Category: kmiz-local-news

Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

 As Missouri families fire up their grills for the Fourth of July, many will notice a sting at the checkout counter.

Beef prices have surged to record highs, fueled by a “perfect storm” of drought, inflation and shrinking cattle herds — and Missouri farmers are feeling the squeeze.

Ground beef prices reached an all-time high of $5.98 per pound in May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s a 49% jump from five years ago, driven by inflation and a historic drop in beef cattle supply.

“Past drought conditions, not just here in Missouri but across the country, have been a major factor,” said Patrick Westhoff, who is the director of the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. “We have a lot fewer cows than we’ve had in the past. Fewer cows means fewer calves, fewer calves means less beef being produced.”

Missouri ranks 10th nationally in beef production, producing more than 1.3 billion pounds annually. But many producers have been forced to send cattle to slaughter early or downsize herds due to drought and rising input costs.

“The current situation we’re facing is really kind of a perfect storm of supply and demand factors,” said Wesley Tucker, a livestock economist and field specialist at the University of Missouri. “We’ve experienced several years of back-to-back droughts which forced many producers to send cattle to market and downsize their herds. While the cattle inventory was dropping to 60-plus-year lows, we’ve also seen really strong demand for beef among consumers.”

Tucker said that pressure is peaking at the worst time for consumers.

“We’re seeing low supply and high demand colliding right during the perfect grilling season,” Tucker said. “Markets often peak around July Fourth as people gather and head outside to grill during summer activities. So, we’ve kind of got a perfect storm created.”

Westhoff said demand has remained surprisingly strong, despite soaring prices.

“We’ve had a very strong consumer demand for beef,” he said. “So this year, in spite of very high prices, it looks like we’ll have about the same level of per-capita beef consumption we had a year ago.”

But rebuilding the nation’s beef supply won’t happen overnight. The cattle cycle is notoriously slow to recover, especially after years of drought have depleted breeding stock.

“When a cattleman has to send a cow to slaughter because they have nothing to feed them, it means one less production factory available to produce beef,” Tucker said. “It takes a year before she’s old enough to be bred and then nine months to produce a calf. Then it’s an additional 18 months before her calf is finished and ready to go to the packing house.”

That lag means higher prices could stick around for years.

“We still haven’t hit the bottom on beef cattle numbers,” Westhoff said. “It appears they may still have another year of reduced beef production in front of us, which will tend to support prices almost to maybe 2027 or even 2028 before we finally see the cycle turn to increase in beef production and result in lower prices.”

Tucker said that beyond weather, inflation has hit producers just as hard as consumers.

“Everything a farmer has to buy such as feed, fuel, machinery and interest expense made it tough on farmers,” Tucker said. “Market conditions didn’t encouraged expansion of the herd so it’s going to take time for things to level out. ”

The impact of tariffs has also created uncertainty. Westhoff noted that trade policy and tariffs are contributing to price pressures as well.

“In the case of Australia, for example, their beef export industries have to pay the tariffs. That’s a 10% tariff,” Westhoff said. “So it’s not a huge tariff, but it is large enough… it tends to keep prices higher than those would be here.”

Still, Westhoff warned that tariffs could backfire for U.S. farmers if other countries retaliate.

“At some point in the future, you know, they may do some retaliation against U.S. tariffs that could actually hurt U.S. exports and therefore reduce prices,” he said.

For Missouri ranchers and consumers alike, the reality is clear: Beef is more expensive, and it could stay that way for some time.

“When multiple years of drought occur and cattlemen are forced to sell off their livelihood because they simply don’t have anything to feed them,” Tucker said. “It’s really hard on them both physically and mentally.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services has suspended the permit of a well-known bar after it was severely damaged in a fire on Tuesday.

A Food Establishment Inspection report says that the permit for McNally’s Irish Pub and Wise Guys Pizza has been suspended because of fire and water damage. An inspector has to be called after all necessary corrections have been made. The owners will have to contact the health department if they choose to permanently close.

An ABC 17 News photographer saw police carrying evidence bags.

The pub’s liquor and business licenses expired on Monday, according to City of Columbia records. However, according to the Department of Public Safety, it has until July 31 to renew those licenses.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon told ABC 17 News the business didn’t have a county liquor license for 2024 or a renewal for this year.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by Columbia Fire Marshals.

The pub shared a post on Facebook saying it was a “tough day” but that no one was hurt.

McNallys_report_fullDownload

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Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri ACLU is asking a judge to keep an abortion question off of next year’s ballot, or certify new and fair ballot language.

A lawsuit filed on Wednesday against Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins alleges Hoskins approved an “intentionally misleading and inaccurate summary” for a measure that would overturn Amendment 3.

The Missouri senate forced a vote in May approving HJR 73.  Voters approved Amendment 3, which established reproductive health care — including abortion — as a constitutional right in this past’s November’s election. The approval of the measure means it will appear on next year’s ballot as Amendment 3.

