Category: kmiz-local-news

Jazsmin Halliburton

Editor’s Note: This article has been adjusted to correctly reflect which side filed the new motion.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man charged with murder for the death of a Battle High School student in 2022 is set to be in court Thursday after Boone County Prosecutors filed a motion for the trial date to be changed.

Prosecutors filed a request on Wednesday for the trial of Tavan Williams-Patrick and it will be discussed on Thursday in front of Judge Jeff Harris in the Boone County Courthouse at 1:30 p.m. The motion says a necessary state witness is not available to testify in person at Williams-Patrick’s trial set for August 11.

Williams-Patrick is charged as an adult with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in the death of 15-year-old Aubrey Doxely.

Doxely was shot and killed while lying in her bed at home on McKee Street in 2022 when bullets came through the window and hit her. The shooting happened when Williams-Patrick and three other teens allegedly started shooting from a car while driving down the street.

Williams-Patrick, along with Daniel Ayers, Samarion Robins and Oscar Ashford, were also charged as adults in Doxely’s death.

According to court documents, jury trials for Ashford and Robins are scheduled for September 8. Ayers has a hearing scheduled for August 8.

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Matthew Sanders

Missouri’s General Assembly may have found the solution to all of those expired temporary registrations on the state’s roads.

A law takes effect Aug. 28 that will require vehicle buyers to pay sales tax at the time of purchase, instead of enjoying the grace period they do now. The change means those expired tags should go away (those license plates with expired registration will remain unaffected).

A local car salesman told ABC 17 News there is a negative consequence from the law — many buyers will find they won’t have the same purchasing power when they have to finance sales tax. And those expired tags will hang around for a bit after it takes effect because implementing the changes will take time.

Are you happy with the new law? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 13-year-old boy from Barnett, Missouri, drowned on Wednesday afternoon, according to a report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report says the boy entered a pond at a private residence in the 21000 block of Quarry Lane in Barnett and did not resurface. First responders were called at 4:01 p.m., the report says.

The child was recovered by the Moreau Fire Protection District and was pronounced dead at University Hospital in Columbia, the report says.

The victim’s body was brought to Kidwell Garber Funeral Home in Versailles, according to the report.

MSHP reports do not name victims in drownings.

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Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Extreme heat has been no stranger to Mid-Missouri.

Wednesday marked the fifth day in a row of an ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Alert Day for brutal heat. A Weather Alert Day continues into Thursday, as the heat index will surge up to 105 degrees. The heat can not only cause headaches for the average person, but it can also create problems for athletes while they train.

That is, if the right steps aren’t taken.

“The most important thing in my brain is always just to get to bed at the right time,” University of Missouri cross country junior Andrew Hauser said. “Hydration is obviously super important but that’s just important for everyday.”

Athletes like Andrew Hauser have been gearing up, as the start of their season slowly approaches. Practices officially start for the Mizzou cross country team Aug. 15, while their first invitational will be held on Aug. 29.

Athletes have been training on their own in anticipation of the season, lifting weights and taking part in various runs assigned to them from coaches. Hauser said sometimes athletes will choose to run earlier in the morning to try and beat the heat.

Other times, when the heat is too extreme, it’s smart to turn to other methods.

“Treadmill is a great tool in the summer,” MU assistant cross country coach Paige Duca said. “[A] controlled environment is what we need. Today was a recovery day for the athletes and yesterday was a hill session. So, a great decision [is] to just really recover and not have to worry about the heat because the heat can take you a little bit longer to recover.”

Duca said it’s also recommended that athletes hydrate both prior to, and after, workouts. Electrolytes are also critical in helping their bodies recover in extreme heat, Duca said. Athletic trainers are also always on hand.

Athletes feel the heat more on the track.

The temperature of the Audrey J. Walton Track and Field Stadium read at about 136 degrees around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The temperature of the turf came in around 96 degrees, compared to 91 degrees outside.

Arianna Fisher turned pro as a triple jumper in 2023 after graduating from MU in 2022. Fisher still uses the track to train and felt the heat on Wednesday afternoon.

Fisher said the heat can take a toll on you mentally when heading into a workout, but her body eventually becomes acclimated to it. However, Fisher said she still takes steps to ensure she stays cool during her workouts.

“A cool towel is always nice to have or just going and sitting in the shade, drinking some water, fanning yourself,” Fisher said. “But for the most part, I just keep a towel and then that’s about it. It was a hot one, very sweaty, very gross, but it was a good workout.”

