Category: kmiz-local-news

Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

In less than 24 hours, Memorial Stadium will be jam-packed with black and gold, as the Tigers kick off the 2025-26 season against Central Arkansas.

Downtown is never a scarce scene in Columbia on game days, but with many students left unable to claim tickets after Mizzou Athletics rolled out a new claims process, some think downtown on Thursday could draw even larger crowds.

“We’ve already expected for people to be coming to the bar more, just seeing how quickly they’re sold out,” Assistant General Manager at Harpos Ben Yanak said. “It’s something where for this first game, we’ll just kind of have to go with the flow and just prepare for the future.”

Yanak said the bar can sometimes see 5,000 people come through its doors at night. The bar has recently implemented extra safety precautions, working to ensure people are safe.

“We’ve been in contact with getting some private security for roaming around outside, making sure that all of our customers and everyone on the street is safe,” Yanak said.

Yanak said the bar implemented the outside security at the end of the previous semester. The security works by patrolling the nearby streets and back alleys near the bar. He said it’s something they’re now heavily focused on and are working to collaborate with other businesses downtown on the effort.

People heading into the bar can also expect to be checked with hand-held metal detectors, something the bar has done in previous years as well. The bar also has roughly 70 security personnel working on game days, according to Yanak.

Down the street, MyHouse Sports Bar and Nightclub sits as the official watch party for Mizzou Athletics.

The large crowds don’t come as a surprise to employees, but the bar has also ramped up security heading into the new year and football season.

“As a constantly expanding bar and brand name, we always want to provide the best experience we can to our customers, ” Assistant General Manager for MyHouse Sports Bar and Nightclub Cooper Bridgess said. “We did go out and hire a decent amount more of door guys and whatever positional stuff we needed.”

Bridges said the increased security is to have more faces around the bar. MyHouse will also continue with its practice of using a hand-held metal detector that pats people down when entering the bar to ensure they aren’t bringing in weapons.

Adam Mordica is one of the owners of 9th bar downtown. He said half of the battle of dealing with busy crowds on game day is mental.

“Obviously, all hands on deck. Keep your head on a swivel. We also do our best to keep the atmosphere the way we want it,” Mordica said.

Caroline Ordway is a second-year master’s student at the University of Missouri. Ordway thinks the city of Columbia has done a good job keeping people safe in the downtown area, and is thankful for the changes bars have implemented.

“I remember being here in undergrad and I feel like you could just walk in and out. Purses are checked, people are wanded, I think they’re making definite improvements,” Ordway said.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two students are dead and 14 are injured after a deadly school shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school on Wednesday.

This comes after several colleges across the country received fake reports of active shooters, according to a previous ABC 17 report.

Chief Operating Officer for the Missouri School Board’s Association Center for Education Safety, John McDonald, said school safety experts are trying to figure out why there’s a desire to hurt.

“We’ve never figured out that core reason behind that,” McDonald said. “It’s a desire to hurt, and that is most concerning to me because that’s a behavioral issue.”

He said schools need to prepare for “low probability, but incredibly high impact events,” like an active shooter situation.

McDonald said building a community is one of the first steps.

“When a student has relationships that are positive, they’re not shooting anybody. And then every student deserves a kind, caring, trusted adult in their life,” McDonald said.

One of the ways schools can prevent this is by monitoring student behavior.

“We’ve stopped a lot of school shootings by conducting a really good threat assessment on students engaging in behavior that is threatening,” McDonald said.

Schools can also teach students about what to do in the event of an active shooter.

McDonald also said keeping outside doors locked to prevent outsiders from coming into the school is also crucial.

When a school shooting happens, it leaves the community shocked.

John Nicoletti is a police psychologist, and he’s been on about 15 active school shooter cases in Colorado. He primarily talks to first responders affected by the traumatic event after, and sometimes before, it happens.

“A lot of stuff we work on afterwards is: these events never leave the people, you know, if you’ve gone through one, it stays with you forever,” Nicoletti said.

