Category: kmiz-local-news

Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Blue Alert issued after a Lee’s Summit police officer was shot on Sunday has been canceled.

According to a social media post from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the alert was canceled at 8 a.m. on Tuesday after Thomas Tolbert, 27, was taken into custody.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Tolbert was arrested in Ellis, Kansas, on Tuesday.

KBI said in a social media post that they received information that he might be in a hotel room in Ellis. Officers from the Hays Police Department, along with Ellis County Sheriff’s Office deputies and KBI agents took him into custody around 4:50 a.m. at the hotel room.

The original alert was issued on Monday after a police officer in Lee’s Summit was allegedly shot by Tolbert after a chase. Tolbert escaped the area in a vehicle that was found in Grandview.

Ellis Police said in a release that a witness reported they were asked by another person to drive Tolbert from Kansas City to Colorado, not knowing they were connected to the Blue Alert. Witnesses said he gave them a fake name and started acting suspicious. The witness told them that while stopped at the hotel for the night, they saw the Blue Alert and contacted police.

Ellis police requested activation of the Hays Police Department’s Special Situation Response Team. Adjacent hotel rooms were evacuated.

Tolbert was taken into custody after a brief struggle and tased.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A jury trial is set to begin inside the Boone County Courthouse on Tuesday morning for a man charged in connection with a shooting in downtown Columbia last summer.

Charlie Sneed, 41, was charged with shooting at or from a vehicle at a person, building, or car, first-degree assault and armed criminal action. 

In August 2024, a Columbia police officer was near South Seventh Street when the officer heard a single gunshot, according to a probable cause statement. The officer found a car stopped on East Broadway and conducted a traffic stop.

Two passengers in the stopped car said they had been shot at, and a witness said they saw Sneed crouched down near a stairwell holding a handgun. The witness pointed at Sneed near the East Broadway and Ninth Street intersection, identifying him as the gunman to the officer, the statement says. The officer identified Sneed by his Colorado driver’s license photo.

Sneed allegedly asked for a lighter and began speaking with the victims. Sneed allegedly touched one of the victims and began saying slurs and curses at them. Sneed and one of the victims exchanged words. Both victims saw Sneed lift his shirt to display the handle of a handgun in his front pant pocket, according to court documents.

The victims began to drive away when they heard a single gunshot and saw Sneed crouched down near a brick structure, according to police. The probable cause statement says the victims saw Sneed pointing the gun at them and they could see the barrel of the gun.

When Sneed was brought to the Columbia Police Department, officers noticed Sneed’s front pocket was turned inside out and there was gunshot residue in his hands.

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Nia Hinson

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Some residents of a southwest Jefferson City neighborhood are worried a proposed construction project will cause traffic congestion in the area.

The city is proposing building the “Walnut Hills Subdivision” off of Route C near Liverpool Drive and Rock Ridge Road. The Jefferson City Council approved the PUD plan, giving the Planning and Zoning Commission more time to meet with engineers and look into a traffic study.

According to Project Engineer for the Jefferson City Regional Economic Partnership, Paul Samson, 230 homes of all sizes and styles would be built within the subdivision.

Vicki Scott said she and her husband moved into the neighborhood off of Route C in 2022, hoping for a quiet and secluded neighborhood. Scott said her husband submitted a letter to the city, voicing the couple’s opposition to the proposed changes and said it’s enough to make them consider moving.

“A lot of the people who have been here for a long time are retirees like we are and you know quiet and peace is a big deal,” Scott said. “We’ll have traffic constantly in the morning, going to work in the evening, picking up the kids and taking them places.”

Elizabeth Casey said she and her husband are worried the cost of living might increase with the creation of the new subdivision.

Casey said the two also have concerns about possible tax increases and how the new development could impact children in the area.

“There’s a tremendous amount of kids because we’ve got Thomas Jefferson Learning Center and Lawson right up the road and so we have traffic from people getting off work and traffic for dropping kids off here at their bus stops,” Casey said. “I’m just worried it’s going to be too chaotic and kids are not going to look for traffic.”

According to documents submitted to the city, the proposed subdivision would consist of 7 new named streets and street extensions of Leeds Drive and Southampton Drive. Two street connections to Rock Ridge Road and one street connection to Missouri Route C are also proposed.

Documents also state the addition is expected to create greater than 100 peak hour trips. During Monday night’s meeting, the city said a traffic study will be completed before it is brought back to the city council.

Samson said the city has been working to create houses that are under the $300,00 price range, adding there is a dire need for more housing of all sizes and styles within the city.

 “We’ve been working on bringing housing to Jefferson City for many years, you know our local employers are in dire need of workforce to grow and expand their operations,” Samson said.