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

For the first time in more than 15 years, the Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services will not be offering flu shots in local schools during the fall semester.

The free flu vaccines were previously offered by the Health Department each fall for students in preschool through 12th grade. The change comes after the department lost more than $800,000 in federal funding in March. Those grants were originally issued by the CDC and distributed through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Boone County Health Director Rebecca Roesslet said school-based flu vaccinations are currently the main service being cut due to the shortfall.

“For the first time since around 2009, we will not have public health staff going into our local schools to administer the flu vaccine and the primary reason for this change is due to funding changes that we’ve seen at the department. A lot of our funding is federal dollars that comes to the state,” Rosselet said. 

Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said the district found out about the change this week, but it is too early to know what the potential impacts will be. 

“We’ve just received notification and haven’t had time to determine the next steps,” Baumstark told ABC 17 News in a text message. 

The 2024 Boone County Influenza report shows that the county reported a higher rate of influenza cases compared to the statewide average in Missouri. A total of 3,653 flu cases were reported in the county with 1,995 cases of influenza A, and the remaining 1,658 influenza B. Of those cases, 991 were from people ages 5-14, the highest mark of any age group.

Rosselet said that the health department will still operate several of their other vaccine clinics. 

“We’ll still be doing flu shots in our clinic, will still operate our comfort clinics,  which are really important to the community. And we’ll still have some community-based clinics that will be open to the public,” Rosslet said. 

In total, the health department lost more than $3.5 million through the terminated grants. However, the department was able to disperse most of the money, leaving a remaining loss of $804,000. 

The lost funding came from several federal grants issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and distributed through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Together, these grants represented a significant portion of Boone County’s public health funding. The grants that were impacted included: 

Here’s a breakdown of the grants affected and their impact:

Local Public Health Disparities Grant ($566,739): This grant aimed to reduce health care gaps in underserved communities. In Boone County, it funded Health on Wheels, a mobile outreach program that brought community health workers directly to residents to provide services and support.

COVID-19 Adult Supplemental Care Grant ($467,544): This funding helped the department expand COVID-19 vaccine distribution across the county.

Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity – Enhancing Detection Expansion Grant (Nearly $1.5 million): This grant supported COVID-19 testing, case investigation and public health education efforts.

Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity – Community Health Worker Initiative Grant (Nearly $1.1 million): This grant targeted health disparities, funding outreach to communities disproportionately impacted by various diseases and chronic conditions.

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

After 16 days of doing search and recovery operations in Kerr County, Texas, Missouri Task Force 1 returned home Wednesday morning.

Throughout the deployment, the task force worked with FEMA, local emergency agencies, volunteers, and international partners to deliver vital support following one of the most severe flooding events Texas has experienced.

At least 135 people were killed in flooding that began the weekend of July 4, according to reporting from CNN. Task Force Leader Randy Sanders told ABC 17 News they went right to work the very first day.

“And I think of all the deployments I’ve been on,  that was probably the saddest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Hazmat Team manager Mark Jenkins said a large number of personnel were necessary to conduct effective searches.

“Once I got there, I’ve been on the task force 24 years, and I’d have to say this is probably one of the toughest trains we’ve been on. Between the trees, the debris, the rocks,  houses, everything We had to search through to be able to make access. “

Team members conducted water-based rescues, technical searches, and human remains detection operations covering more than 450 miles during their deployment, including search efforts by boat.

“So it was truly just a recovery mission,  search and recovery. But I would call that search recovery and closure mission because of the work that they did,” Boone County Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp said. “They were able to provide some closure to the families that were unfortunately lost in that disaster.”

He also said that despite the recent FEMA changes, the task force has not been informed of any alterations to their deployment or response procedures. Members of the team also wore ribbons in honor of Camp Mystic, a nearby girls’ camp deeply affected by the disaster.

“Our ribbons represent that. That is the color of the camps for the girls of Camp Mystic.  And that was very heartfelt for us,” Sanders said.

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia says a water main break on 9th and Cherry Street Tuesday afternoon was caused by corrosion on a buried pipe.

Utility spokesman Jason West said “while it is part of the oldest pipes downtown, this particular pipe may be pushing 75-years old.  This was a fairly routine fix, from what I am being told,”

A boil water advisory was issued for nearly 30 businesses in the area until 1 p.m. Wednesday.

The break has been repaired now, a cement slab covers the hole, surrounded by construction cones still blocking off the area.

