Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

President Donald Trump on Friday announced an executive order that can change the landscape of college sports.

College athletes can currently transfer schools after the end of a season, which reversed course a previous rule that made athletes sit out a year if they chose to play at the same level. Both of those options have seen heavy criticism.

Trump’s executive order would limit athletes to transferring once during a five-year period “with immediate playing eligibility, and one additional such time if the student-athlete obtains a four-year degree.”

It limits players to just five years of eligibility as an undergraduate student. There have been recent criticisms of some athletes receiving long-extended eligibility, including one in 2024 who entered his ninth season of football. The order does say it can make an exception for an athlete attending graduate school.

The order also prohibits professional players from playing in college athletics. Charles Bediako, who was a player in the NBA’s developmental league, was able to play a few games for the Alabama men’s basketball team this season, but was later determined by a judge to be not eligible.

Other parameters in the order include banning federal funds “for NIL or revenue-sharing payments or coaching or athletic compensation.”

The University of Missouri’s athletic department had no comment on the executive order on Friday afternoon.

Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey released a statement on the conference’s social media supporting the order and the SCORE Act, which takes aim at clarifying rules on money related to name, image and likeness.

“The establishment and enforcement of consistent national standards for college athletics remains a top priority, and President Trump’s executive order provides important clarity to help ensure all programs operate under comparable policies,” the statement says.

Commissioner @GregSankey on Presidential Executive Order: pic.twitter.com/WPWPMf5BsF

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) April 3, 2026

The Big 10 Conference similarly thanked Trump and supported the order on its social media. The Big 12 and ACC also approved of the measure.

A statement from Commissioner Tony Petitti on the Presidential Executive Order. pic.twitter.com/VQYuPEeV75

— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) April 3, 2026

Check back for updates.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former jailer who was found guilty of manslaughter earlier this year was sentenced on Friday to three years in prison.

Robyn Pfeiffer was found guilty on Feb. 3 by a Callaway County jury for first-degree involuntary manslaughter in the death of Brooke Bailey.

Bailey, of Jefferson City, died on Oct. 27, 2023, from untreated diabetes in her cell at the Cooper County Jail. Court documents say several jail workers told investigators with the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office that Pfeiffer brushed off Bailey’s complaints of feeling ill, saying the inmate was “playing games.”

Bailey was found dead in her cell with blood and vomit on the floor and on her clothing. Bailey was being held for a commitment to the Department of Mental Health.

A medical examiner found Bailey died from diabetic ketoacidosis and low sodium levels.

Rachel Atherton, a second former jailer in the case, asked for a bench trial last month. She is charged with first-degree manslaughter. A four-day bench trial is scheduled for begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 21.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ

As severe storms approach Mid-Missouri after days of rain, Boone and Cooper County officials are reminding people to “turn around, don’t drown” when they see water on roadways.

Cooper County is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m. Friday.

“We’ll be monitoring the weather all day,” Cooper County Emergency Management Agency Director Larry Oerly said.

Some roads in Cooper County were still flooded Friday afternoon following the rain earlier in the morning. Doyle Road, a gravel roadway, had flooded fields alongside it, but the road itself didn’t have standing water. Oerly said Doye Road tends to flood.

“The biggest thing to keep the first responders safe, to keep yourself safe, don’t drive around barricades,” Oerly said. “If you see water over the roadway, don’t drive through it. You don’t know what’s underneath it.”

Boone County Emergency Management Director Chris Kelley echoed that sentiment, noting that many county roads susceptible to flooding have signs indicating it.

“Residents should watch for water over roadways, especially at night when it’s harder to see. If you cannot see the road markings through the water, you should not attempt to drive through it,” Kelley said.

Kelley also said drivers should report flooded roadways to their local public safety agencies, including 311.

Kelley also said moving barricades to drive through the closed road is a bad idea.

“Never drive around barricades,” he said. “They’re there for your safety. If folks do come across a flooded road or a roadway that has water over it, the safest decision is to turn around and find another route. No destination is worth risking your life.”

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Euphenie Andre

STURGEON, Mo. (KMIZ)

Sturgeon Mayor Seth Truesdell is speaking out against the Missouri Department of Transportation’s plan reroute traffic from a dangerous crossroads, stating the plan could put residents, especially students at risk.

In a post on social media, Truesdell criticized the agency for moving forward with a project he said would reroute heavy traffic near Sturgeon High School while ignoring safer alternatives by the city.

