Category: kmiz-local-news

Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Public buses in the City of Columbia will soon have liaisons, but people will have to wait roughly a month to 90 days before they see them in full swing.

The Columbia City Council unanimously approved a $99,840 contract to Powerhouse Community Development on Monday night. The city’s Office of Violence Prevention had planned to award the fund to the group to help deescalate situations on the city’s buses. The money is coming from funds that were set aside for the office.

According to Chief Executive Officer of Powerhouse Community Development Charles Stephenson, the nonprofit is planning to have one woman and man ride the buses within the city to help keep the buses safe.

“We’ve seen so much community violence and negativity happening in the city. It’s a positive city, but there’s so much happening in the city and so many people are restless,” Stephenson said. “Some of the experiences that we’ve encountered have really shook up the community and so Powerhouse is always trying to be involved to improve quality of life and creating a safe, healthy environment for people.”

Stephenson said it isn’t clear right now which routes the liaisons will be on, or during which hours, as the logistics of the plan are still being worked out. However, he said the city has conducted research to see which routes are a priority and when the peak times are that see the most issues occur.

Stephenson said the group plans to meet sometime next week to go over data.

The city began to have discussions on how to improve safety within buses after several people reported issues of fights, threats and drunk passengers. That led to Columbia’s Office of Violence Prevention leader D’Markus Thomas-Brown looking to step in.

The liaisons are trained in de-escalation and HEAT training, which refers to people who are able to help people who have experienced adversity, violence, poverty and discrimination. Stephenson said the liaisons are also trained in conflict resolution and said they plan to continue training as time goes along and they evaluate how things are going.

Stephenson said it’s also important the liaisons are there to help guide people in the right direction and turn a negative situation into a positive one.

“People are going through a lot in this society right now. We’ve got a lot of tension in society, a lot of division, a lot of anger and frustration with gas prices, prices of food, people are depressed. So, these navigators not only have been trained how to deescalate, but how to give guidance and assistance so that we can connect people to the resources they may need,” Stephenson said.

Stephenson said details mattered when planning, even down to the color the liaisons will wear on the bus.

“When you think of orange, you think of a lot of convicts coming out of prison…when you think of yellow, you think of policemen at stop signs directing traffic and some of them can be traumatic and triggering,” Stephenson said. “We wanted to have a neutral color that was more of an engaging color…we don’t want to look like security guards or police men. We want to look like navigators. The role of the navigator is to assist everyone on the bus. We want to create a safe environment.”

City of Columbia Transit Manager Shannon Hemenway said the city manager’s office proposed the idea of liaisons as a trial the city believed would be good to start within the transportation department.

Hemenway said most of the issues they’re seeing on buses recently stems from overcrowding due to a lack of bus drivers.

“That makes tensions higher when people are stuffed in there together. That’s one of the main things we have. People also can’t get to where they need to go as quickly as they need to go, so that makes them a little more irate as well,” Hemenway said. “We’re just hoping to take the temperatures down on things and make people have an enjoyable ride while we provide the transit we can.”

Hemenway also said she believes the liaisons will be beneficial to the city because it allows city leaders to see other areas within the city that they could be useful.

Stephenson said Powerhouse plans to conduct a study over a period of time that looks to see how effective the liaisons are in preventing disturbances and situations alike. However, he said he wants to remind people that doing this is a process that will take time to get everything laid out and evaluated.

Stephenson said the impact that he saw combining bus routes had on the city years ago, along with a personal connection he has to single mothers who ride the bus allows him to see how important buses are in the city, which is why he felt inspired to help.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction. We might put community navigators in the park… a lot of different places,” Stephenson said. “There’s a lot of visibility on this and I think with it being here with transportation, I think we’ll get a larger snapshot at it being mobile at many, many sites versus just one location.”

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

Hundreds of gold chocolate coins fell from a Columbia firetruck on Tuesday evening for Chabad of MU and Mid-Missouri’s annual Hanukkah menorah lighting outside of Columbia City Hall. 

However, this year’s celebration carried a bit of extra weight in the wake of a deadly attack at a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney shooting killed 15 people and targeted members of the Jewish community.

