Category: kmiz-local-news

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Travelers have missed the deadline to get a REAL ID ahead of a May 7 change to flying regulations.

However, the sooner people get their REAL ID-compliant documents, the sooner they can board domestic flights.

Beginning May 7, non-REAL ID driver’s licences will no longer be accepted to board regulated domestic flights. Military cards and U.S. passports will still be valid. However, for convenience and document security, U.S. residents are urged to make the switch.

“I just turned 18, and I heard it was kind of like your birth certificate and everything else, it just made it a lot easier, didn’t have to carry around as many papers, I was like, ‘Why not?'” said Thomas Flanery who got his REAL ID Wednesday.

According to the Missouri Department of Revenue, only 45% of Missouri licenses are REAL ID’s.

Temporary paper copies of REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses aren’t accepted to board a flight, and the hard copy can take 10 to 15 days to arrive by mail.

Trish Vincent the Director of Revenue for the state of Missouri recommends travelers to factor in this mailing time.

“If they’re traveling in September, they can wait to do that because there’s still plenty of time, but for those that are planning maybe a summer vacation, now would be a good time or within the next month or so,” Vincent said.

The REAL ID requirement started after the REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the change was to “set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver’s licenses and identification cards.”

The law came after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the airplane hijackers were able to get government identification as they plotted.

REAL IDs are also used to get into certain federal facilities and nuclear power plants. They are not needed to drive or vote. Children under 18 are not required to have a REAL ID when traveling with an adult.

“Missouri is one of those states that it’s an option for you, you don’t have to get a real ID,” Vincent said. “So, again, if you’re not traveling or don’t plan to go to Fort Wood or Whiteman, or going to a nuclear power plant or even go to a federal courthouse, you know, it’s up to you whether you want it.”

Source: Missouri Department of Revenue

To apply for REAL ID, applicants must have a document to prove their identity, a document to verify citizenship, a document to verify their Social Security number and at least two documents that verify their address. A birth certificate is a common document used to prove identity and citizenship.

Applicants will also take a new ID photo.

The DOR has a REAL ID guide to help applicants find which documents comply with each category. The website also features a checklist at the end for users to print out to remember what documents to bring to the DMV.

A standard class F REAL ID driver’s license costs around $27.

Hours vary across licensing offices, so the DOR recommends checking online for the office’s hours first.

“It’s a short wait and just it was a simple in and out,” Flanery said. “Just had to bring address and birth certificate and whatnot, and then they were able to set it up for me just fine.”

Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri announced a new partnership Wednesday with several Korean firms to help develop its new NextGen nuclear research reactor.

The school will partner with Hyundai Engineering America, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, the Hyundai Engineering Company and MPR Associates in a $10 million agreement to start designing and licensing the reactor. The billion-dollar project on south Columbia’s Discovery Ridge is expected to be built within the next decade.

Executive Director University of Missouri Research Reactor Matt Sanford said the new reactor will will incorporate all of the lessons learned from MURR’s 59 years of operation.

“The new reactor w will be larger, more powerful and more versatile,” Sanford said.

The school opened up bids in 2023 for firms to help them design the 20-megawatt nuclear research reactor. MU has emphasized its nuclear research in recent years, as it is one of the only providers of radioisotopes in the world used in many cancer screenings. Local officials have hoped the growth of the research reactor would make Columbia more attractive for economic development and medical research.

University of Missouri Present Mun Choi said the hope is for other companies to manufacture in Mid-Missouri.

“To manufacture the finished product right here in Columbia using our radio-pharmaceuticals and ship it anywhere in the United States within five hours,” Choi said.

University of Missouri Board of Curators Chair Todd Graves said the project will allow Missouri to be a roadmap in playing a bigger role in critical medical isotope research and production for cancer treatments in the U.S.

“This project will be economic development for this state on this level of scientific discovery, a level of high level manufacturing that we will enjoy for many years to come,” Grave said.

The project is projected to cost a billion dollars and Choi said the university already has $200 million for the project that will require state and federal funding.

Gov. Mike Kehoe dedicated $50 million in the state’s budget this year to move the project forward.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs are being watched closely as they continue to impact international trade.

During Wednesday’s press conference, Choi said he doesn’t believe the project will be impacted, for now.

“At this point we’re just exchanging intellutucal property there is no physical assets that are being shipped from South Korea to the United States.” Choi said. “If it does we have to be flexible to have more manufacturing done in this country but thats part of the negotiations we will have,”

MU said the NextGen MURR project will mark the Korean company’s first U.S.-based nuclear reactor project. Hyundai, though, has some experience in nuclear production, working with a firm in Michigan earlier this year to produce small modular reactors.

The bid for this phase of NextGen MURR described the reactor as a “tank-in-pool, low temperature reactor utilizing low enriched uranium.” The firms will serve as the “design authority” with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and will come up with the architecture and design services. MU also sought out project managers ahead of hiring the firms to help keep the project on task.

The university broke ground last month on an expansion of its existing nuclear reactor on Providence Road, known as MURR West, which the school says is the nation’s sole provider of lutetium-177. That plant will further expand, paid through a contract with pharmaceutical firm Novartis, where MU will deliver radioisotopes created there exclusively to Novartis.

University leaders have kept the MURR project a priority in state budget requests.

The university’s current nuclear reactor, located off Providence Road has been operating for nearly 60 years. According to the university it helped 450,000 cancer patients last year across the U.S.

The reactor operates 24 hours a day, 6.5 days a week, 52 weeks a year and is the most powerful university research reactor in the U.S. working at 10 megawatts.

Once the new reactor is built, the University of Missouri will be home to two of the largest university reactors in the U.S., according university officials.

Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

House Bill 495, which was signed into law by Gov. Mike Kehoe last month, could place people behind bars for participating in stunt driving.

