Category: kmiz-local-news

Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Fire Department will continue doing training exercises on Thursday at the parking garage on Fifth and Walnut in downtown Columbia.

During the training, the stairwell on the west side of the garage will be closed to the public, however, all other areas of the garage will be available for parking.

Thursday is the second day of training for the department. According to a press release, training sessions will take place at 8 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. These trainings are designed to prepare emergency crews for navigating multi-story structures and responding quickly in real-life situations.

According to the release, the training scenarios will be realistic and may include uniformed personnel, emergency vehicles, hoses and other equipment throughout the day.

The Columbia Fire Department training sessions are not open to the public.

The final day of these training exercises for the department will be June 5.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Clerk’s Office has confirmed that Vera Elwood will appear on the ballot in the Aug. 5 election for the open Ward 2 seat.

City Clerk Sheela Amin wrote in an email that her petition – which was submitted last week – was deemed sufficient. She is running against Ken Rice, who announced his candidacy earlier this month and his petition was also deemed sufficient.

The city called for a special election on Aug. 5 after Ward 2 Councilwoman Lisa Meyer announced that she would step down on May 16. Election packets can be picked up at the city clerk’s office and candidates have until June 3 to file, according to previous reporting.

A release from the city says that residents who wish to run for the seat must file a petition, which must include obtaining 50 signatures from registered voters in the Second Ward.

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Meghan Drakas

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia police are still searching for a man seen with 59-year-old George Showalter before he was killed at the Red Roof Inn in 1994.

George Showalter, date unknown

On April 17, 1994, Columbia Police responded to a call at the Red Roof Inn Motel near Interstate 70 and found Showalter facedown and naked on a bed in room 147. At the time, police said an autopsy by the Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office found Showalter was strangled to death.

Showalter’s wallet was missing from the room. Columbia Police Department Lt. Matt Gremore told ABC 17 News there were no defensive wounds on Showalter. Despite the missing wallet, police remain unsure of the motive.

“It’s hard to know the motive, if that’s a coincidence that the wallet is missing, I would say it’s probably not a coincidence, but I would be speculating on my part to know that,” Gremore said.

Gremore said “a bunch” of evidence was collected at the crime scene, but would not go into specifics about the items collected. But he did reveal information about new evidence being tested.

“We’ve had several cold cases that we’ve looked at to send new evidence off to private labs,” Gremore said. “This case is one of those cases that we’re looking into to see if we can get something to come from it.”

Thirty-one years after the crime, police are not only continuing to search for new leads from evidence testing, but they’re also continuing to search for the man last seen with Showalter.

“Based on talking with witnesses the day before on the 16th, police were able to get a rough sketch of the individual they believe that was with Showalter prior to his death,” Gremore said.

A sketch of the man seen with George Showalter on April 16, 1994. (Credit: Columbia Police Department)

Police gave this description of the man seen with Showalter before his death:

20 to 40 years old

Average build

Light brown, possibly graying hair

Brown-and-white checkered shirt

Possible vest

Police say the man was seen with Showalter at the Olde Un Theatre Adult Store on East Walnut Street around 4 to 6 p.m. Then, at around 9 p.m., the two were seen down the road at Boone Tavern next to the Boone County Courthouse in the outside deck area.

Police say they don’t have any suspects, but investigators would like to speak with the man last seen with Showalter. Police ask anyone who might know something to contact them.

“It’s hard to come forward with information, it’s not easy,” Gremore said. “I completely understand that. The problem exists that if you have killers that are in your community, the reason why they keep getting away with it is because nobody’s come forward.”

A ‘light-filled human being’

Friends and family of Showalter tell ABC 17 News that he was in town that weekend for a library conference.

“He enjoyed going to Columbia,” Kris Richards said. “He graduated from Mizzou, so he finally felt like he was going back to the stomping grounds.”

Richards is the manager of The Independent-Journal newspaper in Potosi, Missouri. He grew up in the family newspaper business and says he is the third generation to run The Independent-Journal. He says Showalter served as a mentor to him.

“I was actually in a laundry basket at the end of his desk whenever he was the editor at the newspaper,” Richards said.

Showalter was born in 1934 in Potosi — a small town with a few thousand people about an hour and 15 minutes south of St. Louis. In Potosi, he served as the president of the local historical society, worked as an administrator for the Potosi R-III School District and at The Independent-Journal.

“One of the things that I thought was amazing about him, he probably typed, you could say about 100 words a minute,” Richards said. “He could sit there and always had a cigar in his mouth because he smoked a cigar continuously. But he could sit there and talk to you, answer a question, carry on a conversation, and type up a story or headline for a picture and never miss a beat.”

