Category: kmiz-local-news

Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia police officers could be on hand to help with traffic outside the new Trader Joe’s all weekend.

Mid-Missouri residents welcomed Trader Joe’s Thursday morning, as the grocery store officially opened its doors at 9 a.m. The opening of the store attracted many shoppers.

Some expressed traffic concerns about the opening in a congested area, but store captain Pamela Volk said she has invited Columbia Police Department officers to help with traffic all opening weekend.

An officer was directing traffic outside the store Thursday afternoon.

The store is located at 201 N. Stadium Blvd. at The Shoppes on Stadium, where several businesses, including Men’s Warehouse, Five Below and other stores are located.

The area is known for congestion with Home Goods and Chick-fil-A nearby. The streets likely to see the most traffic are North Stadium Boulevard, West Worley Street and West Ash Street.

On Wednesday, A CPD spokesperson said extra officers will be assigned to the area, and some off-duty officers will work traffic control.

In a statement from the City of Columbia, it said: “It should be noted that the city will be watching traffic volumes and impacts on the adjacent street network following the opening of these businesses to become aware of any adjustments that might need to be made to the signal timing at Worley and the Mall signal or any signage or striping that might be necessary on the surrounding streets.”

Employees will park in designated spots behind the store.

Trader Joe’s will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:55 a.m.

Around two dozen shoppers began forming a line outside of Trader Joe’s just before 6:30 a.m., all bringing several items to keep warm as they wait for the doors to open.

According to Trader Joe’s Store Captain Pamela Volk, employees will be handing out chips and free reusable Trader Joe’s bags to customers.

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Dan Kite

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Elected officials in Cole County will take home more money in the coming years, after a vote for a 5% raise was narrowly passed at the Tuesday meeting of the Cole County Salary Commission.

The vote came after a debate between members about whether to note that elected officials have not received an official raise in decades. The only exceptions they noted were cost-of-living adjustments and a separate adjustment in 2017 to bring salaries back in line with state statutes.

The raise was passed by a vote of 7-5, with the county sheriff, prosecutor, and public administrator among those in favor, and all three county commissioners among those against the proposal.

The commission also passed a separate cost-of-living adjustment by a vote of 10-2.

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Camryn Payne

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department will dedicate extra resources for the Trader Joe’s grand opening in Columbia on Thursday.

A CPD spokesperson said extra officers will be assigned to the area, and some off-duty officers will work traffic control.

Trader Joe’s will be located at 201 N. Stadium Blvd. at the Shoppes at Stadium, where other stores and businesses, including Five Below, Men’s Warehouse and Old Navy are located.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held moments before the store opens at 9 a.m. Thursday. The store will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Fulton man led deputies to a half-pound of methamphetamine stashed in his truck Monday, according to court documents.

Lance M. Stout was charged Tuesday in Callaway County with drug trafficking and felony possession after the Monday night traffic stop. Stout was pulled over in his F-150 on Highway 54 for speeding in a construction zone and crossing the center line, according to a probable cause statement.

Stout told investigators that he had about a half-pound of meth in the rear passenger floorboard, the statement says. Stout also had digital scales and several plastic baggies, investigators say.

Stout also told deputies that he sold large amounts of methamphetamine in Boone, Callaway and Cole counties.

Stout is being held in the Callaway County Jail on no bond. He is seeking a public defender, according to court records.

A bond hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Osage County authorities charged an Indiana man Tuesday with five felonies and a misdemeanor for allegedly stealing two wheels from an Osage County R-2 car.

Tanner M. Cripe of South Wabash, Indiana, was charged with two counts of felony stealing and one count each of tampering, second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage. He was also issued a trespassing citation, according to court records.

The Osage County R-2 School District in Linn reported to the Osage County Sheriff’s Department that two wheels on a district-owned Chevrolet Malibu had been stolen around Oct. 15, according to a probable cause statement. The wheels were valued at nearly $2,500, the statement says.

A video showed a man pull up in another vehicle at about 4 a.m., and switch the wheels from the Malibu with two wheels from his car, the statement says. Investigators linked the vehicle to a burglary in Linn and posted information about the vehicle and the driver on Facebook.

