Category: kmiz-local-news

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County judge sided Wednesday with Columbia Public Schools in a lawsuit alleging the district breached a contract for football field naming rights at Rock Bridge High School.

Wayne Sells filed the lawsuit in October 2024 after CPS removed his name from the Rock Bridge football field. The Columbia Board of Education unanimously voted to rename its athletics field in 2020 after Sells went on Facebook and criticized professional athletes who were protesting during the national anthem before games by kneeling. 

Sells had suggested renaming the field Veterans Memorial Field.

Judge Ben Miller heard arguments on March 2.

Sells argued that renaming the field violated his agreement with CPS made when he donated $100,000 to the school and agreed to an arrangement to name the field for him. CPS argued that no formal agreement existed.

That donation was used for improvements to Rock Bridge athletic facilities, which led to the school naming the field “Wayne Sells Family Activity Field” in 2006.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 48-year-old man from Chicago, Illinois, died in a crash in Audrain County on Wednesday.

Missouri State Highway Patrol said the crash happened at 6:20 a.m. on Route J at Audrain County Road 481.

Troopers said the driver of a 2011 International LF627 was going westbound on Route J when it went off the side of the road and hit a ditch. The report states the cargo shifted and hit the cab as the truck stopped.

The driver died at the scene.

Both directions of the road have been closed since around 8 a.m., according to the MoDOT Traveler Map. The agency said Route J between the Routes 19/54/J roundabouts and Route B is closed for an unknown amount of time.

 Sgt. Kyle Green with MSHP told ABC 17 News the weather is slowing down the investigation process.

As of 1 p.m., crews were still on scene cleaning up debris from the scene.

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Matthew Sanders

President Donald Trump continues to order more American troops to be sent to the Middle East, where the United States is embroiled in an air and sea conflict in Iran.

Trump has not said whether he plans to put soldiers on Iranian soil, but he has not ruled out the possibility. However, reports emerged Tuesday that the administration could be nearing an end to the conflict.

Do you think American soldiers will be deployed on land in Iran? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Camden County’s presiding commissioner entered the Republican primary for Missouri’s Sixth Senate District on the final day of filing Tuesday.

Todd Isaac “Ike” Skelton of Osage Beach is the sixth Republican to file paperwork to run in the August election for the district that runs from Cole County to the Lake of the Ozarks. Skelton is nearing the end of his first term in office, which includes a high-profile run-in with the law when he removed a license-plate reader camera from its perch along a state highway.

Tuesday was the final day to file for the August primary in statewide and county elections. Filing began Feb. 24. That’s when the other five Republicans — term-limited Missouri House member Rudy Veit of Wardsville, former lawmaker Dr. Lisa Thomas of Lake Ozark, Jake Vogel and Derrick Spicer of Jefferson City and Amber Buckles of Macks Creek — put their names in.

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Meanwhile, three candidates — Nick Sherrell, Kathy Campbell and Nathan Patton — are running in the Republican primary for Skelton’s current post. Two Democrats, Daniel Ousley and Mike McDuffey, are seeking their party’s nomination.

Mid-Missouri’s open 10th Senate District, which covers Callaway, Montgomery, Pike and Lincoln counties, will see contested primaries for the GOP and the Democrats. Republicans Tricia Byrnes (a current House member) of Wentzville and Mike Deering of Montgomery City filed on the first day. Democrats John Wells of Holts Summit and Pablo John Los of Hermann filed on Monday.

State House District 59, which represents Jefferson City and will be open in the general elections, will have a three-way Republican primary. Vic Rackers, Carrie Tergin and Glenn Reynolds all filed on the first day.

A full list of candidates who filed in the August primary is available on the Missouri secretary of state’s website.

Contested primaries set in Boone, Cole counties

Boone County voters who pull a Democratic ballot in August will have the chance to vote in two contested primaries.

Incumbent Auditor Kyle Rieman has drawn a challenge from Allen Bel-Long.