He said it affects the police officers going into the school; the students, teachers and staff in the building; and the parents.

“Then the other thing we try and do with people who survived it, irrespective of where they’re at, is give them a heads up on here are the things that are going to set your children off. Here are the things that are going to set you off. Here are some things to do from that standpoint,” Nicoletti.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A new steel fabrication company will bring more than 30 jobs to Audrain County.

TechFab Structural Steel announced it will be opening an advanced steel fabrication facility in Vandalia.

The company will be investing six million dollars and creating 34 new jobs.

The facility will be 126,000 square feet and fully climate-controlled. A release states the facility will be used for machining and fabricating raw steel products into usable building assemblies.

The new employees at TechFab Structural Steel will make an average wage above the county average. According to Missouri data, the average wage for all industries in 2024 was $48,098 annually or $23.12 per hour.

“I’m very excited to be part of bringing high-tech, high-paying jobs to my hometown of Vandalia,” David Kurz, Operations Manager for TechFab Structural Steel, said in the release.

TechFab Structural Steel will use the Missouri Works program to help expand and retain workers.

“We’re proud to see a new employer investing and creating jobs in Vandalia while strengthening our state’s vibrant manufacturing industry,” Governor Mike Kehoe said in the release.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jefferson City’s man attorney has resigned as of Wednesday.

Jefferson City spokesperson said in a release that Ryan Moehlman has resigned from his role as the City Attorney.

Moehlman has been with the city since September 2016, providing legal counsel and support to the council, mayor and other departments.

“His steady guidance, integrity, and deep knowledge of municipal law havegreatly benefited Jefferson City,” Mayor Ron Fitzwater said in the statement.

The release states that Moehlman will be continuing his career with the Missouri Bar.

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Regional Airport is taking steps to prevent vehicles from being left in airport parking lots for extended periods, a problem that has limited available spaces for legitimate travelers.

 “We’ve had vehicles with flat tires and vehicles that have been sitting out there for long periods of time that we’ve observed,” Michael Parks, Columbia Regional Airport Manager, said.

According to Parks, an increase in travelers at COU is one of the main reasons the parking issue has grown.

Airport staff have been doing regular vehicle counts to monitor which cars are actively used by travelers — and which ones may be sitting idle for too long, Parks said.

The ordinance, proposed to the City of Columbia, would require travelers who plan to leave their vehicles at the airport for 30 days or more to complete a form prior to traveling.

The form would include the vehicle’s make and model, where it will be parked, and the expected time the traveler plans to be gone.

Airport officials say this will help them monitor long-term parking and ensure vehicles parked at the COU airport are associated with travelers and travelers only.

“We want to make sure that spaces are available. We’ve seen vehicles stored out here in the past, and really this ordinance change is going to allow us some mechanism to watch for those vehicles that are not associated with customers that are flying in and out of the airport and have that ability to have those vehicles removed from the area,” Parks said.

“If a traveler plans on staying a longer period of time, this ordinance really doesn’t prohibit that. It really is just going to create the ability for us to track those vehicles,” He added.

According to the Columbia City Council memo, parking at the airport for more than 24 hours is prohibited unless they are flying out of the airport.

Traveler Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer is a frequent traveler and relies on COU. She says the ordinance is a step in the right direction.

“It’s so much better for people to fill out a form and have to be fined for them to start charging for parking, which might be the alternative,” Bentz-Mercer said. ‘I think that’s really taking advantage of a great thing, we have this great little regional airport, we can park for free. It’s such a benefit, but if people are leaving their cars here, that’s frustrating.”

The parking lot at COU holds 1,100 parking spaces and is free for travelers.

Travelers who leave a vehicle for more than 30 days without submitting the required form could face daily fines, Parks said.

The Columbia City Council is set to take up the proposed ordinance at its meeting Tuesday evening.