On Thursday, city leaders received an update from MoDOT outlining planned improvements along Highway 63 in northern Boone County, Truesell says. The agency said it considered public feedback and will add lighting at the Highway 22 interchange to improve visibility. The project includes removing the crossover at Route CC and Highway 63 and adding acceleration and deceleration lanes at nearby intersections to improve traffic flow.

However, due to environmental concerns, the extension of Old Highway 63 will not be part of this project and is now scheduled for a future phase in 2028.

MoDOT said safety concerns are driving the proposed changes.

According to the agency, the intersections at Route CC/Roy Barnes Road and Crofton Hall Road have seen 14 crashes over the past five years, including one fatality and four serious injuries.

In a statement to ABC 17, MoDOT said the intersection at Route CC and U.S. Route 63 alone accounted for 11 of those crashes, resulting in one death, one serious injury and five minor injuries. The agency believes those crashes could have been prevented by removing the crossover.

MoDOT also pushed back on the city’s proposed “Clark-style” intersection, stating it would not address the most dangerous type of crashes, right-angle collisions. Of the 11 crashes at Route CC, five were right-angle crashes involving westbound drivers. Four of those crashes involved northbound traffic on U.S. 63, while one involved a southbound vehicle and resulted in the death.

Three of the crashes were right-hand rear-end collisions, which MoDOT said could be reduced or eliminated with the addition of deceleration lanes.

MoDOT spokeswoman Marcia Johnson said the agency has met with community leaders multiple times, including prior to a public meeting held Dec. 9, 2025.

MoDOT said taking out the Route CC crossover won’t funnel all traffic onto Fairgrounds Road. Drivers can still enter Sturgeon through several other roads, including Route V nearby.

Truesdell argues the plan could create new safety concerns by shifting highway traffic onto local roads, including Fairgrounds Road near the high school. He also said the state failed to consider a city-supported alternative and is delaying key infrastructure improvements, leaving the community at risk in the meantime.

“The City of Sturgeon finds your recent project update not only disappointing but entirely unacceptable,” Truesdell said in an email replying to MoDOT. “Despite our extensive formal correspondence detailing the specific life-safety risks associated with your proposal, it is clear that MoDOT has chosen to bypass meaningful negotiation in favor of a unilateral ‘move forward’ approach that ignores the very community it serves.”

City officials said they previously presented evidence that removing the Route CC crossover could be dangerous, but claim those concerns were not addressed in MoDOT’s latest update.

The city points to three main issues: increased traffic near Sturgeon High School, the potential for congestion and crashes on Highway 22 due to limited turn lanes, and the delay of the Old Highway 63 extension until 2028.

“We demand that MoDOT halt the removal of the Route CC crossover until a design is adopted that does not shift the financial and safety burden onto our city streets and law enforcement,” Truesdell said. “We expect a formal response that addresses our specific proposal for a Clark-style intersection rather than another generalized update.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Morgan County man was charged with child enticement on Friday.

Matthew DeYoung, 35, of Barnett, is being held at the Morgan County Jail on a $75,000 bond. An arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office says it was notified on Thursday night about a man trying to entice someone who he thought was a 14-year-old girl. The probable cause statement says DeYoung was texting a man who was claiming to be a young girl.

Multiple screenshots viewed by law enforcement allegedly showed DeYoung sending messages that were sexual in nature to the other user, the statement says. He also tried to set up a place to meet the supposed girl for sex, court documents show.

Later that evening, law enforcement went to his home and DeYoung let them look at his phone, the statement says. Law enforcement was able to see that he deleted the application he was using to message the other user and that the app was “had a flag for misuse and was locked by the company,” the statement says.

DeYoung eventually admitted to sending the messages, but called it a mistake and alleged he did not intend to meet up with the supposed youth, the statement says.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Transportation Committee recommended safety improvements to slow down vehicles near Moreau Heights Elementary School on Friday.

The decision follows a December 2024 study that identified a speeding problem occurring throughout the day.

About 150 students walk to and from school in the area where the study was conducted. The committee evaluated obscured crosswalks and drivers exceeding speed limits.

Short-term measures recommended by the committee include trimming evergreen trees that obscure the crosswalk. The committee also recommended increased parking enforcement in no-parking zones and the installation of “crosswalk ahead” signs.

A motion for a long-term deep study of the area also passed. This study will examine the crosswalks and look at the area as a whole to determine the most effective infrastructure changes.