A public hearing will be held on Monday, June 16 and construction could begin as soon as early 2026, if approved.

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Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia city leaders and elected officials will meet with the public over four open sessions to discuss the effects federal orders are having on city business.

The “informal office hours” will allow citizens to learn and discuss how executive orders from the White House have affected operations at the city government level, according to a news release sent by the city on Monday. The meetings promise to have elected council members alongside city staff as part of the discussions.

Saturday, June 7, from 10 a.m. to noon at Columbia City Hall‘s Conference Room 1A. Fourth Ward council member Nick Foster will be there with staff.

Monday, June 9, from 1-3 p.m. at the Columbia/Boone County Health and Human Services building at 1005 Worley Street. Mayor Barbara Buffaloe is slated to appear there.

Wednesday, June 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Columbia Fire Department Training Academy at 700 Big Bear Blvd. Third Ward councilmember Jacque Sample will attend.

Sunday, June 15, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Friends Room of the Daniel Boone Regional Library at 100 W. Broadway. First Ward councilperson Valerie Carroll is scheduled for that meeting.

The city council put off making changes to its vision and mission statement on May 5 in response to an executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Federal agencies have warned that so-called DEI policies would be considered forms of hiring discrimination and could put a city’s federal funding at risk. Dozens of residents asked the council to either oppose the changes or push a decision back to discuss options further.

The council approved some legal protections to city staff signing off on federal grants at its May 16 meeting.

Further cuts to federal grant spending have already cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. City manager De’Carlon Seewood said at his State of the City address that the health department lost several hundred thousand dollars in grants this year. A federal review of grants briefly imperiled money for a safety audit of Business Loop 70, but was eventually unfrozen and approved.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Moberly woman has been charged after she is accused of stabbing a man in the back on Sunday.

Moberly police responded to a domestic assault on Sunday after a caller reported a stabbing.

Shannon Hackett, 55, is charged with first-degree domestic assault and armed criminal action.

According to court documents, officers arrived at a home and found a man on the east side of a street with his shirt off and blood running down his body. A group of people pointed officers in the direction of Hackett, who was pacing on the south side of the street.

After being taken to the hospital, police spoke to the victim, who said Hackett stabbed him after they were arguing over money. The victim told police he was trying to leave when Hackett was standing in the kitchen with a butcher’s or chef’s knife.

Police said the victim said he was facing Hackett when he started swinging the knife at him and that he turned his body when she stabbed him in the back.

Court documents state the victim told police he grabbed Hackett’s right arm to try and get the knife out of her hand.

Police said the victim was transferred from the Moberly Regional Medical Center to University Hospital in Columbia for further treatment due to damage to multiple muscle layers.

In a post-Miranda interview, police said Hackett reported hearing the victim swearing at her. She said they started to argue and he started to pin her to the ground while trying to choke her. Hackett allegedly told police this is when she got up, went to the kitchen and tried to grab a knife to use as self-defense.

Officers did not find any injuries to Hackett’s neck but only a small bruise to her arm.

Police said during a search warrant of the home, the knife was found on the south side of the home by trash cans with blood residue.

Hackett is currently being held at the Randolph County jail on a $100,000 bond. A court date is set for Wednesday.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Union Pacific train derailed Sunday afternoon east of La Monte in Pettis County.

Missouri State Highway Patrol said troopers were called to the area of US-50 Highway and Buckley Road and found a train had derailed.

Troop A Spokesperson, Cpl. J.D. Howard said in an email that seven Union Pacific Railroad train cars had come off the track.

The train was traveling parallel to the highway, east of La Monte and northwest of Sedalia.

No one was hurt and no hazardous materials were spilled, according to a Union Pacific spokesperson.

Crews were on the ground around 2:30 p.m. Monday to investigate and clean up the scene.

Howard said the only possible damage was to the railroad crossing in the area.

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Maria Schneider

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Missouri Department of Corrections inmate has been charged, after allegedly assaulting at least two Jefferson City Correctional Officers in Jan. 2024.

Brian Koch, 28, is charged with two counts of violence against an employee of the Department of Corrections.

According to a probable cause statement, Koch allegedly ran from the correctional officers while they tried to restrain him.

A witness reported seeing Koch allegedly take a bite out of the bicep of one victim and attempting to break the fingers of a second victim by trying to bend them backwards.

Hospital staff confirmed that the victim was treated for a human bite on the inside part of their upper arm.

Court documents include that Koch allegedly admitted to being under the influence of an unknown substance at the time.

Koch also allegedly admitted during an interview that he was off his medication and experiencing a mental breakdown. Koch also said he wrote a note to the victim apologizing for biting them.

