Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Three incumbents on the Columbia Board of Education will seek reelection, according to a joint press release sent by the members on Wednesday.
The release says Board President John Lyman, Vice President Paul Harper and Board Member April Ferrao will file for reelection next month.
Filing for the positions will be open from Dec. 9-30, according to the release. The election is in the spring.
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Central Missouri Humane Society announced in a Wednesday press release that demolition started on Wednesday at the location of its future campus.
A house and a concrete shed located at the 17.5-acre property on East Brown School will be cleared for CMHS’ new campus. CMHS has served Mid-Missouri since 1943.
Previous reports show the estimated cost of the new building is around $25 million.
“This is an important milestone for us,” CMHS Executive Director Julie Aber said in the release. “Each step brings us closer to building a safe, modern space that better serves the animals, staff, and community who depend on us.”
The demolition at the new campus site is expected to take about a week.
Marie Moyer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Local veterans met at Broadway Bluffs Drive on Wednesday to bring awareness to claims of poor management and employee treatment at the Columbia Vet Center.
In a joint statement from veterans protesting the center, they claim the current Vet Center director has built a “toxic work environment,” causing several staff members to resign and two to take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
“Both regular counselors are on FMLA leave because of ongoing mistreatment, leaving nearly all 150 veterans without access to one-on-one counseling with the people whom they know, trust, and with whom they have built good relationships,” the statement said. “We urgently need intervention and leadership that restores trust, respect, and proper care for those who served.”
Criticisms toward management include counselors being given too much administrative work that affects their ability to treat clients, as well as claims of micromanagement and a sense of lack of support in employees, including frequent write-ups.
“You’re getting more and more pressure from your higher-ups to spend your hours doing unnecessary paperwork, collecting unnecessary data, providing lists of what you’re doing and all these things that literally just take time away from the actual mission,” Army veteran Carl Shepard said.
Shepard added he’s noticed these issues since he started interacting with the center around 2018, with the situation coming to a head when the two counselors went on leave around a month ago.
David Hopson, a veteran of the Vietnam War and the father of one of the counselors who went on leave, says multiple formal complaints have been filed to higher-ups with no changes made. Other protesters claimed they reached out to the center’s District Director and were told they haven’t observed any problems and receptionists refusing to transfer callers.
“Nothing has been done, it’s been brushed under the table, nothing’s been done about it, and the environment is still toxic,” Hopson said.
Hopson said his son, a combat veteran and counselor at the center, was on FMLA leave for his mother’s funeral when the center’s director allegedly called and threatened to write him up for missing work. After his leave, Hopson said at least 11 veterans submitted letters praising his son’s counseling, saying his work had made a life-saving difference.
“I want them to make a change in leadership, starting with the supervisor and owner and going up the line if they can, because it’s not working,” Hopson said.
One veteran who stayed anonymous in fear of retribution added with the current counselors on leave, the Vet Center has brought in new staff who do not have a good connection with clients.
“They can bring in a new counselor, but that’s not sufficient to having the counselor that we had,” the veteran said. “When they’re here and they want to be here, we want to work with the people that we know, trust and respect.”
ABC 17 News has reached out to the center’s Director, Valerie Sisson and Deputy District Director, Leticia Dreiling for a statement but has not heard back. ABC 17 News also contacted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which has not yet released a statement.
Meghan Drakas
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
More than six years after two Columbia residents were shot and killed in northeast Columbia, their families and police are still searching for answers.
“Something that was different about this scene than others, it was very quiet,” Columbia Police Department Lt. Matt Gremore said.
Just after 3 a.m. Sept. 22, 2019, police responded to the corner of Rice Road and McKee Street. Gremore said police originally responded to a shooting call, but officers were not aware of any victims at the scene.
“Multiple officers showed up,” Gremore said. “They started trying to render aid, putting chest seals on the wounds and gauze and everything that they could possibly do.”
Gremore said 36-year-old Antonio Houston was found on the lawn between Rice Road and the home, while 33-year-old Danielle Marine was found between the home and the gravel driveway. They were both taken to the hospital and were pronounced dead.
Gremore said the shooting appeared to be targeted and the two were shot multiple times. Multiple bullet holes can still be seen on the left side of the home.
