Category: kmiz-local-news

Alison Patton

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jefferson City Council members can now view previously closed information regarding the downtown hotel and conference center.

This information is only available to council members in a hard copy, and it can only be read while in City Hall. It comes from a market study done by CBRE Hotels.

Ward 4 Councilwoman Julie Allen requested the information and it went for a vote at Monday’s council meeting. Allen said the information became available for members Wednesday. At the time of ABC 17 News’ interview with Allen, she hadn’t read or seen any of the new information. Allen said the information was about cash flow projections on the hotel and conference center.

The city is working with the developer Garfield Public Private to draft plans for the new center. Chairman Ray Garfield said the information that was published in the study was more sensitive when it first came out than now.

Garfield said the information is a 10-year estimated performance outlook starting when the hotel and conference center opens up. Allen said this new information is crucial to deciding what’s best for Jefferson City.

“We’ll be talking about that to make sure the council has all the information we need because we will be voting on it at the next council meeting,” Allen said.

The project will cost the city about $8.3 million, and it’s not expected to be completed until late 2027, according to the Jefferson City Regional Economic Partnership.

The city bought the old News Tribune building in 2023 and demolished it the following year. The hotel and conference center will be built at 201 Monroe St., and the city will demolish and rebuild the Madison Street parking garage to go with the new building.

The new center will be located a block away from the governor’s office and the Capitol.

The council will be voting on the master development agreement between the city and Garfield at its next meeting Monday, Oct. 6. Before the meeting, council members will hear from citizens and discuss the contract at a working session Sept. 25. The center has been in the works since 2023.

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ABC 17 News Team

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A few hundred people have arrived at the Capitol steps in Jefferson City on Wednesday to honor political commentator Charlie Kirk.

Kirk was shot and killed last week during a speaking event at a Utah college.

Events honoring the conservative activist have been held throughout Mid-Missouri since his death, including on the University of Missouri’s campus.

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Erika McGuire

FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)

Former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon delivered a speech Wednesday afternoon at Westminster College as part of the annual Hancock Symposium.

His speech focused on pressing national issues including political violence, democracy and misinformation, with a strong emphasis on “justice for all.”

The Hancock Symposium is a two-day event held on the Westminster campus, featuring lectures, panel discussions, and presentations by prominent experts.

Speaking to an audience of more than 100 people, Nixon — who served as governor from 2009-17 and nearly two decades as the state’s attorney general — reflected on the role of justice during his time in public service.

“Seeking justice was never hypothetical, it was our guiding star, as attorney general in the pursuit of justice was specific to the individual, it was as real as the anguish,” Nixon said.

Nixon, a Democrat, acknowledged the public killing of Charlie Kirk, a conservative political commentator who routinely spoke on college campuses around the country. .

“Our democracy and our world again face the rising threat of political violence, extremism and oppression,” Nixon said. “In the past few days along, we have witnessed the tragic assassination of a young activist on a college campus and the incursion into the sovereign native nation by an emboldened communist superpower in Washington and across the country, we see the hallmarks of democracy under strain.”

After his lecture, Nixon spoke with members of the media and addressed questions about the root causes of political violence in the United States. He pointed to the increasingly divisive and political discourse.

“The hotness and the lack of truth and honesty and communication between shows designed by groups to actually make people madder, that’s a pretty ingrained challenge right now,” Nixon said. “These are long-term problems that are going to require long-term solutions.”

Earlier this month, Gov. Mike Kehoe called a special session of the Missouri Legislature at the request of former President Donald Trump, aiming to redraw the state’s congressional maps, with a goal for republicans to gain an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Last week, lawmakers passed the “Missouri First Map” that divides the Kansas City area into three districts and moves the 5th congressional district eastward to include parts of northern Boone County.

When asked about how a governor should respond to a president’s request to redraw congressional maps, Nixon said former governors don’t need to be involved.

“There are plenty of critics for governors, you’ve got 5.5 million people,” Nixon said. “Former governors don’t need to be the critics. If they need me to help with something, I will. If I disagree with them, they’ll know I disagree, but I’m not going to broadcast it,”

Trump has also deployed the Nation Guard to Washington D.C. and has suggested deploying them to other cities like St. Louis, Detroit and Chicago.