The lawsuit–petitioned by Anna Fitz-James — lays out three specific counts that HJR 73 allegedly violates.

It claims the measure contains several matters not connected to reproductive health care, uses language which is intentionally argumentative and fails to tell voters what a “yes” and “no” vote means.

“What the constitution requires is that an amendment can only deal with one single subject,” Director of litigation for the Freedom Center of Missouri Dave Roland said. Because the proposal addresses things like transgender health care, surgical procedures and the use of puberty blockers, the plaintiffs here are saying that’s not part of the definition of reproductive health care.”

Roland said the lawsuit also brings up the fact that when the attorney general participates in certain challenges that it deals with court proceedings– rather than reproductive health care– making it improperly apart of the amendment.

The lawsuit also claims the measure fails to tell voters it would eliminate prenatal, childbirth, postpartum, care, birth control, as well as protection against prosecution for physicians who help people receive care. It also alleges the measure claims it changes the law when it does not.

“Less than six months after we voted to end Missouri’s abortion ban and protect reproductive freedom, politicians chose to ignore the will of the people so they can reinstate their ban on abortion,” Director of Policy and Campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri Tori Schafer said in a news release Wednesday. “Amendment 3, passed as HJR 73, is a copy and paste bill from special interest groups that will abolish our constitutional right to reproductive freedom, including access to abortion care.” 

The lawsuit requests that a court declare the amendment’s summary statement insufficient and to certify a new, summary statement for voters, or to declare it in violation of the state Constitution and deny it from being placed on any ballot. 

Roland said it’s unlikely that a court will change the summary statement or ballot language of this particular proposal, although it has been done in the past.

“We did see that when it came to the former amendment 3 that was voted on last year. The secretary of state had drafted a summary statement or a ballot title that was not unfair, it was pretty clearly biased and so the courts had to go back and correct it,” Roland said. “But the bottom line is, courts do not like to weigh in on these issues because they are so intrinsically political and courts don’t like to deal with things that are political. They like to deal with things that are black and white, not subjective.”

The Missouri Supreme Court ended a ruling that stopped the enforcement of state abortion regulations in May.

The ACLU declined an interview. Hoskins’ office declined to comment on pending litigation.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 21-year-old woman from Brookfield, Missouri, was seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash on Wednesday morning on Highway 11, about a mile east of Mendon, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report says that the woman drove a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado westbound when it went off the left side of the road and overturned.

The report says the woman was not wearing a seatbelt and was flown to University Hospital. The Chevrolet was totaled.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Five vehicles were involved in a crash Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 70 in Callaway County, though only minor injuries were reported.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol report says the crash happened when a GMC Acadia SUV ran into a Ford F-250 truck at about 1:50 p.m. on the westbound side at the Auxvasse Creek bridge.

A 58-year-old St. Charles woman in a separate pickup truck, an F-150, was taken by ambulance to University Hospital with minor injuries, the patrol reported. Three of the five vehicles had to be towed from the scene.

The crash included drivers from Missouri, Kentucky and Texas.

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Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) –

The Boone County Prosecutor’s Office named a new top assistant, but will keep the person who just left the spot close by.

Prosecutor Roger Johnson said Wednesday that he named Melissa Buchanan to serve as the first assistant in the office. Buchanan will replace veteran prosecutor Sue Boresi, who left the office on Friday.

Buchanan has worked in the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office since February 2024. Johnson said Buchanan worked in the special victims unit, which deals with sexual assaults, domestic violence and crimes against children. Buchanan is slated to make $102,000 annually.

“Melissa Buchanan’s promotion to first assistant brings an exceptional level of energy and dedication to our leadership team,” Johnson said. “That passion is vital as we work to meet the challenges ahead and advance the cause of public safety in Boone County.”

Buchanan worked as a public defender for five years in Columbia after graduating from the UMKC law school. She moved to the city of Columbia’s legal department as an adviser to the police department and staff member on the Commission on Human Rights. She became head of the Missouri Secretary of State’s Securities Enforcement Division in 2023.

The county plans to keep Boresi around the office as a consultant to finish three murder cases. The county would pay her a $12,000 retainer to handle the pending cases against Adam Conner, Curtis Lewis and Randall Fox.

Boresi would make $1,500 for the first day of any trial and $1,000 for all subsequent days.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A now-former Sunrise Beach police officer was charged with two felonies after authorities allegedly found him with methamphetamine.

Pete Gilbert Ray Fox, 52, of Versailles, was charged on Wednesday in Camden County with two counts of drug possession. A court date has not been set. He is being held at the Camden County Jail.

The Sunrise Beach Police Department issued a press release on its social media on Wednesday indicating that it had fired an officer after it was told an arrest was made by the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. The release does not name Fox. A press release from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office later named Fox as an officer at SBPD.

The probable cause statement says deputies conducted a traffic stop on Route MM near Via Del Lago Drive in unincorporated Sunrise Beach around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. The Dodge Ram 1500 was stopped because it did not have a rear bumper, the statement says.

