Matthew Sanders
For more than 80 years, the prison on Alcatraz Island has been mostly a museum.
But President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he wants to reopen the prison on the island. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he was directing officials to research reopening the prison to house America’s most violent criminals.
Do you think Alcatraz should be reopened? Let us know by voting in the poll.
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Two people from Bunceton are accused of abandoning a disabled, elderly woman in a home with unsafe conditions.
Jordan Hulbert and Celia Marriott are charged in Cooper County with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and a pair of misdemeanors: Elderly abuse and animal neglect. They both appeared for a hearing on Monday without counsel from video from the Cooper County Jail and pleaded not guilty.
A counsel status hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Mugshots were not immediately available for either person.
The probable cause statement says that deputies were called for a wellness check for a 73-year-old woman on Friday after she had not been heard or seen from in several days. Deputies were called multiple times to the Bunceton residence, but were not able to contact anyone there for days.
Court documents say the woman had recently been to a hospital and Hulbert and Marriott were expected to take care of her. The elderly woman was in a room and unable to move or yell for help when deputies arrived throughout the week, court documents say.
Several emaciated dogs were at the residence without food or water, and one was found dead in an underground reservoir, court documents say. Six pigs were also found without food or water.
Court documents say that the home was littered with trash and excrement. Hulbert and Mariott’s children – ranged in age from 10 months old to 3 years old – were also expected to live at the residence with the couple and woman. Areas where the children would sleep were “swarming with flies,” the statement says.
Deputies were unable to view the basement of the residence because of standing water and garbage covering the area, the statement says. The woman also told deputies that snakes were seen in the basement.
Mitchell Kaminski
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
With the May 16 legislative deadline fast approaching, the clock is ticking on a bill that would make Missouri an open-enrollment state.
House Bill 711, sponsored by Rep. Brad Pollit (R-Sedalia), would allow K-12 public schools to decide whether to accept students from neighboring districts. It passed the state House in March with an 88-69 vote, marking the fifth consecutive year the bill has cleared the House.
The legislation would cap student transfers at 3%, create a special education fund and delay varsity sports eligibility for high school transfers. Pollit’s bill would also not require participating districts to add teachers, staff or classrooms to accommodate transfer students.
The Senate took up HB 711 on Wednesday for a third reading; however, after several provisions were made, it was placed on the Senate’s informal calendar for Monday.
The third reading was delayed again on Monday as the Senate turned its attention to other legislation. The chamber remains in session, leaving open the possibility that discussion on the bill could resume before adjournment.
Senate changes to the Open Enrollment Act
The House version of the open enrollment act did not include transportation funding, which the Missouri National Education Association found “troublesome.”
“Students who are from middle-class families or working-class families may not be able to access the portions of open enrollment, particularly around whether or not they have access to transportation,” MNEA spokesperson Mark Jones told ABC 17 News. “What you may have is students whose both parents work in the morning and can’t drive 30 or 40 extra minutes to drop their kid off at school, would not be able to access this. Whereas, those kids from families that are more well off or are already going to elite private schools would have greater access to two different educational choices.”
However, a Senate provision that was adopted on Wednesday would include state funding for transportation, which was not included in past iterations of the bill.
The amendment from Sen. Lincoln Hough (R-Green County) blocks open enrollment for students in years when state funding for key programs — including the foundation formula, teacher baseline salaries or transportation — falls short and ensures transportation funding must also be fully appropriated for open enrollment to proceed.
The bill also includes open enrollment into charter schools. During Wednesday’s Senate session, proponents of the bill argued that it mimics the “free market” and motivates districts to improve.
The MNEA, however, fears the legislation will undermine public education, which serves 92% of the state’s students.
“There’s no evidence that charter schools do better than their local public schools, and there’s plenty of evidence they do worse,” Jones said. “We’ve had charters in Missouri since the 1990s. Numbers of them have closed in the middle of the school year, and we’re just not convinced that charter schools, as they exist in the state of Missouri, help students. What we should be doing is putting the resources where we know works, which is in local public schools.”
Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern (D- Clay County) said during session last week that 255 schools voiced opposition to the bill.
“Bills like this, well-meaning or not, often are trying to find a silver bullet strategy instead of doing the hard work of what we know works, which is a highly qualified teacher in a classroom,” Jones said.
A provision offered by Nurrenbern would exclude charter schools from open enrollment. However, it has yet to be approved by the Senate.
Check back for updates.
Ryan Shiner
ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday morning in Ashland for the expansion of its waste water treatment facility.
The new additional will increase the facility’s capacity from 600,000 gallons per day to 1.6 million gallons per day. It could treat up to 2.6 million gallons per day once it is fully built out, according to an April press release from the city.