He was serving 10 years at the Department of Corrections for a 2015 robbery in Randolph County.

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Mitchell Kaminski

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Columbia City Council ward representated by Don Waterman has been corrected.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia council members discussed the future of recycling on Monday, during its pre-council meeting. 

The meeting comes after the city’s Material Recovery Facility was destroyed by an April 20th tornado.

According to a presentation shown to the council, the estimated cost to rebuild a new facility will be between $ 26.47 million to $26.71 million and take 30 months to build a permanent structure. 

The three options discussed Monday include building a new MRF facility on the current site and saving as much of the existing structure as possible. Under this option, the city would save over $500,000 on demolition costs due to the storm, however, not much of the facility can be salvaged. 

The second option involves constructing a new MRF at the current Landfill Operations Center site, while the final option proposes building a new facility on the open gravel lot west of the Administration building. 

Option B would have preserved the existing MRF building for future use, but due to the damage from the tornado, that is no longer possible. It also presents stormwater challenges and would require relocating parking. The final option offers the largest footprint but raises traffic concerns and eliminates laydown and storage areas.

The city is also weighing no longer processing recyclables in Columbia instead of building a new MRF. 

According to city staff, Columbia initially dismissed this option because of  “unacceptable financial and climate impacts” of transferring materials to St. Louis. However, with the MRF destroyed, the city will consider transferring its materials to Jefferson City. 

Another potential option the city is considering is to build a multi-material environmental center that would serve as a “one-stop shop” to handle multiple recycling materials and hazardous waste. The council was shown several examples of centers in Olmstead County, Minnesota, Tampa, Florida, and Charlottesville, Virginia. 

“I’ve made the comment publicly that I think this is an opportunity, if we’re going to continue to recycle and based on the responses I got, there’s certainly a desire for Colombians to continue recycling, that maybe we should look at overhauling the process,” Ward 5 Councilman Don Waterman said. “ The biggest one there would be the automated collection.” 

Even before the tornado, Columbia had been exploring options to update its MRF. 

A recent evaluation of Columbia’s recycling and waste diversion program conducted in September of 2024 revealed critical challenges, including suspended curbside recycling collection, contamination at drop-off centers, and inefficiencies at the MRF. The report, prepared by RRT Design & Construction, emphasized the need to prioritize resuming curbside collection—even on a biweekly basis—to stabilize recycling operations.

“The majority of this report was drafted before the tornado,” Waterman said. “There’s a couple of footnotes to that effect about possibly relocating it within or around the landfill. Now, we’ve got that spot as well, so that we could just start fresh and  go on from there.” 

Key issues include contaminated loads from drop-off centers, aging and underperforming MRF equipment, and safety concerns. The study recommends reallocating resources to curbside collection by consolidating and closing poorly performing drop-off sites and reducing or temporarily halting MRF operations.

“There’s a couple of sites, especially around campus, that there were a lot of issues with contamination because people they weren’t just dropping off recycling, we’ll put it that way,” Waterman said.  

The evaluation also recommended discontinuing curbside glass collection, adopting single-cart recycling collection, optimizing routes with software, and staffing improvements.In an updated report, RRT recommended constructing a new MRF at the current Landfill Operations Center (option B). RRT concluded that the site meets the needs for the new facility, offers safer traffic flow, and fits with planned capital improvements. It also avoids complications with temporary processing and the loss of space for other projects.

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Madison Stuerman

A Fulton woman is behind bars after she was accused of stabbing another person.

Frances White, 61, was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.

Court documents state Fulton police were called to an assault with a knife on Saturday. The victim was found near 12th and Ewing with multiple injuries, including stab wounds to her stomach and leg.

Police said the victim spoke to an officer at the hospital and told them White came to the house and stabbed the victim when they opened the door.

The victim said to police they were stabbed with a butcher knife three or four times.

Police said hospital staff confirmed the victim had three stab wounds, one to the head, abdomen and left thigh.

Officers spoke with two witnesses who police told them they saw the assault and knew white was planning to beat the victim up, but said they did not know about the knife. Police said the witness also said they threw the knife into a backyard and that it was about the length of a ruler.

White allegedly told police that she went to the house and punched the victim multiple times but denied having a knife.

White is currently being held at the Callaway County jail. An initial appearance is set for Tuesday morning at the Callaway County courthouse.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Water has been restored in the city of Belle after it was temporarily turned off due to a water main break.

Just before 4 p.m. on Monday, Belle officials confirmed repairs were holding and water was back on.

City officials said crews have had to turn off water across the city after a water main broke on Tellman Avenue.

The city is under a boil advisory for 48 hours.

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