Richards said Showalter had a passion for history and “connecting the dots.”

“I remember just how intelligent he was and how focused he was on doing his work,” Richards said. “His big thing was providing information. That’s what he did with the newspaper, and that’s what he did with the school to learn.”

Showalter’s cousin, Wendy Correa, recalls connecting with Showalter over their shared interest in family history.

George Showalter and his sister Marge Showalter on an unknown date (Credit: Wendy Correa)

“I connected with him at all of our family reunions because of our mutual love of history and genealogy and books and education and photography,” Correa said. “Especially on his research of our extensive family tree decades before the internet was invented.”

Correa said Showalter was one of the most engaging humans she has ever met.

“I think he was the most interesting person in our whole family,” Correa said. “He was named Volunteer of the Year in Potosi.”

Correa says when she graduated high school, Showalter and his sister Marge sent her an antique silver spoon on a silver necklace that was “incredibly thoughtful.”

Silver spoon graduation gift to Wendy Correa from her cousins Marge and George Showalter (Credit: Wendy Correa)

“He was a tremendous light-filled human being, and we need more George Showalters in the world,” Correa said.

Decades after his death, Showalter’s family is still grieving the loss. Correa recalled the shock and horror she felt when she found out he had been killed.

“Disbelief that something like that could happen to such a good human being,” Correa said. “It’s just haunted me for years that there was never any closure for the family.”

Showalter’s cousin is still holding out hope the case will be solved.

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Erika McGuire

NAACP lawsuitDownload

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri NAACP has sued Attorney General Andrew Bailey for failing to include the disparity index, a key racial profiling measure, in the state’s 2023 annual vehicle stops report.

The disparity index measures whether officers are stopping minority drivers at a higher rate than white drivers. It is published in the AG’s Vehicle Stops Report, required by law to be released each year.

In the 2023 Vehicle Stops Report, Bailey’s office stated: “Previous VSR reports have calculated a ‘Disparity Index’ for traffic stops by race and ethnicity for the state overall and for each agency. However, after close study, the research team has recommended removing the disparity index from the VSR as it is of limited analytical value.”

The report argues that the VSR already includes detailed data on traffic stops and population rates by subgroup, so the disparity index doesn’t offer any additional insight. It also states that the index isn’t reliable for comparing different agencies because of variations in local demographics and driving behaviors, and that it’s often misinterpreted.

On Nov. 13, 2024, the NAACP requested documentation under the Sunshine Law from Bailey on his decision to remove the disparity index. However, after weeks of back and forth, the lawsuit says that on Feb. 26, Bailey’s office said the documents would be ready in a week. They were never delivered.

Don Love, who has analyzed vehicle stop data for years says it is important to compare drivers of certain races but it needs to be done with a better metric.

“It would be better to have a comparison of rates, but the problem  is the law requires that but it doesn’t prevent another metric from being used which would be a comparison of rates,” Love said.

However, Love added the numbers don’t tell the full story, but they can flag a potential issue.

“You still have to look more closely what the officer knew and why he or she did it for instance there was something more important than the speed violation perhaps they knew something specially about that driver.” Love said. “It doesn’t prove anything, it doesn’t say officers are bias or whatever else because there could be lots of reasons for the disproportion to exist,”

Replacing the disparity index by using rates instead would be a better option Love said.

“You have to put something else in there that tell people at least at much as the disparity index does but does a better job at doing it because its easier to understand and theres less draw backs to that metric,” Love added

The NAACP also claims Bailey and the University of Missouri violated the Sunshine Law by not providing documents on why the disparity index data was left out of the report or if the index was calculated at all.

The lawsuit says a summary of statewide vehicle stops was provided to a team of researchers at the University of Missouri, and the NAACP reached out to the university for their findings and the reason it did not include the index.

After six months, the lawsuit claims the university provided 44,300 pages of documents. However, the lawsuit states the university said, “Please be advised that many of the records identified in response to your search criteria have been withheld.”

University of Missouri spokesperson Christopher Ave said in a statement Thursday that “we deny liability for the violation alleged in this case and plan to present our defenses in court.”

In the filing, the NAACP is asking the court to order Bailey to include the disparity index in future Vehicle Stops Reports and to release records requested last year related to the decision to remove the index

The vehicle stops report for 2024 was released on Thursday, showing higher stop rates for Black drivers than white drivers.

The 2023 vehicle stop report showed black drivers in Missouri were pulled over at a higher rate based on their percentage of the population in 2023, according to the report.