The expansion could take 12-18 months, the release says. The facility was originally built in 2019 with the expansion in mind.
“I think sewer is an underappreciated infrastructure need. It is expensive. But it’s critical for economic development, for industrial, commercial growth, and housing growth too. It ultimately having the ability to connect into public sewer drives down or helps contain housing costs,” Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick said.
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Ragtag Film Society in Columbia announced in a Monday press release that its grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts was terminated on Friday.
The group is a 501(c)(3) organization that runs and operates Ragtag Cinema on Hitt Street in Downtown Columbia and the True/False Film Fest, which has been a regular event in the city for two decades. Ragtag Film Society Executive Director Andrea Luque Káram told ABC 17 News in an email that the grant was for $30,000 and has been regularly received for “a few years.”
“Ragtag Film Society is a mission-driven organization that believes in integrity, inclusivity, playfulness, and sustainability,” Monday’s release says. “Despite previously approving grant funding, the NEA announced these core values are no longer relevant to the federal administration’s agenda — an agenda that according to the NEA’s notification email, “reflects the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President.’”
The release says arthouse theaters have struggled in recent years because of new habits from viewers, which includes streaming.
“Termination of federal funding will only further impact the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission: to captivate and engage communities in immersive arts experiences that explore assumptions and elicit shared joy, wonder, and introspection,” the release says.
The release says that Ragtag will have to rely on community support and that donations can be made on its website. Káram wrote that the group will be “duplicating fundraising effor to plan effectively for Fiscal Year 2026.”
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Columbia woman has been charged after she allegedly drove into another vehicle and pulled out a gun on Saturday.
Hali Johnson, 40, was charged with second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. She is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. An initial court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
The probable cause statement says that police were called to Primrose Drive on Saturday. Johnson allegedly followed the victim’s vehicle with her Ford Escape and blocked the road so the victims couldn’t drive away, the statement says. A Chevrolet truck also parked behind the victim’s vehicle, the statement says.
Three or four men and three or four youths then got out of the vehicles and started punching the victim’s vehicle, the statement says. Johnson also got out of her vehicle, screamed and hit it with her hands, the statement says.
Johnson then got back into her Ford and rammed it into the victim’s vehicle, court documents say. One of the victims claimed they saw Johnson holding a gun, the statement says.
Johnson allegedly admitted to police that she punched the victim’s windshield after they backed into her truck and claimed that she initially started chasing the victim because she thought a kidnapping was occurring, court documents say.
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Columbia man was arrested over the weekend after he allegedly pointed a gun at officers while recording a video for social media.
Heath Bishop was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. He posted a $5,000 bond on Monday, court filings show. An initial court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, June 5.
The probable cause statement says Columbia police officers were investigating another call on Saturday in the 2200 block of Primrose Drive when Bishop pulled out a gun from his residence. He allegedly held a pistol in the air, loaded it and then unloaded it before going back into his residence, court documents say.
Police earlier saw Bishop around 11:20 a.m. get into a maroon sedan and arrive at his residence, the statement says. Police wrote that at 11:29 a.m., they saw Bishop holding a gun and a cellphone. An officer pulled out a gun and told Bishop to drop the weapon, which he did.
Bishop allegedly told police that he did not want to hurt officers, but wanted to record a video for the social media application SnapChat.
Marie Moyer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending federal funding for NPR and PBS, public broadcasting stations in Mid-Missouri stations are bracing for impact.
Trump alleged in Thursday’s executive order that public stations were biased and “government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
Under the order, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting board will stop direct funding to NPR and PBS and will stop any future funding to the organizations. This includes any remaining grants or contracts. A legal battle lies ahead.
“We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans,” PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement Friday.
NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher in a statement called the order an affront to the First Amendment.
“With the creation of the Public Broadcasting Act, Congress explicitly forbade ‘any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over educational television or radio broadcasting,'” Maher said in a statement posted to NPR’s website. “This independence has informed the role of public broadcasting in the American interest for more than half a century.”
Public broadcasting in Mid-Missouri includes radio stations KBIA and KOPN in Columbia and television station KMOS in Warrensburg. KBIA reportedly has 30,000 listeners per week, KOPN reaches around 200,000 people and KMOS reports reaching nearly 1 million people, each station reports.
Both NPR and PBS are considering legal action as both entities are private and protected from government interference, CNN wrote on Friday. According to CNN, the CPB disburses $535 million in taxpayer funds to public radio and TV stations. This is first approved by congress and typically done a year in advance.
A 2023-24 financial statement reports that the KMOS’s total operating expenses for the year were a little more than $3 million. The station’s financial reports found that more than $1 million in their funds was from public broadcasting entities like CPB and fewer than $200,000 were from state departments. More than $400,000 were from subscribers.