“It was a time of joy and it was interrupted by a terrible, terrible, terrible terrorist attack that took the lives of so many. As a Jew, we feel the pain. We’re like one community. But we respond by adding more light,”  Rabbi Avraham Lapine, director of Chabad at Mizzou, said. “It was darkness that hit the world, really dark, and you feel the darkness. And we have to respond by adding more light, adding more goodness, more kindness, and by being proud.”

Chabad at Mizzou has been hosting a public Hanukkah menorah lighting for the past 13 years. The event featured a six-foot LEGO menorah, chocolate coins dropped from a fire truck, gifts for children, hot drinks and traditional Hanukkah foods. 

Lapine said the celebration was a way to respond to hatred with light and unity.

“The only way to fight darkness is with more light. The only way to fight evil is with good. We fight hatred with love. Time to be more Jewish and more proud of our faith and more proud of our Jewish identity,” Lapine said. 

The menorah lighting has grown significantly during the past two years, Lapine said, likely tripling in attendance. While he acknowledged a rise in antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel, he said support from both the Jewish community and those outside it was encouraging.

“The fact that the Jewish community came together and even from those outside the Jewish community, it really gives us hope and encouragement that we’re not alone,” Lapine said.

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, attending her third consecutive menorah lighting as mayor, had the honor of lighting the first candle. She said the event was a reminder of the importance of community.

“There’s a lot of division out there right now. It is more important than ever that we come together to support one another, regardless of your faith, regardless of who you love or what you look like. It’s important to show up for your neighbors and when we see people dividing and attacking one another, we have to remember to stand up for them. We have to be able to stand up for each other,” Buffaloe said. 

Buffaloe also noted the LEGO menorah’s design, joking about last year’s icy version.

“I will say last year’s menorah was made of ice. So it’s probably good that this year is made of Lego kind of warmer,” Buffalo said. “I’m also kind of biased. My son does LEGO robotics at his middle school. And so I think it’s really impressive when I can see this happen.”

First-time attendee Paul Eisenstein said he enjoyed the event and the festive atmosphere.

“It’s amazing. I love the Lego-based menorah. That’s a lot of fun. And of course, the fire truck coming out and the delivery of chocolate from the fire truck is a lot of fun. It’s fun to see all the kids here enjoying Hanukkah and just the good spirit about bringing light to this world. I love it,” he said.

Eisenstein added the holiday’s message resonated deeply in light of recent events.

“I think Hanukkah is a wonderful holiday about bringing light to the world. The mayor mentioned there’s darkness in the world, but there’s a lot more light. And I believe that,” Eisenstein said. 

Chabad at Mizzou said the event was coordinated with local law enforcement to ensure safety and encouraged the public to attend as a show of unity and support for the community.

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ABC 17 News Team

COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Cole County Commission on Tuesday decided to forward with an animal leash ordinance for county parks.

Cole County attorney Jill LaHue said she and the county’s public works department will begin working on language for new rules requiring animals be on leashes when at county parks.

The parks committee unanimously recommended earlier this month that the county have a leash rule after receiving a complaint in the fall about a loose dog in a county park. 

The county operates three parks. 

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A dog was rescued on Tuesday afternoon after it fell through the ice of a Columbia pond.

Crews were called at 2:10 p.m. to the 2000 block of Osage Drive for a water rescue, according to dispatch logs from the Columbia Fire Department.

CFD spokeswoman Skyler Clark told ABC 17 News at the scene that crews found the dog about 30 feet away from shore in a residential pond. Firefighters were able to get the dog out of the water within minutes. Clark said neighbors weren’t sure who owned the dog.

Responders helped the dog warm up in an ambulance. Animal Control is looking after the dog.

“I’m sure next steps for the dog are just making sure it’s happy and healthy and finding the owners. It was a great rescue,” Clark said at the scene. “This is why we train, even though it is closer to 50 degrees outside. There’s still ice in a lot of bodies of water, so I think it is also an important reminder just to be careful around this time of year, no matter the temperature, because it does change so fast.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Pierpont General Store has been listed for sale.

The more than 130-year-old business has been at its location since 1889 and has continuously been operating since the 1960s, according to information from its website.

Weichert Realtors’ website shows the property is on sale for $1.5 million. It includes the business, two buildings and a single-family home, along with a gas station, outdoor seating, firepit and stage, among other amenities.

ABC 17 News reached out to the business for comment.  

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

EDITOR’S NOTE: AI was used for background in researching this story.

