Category: kmiz-local-news

Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two drivers were suspected of being intoxicated in a multi-vehicle crash Saturday night which resulted in a woman being taken to the hospital with moderate injuries, according to Columbia Police Department Lieutenant Anthony Bowne.

The crash shut down a portion of southbound Providence Road in Columbia around 10:45 p.m. on Saturday.

An ABC 17 News reporter arrived on the scene around 11:20 p.m. and saw three vehicles that appeared to have been involved in a crash near the intersection of South Providence Road and East Nifong Boulevard.

The woman who was hospitalized was driving east on Nifong Blvd. when she hit a transformer pole and another vehicle, according to Lt. Bowne.

“I see this car just past me, she’s going about 80 or 90, and I’m just thinking to myself, ‘somebody’s going to kill somebody going that fast,'” witness at the scene Lailaa Bashir said.

The driver of the second vehicle was a man whom police also suspect was intoxicated.

A second female driver was hit and pushed into a ditch by the male driver.

“From what I heard, they basically got startled by her and then they hit each other,” Bashir said.

The hospitalized woman’s car flipped, while the man’s car later caught on fire. One vehicle was off the side of the road not showing major damage.

Witnesses at the scene reported hearing the woman say she wanted to “go to the Kohl’s,” while bleeding from the head.

“It’s clear that she was in distress mentally and physically, so we just wanted to get her some help, make sure she was good,” Bashir said.

CPD said that the hospitalized woman ran from the scene and was later found behind the Kohl’s on Green Meadows Road.

Tow trucks arrived on scene around 11:40 p.m. All vehicles were removed from the scene by 12:20 a.m. The other drivers reported some pain from the crash but did not need hospitalization. Boone County Joint Communications reported the road was clear at around 12:50 a.m.

This is an ongoing investigation.

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Nia Hinson

MORGAN COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two Missouri women were seriously injured in a crash in Morgan County Sunday morning.

According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, the crash occurred on Route D just after 9:30 a.m. The report states a a 32-year-old Sedalia woman was driving a 2003 Toyota Echo southbound when the vehicle exited off the road.

The vehicle overturned, ejecting the driver and a passenger in the backset of the vehicle– a 28-year-old woman from Blue Springs.

Both women were taken to University Hospital with serious injuries.

The report states the driver was not wearing a seatbelt when the crash occurred.

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Nia Hinson

HOWARD COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was seriously injured in a Howard County crash Sunday afternoon.

According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, the 27-year-old was riding a 2001 Honda Shadow southbound when the bike exited the right side of the road. The vehicle became airborne, hit a fence and overturned.

The man was taken to University Hospital with serious injuries.

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Euphenie Andre

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported 843 school bus crashes statewide, resulting in seven deaths in 2024.

According to the MSHP’s latest report:

Small School Buses:

145 crashes statewide

118 with property damage

26 with injuries

1 fatal

Large School Buses:

679 crashes statewide

560+ with property damage

113 with injuries

2 fatalities

Troop F Breakdown:

37 large school bus crashes: mostly property damage, 7 with injuries, no fatalities

School zone crashes: 5 total, 4 with property damage, 1 with injury

Drivers ignoring school bus stop signals: 2 cases with property damage

Statewide stop-signal violations: 68 reported, including 18 injuries and 2 deaths.

Former Hickman Assistant Principal Jerome Sally said drivers should respect school buses and their passengers.

“Give a bus a lot of room, number one. If you see a bus slowing down, don’t try to pass it. When they put the sign out or the lights are flashing, respect the lights and realize that there’s a young person getting on and off that bus who is more valuable than what you have to do,” Sally said.

Troopers remind drivers to stay alert in school zones, near playgrounds, and at crosswalks. Vehicles traveling in both directions must stop when a school bus is loading or unloading children with its lights flashing.

The MSHP also noted that most accidents occur between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., around the time school lets out. Parents and students with safety concerns can report them confidentially through the Courage2ReportMO program, a safe way for students to voice issues in real time.

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Matthew Sanders

President Donald Trump is threatening to deploy the National Guard in Democrat-run U.S. cities such as Chicago, New York and Baltimore after a test run in Washington, D.C.

Trump said Friday that Chicago will be the next city to see National Guard soldiers patrolling the street — a sight that has caused concerns about civil liberties in the nation’s capital and beyond. Some news outlets are reporting that the plans have been in place for weeks.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement Saturday that he has not heard from the federal government and that Illinois has not asked for help.

The deployments follow Trump’s actions in June, when he sent soldiers into Los Angeles to help with immigration operations.

Do you think troops should be deployed to more American cities? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Gabrielle Teiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 60-year-old man was seriously hurt after a crash in Benton County Sunday evening, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.

The report states a 60-year-old Lowry City man was driving a 1996 Toyota Camry east on Route T, west of Quail Run Rd., when he swerved into the westbound lane and hit a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 driven by a 57-year-old Warsaw man.

Troopers said the 60-year-old man was flown to University Hospital with serious injuries. The 57-year-old man suffered minor injuries and was taken to Golden Valley Memorial Hospital by ambulance.

The report says the 57-year-old man was wearing a seatbelt, but it is unknown if the 60-year-old man was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

The Dodge suffered extensive damage, while the Toyota was totaled, according to the report.

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Matthew Sanders

EDITOR’S NOTE: The crash location has been corrected.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two Hallsville residents were declared dead at the scene of a crash with a tractor-trailer Saturday in Monroe County.

A 46-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman were killed when their Ford Escape didn’t yield to the tractor-trailer on Highway 154 west of Perry, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report. The woman was not wearing a seat belt, the report states.

The 39-year-old tractor-trailer driver from Belvidere, Tennessee, was not hurt.