General Manager of KMOS-TV Josh Tomlinson said the station is currently not seeing any impacts, but worries for the long-term.
“We also represent a largely rural area, our coverage area, 15% of it is in communities of 2,500 or last,” Tomlinson said. “While they’re give as much as possible and we’re grateful for every dollar of it, if we were to lose our federal funding, it would be devastating to KMOS because there is not a source of income within our viewing area to replace that money.”
Along with airing some nationally distributed PBS programs, KMOS also produces Missouri-specific shows that touch on local culture as well as politics.
“We may not have something for somebody all of the time, but we definitely have something for everybody at some of the time,” Tomlinson said. “We carry a show called ‘This Week in Missouri Politics’ that is produced by the Missouri Times and it is all about Jefferson (City), the legislature in Jefferson City, and some people perceive that as a right wing show but it’s only because we have a Republican super majority.”
A major concern Tomlinson has is the possibility of weather coverage being impacted.
“We cover a broad swath of central Missouri in Missouri, in 33 counties, nearly a million people and we have automated weather alerts that go out whenever there’s a tornado or a thunderstorm,” Tomlinson said. “In some of those areas where the only station that they can get, and so that would be one of the areas that was impacted.”
Another concern is the station’s partnership with the University of Central Missouri since a large portion of the staff are digital media production students.
“We generally have anywhere from 15 to 20 each semester, it’s not part of their curriculum, they’re actually paid students that work here and they produce real content,” Tomlison said. “We pride ourselves on being that real-world learning lab that makes students job-ready from day one and I would be devastated to see that loss personally.”
Tomlinson said that the station is currently making plans for future funding.
Executive Director of KOPN Dylan Martin said that he expects the station to stay afloat despite any impending cuts. He credits listener support with more than 50% of the station’s budget coming from public donors. The station also has a contingency plan with its board.
“I’m confident that we can weather the storm, but it’s going to hurt the public radio system as a whole and definitely create some some stresses here,” he said.
Martin similarly shared concerns for communities needing weather coverage and hearing from those in the area.
“These stations are the only source of not only news, information, culture, even entertainment, but they are also the outlets for the emergency alert system, those the tornado warnings and flash flood warnings that that people need to stay safe,” Martin said. “We reach a lot of those small communities and what we offer is, it’s right in our mission, we want to give a platform to underrepresented voices.”
KOPN similarly runs nationally distributed programs, as well as local shows.
“We’re providing options and we’re providing different ideas, different perspectives, and definitely don’t all align, they, they often contradict each other,” Martin said. “On Wednesdays at 10 a.m., we have a show called’ Open to Debate’ that actually spends an hour presenting a moderated debate between people with two totally different points of view on a subject.”
Martin added he is most concerned about the station’s volunteer training program possibly being impacted.
“That’s one of the things I’m most proud of about KOPN and one of the things that I would be most sad to see lost is just our volunteer training program. We sort of specialize in training people in… putting people in the broadcasters and training them to become broadcasters,” he said.
“That is one of the most impactful things we do, is just providing that just sort of bootstrap kind of education, I guess you’d say, teach people (the) art and science and the law of radio.”
Ryan Shiner
STURGEON, Mo. (KMIZ)
Two people were injured in a crash on Highway 22 in northern Boone County on Monday afternoon.
Boone County Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp told ABC 17 News that two vehicles were involved in the collision. The crash occurred near East Benson Road.
An ABC 17 News photographer saw a helicopter leaving the scene at 3:05 p.m. The photographer also saw two Boone County Fire Protection District firetrucks, as well as four more BCFPD vehicles and a sheriff’s deputy.
One lane of the road was closed and first responders were directing traffic at 3:36 p.m. A gray car was sitting in the grass while a white vehicle was stopped on the shoulder with its front smashed in.
Check back for updates.
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A man who was convicted of murder in 2009 was charged with first-degree assault on Saturday.
Kenneth Wayne Beck, 52, was charged with first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of violence to an inmate. He is currently being held at South Central Correctional Center.
The probable cause statement says that Beck allegedly assaulted his cellmate at Jefferson City Correctional Center on Sept. 13, 2023. He allegedly admitted to assaulting the victim by hitting him and then using a food service tray to hit the man in the head, court documents say. Beck allegedly told jail officials that he took things “too far,” the statement says.
The victim had a number of fractures and cuts described in court documents.
Beck is serving a life sentence without parole for first-degree murder and armed criminal action in Montgomery County. He was found guilty on both counts on Jan. 20, 2009, for a killing that occurred on June 10, 2006, court filings show.