The Missouri Department of Conservation is pausing its chronic Wasting Disease management efforts to find a more sustainable option.

The disease was detected in the state in 2010, and is reportedly on the rise but relatively low, with around 1% of samples last year testing positive for CWD. However, MDC experts add that a 5% positive test rate tends to be at risk for outbreaks.

“As with many diseases, early detection and aggressive management have the greatest impact on the future distribution of the disease. So we embarked on an aggressive strategy to minimize the likelihood of spreading the disease within Missouri,” MDC Director Jason Sumners wrote in an open letter Monday.

The Missouri Department of Conservation implemented a series of strategies aimed at controlling the spread of CWD. Among these is a mandatory sampling procedure conducted annually during deer season, during which hunters can have their deer tested at no cost. The department has also implemented regulations for feed use and carcass disposal to prevent the spread.

The department typically uses the findings from the November sampling in conjunction with an annual targeted deer removal program that runs from January to mid-March.

This program is intended to help control the population of infected deer in areas where CWD is prevalent. The department gets approval from local landowners to hunt on their land, and all non-CWD-affected meat harvested from the hunts is either returned to the landowners or donated.

According to MDC Deer Program Leader Jason Isabelle, following a mandatory sampling event in November, the department received around 22,000 samples with 32 positive cases of CWD.

Last year, the department reported having hunted 4,700 deer alone through targeted deer removal with local partners and hunters across the state removing around 275,000 deer.

The post-season program is being put on hold for this upcoming year.

“We remain committed to keeping our deer herd healthy and working collaboratively with the hunters and landowners that are critical to our conservation mission,” Sumners wrote. “We cannot be successful in this work, and at the scale needed, without hunters’ and landowners’ support and participation. At this time, MDC will be pausing our post-season targeted removal efforts to work with hunters and landowners to adapt and identify a more sustainable path forward.”

Deer culling has been a criticized strategy in the past, with opponents arguing that the action causes ecological impacts and affects local hunters.

Anthony Weeks from Vandalia sees benefits from targeted deer removal but adds that it can be dangerous if misused.

“A local area to me, they did it and they realized, ‘hey, there really is no CWD in this area,’ and so now they decreased a little of the population,” Weeks said. “Normally, I harvest between 3 to 4 deer, one buck and a couple of does, this year I only have one buck and one doe and that was it.”

Weeks adds that he is excited about the idea of public hearings with the department. “That they are listening to both the hunters and landowners and the community,” Weeks said. “Not everything is going to be able to get put into place or be a new law for next year, but it is a good starting point.”

Allen Morris from Jackson argues that targeted deer removal does more harm than good.

“You just killed a whole population and they can’t tell you that those deer will die of CWD because there’s 100 different ways that deer will die before ever getting CWD,” Morris said. “A deer is going to die of getting hit by a car, chronic blood loss from a bullet or an arrow, predators, weather, there’s so many different things that nobody comes into account.”

Morris adds that trust in the department for some hunters needs to be built back up following previously unsuccessful public hearings.

“They’ve hosted forums for the last 12 years, I’ve been to three of them in Perry County, and they won’t they won’t let the people talk,” Morris said. “They have their little meetings, a little sit down around the table, and they don’t want people to have a public output on this, because when you start asking questions, they get uncomfortable.”

Morris adds that the department must be more forward with finances and details on the operations of targeted deer removal to rebuild trust.

“It would be complete transparency, and instead of me having to file so many open records request, all that should be on their website for anyone,” Morris said.

“Regardless of where you stand on the issue of CWD, most share the same goal — a healthy sustainable population of deer in Missouri that can be appreciated and utilized by future generations,” Sumners said.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Tigers are getting ready for postseason play in less than two weeks.

The Tigers will travel to Jacksonville, Florida, for the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Virginia on Dec. 27. They took questions about the preparation at noon Tuesday. Watch it in the media player.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Food insecurity is at a 10-year high in Mid Missouri, and the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri says demand has increased since the government shutdown in October and November.

The demand became noticeable in October when concerns grew around SNAP benefits during the country’s longest government shutdown. The Food Bank said since SNAP funding returned in November, there has been an improvement, but the need is still high. While people are still recovering from the impact, so is the food bank.

“Loads of food were canceled or not complete,” said the Food Bank’s President and CEO Lindsay Lopez. “In addition to that, we saw food donations really decrease and we saw our costs continue to rise.”