Court documents identify Fox as being actively employed with a local law enforcement agency. Fox allegedly told the deputy that he and a passenger were coming back from Columbia so he could go to work, and gave the answer without being questioned, the statement says.

The deputy saw a cellophane wrapper from a cigarette pack that contained pills, court documents say. Fox allegedly told the deputy that he helped a friend move a couch in Columbia, but did not know their name. The deputy wrote that answer was odd, considering that he is a law enforcement officer.

Fox allegedly owned the vehicle for two months but did not have plates that belonged to him, the statement says. He allegedly denied having drugs before eventually admitting there was meth in the truck, the statement says.

The deputy found about 4 grams of meth, as well as other drug paraphernalia and more pills that tested positive for meth, the statement says.

His girlfriend, Candelaria Stacy, 45, of Sunrise Beach, was in the truck with him and was also charged with two counts of drug possession. She was brought to the jail.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Trial dates have been scheduled for next year in the case over the name of Rock Bridge High School’s football field.

Wayne Sells refiled a lawsuit in October 2024 against Columbia Public Schools over the naming rights to the field. Sells previously filed a lawsuit against the school district in 2021, claiming CPS had a legal contract with him after he gave Rock Bridge High School a $100,000 donation.

Court filings from Tuesday indicate a pretrial conference was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, 2026; while the jury trial is set for 9 a.m. May 12, 2026.  

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.

Sells claims that he has naming rights to the field as a part of an agreement he made with the then-athletic director and that renaming it is a breach of contract. The district previously argued that there was never a formal written agreement.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Highway 63 reopened north of Grindstone Parkway in Columbia after being closed for about an hour after a power line broke Wednesday.

The Columbia Fire Department said at about 3:30 p.m. that both sides of the highway — northbound and southbound — would be closed for about an hour. That followed single lane closures earlier as electric and fire crews responded to the scene.

Emergency dispatchers said in a public alert just before 5 p.m. that all lanes had reopened.

Boone County dispatchers sent a public alert a little after 1:30 p.m. saying electric lines were down in the area of Highway 63 and Grindstone Parkway. The alert urged drivers to avoid the area.

A subsequent alert said the lines were down on Highway 63 north of Grindstone. One lane of northbound Highway 63 was closed.

The Columbia Water and Light outage map showed 773 customers without power in one outage along Highway 63 near Grindstone. The outage has also affected traffic signals in the area.

Columbia Water and Light spokesman Matt Nestor said a line was down on Highway 63, and the large outage was caused by Water and Light crews shutting off a substation to make repairs.

The utlities said in a social media post that most customers had their power restored by about 4:45 p.m.

Check back for updates to this developing story.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Wednesday that he is demanding documents to back up the claims made about the Grain Belt Express wind energy project.

The project will cross Missouri to deliver power from western wind fields to Illinois. The route will run through Mid-Missouri and a connection is planned from north of Centralia to near Kingdom City. That route includes land in Monroe, Audrain and Callaway counties, according to the Grain Belt website.

The main line will also run through Chariton and Randolph counties.

Invenergy also inked a supply chain deal with Centralia’s Hubbell Power Systems.

“Grain Belt Express has repeatedly lied to Missourians about the jobs it would create, the benefits it would deliver, and the land it seeks to take,” Bailey says in a news release. “We will not allow a private corporation to trample property rights and mislead regulators for a bait and switch that serves out-of-state interests instead of Missourians.”

Bailey has issued a Civil Investigative Demand, similar to subpoena powers, to compel Grain Belt’s parent company, Invenergy, to turn over documents related to its economic, job and environmental claims, marketing and landowner outreach.

Grain Belt Express investigative demandDownload

The 800-mile Grain Belt Express relies on nearly $5 billion in federal funding. The release says the project has filed more than 50 eminent domain lawsuits against landowners “to seize property for a speculative project.”

Grain Belt is reveiwing Bailey’s demand.

“We should be building energy infrastructure in America, but the Missouri Attorney General is instead playing politics with U.S. power,” a project spokesperson said. “His last-ditch and obviously politically-driven attempt to delay construction of a critical American power project comes at a time when our country is facing a national energy emergency — declared by the Administration. Electricity demand is rising across the country, and we urgently need transmission infrastructure to deliver power. Projects like Grain Belt Express are the answer to providing all forms of affordable and reliable electricity to U.S. consumers.”

The project has contracts with 39 municipal utilities in Missouri, including Columbia Water and Light. Project leaders say Grain Belt could save Missouri energy consumers billions of dollars.

The first eminent domain lawsuit was filed in Callaway County, according to reporting in the Missouri Independent.

Grain Belt’s website says construction on Phase 1 is expected to start next year.

Bailey has also sent a letter to the Missouri Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, urging the body to reevaluate data related to Grain Belt’s previous approval.

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