Two Democrats also filed for the Division 9 circuit judge seat — Bill Ellis and Spencer S. Smith.

All four filed on the first day.

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Cole County will hold contested primaries for the Republican nominee for presiding commissioner and county clerk. Each race has drawn the interest of a term-limited state lawmaker.

State Sen. Mike Bernskoetter is running for the GOP nomination for presiding commissioner against Paul Dupuis. State Rep. Dave Griffith of Jefferson City is running for county clerk against Jeff Ahlers.

Bernskoetter’s and Griffith’s term limits set up the open primaries in the Sixth Senate District and 59th House District, respectively.

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Haley Swaino

COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cole County officially broke ground on its new $14 million juvenile center Tuesday.

“We’ve really outgrown our current facility,” Cole County Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman said. “That was built 30 years ago.”

The project to get an upgraded facility for the county is more than five years in the making and will meet growing needs.

“In the 21st century, we have some very troubled juveniles. So there’s really more of a need now than there was 30 years ago. And that’s what we’re addressing,” Bushman said.

Rendering of new Cole County juvenile center for detention and emergency care at its groundbreaking on Mar. 31, 2026. The center will be located in the 2300 block of St. Marys Boulevard in Jefferson City.

The current center, the Cole County Prenger Family Center, has only three secure beds for detention and seven beds for emergency care. The new center will have eight cell beds and more homey recreational space.

“We want to make sure that they’re [juveniles] not in a state of survival,” Cole County Juvenile Court Administrator Tobie Meyer said. “We want them to be comfortable, we want them to feel supported and we want them to be open to change.”

The center provides shelter, food and stability for those needing behavior changes or just a safe home.

“We currently have this in our facility, we have youths, juveniles, who have issues at home. They have no home life,” Bushman said. “So we basically become kind of their surrogate parents. And they live there, they have their own rooms, they go to school and we feed them. We kind of take care of them.”

The center will not only offer more space for juveniles, but it’s in a more preferable location.

“It’s important for it to be centrally located so that children and families can access us when they’re needed. We have served many youth who walk to our facility because they need a safe place to go,” Meyer said.

The Cole County Prenger Family Center, is located on Stadium Boulevard in southwest Jefferson City. Meyer said the new juvenile center, located on St. Marys Boulevard in Jefferson City, is better because its central to the county.

The project is expected to be completed in spring 2027.

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Camryn Payne

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Demolition crews on Tuesday started to tear down an old Gerbes in the 1200 block of East McCarty Street this week.

The demolition is part of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church’s expansion. The expansion has three phases and a total price tag of $40 million.

According to diagrams on the church’s website, the first phase includes constructing a new school building, new playgrounds and a new McCarty Street entrance. The expansion will cost $20 million.

The second phase — costing roughly $12.5 million –will include building a new commons and administration building and demolishing Kaiser Building for new parking. The third phase — costing about $7.5 million — includes adding a new gym and classrooms onto the commons and administration building.

The work on the first phase is expected to be done by August 2027, while the second and third phases could take at least five years apiece to complete, according to the diagrams.

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Dan Kite

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two women from St. Louis County have been charged after allegedly filing a false kidnapping report that led to an extensive police search for a 5-year-old girl on Monday.

Ashley M. Collins, 29, and Kayla Williams, 31, both of Afton, were charged on Tuesday with a misdemeanor for making a false report, Collins faces and additional charge for misusing “911” services, also a misdemeanor. Both were arrested this afternoon and are being held in the St. Louis County Jail and are being held on $10,000 bonds. Court dates have not been scheduled.

According to a probable cause statement, Collins called 911 on Monday to report that her 2020 Jeep Renegade was stolen with a 5-year-old girl inside. An Amber Alert was issued that afternoon and several resources — includes a helicopter and drone surveillance and a K-9 search team — were used. The vehicle was later found around a mile from the house, according to the statement.

