew her voting registration form.

“Yes, I’m District Four,” said Hamby. “We had just moved, so I had to find out by renewing my voting registration form so I would know which district to vote in.”

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Four vehicles were stolen during a rash of automobile break-ins early Thursday in Jefferson City, police say.

The break-ins were primarily concentrated on the east side of the city. The Jefferson City Police Department posted information about the break-ins on social media, saying three vehicles had been stolen, but Lt. Curtis Finke later told ABC 17 News that four cars were taken.

Police reminded residents to lock their vehicles and to review any security camera video recorded between 1 and 4 a.m. Thursday.

No information was released about what was taken from vehicles that were not stolen.

According to Missouri Highway Patrol data, in 2024 the Jefferson City Police Department reported 114 incidents of motor vehicle theft, theft of vehicle parts, or theft from a motor vehicle.

So far this year, the city reported 20 vehicle-related thefts.

The JCPD recommends residents keep valuables and keys out of cars. Other car security measures include wheel locks and immobilizers that prevent criminals from hotwiring cars.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The man brought down from a retired smokestack at Columbia’s Municipal Power Plant on Wednesday allegedly told police that he broke into the tower because he wanted to “have fun.”

Richard Nichols, 33, was arrested Wednesday morning after refusing to come down from an enclosed platform about halfway up the tower for about an hour, according to a probable cause statement. During that time, he threw a toolbox to the ground and damaged a light, causing about $120 in damage, the statement says.

The platform is about 150 feet from the ground, according to the statement.

Nichols was charged with second-degree burglary, second-degree property damage and obstructing government operations. He remained in the Boone County Jail on Thursday with no bond.

The statement didn’t give any more details about Nichols’ reason for going up the tower.

Nichols appeared for his initial hearing via video hookup. A bond hearing was scheduled for Aug. 14.

Click here to follow the original article.

Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former Mizzou football player was granted a temporary restraining order by a St. Louis County judge for another year of eligibility.

Defensive tackle Sterling Webb filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in St. Louis County against the NCAA, claiming that he should have one more year of eligibility. In a motion hearing Thursday with Judge Ellen Ribaudo, lawyers for Webb argued that under both the new and old NCAA rules regarding a fifth year, he is eligible. Under a previous NCAA rule, athletes were given a five-year window to compete for four years. That rule was then changed in June 2026, allowing high school graduating classes from 2023, 2024 and 2025 to be granted a fifth year of competition.

Webb’s lawyers argued that athletes from the 2023, 2024, and 2025 high school graduating classes are given the option to choose between the new rule and the old rule, whichever rule benefits them the most. Webb’s lawyers believe that giving that option to athletes is not uniform and does not treat athletes fairly, as Webb graduated from high school in 2022.

Lawyers for the NCAA argued that this lawsuit was a disruption to the status quo, Webb had no merit, Webb was never promised a fifth year of eligibility, and that Webb shouldn’t take the right to compete for a roster spot and other opportunities away from other athletes with an extra year.

Webb is seeking a binding court order and claims there has been a breach of contract.

NCAA argued that there was no breach of contract; it was a rule of college football that should prevent him from the extra year.

The petition alleges that Webb should have an extra year left after the NCAA made eligibility changes to an “age-based model” of five seasons in five years.  

Webb played at New Mexico State during the 2022 and 2023 seasons before transferring to Missouri in 2024 and completing the 2025 season. Webb was 18 when he started playing college football and he will be 23 this year, arguing that he falls within the age-based model of five seasons in five years.

The petition alleges that recent seniors are excluded while still fitting in the framework of the rule and this year’s incoming freshmen benefit more.  

“But the NCAA did not stop at adopting the new model. It attached a transition condition providing that student-athletes who had already completed a fourth season of competition before the model takes effect, without a ‘redshirt year’  in reserve, get nothing (the “Transition Exclusion”),” the lawsuit says.

The petition alleges MU has a roster spot available to him and cites a recent court case in Texas that allowed an offensive lineman at Texas to play an extra year.

The lawsuit says Webb is seeking a decision on the matter before fall camp starts for the Tigers on Monday, Aug. 3.

Mizzou Athletics gave its support for Webb in a statement sent to ABC 17 News.

“Mizzou Athletics is aware of today’s court filing to consider Sterling Webb’s college football eligibility status,” the statement reads. “We support Sterling as he pursues his legal options and will continue to monitor the process. Because this is an active legal matter, we will not speculate on the outcome or provide further comment at this time.”

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

The primary election is Tuesday, and the U.S. House district that you’ll vote in might have changed since the last one.

Republican-led redistricting in 2005 made big changes to the map, drawing a large chunk of Mid-Missouri into the Fifth Congressional District and taking most of the region out of the Fourth Congressional District.

The map has also been at the center of political and legal challenges since it was signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe after a special legislative session.

Do you know which House district you’re voting in on Tuesday? Let us know by voting in the poll.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An intersection in northern Columbia was blocked off by police on Wednesday night.

ABC 17 News saw at least a half-dozen Columbia Police Department patrol vehicles and a crime scene investigation van at the intersection of Bold Venture and Derby Ridge Drive. The intersection — which is east of Range Line Street and north of Smiley Lane — was blocked off by officers.

Officers were seen walking around the area with flashlights, primarily near one home near the intersection.

ABC 17 News is working to learn more information. Check back for updates.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Centralia man was charged on Wednesday after authorities allegedly found 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine at his residence on Tuesday.

Joshua Bachman, 53, was charged with second-degree drug trafficking and drug possession. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says Bachman’s vehicle was stopped in the 8700 block of West Sarr Street by deputies and he was allegedly found with 30 grams.

The deputy wrote that law enforcement went to Bachman’s residence “in reference to an ongoing drug investigation” and ended up finding 1.5 pounds of meth, along with packing material and a digital scale.

A second probable cause statement says Bachman was allegedly found with 2.34 grams of cocaine at the Rocket Gas Station on Scott Boulevard.

Click here to follow the original article.