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Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo, (KMIZ)

As Columbia College students head out for the first day of classes Monday, enhanced security features across campus, including new lights and cameras, are in place to keep them safe.

“We have upgraded 80 cameras around campus to provide additional views of different areas on campus just to make sure that they’re all covered,” spokesman Sam Fleury said.

In addition to upgraded ones, the university has also installed 12 new cameras. In total, there are 160 monitoring the campus this year.

Fleury said parking lots are one of the highest priority areas for surveillance and the upgraded cameras provide a 360-degree view.

Columbia College has about 8,000 students enrolled for the 2025-2026 academic year, with 900 attending Columbia’s campus, according to Fleury.

Marianna Tomz was one many students who began her senior year Monday. She said she has always felt safe on campus.

“I lived in Miller my freshman year and then I lived in Cougar Village the past two years, so I’ve been on campus always,” Tomz said.

She said some of the new features on campus will make her feel safer this year.

“Cougar Village parking lot isn’t very big so I do have to park in Miller sometimes and that walk can be a little dark because there’s a lot of trees and stuff,” Tomz said. “So I think the increased lighting is going to help a lot.”

Fluery said LED lights have replaced traditional lighting to make parking lots brighter.

The university has also hired an additional campus safety officer.

“We now have 10 officers that we have on our team,” Fluery said. “We have two on-call, patrolling 24/7 on campus at all times… working to make sure the perimeter and then the interior of campus is secure.”

This addition comes as the Columbia Police Department said it was also ramping up its enforcement efforts downtown after students’ return to campus, according to previous reporting.

Campus safety is one of many improvements Columbia College said students can expect around campus this year.

Besides enhanced safety, $2.2 million from the college’s reserved building fund and donations paid for a remodel of the Atkins-Holman Student Commons, a refresh of the Stafford Library, and the relocation of the nursing program to Federal Hall downtown, which is still in progress.

To be prepared for possible campus emergencies, Columbia College urges students to sign up for alerts through its LiveSafe App.

“Students can follow along and make sure they get alerts if there is any sort of danger on campus or weather or updates that need to be sent out,” Fleury said.

The app will recommend an action to take during an emergency and send out updates as they become available.

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Marie Moyer

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cole County Judge Brian Stumpe on Monday denied the temporary restraining order the Missouri National Education Association sought against House Bill 12, which would give over $51 million to the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program for families to use on private school tuition.

The MOScholars program will give families of children with special needs or in low-income areas scholarships to access alternative schooling opportunities and educational resources.

“MOScholars is about giving parents the freedom to choose the educational path that best fits their child’s needs,” Malek said.” That freedom should never be taken away — not by bureaucrats, and certainly not by union bosses.”

Last year, through a senate bill, the general assembly increased eligibility for the program by expanding both eligible income levels and changing the definition of “qualified student” from students in specific counties to students from the entire state.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for parents and kids across Missouri,” Attorney General Bailey said in a statement Monday. “Missouri continues to fund public education at record levels. But for children who need something different, whether due to special needs, safety concerns, or failing districts, scholarships like these are lifelines.”

“We think it’s good to have options for all children, including the public schools and the scholarship program and so the value of the scholarship is just like we’ve seen in higher ed, where scholarships have helped kids get the right placement,” said attorney Brian Cleveland, who is representing families opposed to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit against the state was issued by the MNEA in June after state budget talks. In court documents, the MNEA claims the multi-million dollars of additional funding is unconstitutional.

In the Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, it said, “No Missouri statute beyond HB 12 itself authorizes the expenditure of general revenues for private school scholarships.”

Several defendants in the suit argue that vouchers are eligible for public schools, MNEA President Rebeka McIntosh disagrees.

“That’s not how vouchers work,” McIntosh said. “Our goal is that 900,000 public school students in Missouri deserve the very best they can get, and by draining all $51 million of general taxpayer funds to unaccountable, untrained private schools is not what is best for public school students in Missouri.”

Opponents also argue the scholarships could divert students from public schools, cutting their funding because the state distributes money per pupil. McIntosh adds that rural communities are especially vulnerable, as many small towns rely on public schools for both education and jobs.

“The public school is the heart of the community, it’s the heart of those small towns, we know that across our state and Missouri and when the schools don’t have what they need, then the entire community suffers,” McIntosh said.

“When this has been done in other states, the only people taking advantage of those voucher programs are people that are already in private schools, so it’s not expanding necessarily opportunities for students who can’t get in,” State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff (D-Columbia) said. “Not leveling the playing field of white people. I think it’s going to.”

A case review for the lawsuit is scheduled for Sept. 22 at 9 a.m. in the Cole County Courthouse.

Both the plaintiffs and defendants in the case are confident as the lawsuit continues.

“We’re just prepared to move on with arguing the case, and we will do that beginning in September and feel very confident that we can win on the merits of the case,” McIntosh said.

“It’s up to the plaintiffs as to what action they want to take next, and we’ll be there whenever they or the court wants us to make sure that we tell the families’ stories defending the program,” Cleveland said.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Board of Education will hold a hearing at the Aslin Administration building Thursday morning to discuss the property tax rate for Columbia Public Schools.

For the 2025-26 school year, the tax rate is dropping by nearly $0.16, meaning property owners will pay CPS $5.55 for every $1,000 of assessed value in property taxes for the year. However, due to the 8% increase in property assessment valuations, the district could collect $3.5 million more than last year through property taxes.

According to Chief Financial Officer Heather McArthur, due to the 8% assessed valuation growth, CPS will have to roll back its tax rate to account for the difference. The CPS financial committee will be discussing its tax rate number in a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Columbia Board of Education will meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Aslin Administration building.

Final tax rate levies must be decided before September 1.

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