“It was hard to determine which bullet holes were from this event, or if there was some from a prior event too,” Gremore said. “During my time here, I can think of several homicides that we found on this particular street alone.”
Gremore said shell casings were found at the scene, but wouldn’t elaborate further on what other types of evidence was collected during the investigation.
Just a day after the shooting, at least three homes in the same area of McKee Street and Rice Road were shot. Police found at least 17 shell casings at the scene, but no injuries were reported.
Danielle Marine
Shemeca Marine said she recalls waking up around 6 a.m. on Sept. 22, 2019, to a bunch of messages and missed phone calls.
“My oldest sister Nicole called me and said Danielle was shot,” Shemeca Marine said. “I just broke, I just broke. And I couldn’t stop nonstop for almost two hours, maybe three hours.”
She said her first thought when she saw all the missed messages and phone calls was that something happened to her mother.
“I never in a million years would have thought this would be something going on with my sister.”
After more than half a decade, Shemeca Marine, said she is reminded of her sister, Danielle Marinem everyday.
“My sister was [a] free spirit, she was bright,” Shemeca Marine said. “She was pretty much an open book…I feel like when I lost my sister, I picked up a lot of her traits.”
Shemeca Marine said her sister was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the family moved to Columbia in 1998. Danielle Marine went to Hickman High School and was very social. Just weeks before Danielle Marine was killed, Danielle had moved back to Columbia from Dallas, Texas, Shemeca Marine said.
Danielle Marine left behind two sons and a daughter. Shemeca said Danielle’s daughter, reminds her “so much” of Danielle.
“I’m angry because Columbia is too small,” Shemeca said. “People know something…it hurts, it’s painful.”
Shemeca says believes someone knows something in this case and she wants them to come forward.
“Coming forward would be a blessing, and justice for the family,” Shemeca Marine said. “Somebody knows the truth and it would not only help my sister, [and] Antonio but other loved ones for people to come forward.”
Antonio Houston
Antonio Houston’s sister, Kisha Houston, said her brother has six children. She said he enjoyed family gatherings and that his family was his life. She said the Hickman High School alumni was a friendly and peaceful person, who enjoyed “going out with friends and family.” She said he was working at a lot at a local landscaping and lawn care business, before he died.
Kisha Houston said Antonio Houston was her “baby brother” but over the years, she said it seemed like he became her big brother and the “more responsible” one.
Kisha Houston said her brother would help anyone he could and said Danielle Marine and he were friends. Kisha Houston said the two were not in a relationship, but Danielle Marine had been staying at Antonio’s house for a few days. She said the night they were killed, the two were visiting a friend’s home.
It’s been hard for his children, since they lost their father, Kisha said.
Where the case stands today
When speaking with ABC 17 News at the scene of the crime, Gremore said police do not know if this was a drive-by shooting or if the shooter or shooters walked up to the scene.
“I would be speculating to say that we knew that the suspects were in a car,” Gremore said. “I can’t say that.”
Throughout the years, Gremore said police have heard the rumors about potential suspects in the case.
“There’s generally names that are consistent with this investigation,” Gremore said. “But every now and then, you’ll get told other information as well, too.”
He went on to say police “absolutely do have people of interest in mind.”
He said as technology has become more advance, it’s helped police do their jobs better as there’s things officers can do now that don’t need a person to come forward to talk about.
“But those are not the end all be all,” Gremore said. “I think it’s harder now to get someone to understand the importance of providing information because we can’t do everything with technology alone.”
He said submitting tips using CrimeStoppers is helpful, but for this case to be adjudicated, he said it’s going to take someone to come forward with information to the police department. He said it’s hard not to have answers about what happened to give to the families after six years.
“I think that bothers everybody at the police department to not be able to give that information to the family,” Gremore said.
September 2019
Danielle Marine and Houston’s murders happened during a stretch of six homicides in fewer than two weeks in Columbia. From Sept. 13-25, 2019, there were five shootings where seven people were shot. Only one person survived but he was later killed in a shooting in 2023.
Gremore said he doesn’t believe Danielle Marine and Antonio Houston’s deaths are linked to the other shootings. But he believes some of the other shootings are connected.
A map of Columbia shows the locations of five shootings from Sept. 13, 2019 to Sept. 25, 2019 where seven people were shot and six people were killed.