United Airlines is joining COU with three additional flights, after a four-year hiatus. The airline will offer two flights to Chicago and one flight to Denver. The first flight will take off on Sept. 25th.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Governor Mike Kehoe is considering a request for support from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A statement from the Governor’s Office to ABC 17 News said the Governor’s Office and the Adjutant General of the Missouri National Guard are assessing the request.

“If activated, Service members supporting ICe would be performing administrative and logistical support,” spokesperson Gabby Piccard said in an email.

This is in response to a statement the Department of Defense made on July 25 announcing a change in the duty status for military personnel supporting ICE in the immigration law enforcement mission.

Former Governor Mike Parson announced he was sending 200 Missouri National Guard troops to the southern border.

The change in July authorized another 500 newly authorized personnel to provide support at ICE processing and detention facilities, according to the statement.

Piccard said Missouri was one of the ten states included.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Firefighters with Mid-County Fire Protection District responded to a residential structure fire late Wednesday night.

In a post on social media, the agency said crews were called to a mobile home at 10:28 p.m. in the 9900 block of State Route D in Camden County on Wednesday.

Crews found the home fully involved with fire showing from the windows.

The post state firefighters were able to get the fire under control within 15 minutes. Crews then overhauled the fire to put out any remaining hidden fire and hot spots..

Mid-County reported the fire “significantly damaged the interior of the structure.” It is considered a total loss.

Investigators learned the fire started in a utility room near a breaker box.

All of the occupants were able to evacuate safely. Red Cross is assisting the family. No injuries were reported.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Starting in September, contractors will start the second phase of work on a new roundabout on Route K.

Starting Sept. 8, West Route K will be closed east of the Break Time gas station driveway and east of Vermillion Drive. Access to the gas station will be available only from West Old Plank Road.

The first phase focused on the north half of the roundabout; the second will focus on the south half, according to a release.

A detour will be set up to direct the traffic from both directions onto West Old Plank Road. Access to Maple Meadows Drive will also be closed.

A release states phase two is expected to be completed in early October, with more phases to follow.

The overall construction is planned to be done by early winter.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An Audrain County man has been charged with nine child sex crimes involving two victims.

James Winkler is charged with one count of first-degree attempted rape, one count of first-degree statutory sodomy, one count of incest, five counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of child abuse without sexual contact.

Court documents state Winkler was first accused of trying to have sexual intercourse with victim 1 in 2018. During the investigation, officials learned that siblings of the victim reported physical or sexual abuse by Winkler.

A second victim reported to a school counselor on Aug. 20 about the sexual abuse.

Court documents state the second victim reported three times over the summer Winkler sexually abused them. The child also reported that Winkler had physically abused them by pinching her arm with his fingernails, causing scars.

Investigators said the victim reported Winkler sexually assaulting them every night for two months.

Deputies said while investigating the abuse, Winkler refused to separate from the victim as requested. The deputy wrote Winkler was trying to intimidate the victim by standing in her line of sight, being physically aggressive and making loud negative statements. The child started to shake in fear, according to the deputy, and was put into a law enforcement vehicle to separate her from his behavior.

Documents state Children’s Division records show he was investigated multiple times for allegations, including physical abuse.

Online court records show that a no-bond warrant for his arrest was issued, but has not been served.

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Madison Stuerman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia City Manager De’Carlon Seewood has announced his pick to be the next Housing and Neighborhood Services director.

William Rataj will start as the new director on Sept. 29.

Rataj has previously worked as the director of housing with the City of St. Louis Community Development Administration since 2014. He has worked in community development for 29 years, according to the release.

“Rataj’s experience working in housing in Missouri will be beneficial to Columbia as we continue to explore implementing recommendations from our recent housing study, completed in partnership with Boone County,” Seewood said in a release.

Rataj has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. He is also a certified housing development finance professional.

He was one of three finalists for the role.

A spokesperson for the City Manager’s office told ABC 17 News the previous director, Rebecca Thompson, became the Deputy City Counselor for the city in April.

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