According to Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson, the statue applies specifically to stunt driving in connection with a street takeover. Meaning, that the normal flow of traffic is blocked for the purpose of performing or watching stunt driving.

The law means it is now illegal to race, drag race, wheelie, burn out, do donuts or drift if it disrupts traffic on a public road.

Under the law, a person can be charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. However, repeat offenders — or those who cause injuries — could be charged with a E felony, according to Johnson.

That person could then face a punishment of up to four years in prison.

“It’s important to note also that even before this statute, a lot of this conduct would violate various traffic laws, including careless and imprudent driving,” Johnson said in a text to ABC 17 News Tuesday night.

Johnson also said if a person acts recklessly and seriously injures someone with their vehicle, they could face up to seven years in prison. If someone is killed, the consequences are enhanced.

Jadon Gooldy 20, of Columbia was arrested and charged with four felonies this week after allegedly shooting a gun at a racing event in south Columbia last Friday. He was charged with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault.

According to court documents, witnesses say they gathered in the parking lot of ABC Supply on Maguire Boulevard for a racing event held by “Como Underground” around 11 p.m. Gooldy allegedly fired a shot near a person’s head after he claims he heard a woman use a racial slur.

Shrapnel from the bullet ricocheted and hit another person in the leg, leaving a red mark, police say.

An ABC 17 News reporter saw black marks on the road of Maguire Boulevard on Tuesday afternoon that were consistent with tire marks.

According to Boone County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Knerr, there was no evidence Gooldy participated in the racing, so charges under the new law were not filed.

“As for other people present at the incident, I believe CPD is still investigating so it is possible more charges could be coming,” Knerr wrote in an email to ABC 17 News.

According to Capt. Brian Leer of the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, street racing has occurred in Columbia for years.

“Stunt driving and other reckless driving is inexcusable, and we will work hard to hold people accountable for that kind of conduct,” Johnson said.

Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has joined a growing number of law enforcement agencies authorized to carry out limited immigration enforcement under federal supervision.

Records obtained by ABC 17 News give further details into what the agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — which was signed by MSHP in March — entails. 

A 1996 federal law allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to give state and local law enforcement limited authority to carry out immigration enforcement under ICE supervision, under an additional provision known as Section 287(g).  

On Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing ICE to expand the 287(g) program to the fullest extent allowed by law. The order encourages ICE to partner with qualified state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration laws.

In response, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed executive orders on his first day in office aimed at positioning Missouri to support federal immigration enforcement efforts. 

ICE operates three models that law enforcement agencies can sign up to take part in: the Jail Enforcement Model, Task Force Model and Warrant Service Officer Program, according to information from its website. 

The Jail Enforcement Model is designed to identify and process removable aliens, with criminal or pending criminal charges, who are arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies.

The Task Force Model serves as a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties.

The Warrant Service Officer program allows ICE to train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on aliens in their agency’s jail.

A spokesman for the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association told ABC 17 News in an email that it has made all information about these programs available to all sheriff’s offices, and it is up to each of them whether they participate.

Missouri is one of 38 states that have a law enforcement agency signed up for the program. However, of the 456 agreements signed across the country, the Show Me State accounts for just three of them. 

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office has not signed any agreements with ICE, and a spokesman told ABC 17 News that there are no discussions about changing that status. 

Currently, Missouri only has two agencies that have signed agreements with ICE, the MSHP and the Christian County Sheriff’s Office. The Christian County Sheriff’s Office has signed two agreements with ICE, one for a Jail Enforcement Model and another for a Warrant Service Officer. The MSHP signed a Task Force Model agreement. 

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Under the MSHP’s agreement, the chief officer of the MSHP is responsible for nominating candidates for a mandatory training program provided by ICE. Only trained personnel who are nominated and certified have authority pursuant to the agreement to conduct immigration officer functions

According to Capt. Scott White, of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 45 people will participate in the training program, with troopers from each of the state’s nine troops already nominated.

Five troopers from each of the nine troops will receive training along with five people from the Division of Drug and Crime Control, two from the Gaming Division and one from General Headquarters. 

MSHP will cover personnel expenses, while ICE will handle the installation and maintenance costs of the IT infrastructure. According to the agreement, eligible MSHP officers will be assigned to various units, teams or task forces designated by ICE. 

MSHP officers are not authorized to perform immigration officer duties unless they are under the direct supervision or direction of ICE. 

Once certified MSHP officers are — according to the agreement — authorized to perform the following: 

Can question anyone they believe is not a U.S. citizen.

Can arrest someone without a warrant if they’re trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

If there’s reason to believe someone should be arrested, a warrant can be requested — but that person must first be brought to an immigration officer to review their legal status.

Can arrest without a warrant if someone has committed an immigration-related crime and may flee before a warrant can be issued.

Can deliver and carry out arrest warrants for immigration-related offenses.

Can collect fingerprints, take photos, interview people, and gather evidence needed for immigration cases.

Can prepare official immigration charges.

Can issue immigration detainers (requests to hold someone for ICE).

Can take custody of people arrested for immigration violations, even if another agency made the arrest.

Can hold and transport people arrested for immigration reasons to ICE-approved detention centers.

Under the agreement, participating law enforcement agencies are exempt from Sunshine Request, which Dave Roland, Director of Litigation, Freedom Center of Missouri, believes is a problem for accountability. 

“ It is true that federal entities are not subject to Missouri’s Sunshine Laws… but state or local entities should not be able to deny citizens access to public records held by the state and local agencies simply because a federal agency says they shouldn’t be shared,” Roland wrote ABC 17 News in an email. 

As of April 14, there are 86 Jail Enforcement Model agreements in 25 states, 180 Warrant Service Officer agreements in 27 states and 190 Task Force Model agreements in 23 states.

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