The seventh and final person shot during this stretch of shootings was 23-year-old James Hickem. His case is also still open and no arrests have been made. CPD is investigating 17 unsolved homicide cases with 19 victims dating back to 1985.
Alison Patton
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Cole County judge heard arguments Wednesday on the first redistricting lawsuit in a string of legal challenges.
A group of voters is suing Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, arguing that redistricting can occur only after a census, as the state constitution and the state supreme court have ruled, according to pretrial briefs.
Attorney Chuck Hatfield, who is representing the voters in this case, said there’s specific language in the Missouri Constitution surrounding congressional redistricting that doesn’t allow for wiggle room.
Hatfield gave this example:
“When the number of representatives to which the state is entitled in the House of the Congress of the United States under census of 1950 and each census thereafter is certified to the governor,” this quote comes unedited from a slide show Hatfield presented at Wednesday’s trial, and it comes from the Missouri Constitution.
Hatfield said he bolded the words that have the most meaning during interpretation. He argues the law prohibits lawmakers from redistricting more than once during a decade.
Hoskins and the Missouri Republican State Committee, as an interested party, argue that the constitution doesn’t prohibit mid-decade redistricting, according to pretrial briefs. The pretrial brief cites the U.S. Constitution as well, arguing the power to redistrict is protected there.
Hoskins’ attorney Louis Capozzi argues that lawmakers can redistrict because the state constitution doesn’t explicitly prohibit it.
“The General Assembly has the power to act,” Capozzi said. “Until that power is taken away.”
Capozzi also said this lawsuit is about politics.
“This is a political question, it’s a political case,” Capozzi said. “The plaintiffs obviously disagree with the General Assembly’s political and policy gains in adopting the new congressional map.”
After the trial, Hatfield said politics is what started this.
“The state today said that this was a political issue, and I found it a little rich,” Hatfield said. “I think we all remember how this started, which is that the president of the United States told the Missouri General Assembly to redistrict.”
Governor Mike Kehoe signed the congressional map into law in late September. The map could cut out Democrat Emanuel Cleaver’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, opening up District 5 to a Republican.
Judge Christopher Limbaugh granted the Missouri Republican Party’s motion to intervene in this case because of the group’s interest in getting Republicans in office, including in the House of Representatives, according to the motion.
If the map is upheld by the courts, then it will go into effect on the November 2026 ballot, when U.S. Representatives in Missouri run for their seats again.
Hatfield said the earliest answer on the map could be in January, but it’s likely the lawsuits will end up in the Missouri Supreme Court.
Hatfield is also representing People Not Politicians in the lawsuit filed against Hoskins, which a different Cole County Judge will hear Thursday, and he is representing the group in a federal court case that Hoskins filed against the group.
Madison Stuerman
EDITOR’S NOTE: The headline and role of the airman have been corrected.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Warrensburg man has died after he was shot on Wednesday morning.
Whiteman Air Force Base said on social media that the 509th Bomb Wing is aware of the shooting involving one of its off-duty, off-base airmen that resulted in a death.
“The Wing is fully cooperating with their efforts,” the post states, “In respect of the ongoing investigation and those affected, no further information will be released at this time.”
Warrensburg Police said dispatch received two calls at 7:20 a.m. about a domestic disturbance on Cedar Drive. The suspect was reported to be armed with a weapon and running towards Hale Lake Road. Warrensburg Police said the suspect fired the gun in the direction on officers as they arrived on scene.
In a release, the department said prior to the officer’s arrival a bystander, Tony Barron, attempted to intervene in the domestic disturbance and was shot and killed by the suspect.
The suspect was found dead in a nearby wooded area with what officials believe to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 8:36 a.m., according to WPD.
No first responders were hurt at the scene and officers did not return gunfire at the suspect. The female victim in the domestic disturbance was treated and released from Western Missouri Medical Center.
WPD says the investigation is still ongoing.
Due to Military regulations, the suspect’s identity cannot be released until 24 hours after their family has been notified.
Warrensburg Superintendent Steve Ritter said in an email to parents that the district was notified of gunshots fired nearby.
Warrensburg High School was put on a full lockdown, according to Ritter. Other buildings went on limited lockdown procedures.