In 2023, Missouri law enforcement agencies that filed reports recorded 1,367,150 vehicle stops, resulting in 61,990 searches and 57,713 arrests. The overall number of stops represents a 7% increase from 2022, while the number of arrests increased by 17%. 

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A lawsuit filed by an umpire who was accused of attacking a woman and a deputy in 2023 was moved to federal court on Wednesday.

Neal Sidebottom, of Versailles, was charged in 2023 with first-degree assault and misdemeanor resisting arrest. The case was transferred last year from Camden County to Moniteau County. A judge was assigned to the case in February, but the next hearing is not listed on Casenet.

Sidebottom last month filed a lawsuit against  Camden County Sheriff Chris Edgar and Deputy Cole Downing, alleging they used excessive force and deprived him of his Fourth Amendment rights.

According to previous reporting, deputies were called to Ballparks National on Kissick Way in Macks Creek for a disturbance involving an umpire and a player’s parent. A press release claimed that Sidebottom shoved a woman during an argument and then choked a deputy.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A sex offender in Fulton was charged with a plethora of child sex crimes on Thursday.

Leslie Lee Rodgers, 65, was charged with two counts of child enticement, seven counts of statutory sodomy of a victim younger than 12 years old, two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of tampering with a victim in a felony prosecution.

Rodgers is being held at the Callaway County Jail without bond. A court date has not been set. He was also charged earlier this year with being a sex offender too close to a park. A hearing in that case is set for 9 a.m. Friday, June 27 at the Callaway County Courthouse.

Rodgers was arrested for loitering at one of the victim’s soccer games at a park on April 10, the probable cause statement says.

One of the victims allegedly told their parents that day that they had been sexually assaulted by Rodgers several times, the statement says.

That victim and a second child victim described to law enforcement multiple assaults while at Rodgers’ residence, the statement says. The victims claimed Rodgers gave them money several times and instructed them not to tell anyone because he would get in trouble, court documents say.

Rodgers allegedly told police that he was touched by the victims while he slept, woke up and went back to sleep, court documents say.

Rodgers was found guilty by a Boone County jury in 1996 of two counts of first-degree child molestation and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, court filings show.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Black drivers were again pulled over at a rate surpassing white drivers in Missouri in 2024, according to an annual report released Thursday.

The Attorney General’s Vehicle Stops Report is due on June 1 each year, but was released early with that date falling on a weekend. The report provides data related to vehicle stops statewide, including an index that measures the rate at which drivers of each race are pulled over in relation to their driving-age population.

Black drivers statewide were 58% more likely to be pulled over than white drivers, according to the index. The disparity was higher in Columbia, with Black drivers more than three times as likely to be pulled over as white drivers. Black drivers made up about a third of all Columbia traffic stops.

Despite the disparity in stops, white drivers had a higher rate of being found with illegal items than Black drivers in Columbia.

Black drivers in Jefferson City were about twice as likely to be pulled over as white drivers, according to population.

Information from the Cole County Sheriff’s Office shows that Black drivers were stopped at a slightly higher rate than white drivers and the contraband hit rate was about the same. The arrest rate for Black drivers was more than twice of white drivers in Cole County and the citation rate was also higher for all minority groups.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office pulled over Black drivers more than four times the rate of white drivers, and that rate also held true in the resident stop rate. The contraband hit rate was higher for white drivers in Boone County, but the arrest rate for Black drivers was almost twice that of white drivers.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Three people were arrested and charged with misdemeanors after refusing to leave an establishment after a bar fight in Morgan County on Sunday.

Nicole Patricia Kusgen, 50, of Jefferson City, was charged with first-degree trespassing, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. She posted a $10,000 bond and was release from the Morgan County Jail at 8:30 p.m. Monday.

Katina Kay Arnold, 48, of Plattsburg was charged with first-degree trespassing and disturbing the peace; William Arnold, 51, also of Plattsburg, was charged with resisting arrest, first-degree trespassing and disturbing the peace. They were both released from the Morgan County Jail at 8:30 p.m. after posting $5,000 bonds.

The probable cause statement says that deputies were called on Sunday night to Jolly Rogers in Rocky Mount for “an active fight in progress with a large amount of people.”

A group of people rode away on a boat before law enforcement arrived and staff had locked themselves in a kitchen, the statement says. Court documents say Kusgen was involved in the fight and the group that was still at the bar started the brawl.

The owner of the bar walked over to the group with law enforcement and told them to leave and that they were being trespassed, court documents say. Kusgen allegedly yelled “please do it” and told the deputy to arrest her, the statement says.