The market served 3,196 people last week — 68 of them new. One-in-seven people in Missouri, including 1-in-5 children, are food insecure. The Food Bank serves 100,000 people across central and northeast Missouri each month. The Food Bank has increased spending on general food purchases by more than 157% compared to 2024.

Katie Geisler, spokeswoman for the Food Bank, said the holiday season can also bring food insecurity to the forefront because food is so central to celebrations.

“By making a contribution and participating in a food and fund drive, like the one for one holiday food and fund drive, or giving of their time as a volunteer, all of those things make such a huge difference,” Lopez said.

The Food Bank is set to host its 19th annual One for One Holiday Food & Fund Drive on Wednesday. Items gathered will provide food to families in need during the holiday season and beyond.

The most needed items at the One for One Holiday Drive are canned meat/protein, canned fruits and vegetables, canned soups/chilis/stews, boxed meal kits, cereal, peanut butter and pasta, according to The Food Bank’s website.

The Food Bank also welcomes monetary donations. One dollar helps The Food Bank provide three meals, according to Geisler. That means a $25 donation will provide at least 75 meals.

Food and funds can be donated at two locations from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday — the Columbia Mall and Buchheits in Jefferson City.

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Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Central Bank of Boone County, Central Bank of Audrain County and Central Bank of Moberly are sounding the alarm that business fraud incidents reach an all-time high this holiday season.

According to the banks, scammers are targeting businesses using publicly available information, including pandemic-era loan lists from the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program, to make fraudulent calls.

“We’ve seen a much higher incident rate of spoofing fraud with our customers,” Bob Hull, senior vice president of business banking at Central Bank of Boone County, said. “And primarily what that involves is fraudsters reaching out to our customers and pretending to be the bank.”

Hull said at least several dozen of the bank’s customers have been contacting them eeach week about getting these types of calls.

They’ve also been receiving links to fake websites that mimic legitimate bank sites, tricking victims into entering sensitive financial details.

And what Hull said is possibly most alarming is how legitimate these scams appear, compared to what the banks have seen in the past.

And with all the credentials they appear to present, Hull said it’s becoming easier to be tricked.

“Phone number from the bank, the caller ID information from the bank, often the individual will give a name that is an actual bank employee,” Hull said.

“Phone number from the bank, the caller ID information from the bank, often give the individual will state that they’re they’re, give a name that is an actual bank employee.”

Hull said scammers are taking advantage of the season.

“To basically catch them at a busy time of year as we are in the holidays, and then try to scare them into seeing that there’s been some type of compromise on their account,” Hull said.

Fraud activity typically spikes during the holidays when business owners and consumers are distracted, the banks say. A single mistake can lead to devastating financial losses.

Angie Gentry, executive vice president of consumer banking, emphasized caution.

“Never, ever give out personal information on the phone or in an email without checking with your bank first, preferably, with someone you know at the bank,” Gentry said in the release. “Your bank knows your information. There’s no need for us to ask for it.”

Banks urge businesses and consumers to remain skeptical of any unsolicited requests for private information.

If someone suspects they’ve been targeted, they should contact their bank immediately. Lost funds should be reported to law enforcement.

Hull said the Central Bank of Boone County has been in contact with police about fraud surging and continues to report scams.

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Steven Lambson

CENTRALIA, Mo. (KMIZ) – The City of Centralia will seek a sales tax increase to be approved by voters in the April 2026 municipal election.

Centralia City Administrator Tara Strain said the increase would take the city’s sales tax from 1% to 2%. As of now, the additional revenue would go to the city’s general revenue fund and not to any specific project or purpose.

Strain said the Centralia Board of Aldermen will vote whether to send the measure to the ballot. If approved, the board will send the ordinance and sample ballot to the Boone County Clerk by January 27. Strain said the board would also post the measure in the newspaper for the election notice.

According to Strain, the city’s one-percent sales tax generated revenue over the past three years in the following amounts:

Fiscal year 2022-23: $502,118.51

FY 2023-24: $582,459.28

FY 2024-25: $559,789.01

Strain said projections for tax revenue in FY 2025-26 weren’t available.

If voters pass the tax, the rate will remain at 2% until or unless it goes before voters again, according to Strain. She added the last general sales tax increase for Centralia was passed in 1981.

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