Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia woman was charged on Friday after police say they found her with 17 pounds of methamphetamine.

Asia Schafer, 23, was charged with first-degree drug trafficking. She is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says that a Columbia police officer was monitoring traffic around 1:30 p.m. Thursday when a Tesla Cybertruck with dark windows was seen heading eastbound on Interstate 70 near the Stadium Boulevard exit. The statement says the tint in the windows was too dark and tested at 11% light transmittance, with state law requiring 35%.

The officer pulled over the vehicle at Broadway and Keene Street, the statement says. Schafer allegedly told police that she was coming from the park for lunch, but the officer wrote that he “had prior knowledge that the vehicle was coming from Kansas City and Schafer was lying.” She eventually stated she came from Kansas City, the statement says.

A K-9 was used and drugs were found. Law enforcement found about 17 pounds of methamphetamine in a diaper bag.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged with three felonies after he allegedly shot at a woman in a home and yard on Thursday.

Cody Gore, 29, was charged on Friday with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond.

An initial court appearance was held on Friday afternoon and Gore appeared by video from the jail. A confined docket hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, July 3; while a preliminary hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 22.

According to the probable cause statement, police were called on Thursday to a residence on Bonny Linn Drive for a report of gunshots and a woman screaming. Police saw the victim run behind a home and Gore in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, the statement says.

Police found a gun in the car that was still hot, along with a magazine that could hold six rounds with one left, the statement says. Police wrote that three shell casings were found in the front yard and two more, along with new bullet holes were seen in a room in the home.

The victim allegedly told police that she woke up Gore, he started yelling and an argument ensued, the statement says. Both people fell and Gore allegedly threatened to kill the victim before firing shots, the statement says.

Gore allegedly told police that an argument started and initially denied firing shots or assaulting the victim, before saying he fired shots, the statement says.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Monroe County woman was taken to University Hospital with serious injuries after a crash that closed a lane of a Boone County highway Friday.

The 39-year-old woman was riding in an SUV when a compact car tried to make a U-turn on Highway 763 near Prathersville Road. The SUV hit the car as the car tried to make the turn, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.

The 69-year-old SUV driver had minor injuries and was taken by private vehicle to Moberly Regional Medical Center. The driver of the car that tried the U-turn refused medical attention, the report states.

The SUV passenger was not wearing a seat belt, the report states.

The crash led authorities to close the southbound lane of Highway 763.

Boone County emergency dispatchers sent an alert to the public at about 2:15 p.m. warning about a collision at Highway 763 and Wagon Trail Road, just north of Prathersville. A second alert about an hour later said the road was fully reopened.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman charged with second-degree murder for the 2021 death of an 8-month-old girl has been arrested in Arkansas after being mistakenly released.

Jennifer A. Johnson, of Fayette, was arrested and jailed in Pulaski County, Arkansas, according to online court records. A Boone County prosecutor confirmed Johnson was in custody. An extradition order was filed Friday, according to court records.

An arrest warrant was issued for Johnson earlier this month after she was released on parole from a Missouri prison. Johnson was supposed to be turned over to Boone County custody to face trial for second-degree murder in the baby’s death but was not, said Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Roger Johnson.

“The defendant was in custody at the Boone County Jail on a warrant that had been issued in the original case. She was delivered at Department of Corrections,” Roger Johnson told ABC 17 News. “Department of Corrections let her out of custody with a ticket to go down to Arkansas. Once our assistant noticed that, she filed for a warrant to be issued, and we didn’t want to comment during the time that the warrant was out because our hope was that she would get located and taken into custody before she realized that there was a warrant.” 

A relative of Jennifer Johnson, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from the victim’s family, said Johnson moved to Arkansas to live with her sister after being released from the Department of Corrections. According to the family member, that location was approved as part of her home plan because it aligned with the supervision of her assigned parole officer.

“The victim’s family, this has been a difficult week for them because they’ve been concerned about this issue,” Roger Johnson said. “We’ve been in communication with them  to let them know as well that she’s in custody.” 

Roger Johnson said this is the first time he’s seen something like this occur. 

“We’ve talked with officials from the Department of Corrections, and she really shouldn’t have been let out of custody because we have the pending case, and she was in custody on our warrant,” Roger Johnson said.  “We’re working with Department of Corrections and with the jail to make sure that we can address the issues that we had at Department of Corrections and make sure that doesn’t happen again.” 

Roger Johnson added that Missouri law requires the Department of Corrections to check for any outstanding warrants before releasing an individual from custody.

“We’ve talked to Department of Corrections, and they said they actually did that. They called the clerk’s office here, and they checked, and they weren’t able to locate a warrant. So it looks like they did the search that they were supposed to, but they didn’t identify that she should have also been in custody on our murder warrant,” Johnson said. 

Columbia police arrested Jennifer Johnson in April 2021, after being called to a home in the 1000 block of Elleta Boulevard in north Columbia. 

According to court documents, police were dispatched to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Columbia on the morning of April 18, 2021, where they were informed that an 8-month-old, Hannah Kent, who was under her care, had died. 