A person contacted the sheriff’s office to identify the suspect on Oct. 17, according to the statement. Investigators traced the photos back to booking photos from Wasbash County, Indiana, and identified Cripe, the statement says.

Cripe had been working for a business that runs pilot cars for oversize loads, the statement says.

A warrant was issued for Cripe’s arrest with a $100,000 bond.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Meals on Wheels of Columbia said Wednesday that it will provide 5,000 free meals to people who receive SNAP benefits.

SNAP benefits in Missouri will be unavailable starting Saturday unless Congress votes to fund the government.

Meals on Wheels wrote in a news release that SNAP recipients can get up to seven free meals each week per household member starting Nov. 6. Online registration is required. Meals will also be available on Nov. 13 and Nov. 20.

People who want meals will have to show proof of eligibility. Registration is required by 2 p.m. Tuesday to receive meals on a Thursday. Thanksgiving meal reservations are required by the Friday before and will be picked up on Nov. 25.

Pickups take place at Broadway Christian Church.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County judge ordered a Columbia man committed indefinitely to the Missouri Department of Mental Health on Wednesday after accepting his insanity plea in the death of his father and subsequent fire.

Steven Strumpf had been set for trial on first-degree murder, armed criminal action, second-degree arson and credit card fraud charges this month. But the trial was canceled and a hearing set for Wednesday, where Judge Jeff Harris accepted Strumpf’s insanity plea.

Harris’ order says Strumpf was examined by the Department of Mental Health on Aug. 22, and doctors diagnosed unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder and autism spectrum disorder. Those disorders made Strumpf incapable of understanding the consequences of his actions, the order says.

The state did not object, and no other exam was ordered, the order states.

Steven Strumpf was accused of killing David Strumpf in January 2024 on Deerfoot Way in south Columbia. Police accused Steven Strumpf of stabbing David Strumpf and setting him and the house on fire.

According to Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson, Strumpf allegedly told detectives on the night of the murder that he was driving to Columbia from Kansas City when he saw graffiti that he believed was a message to him from a demon.

Strumpf told detectives he believed the graffiti was telling him that his father was a demon and was going to kill him.

He then allegedly said he heard a voice say “game over” in the kitchen of the home, which he interpreted as meaning his father was going to kill him. He then got a knife and stabbed his father, and later burnt his body but told detectives he didn’t believe it was his dad’s body that he was burning.

Johnson also said Strumpf has made statements over time, indicating that he is was the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

According to Johnson, Strumpf has a history of mental health issues, and has made “irrational statements” at court hearings in the past. He said the DMH has tests they can conduct to determine if a person is faking a disorder, but ultimately determined that Strumpf was not.

“He’s been consistent throughout the case when he’s talking with the detectives and when he’s talking with other people that that these are sincere beliefs that he had,” Johnson said. “It’s a case where they’ve had a lot of opportunity to observe him and see how he’s acting, and he’s just consistently demonstrated really serious mental health issues.”

Johnson said over the last several years, the number of cases his office has involving serious mental health issues has increased substantially.

David Strump’s stepdaughter– Maura Bassett– addressed the court room on Wednesday, stating that David was a “remarkable man” who spent years caring for Steven. Bassett also said following the murder, the family told detectives of documents Steven had written about David.

Detectives believed the notes may have shown that the murder was planned, Bassett said.

Bassett told the judge that along with the pain she and her family have endured over the years, there is also the threat of parole and said her mother believes Steven would try and kill her, if granted parole.

“It hurts to live knowing that I will never have him (David) in my life again. It hurts to continually relive my experiences of having a father figure in retrospect. I want nothing more than to have David back in our lives but unfortunately, I now understand the finality of death,” Bassett wrote. “So I urge you, please consider my words and assist my family in finding reprieve from anymore senseless death.”

Strumpf’s attorney declined to comment on the case.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The trial of a Jefferson City woman accused of killing a 4-year-old boy will take place next summer with a jury brought in from a different county.

Online court records say a July 26, 2026, trial date was set for Quatavia Givens, who is accused of the 2018 death of Darnell Gray. She is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, child endangerment and abandoning a corpse.