During an interview with Collins, she reported that she had temporary guardianship of the child, and that they live with Williams. She alleged that she placed the child in the vehilce and went back inside, when she returned both were gone. Williams gave the same story during her own interview with police.

Upon realizing the vehicle was gone, Collins reportedly took Williams to work in a separate vehicle and called her bank to see if they could locate the car, before calling 911, according to court documents.

Five hours after the initial report, both reportedly admitted that, while the car had been stolen, the kidnapping report was a hoax, court documents say.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Miller County Prosecutor Matthew Howard died on Monday. He was 64.

Howard served as Miller County’s prosecutor from 2002-14 and again from 2022 until his death.

Howard’s obituary says  a visitation and funeral service will be held Saturday at Bethany Lutheran Church in Eldon, followed by a burial at Eldon City Cemetary.

Howard was born in Jefferson City and graduated from Jefferson City High School in 1979, according to his obituary. He earned his law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law in 1985, the obituary says.

The prosecutor position is up for election in the Aug. 4 primary. The last day to file was Tuesday. County Clerk Clinton Jenkins told ABC 17 News that one person, Robert Seek, filed to run on Tuesday.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man who was charged after a several-hour standoff last August at Stephens Lake Park was sentenced on Monday.

Tre’shon Smith, 22, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to two felonies and “a series of misdemeanors” in the case, according to a Tuesday press release from Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson’s Office.

Court records show he was charged in one case with third-degree assault, fourth-degree assault, first-degree property damage, second-degree property damage and resisting arrest. In a second case stemming from a September 2025 incident, he was charged with first-degree harassment and first-degree property damage.

He was sentenced to a 120-day treatment program and can be released on probation if he successfully completes it, otherwise he faces a five-year prison sentence.

Smith allegedly threatened “suicide by cop” on Aug. 11, 2025, at Stephens Lake Park while wielding a knife and having alcohol, court documents in previous reporting say. Officers used a stun gun to take him into custody.

The press release says in September, Smith was accused of kicking in the front door of an apartment after an argument occurred with its occupants.

““We appreciate the courage of the victims and witnesses who came forward and participated in this prosecution, and we are pleased that after discussing this plea agreement with all of the victims involved, they are happy with the outcome,” Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Wade said in the release. “We also thank the Columbia Police Department for their instrumental roles in investigating these incidents, safely managing these dangerous situations, and apprehending the Defendant.”

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

EDITOR’S NOTE: AI was used in background research of this article.

The leader of an Amish community who was accused of sexual abuse and forced labor at a rural retreat asked a Cooper County judge to get in contact with his family during a status hearing on Tuesday.

Sam Shetler, 42, faces two counts of trafficking for forced labor and one count of sodomy after a years-long investigation of Mercy and Truth-Amish and Mennonite Retreat in the 11000 block of Hidden Valley Court found signs of sexual abuse and labor allegations.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Shetler told Judge Keith Bail that he wants to speak with his family and church before hiring an attorney. Shetler also waived the public defender application until he can speak to his community. Shetler appeared via video feed.

“I would prefer to first talk to my family, my church, because I’m honestly not sure if my church approves of that,” Shetler said. “So if I’m allowed to, I would like to first communicate with family and my church, make sure I’m not doing something against the church.”

The investigation, which spanned from 2022 to 2026, involved interviews with at least three witnesses who spoke to deputies in early 2026. These witnesses, many of whom stayed at the retreat when they were teenagers, described being forced to work on the property without receiving pay.

One witness reported that Shetler touched them inappropriately during a session intended to “heal” prior sexual abuse. The same witness alleged that after taking pills provided by Shetler, they woke up during the night to find an unidentified person holding their arms and legs down.

Cooper County Sheriff Chris Class described the facility as being under the absolute authority of its leader and that Shetler took advantage of his position in the Amish community to control and profit from vulnerable people.

Shetler is being held in the Cooper County jail with a $100,000 bond. His next appearance is set for April 7 at 10:30 a.m. in the Cooper County Courthouse.

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