When asked about the deployment of the National Guard, Nixon referred to his time in office, which included civil unrest after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

“I don’t want to comment on any of the tactics, I didn’t ever think about using the National Guard as a law enforcement agency. I thought we had those, but that’s just me,” Nixon said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The roof of the gymnasium at North Callaway Middle School in Auxvasse took “significant damage,” after storms came through the area on Monday night.

North Callaway Assistant Superintendent Nicole Buschmann shared photographs with ABC 17 News on Wednesday that showed a hole in the roof, as well as damage to the gym floor. Two additional classrooms and a physical education storage area were also damaged, Buschmann wrote.

The roof of the gymnasium at North Callaway Middle School sustained “significant damage,” on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, after thunderstorms went through Mid-Missouri. [Superintendent Nicole Buschmann/Courtesy]

No one was in the building when storms came through that afternoon and no injuries were reported. Buschmann wrote that the gym will be closed for all student and community use “until work is completed” and that PE and agriculture classes will be relocated within the same building.

“The damage was discovered Tuesday morning and our maintenance team and district leadership immediately began working with contractors and insurance representatives to assess the damage and begin planning for repairs. A restoration company was in the building within a few hours to remove water and ensure the gym and classrooms affected are safe,” Buschmann wrote.

The floor of the gymnasium at North Callaway Middle School sustained water damage after a storm damaged the roof of the building on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. [North Callaway Assistant Superintendent Nicole Buschmann/Courtesy]

The full extent of the damage or timeline for repair has not been determined.

“We made some minor changes to pick-up and drop-off to keep people a safe distance from construction and remediation teams,” Buschmann wrote.

North Callaway wasn’t the only school district in the area to experience damage during Monday’s storms. The goal post in the south end zone at Southern Boone High School broke on Monday and a school official said that should be replaced by Friday.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will not air Wednesday night as ABC evaluates the show’s future.

A reshowing of “Celebrity Family Feud” will run in Kimmel’s place at 10:30 p.m., John Paek, executive director of ABC Broadcast Distribution. A networking note indicates Kimmel’s program will be preempted “indefinitely.”

Kimmel has come under fire for comments about the shooting of Charlie Kirk and the reaction to it from Kirk’s conservative allies. Kimmel, in his Monday monologue, talked about shooting suspect Tyler Robinson and said supporters of President Donald Trump were trying to score political points from Kirk’s death.

Kimmel’s show debuted in 2003. Before that, he gained noteriety as the host of “The Man Show” on Comedy Central.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Randolph County woman was charged on Wednesday after authorities say she sent nude photos of a man to people he knew without his permission.

Roni Spicer, of Cairo, was charged with nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images. A warrant was requested and a court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says Spicer sent nude photographs of a man to someone’s phone on Nov. 27, 2024, and Feb. 17, 2025. In February, she allegedly sent the photos to “everyone at his place of employment,” court documents say.

The victim allegedly told law enforcement that Spicer was the only other person who had access to the account where the photo was stored, the statement says. Spicer allegedly admitted to sending the photos after accusing the victim of infidelity, the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COOPER COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two men from Boonville were killed during a head-on collision Wednesday afternoon on Highway 87 in Cooper County, just outside of Boonville city limits, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The crash occurred near Hail Ridge Court on Highway 87, CCFPD Lt. William Johnson said.

The crash report says a Ford F-150 – driven by a 77-year-old man – was heading southbound on Highway 87 when a 2014 Ford Escape – driven by a 24-year-old man – crossed the centerline and hit it head-on.

Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene by the Cooper County coroner, the report says.

The bodies of both men were brought to Howard Funeral Home in Boonville, the report says. Neither driver wore a seatbelt, according to the report.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An elderly man was killed in a single-vehicle crash Wednesday on Highway 5 in Howard County, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report says a 74-year-old man from Glasgow, Missouri, drove a 2007 Ford F-150 northbound as it went off the right side of the road. The man overcorrected and the truck flipped while going off the left side of the road, the report says. The truck continued to overturn as it went off the left side of the road, according to the report.

The man was ejected from the truck and was pronounced dead at the scene, the report says.

The man was not wearing a seatbelt when he crashed and the vehicle was totaled, according to the report.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Lincoln University student died Tuesday night at a residence hall on campus.