Givens will be tried in Cole County, but the jury will be selected in Pulaski County, according to court records. The trial is expected to last two weeks.

Givens was found mentally competent to stand trial in August. She had been ruled mentally unfit for trial in 2023 and treated by the state.

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Marie Moyer

EDITOR’S NOTE: AI was used to help research the background for this story.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Lodging Association has filed a lawsuit against Jefferson City, the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau, claiming the city’s 7% lodging tax violates Missouri law.

Jefferson City voters will decide whether to extend the tax on Tuesday.

The lawsuit, filed in the Circuit Court of Cole County, argues that the current 7% lodging tax exceeds the 5% limit set by Missouri law and improperly allocates money. According to court documents, the current lodging tax is divided, with 3% of the tax revenue used to fund the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and 4% allocated to the city’s conference center fund.

“With low occupancy there is no demand in the city for building a conference center and hotel,” Raman Puri, the Jefferson City Lodging Association President and owner of the DoubleTree by Hilton and the Holiday Inn said. “The use of lodging tax dollars is also not to be used to develop a lodging or convention project for the benefit of any developer. This tax should be used for procuring business for the city establishments.”

Petition in Jefferson City lodging tax lawsuitDownload

The Jefferson City Lodging Association is asking the courts for an injunction and restraining order to stop the city from collecting and using the tax money.

The Jefferson City Lodging Association represents hotel and motel owners in the city, whose guests pay the lodging tax. The lawsuit highlights that since the tax increase in 2011, around $13 million has been deposited into the conference center fund, which the association claims is not being used for its intended purpose of promoting tourism as defined by state law.

“Our interpretation of the statute, we’re confident what it is meets what their interpretation is,” said attorney, Vivek Puri, who represents The Jefferson City Lodging Association.

According to Raman, Mayor Landwier and Jefferson City Administrator Steve Rasmussen stated that when the 7% lodging tax was implemented in 2011, hoteliers were promised the tax would not go to the conference center or hotel for the city.

“If this was going to be the case, the hotel establishments would have never supported the lodging tax increase in 2011,” Raman said. “To use the lodging tax dollars for a construction of a hotel and conference center would be a direct competition for existing hotels that collect the tax. This is not fair or just.”

If the lodging association wins the case, all money collected for the conference center project will be reallocated to the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“If declared constitutionally valid, a declaration that all ‘lodging tax’ deposited in the ‘conference center fund’ to date and collected and appropriated or to be deposited to ‘conference center fund’ going forward shall be used fully to fund the JCCVB,” according to court documents.

The city is set to vote on extending the 7% lodging sales tax for another 25 years on Tuesday.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Special benefits for low-income mothers are safe for now, despite the ongoing federal shutdown, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced Wednesday.

Benefits under the Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children program, known commonly as WIC, will be dispersed for November, but might not last the whole month without changes, the agency says.

WIC, like SNAP, is federally funded through congressional appropriations. That money is then sent to the states to administer the program. DHSS said Wednesday that it found savings in its October benefit payments that can keep the program going into November.

In its news release, the department didn’t specify how much money it saved or exactly how long funding will last.

A DHSS spokesperson said the funding is leftover from WIC users not using their full benefits. Some WIC items were cut in October, like name-brand cereal and block cheese, and some people spent a little less.

DHSS said it will let people know if the benefits run out in the second half of November.

Funding could run dry after next month if Congress doesn’t fund the government and appropriate money to federal food programs, like WIC and SNAP.

WIC is a program to help low-income young mothers and their children with food and other benefits.

Other states have taken steps similar to Missouri’s to keep WIC funded, including Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon and Wyoming, according to The Hill.

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe announced Wednesday over $15 million in additional funds to support emergency food assistance programs, like food banks and senior food programs, to counteract dry SNAP funding.

First Chance for Children Executive Director Gay Litteken said there’s been an increase in need from Columbia families for baby items like diapers and wipes, along with the WIC-eligible baby formula.

She said families on SNAP are scrambling to find other resources.

“They’re going to be spending money on nutritional items for their children, we want to be able to provide diapers and wipes for them,” Litteken said.

Wednesday marks day 29 of the government shutdown, and is nearly a week shy of surpassing the last government shutdown.

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