“Later in the morning, Maple Grove Elementary was identified as an area of concern as law enforcement continued their response,” Ritter said in the statement. “Some buses were temporarily redirected from Maple Grove to Martin Warren; those students have now returned or are returning to Maple Grove.”
Ritter added that all students and staff members are safe.
An alert was sent to students at the University of Central Missouri when the threat ended.
“Urgent Advisory: The active shooter situation in southeast Warrensburg has been contained. There is no ongoing threat and no need to shelter in place.”
Johnson County Emergency Management Agency said East Hale Lake Rd, Ridgeview Drive and Mitchell Street were closed but have been reopened.
Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol, University of Central Missouri Department of Public Safety, Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, Johnson County EMA, Ambulance District and Warrensburg Fire Department assisted.
This is a developing story
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Northern Lights can be seen throughout a decent portion of the country on Tuesday evening.
Some ABC 17 News viewers took photos showing the views from their homes.
Do you want to share what you see with us? Let us know on our Facebook page or on the share page of our website.
Marie Moyer
COLUMBIA Mo. (KMIZ)
A section of Business Loop 70 between Hathman Place and Eastland Circle will be closed from Nov. 12-26 as construction on a new roundabout begins.
The roundabout is part of the larger Improve I-70 project, with the addition connecting eastbound I-70 traffic to the Business Loop.
“We’re going to really attack this aggressively with a lot of crews and get in here and do the work as quickly as possible, so you’ll see concrete being poured as early as next Monday,” Eric Kopinski, the Central Office Improve I-70 Program Director, said.
Drivers in the area should expect to see detour signs, with the main route taking drivers through Trimble Road and East Broadway.
Kopinski said the Missouri Department of Transportation proposed longer closures over the summer, ultimately settling on the fall plans.
“‘Do we close this for having just one lane going through for three or four months, or do we just close it for a 14-day period?'” Kopinski said. “We determined it was safer, and we could build it to a higher quality to get in here and do it really in a 14 day period.”
Kopinski adds that all businesses on the construction zone will remain accessible. ABC 17 News spoke with Close to Home Adult Day Center, Tyree Parts & Hardware and Big O Tires who all plan to remain open during the construction. On Plumb Supply Company’s website, they ask customers to use the building’s east entrance.
Charlie Alexander, Big O Tires’ Vice President of Operations, voiced concern about the closure, with the fall being a busy season for the company as drivers prepare their cars for the winter. However, he understands MoDOT’s construction process.
“We’re leveraged a little bit there, we have to do what we have to do to be there for our customers, but again, we’re excited to see the project move forward,” Alexander said. “It’s just timing-wise of the closure, it is what it is.”
Alexander adds that customers should continue contacting staff and making appointments.
Construction on the roundabout is expected to be complete on Nov. 26. The roundabout will not be connected to I-70 until late 2027.
Ryan Shiner
HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. (KMIZ)
No injuries were reported after a house caught fire on Tuesday evening in Holts Summit.
Firefighters responded to a home that caught fire on Callaway County Road 394 at 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to Holts Summit Assistant Fire Chief Allen Wehmeyer.
Wehmeyer said the fire started in the back of the home and fire was seen coming through the roof when personnel arrived.
It took firefighters roughly a half hour to put out the fire, according to Wehmeyer.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Some SNAP recipients are expected to start seeing some benefits return as early as today, according to an email from the Missouri Department of Social Services.
SNAP benefits had not been delivered this month because of political battles surrounding ongoing government shutdown.
“The United State Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Services (USDA-FNS) updated guidance on November 8, 2025, directing states to issue partial November SNAP benefits based on recent developments,” an email from Missouri DSS spokesperson Baylee Watts says. “The Department’s EBT vendor has been notified and confirmed that they are prepared to receive and process Missouri’s SNAP file. Participants will have their partial benefits available starting Tuesday, November 11, and will be able to access and use them at that time.”
A social media post from Feeding Missouri says, “It’s important to note that a new federal formula will determine benefit amounts. As a result, some households will receive ONLY PART of their usual benefit, and some MAY NOT RECEIVE a payment this round.”
Reporting from CNN shows the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a short-term order that allows President Donald Trump’s administration to withhold full Food Stamp payments this month. The U.S. Senate agreed on a bill on Monday evening that would reopen the government, which is going to the House this week.