Colleen Rieman part owner of Hexagon Alley in downtown Columbia said she found out about the break after a call from employees saying the water was not working. She says the break impacted Tuesday trivia night and caused them to turn business out the door.

“Usually Tuesday’s are a busier than they were last night we definitely turned some people away last night because of not being  able to have any food,” Rieman said.

While the water main break was lifted, Rieman said Hexagon Alley would play it safe and use bottled water and bags of ice in hopes to return to normal operations Thursday.

“We bought ice this morning, we bought water bottles, we’re just not serving any of our coffee, we’re truing to figure out alternatives for the coffee but we’re encouraging people to use our bottled beverages,” Rieman added “We don’t have a stove we don’t so it really hard for us to do the safety precautions for that so thats why we had to switch to the bottle water,”

For bathrooms, Rieman said businesses in the area stepped up to help.

“Last night we weren’t able to use them so we asked our neighbors across the street let our customers use them but when they closed we kinda had to be like we just don’t have a  bathroom for you,” She said.

Businesses like Booches and Goldie’s bagels were also impacted, however Sparky’s ice cream got lucky.

Sparky’s employee, Clara Strathausen saw the break and says the impact for them was minimal.

 “A bunch of water going down cherry street i think it is,  only thing that it would have been is parking of course but our water didn’t change colors or anything like that,” Strathausen said.

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Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Osage County Sheriff’s Office plans to reopen the county jail on Monday.

County Sheriff Mike Bonham said Wednesday that he needed to close the jail and move inmates to other facilities in May due to a lack of staffing. He said the county has made new hires and now has seven workers for the jail.

“After recent upgrades and operational improvements, the facility will begin transitioning inmates back into the jail,” Bonham wrote in a text message to ABC 17 News. “We will begin accepting new detainees on Monday, July 28.”

The sheriff’s office shared pictures Wednesday morning of its new hires training for the reopening of the jail.

Osage County Commission meeting minutes show the jail closed on June 2 while the county staffed up and trained new hires. Bonham said Osage County has housed inmates and admitted new ones in several nearby facilities, including jails in Miller, Maries, Franklin and Crawford counties. The county pays each place $50 to $65 a day for each inmate it houses.

“We appreciate the continued support and cooperation from surrounding law enforcement agencies, the courts, and the public during the temporary closure,” Bonham said. “This reopening marks a significant step forward in restoring full correctional services to Osage County.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

No injuries were reported in a fire that occurred Wednesday in an outdoor storage area of the Sam’s Club at 849 Stoneridge Parkway in Jefferson City.

A social media post from the Jefferson City Fire Department says that crews responded to an automatic fire alarm at 2:14 p.m. The fire was started in an area used to store recycling materials and a sprinkler helped contain the fire, the post says.

The store was evacuated while first responders put out the fire, the post says. The cause of the fire I under investigation.

“Thanks to the sprinkler system in this commercial building, the fire was contained to the exterior portion of the building. The store was evacuated in a timely and orderly manner with the assistance of Sam’s Club employees. No injuries were reported. Store operations were suspended during the emergency response,” the post says.

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Sam Roe

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the American Beer Act earlier this month, which will reduce excise tax on beer sold in Missouri.

All beer made in America will be taxed at 2 cents per gallon when sold in Missouri. Kehoe signed the bill at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis. The new law will provide a tax break not only for the largest breweries in Missouri but also the small craft breweries in Mid-Missouri.

“Obviously, our brewers make significantly less beer, but a tax relief is tax relief,” said Sherry Wohlgemuth, executive director of the Missouri Craft Brewers Guild. “So, especially facing some of the tariffs and things that will start adding to the bottom line for everyone in the brewing industry.”

Despite already having one of the lowest tax rates on beer at 6 cents per gallon, the new malt liquor excise tax rate of 2 cents per gallon will tie Missouri with Wyoming as the lowest in all 50 states.

Mid-Missouri brewers such as Logboat in Columbia and Last Flight in Jefferson City will benefit from their reduced tax bill.

“This will save them, probably several thousand dollars in taxes,” Wohlgemuth said. “They can use that money for growing their business instead of paying taxes on it. So, it’s a win for everybody that’s making beer in the state of Missouri.”

The American Beer Act will also expand the hours that alcohol can be served during next year’s FIFA World Cup. Licensed servers will be able to sell alcohol for 23 hours per day from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

The new law will take effect on Aug. 28.

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