Jefferson City police dispatch records show first responders were called to 825 Chestnut St. at 5 p.m. The Cole County Sheriff’s Office responded and Sheriff John Wheeler told ABC 17 News that foul play is not suspected.

A cause of death was not revealed on Wednesday. The name of the student was not revealed.

“Our Lincoln University community is saddened by the loss of one of our students. At this time, out of respect of privacy, we will not be sharing further details. We do offer our condolences to their family, friends, and all who knew them,” the university said in a statement.

The university shared that counseling services are available to students through TeleHelp and the Thompkins Health Center. Resources are also available to employees through the Strive Employee Life and Family program.

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Mitchell Kaminski

HALLSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ) 

The Hallsville Board of Education held a pair of closed sessions before and after its 6 p.m. public meeting to discuss “personnel matters” after two teachers were placed on paid administrative leave following backlash over social media posts about Charlie Kirk.

Kirk, a conservative activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was killed in a shooting on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. He was 31.

Following his death, social media accounts matching the names of school district employees Anthony Plogger and Kayla Lewis were seen sharing posts from a social media page called “So Informed” that read:

“Charlie Kirk was a racist, xenophobic, transphobic, islamophobic, sexist, white nationalist mouthpiece who made millions inciting hatred in this country.

Whether it was his genocide denial, his transphobic tirades, his oushing for mass deportations, or his normalizing Trumpism for years, the man stood for nothing but hat.

I extend absolutely no empathy for people like that.

In this situation, my empathy is reserved for his children. May they grow up to live in a country that is the total opposite of everything their father envisioned.

May all of our children grow up to live in a country that values their lives enough to take gun violence seriously and reject any person who would try to justify senseless gun-related deaths – especially the deaths of children.”

Screenshots of the posts were shared around social media by public pages and community members. The school district wrote in its letter that the employees had “voluntarily removed the posts.” The screenshots do not show the employees giving additional comments.

Eleven people spoke at Wednesday’s Board of Education about the two employees, with only three voicing support. Bekki Brewer was one of the three who offered support for the suspended employees. 

“As you know, those two individuals have not violated any of our school policies. Both shared posts on their own time, on their private Facebook accounts,” Brewer said. “You, as the school district, have records that show that those teachers have been effectively performing their roles for years.”

The two others who spoke in support of the teachers argued that firing the teachers would be “giving in to the tantrums of bullies” and that other school employees had made similar private posts that were not leaked to the public. 

State Rep. John Martin (R-Columbia) had previously commented about the situation on his social media page, demanding that the employees be fired. He was one of eight people who believed the employees should face discipline. 

“I’m not here to speak against their First Amendment rights. They have those rights. But they do have consequences for their words,” Martin told the board during the meeting. 

Others who spoke said that the post set a “bad example for students”, “incited more violence that we should be standing up against,” and the employees failed to “uphold the basic moral principles such as morale is wrong. 

Records obtained by ABC 17 News show that Plogger is a seventh-grade social studies teacher who was hired on June 7, 2021, but didn’t begin teaching full-time until Aug. 6, 2025. Lewis is a middle school counselor who has been working for the district since Aug. 12, 2020. However, the district would not confirm that Lewis and Plogger were the teachers placed on administrative leave. 

The school district wrote in a letter to parents earlier this week that two employees were put on paid leave, pending the outcome of a review.

“We want to clarify that social media posts made by employees of the school district in their personal capacities and outside of their school duties do not reflect the opinions of the District or the Board of Education, nor are they endorsed in any way by the District. As a public school district, we recognize that our role is to create a learning environment where all students feel safe and valued,” the letter says.

The district says that Superintendent Tyler Walker made the decision to release the statement, adding that Walker is working closely with the district attorney. 

Kirk considered himself a passionate supporter of free speech and a vocal critic of “cancel culture.”

In June, Kirk spoke at the Oxford Union debating society in London, where he criticized British laws after a woman was arrested for a social media post urging people to “set fire” to hotels housing migrants. Her post came in response to the July 2024 Southport attack, when the teenage son of migrant parents fatally stabbed several people.

“You should be allowed to say outrageous things,” Kirk told the crowd in London. “You should be allowed to say contrarian things. Free speech is a birthright that you gave us, and you guys decided not to codify it, and now it’s proof, it’s basically gone.” 

On May 2, 2024, Kirk also posted on social media: 

“Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment. Keep America free.”

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