Kusgen then allegedly put her hands out as if she was getting handcuffed and asked why she was being arrested, though deputies had not brought out handcuffs yet or say she was under arrest, the statement says. She was asked to leave again and refused, the statement says. She was then told be law enforcement that she would be arrested if she didn’t leave and she told them to arrest her, the statement says.

Katina Arnold was also arrested after refusing to leave and her husband, William Arnold, allegedly said “I’m going with her,” the statement says. William Arnold allegedly pushed a law enforcement officer before being detained, the statement says.

Arraignments for all three people are scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two people charged with first-degree murder in Benton County in a Columbia man’s death appeared in court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.

Michael Birnbaum, 28, and Kayley Birnbaum, 35, both of Springfield, Missouri, are charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. They are being held at the Benton County Jail without bond. A bond appearance hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 3.

Cody Garrett, 28, was reported missing on June 21, 2021. Benton County deputies found Garrett’s vehicle and remains off the trails near a bike park outside Warsaw, Missouri. An autopsy showed he had died by homicide.

A probable cause statement says the Birnbaums killed for $50,000 in life insurance money because one of them was the beneficiary.

Garrett had been shot in the hand, arm, body, and head and impaled in the abdomen with a novelty sword, court documents say. Authorities found a bag of novelty weapons, including a sword similar to the one used to impale Garrett, in the Birnbaums’ home. The couple burned some evidence and threw the pistol in the Missouri River before they left the murder scene, court documents say.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jackson County Judge Jerri Zhang issued an order vacating her previous rulings that allowed abortions to continue in Missouri.

The action withdraws Zhang’s own prior orders and is procedural with the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday that stopped the enforcement of state abortion regulations. The high court ordered Zhang to end her preliminary injunction and reconsider issuing one under a different legal standard.

While the right to abortion is still active in the state, tight state regulations regarding safety requirements for clinics that allow abortions are still in place, now no longer restrained by Zhang’s preliminary injunction.

“Unqualified medical practitioners, moldy equipment, and a lack of approved complication plans are just some of the many terrible things we predicted would follow in the wake of Amendment 3, ” Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement Tuesday. “Today’s decision from the Missouri Supreme Court is a win for women and children and sends a clear message – abortion providers must comply with state law regarding basic safety and sanitation requirements.”

In his statement, Bailey emphasized that state regulations preventing coerced abortions, requiring sterile equipment and clean facilities, ensuring qualified abortion providers and having emergency complication plans were essential protections for women undergoing abortions. For many of them, Bailey claimed that abortion-rights activists were working to remove them.

In the initial preliminary injunction documents, Zhang ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood and blocked several of these regulations, with abortion advocates arguing many of the state’s regulations were too tall an order for abortions to be performed under.

“Attorney General Andrew Bailey and anti-abortion politicians in Jeff City have once again weaponized our political system against Missourians,” Abortion Action Missouri executive director Mallory Schwarz said in a statement Tuesday.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains told ABC 17 News on Wednesday that a letter was sent to Zhang, reassuring her that her initial decision was solid.

In court documents, Planned Parenthood argued that under the state’s current abortion-specific informed consent laws, patients were required to receive state-mandated information and materials that are biased and are meant to sway a patient’s choice in getting an abortion.

In the state’s rule for abortion complication plans during medicinally-induced abortions, Planned Parenthood said that the Department of Health and Senior Services required medication abortion providers to have a written contract with a board-certified or board-eligible ob-gyn who has agreed to be “on-call and available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

They argued that it was both difficult to find an ob-gyn who agreed to the terms and claimed the rule was unnecessary if a patient could go to an emergency room during a complication.

Under Missouri’s law that requires abortions to be performed only by physicians, Planned Parenthood argued for allowing advanced practice registered nurses to perform abortions along with physicians to expand access to care. Zhang declined to block this rule.

“That’s not what all of these regulations that have been in place do, they are intended to discriminate against abortion providers and make care harder to access,” Planned Parenthood Great Plains CEO Emily Wales said. “Abortion providers are going through additional hurdles and requirements that weren’t actually making Missourians healthier, they were just limiting where abortions could happen.”

In a statement, Planned Parenthood Great Plains confirmed that abortion services were offered at Missouri health centers starting Feb. 15 and ending Tuesday with the Supreme Court’s decision. Wales added that, in Colombia, abortion surgeries were conducted around every other weekend.

Planned Parenthood centers are still open as a resource for birth control, cancer screenings and UTI testing and treatment.

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