Jennifer Johnson allegedly told police that she last saw the infant alive at 2:15 a.m. after giving her a bottle, the probable cause statement says.

Jennifer Johnson was previously charged with two counts of assault in Howard County in 2019. The complaint in the case states she strangled and bit another woman.

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Matthew Sanders

Abortion rights supporters suffered a major legal defeat Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Planned Parenthood could not sue South Carolina for blocking Medicaid funding.

South Carolina, like Missouri, has a law that blocks Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding for non-abortion-related procedures. And like South Carolina, the state of Missouri has been sued by Planned Parenthood for it.

It’s not yet clear how the ruling will affect the Missouri lawsuit, but the high court has set a precedent in favor of such laws.

Do you think states should be able to stop Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Board of Education on Thursday night unanimously approved its operating budget for next school year.

The $172 million budget includes the largest base pay increase Jefferson City teachers have seen in 17 years. Certified staff will see an $1,800 increase to $43,300. The total raise for teachers with one step and $1,800 to the base is $2,529. This is the largest raise for certified staff in 17 years.

Meeting documents show that the estimated revenues for next school year’s budget are $153,928,640, but only 86% are from operating funds.

The remaining “16,375,755 comes in the debt service fund to pay off principal and interest of general obligation debt and $4,526,978 comes in the capital projects fund to make facility improvements and purchase equipment,” documents show.

Budget Book – Final 25-26Download

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Dozens of Columbia residents gathered at Fairview Community of Christ Church on Thursday evening to learn more about the city’s response to homelessness and housing challenges during a public presentation hosted by Ward 4 Councilman Nick Foster. 

Attendees included Public Health Planner Carter Stephenson, Housing and Neighborhood Services Director Leigh Kottwitz and Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude. 

Recent data shows homelessness in Boone County is up from a few years ago. In 2019, there were 268 people in the county experiencing homelessness, compared to 323 in 2024. The average age of a homeless individual in the county is 45, with reported ages ranging from 17-87.

Despite the growing need, shelter bed capacity has remained relatively flat, increasing slightly from 267 beds in 2019 to 293 in 2024. However, in 2024 there were 30 more reported homeless people in Boone County than beds available. 

However according to Stephenson, the true extent of homelessness may be underreported. Stephenson says that not everyone experiencing homelessness is registered with the Homeless Management Information System. He added that many families with children may also avoid seeking help, out of fear of losing custody.

In response, the City of Columbia has expanded its efforts to address homelessness. Initiatives include:

Establishing a contract with Turning Point to operate an overnight shelter and adjusting the temperature threshold for emergency shelter access to include nights more than 75 degrees and lower than 25 degrees.

Increasing funding for Room at the Inn to allow year-round operation.

Contracting with AAAAChange, LLC for homeless street outreach and case management.

Launching a mobile shower trailer program, currently operating at the Ashley Street pavilion.

Allocating $600,000 in utility assistance funding in the fiscal year 2023 city budget.

The city’s investment in homeless services has grown significantly, rising from $68,200 in 2016 to $1,044,435 in 2024. In addition, the Columbia Police Department maintains a homeless outreach team, with two officers dedicated to addressing homeless-related concerns.

Despite these efforts, city staff and advocates say more resources are needed. Priorities include expanding shelter capacity with a 24/7 low-barrier drop-in center, establishing a family shelter, and providing public restrooms accessible around the clock.

The Columbia Police Department also now has two officers assigned specifically to its homeless outreach team.

I’m just being honest we get complaints about folks who are in areas that are private property where they shouldn’t be and so they go out and try to connect them to services, figure out do they have medical needs, housing needs mental health issues,” Schlude said during the meeting.

Ongoing prevention efforts are also a focus, with calls for increased rent and utility assistance, incentives for landlords to rent to low-income tenants, and greater access to affordable housing and mental health services.

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Leah Rainwater

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The University of Missouri System Board of Curators met at the St. Joseph Country Club ballroom on Thursday to attend to a wide variety of subjects affecting the state of Missouri as a whole.

The University of Missouri has made a notable amendment to an item in its transfer policy, expanding from only allowing students from nine qualifying states to transfer with 60 credits and an Associate of Arts degree from a two-year college, to now allowing all students nationwide.

The UM Board of Curators also unanimously approved a $5.3 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year 2026, a slight increase from $4.9 billion from FY 2025.

This budget increase comes despite a reduction of roughly $7 to $8 million in federal grant revenue for the system and amid larger discussions of federal spending cuts in Washington, D.C.

However, the 2026 operating budget does include $539 million in state of Missouri appropriations.

The consent agenda approved by curators moved a project forward for a new UMKC Dentistry program in St. Joseph.

The Board of Curators also approved a plan to design and construct the Energy Innovation Center, a facility where researchers will study new methods of energy production.

“The Energy Innovation Center is essential to addressing our nation’s security, workforce and economic growth,” University of Missouri President Mun Choi said. “This facility aligns incredible resources with world-class faculty to transform energy production and policy for the future.”

Inside the center, researchers from engineering, physics, computer science, chemistry and biochemistry will advance energy production, storage and distribution.

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