The committee reviewed seven distinct infrastructure options during the meeting. These included speed feedback signs that display how fast a driver is going, the installation of ADA-compliant ramps and sidewalk “bump outs” designed to make pedestrians more visible to motorists.

Other options are more expensive, such as installing crossing lamps or flashing light beacons. Residents in the area noted that while signage and lights can influence driver behavior, they do not physically stop vehicles. The residents suggested physical deterrents such as elevated crosswalks or rumble strips to address traffic speed.

The recommendations still need Jefferson City Council approval.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia woman has been arrested in Tennessee for her role in a deadly Columbia motorcycle crash.

Kyshonda Williams, 30, was arrested Thursday in Tennessee on an arrest warrant for involuntary manslaughter in the second degree.

Ethan Cash, 25, was killed after he was involved in a motorcycle crash with Williams on Nov. 2, accoridng to the Columbia Police Department. He was taken to a hospital, where he died later that week.

Williams was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the second degree, and misdemeanor counts of operating a vehicle in a careless manner and failing to yield while turning left.

Court documents filed on March 6 state that Williams was driving south on Range Line Street in an unregistered 2019 Dodge Challenger.

Police said she failed to yield to oncoming traffic that had the right of way while turning left onto Kennesaw Ridge Road. This is when she allegedly hit Cash on the motorcycle while driving north.

Court documents state that Cash tried to avoid the crash and locked the brakes up on the front of the motorcycle, leaving skid marks.

Police said Williams allegedly ran over the motorcycle and the victim with the back tire of the car.

One witness had a recording of the crash showing that the traffic signals for both the northbound and southbound lanes were green, with the turn lane flashing yellow.

Williams was arrested in Shelby County, Tennessee, where she is currently being held. Court documents state she had ties to the Memphis area.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 20-year-old man has died after a single-vehicle crash in Columbia.

The Columbia Police Department said in a news release that Mohamed Abdalla, 20, of Columbia, died Thursday after a crash earlier in the week.

Police said the crash happened on Wednesday just after midnight on Route B near the intersection of Waco Road.

Abdalla was driving south on Route B when his vehicle crossed the traffic lanes, jumped a median and hit a traffic control pole, according to police. He was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries on Thursday.

Missouri State Highway Patrol STARs map reports seven injury crashes near this intersection since Jan. 2025.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Road closures have been reported throughout Mid-Missouri after multiple days of rainfall.

Boone County Joint Communication sent a notification at 3:24 a.m. Friday morning, stating that West Gillespie Bridge Road was flooded at Perche Creek, creating a traffic hazard. The road was reopened by 9 a.m. Friday.

Route CC near Centrailia and Route ZZ in Boone County are still closed as of Friday morning.

According to the MoDOT Traveler Map, in Pettis County, parts of Routes Y, O, and W are closed due to flooding, along with Highway 127.

MoDoT also reports several other road closures due to flooding:

Saline County:

Route VV

MO-127

Outer road of I-70 before S Augusta Ave.

Route P

Route UU from 147th to Lemon Trail

Pettis County:

Highway 127 south of Pleasant Green Road

Route Y

Route O

Route W

Morgan County:

Route BB at Gabriel Creek

Chariton County:

Route E between Highway 5 and Highway 11 S

Route D

Route J around Route MM

Macon County:

Route DD at Middle Ford Salt River

Route HH

Route PP at Middle Ford Salt River

Monroe County:

Route A

The National Weather Service flood gauge reports the Lamine River near Otterville is showing high-moderate levels, along with higher levels from Blackwater River in Cooper County.

Petite Saline Creek near Booneville is also in a flood stage. Minor flooding is reported on the Moreau River in Jefferson City.

According to the CDC, over half of all flood-related drownings happen when a vehicle is driving through flood waters and is swept downstream. When drivers see barriers blocking the roads, do not move or drive around them; the road may have collapsed under the water.

The National Weather Service reports that just six inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over an adult. A foot of rushing water can carry away most cars and two feet can carry away SUVs and trucks.

To report flooded roads, contact your local non-emergency dispatch, local public works or MoDoT.

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Matthew Sanders

Gas prices just keep going up.

The average price in Missouri hit $3.578 on Thursday, up from $2.808 just a month ago.

GasBuddy reported prices on Thursday at Columbia stations between $3.39 and $3.49. Meanwhile, oil continued to trade at more than $110 a barrel.

Prices aren’t likely to fall soon — those barrels sold Thursday were marked for delivery in May or June.

Has the sudden surge in gas prices caused you to cut back on driving? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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