Category: kmiz-local-news

Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia is hosting its monthly Let’s Talk Local discussion on Wednesday, featuring Ward 3 Council Member Jacque Sample to talk about the city’s new Office of Violence Prevention.  

The discussion will take place in the Benton Elementary School cafeteria from 5:30-7 p.m. It’s the latest of a series of monthly “Let’s Talk Local” discussions that began in January. 

Wednesday’s discussion will feature D’Markus Thomas-Brown, who was named the Office of Violence Prevention administrator in March. According to the city, Brown will discuss the role the office will play in working with law enforcement and community partners to address community violence.

Ward 3 — which makes up a large portion of northeast Columbia — has seen a high volume of police traffic in recent years, especially in the areas of Ballenger Lane, Clark Lane and Rice Road. According to Columbia Police Department dispatch logs, police have been dispatched to Clark Lane 1087 times from Jan. 1-May 4, which includes six shots heard calls, five assault calls and two shots fired calls. 

During that same stretch there have been 45 calls to Rice Road, which includes three shots fired calls, while Ballenger Lane has seen 107 calls, including one shots fired call. 

One of the most recent incidents occurred on April 13,  when 23-year-old Joshua Abrams was arrested on suspicion of assault and weapons charges after officers responded to a shooting in the 4700 block of Clark Lane, where they found multiple shell casings. 

Police claim he fired multiple shots into the ground during an argument with his girlfriend in the 4700 block of Clark Lane on May 1. According to court documents, both Abrams and his girlfriend were intoxicated at the time, and Abrams had reportedly been drinking all day.A later press release from the CPD says Abrams is also believed to be involved in a separate shooting that happened last month in the 900 block of East Broadway.

Check back for updates.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An inmate at Jefferson City Correctional Center has been charged with a felony after he allegedly started a fire on Aug. 27, 2024.

Robert Roberts, 33, was charged on Tuesday in Cole County with first-degree arson. He is being held at Jefferson City Correctional Center for a five-year sentence related to burglary, property damage and stealing charges, according to information from the Missouri Department of Corrections.

The probable cause statement says Roberts admitted to starting a fire in his cell last year. A witness also was allegedly identified by a witness, court documents say.

Court documents say that prior to this charge, he had a potential release date of June 6.

A court date has not been scheduled.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County Road and Bridge on Monday will repair portions of Brown School Road between Creasy Springs Road and Clearview Road, according to a Wednesday press release from the Boone County Commission.

Brown School Road will be closed beginning at 9 a.m. and will be back at normal traffic by 3 p.m. the same day, the release says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An octogenarian from California, Missouri, was charged in federal court this week with a number of gun charges.

Aubrey Foxworthy, 81, was charged with dealing guns without a license, two counts of having an unregistered gun and one count of having a machine gun, according to the superseding indictment filed Tuesday in the Missouri Western District Court.

A press release from the Department of Justice, Foxworthy had a silencer that wasn’t registered to him as well as an AR-15 conversion device.

The indictment says that he has the devices in September 2024.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Nightly lane closures on Highway 63 near the Grindstone Parkway interchange will occur near week, according to a Wednesday press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

 The release says that northbound traffic will need to shift with a temporary barricade between traffic and work at the median.

Lane closures will occur a mile north and south of Grindstone Parkway from 7 p.m.-6 a.m. beginning Monday, May 19 and will last throughout the week, the release says.

Both lanes will be open during daytime hours.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Former Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism has started a new role with the City of Auxvasse.

The city on Wednesday shared on its social media that Chism started working as the city’s program administrator in February.

“Please welcome Clay Chism as our newest addition to the City of Auxvasse. Clay started with us in February of this year and primarily serves as the new Program Administrator for the city; researching, completing the application process, and administering state and federal grants to support City operations that will best serve our community,” the post says.

The post also says that Chism assists the city administrator “with various duties across all city departments.”

Chism was removed from his position as the active Callaway County sheriff in June 2023 after his peace officer’s license was suspended after he was drunk both on and off the clock. Chism pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI in one of those instances from a 2022 Randolph County case.

He submitted his letter of resignation in April 2024.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A brief closure will occur Thursday morning for a westbound Highway 54 ramp at the north end of Fulton, according to a Wednesday press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The release says crews will be installing a sign. The closure is expected to last from 8-10 a.m., the release says.

During the closure, motorists will need to seek an alternate route. All work is weather-permitting, and schedules are subject to change, the release says.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley appeared on CNN on Wednesday to discuss his opposition to Medicaid cuts.

Hawley, a Republican, has defied party leadership by opposing Medicaid cuts proposed by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson. The House has been working on the budget plan this week.

“My state is a Medicaid expansion state,” Hawley told CNN host Manu Raju. “Over 20% of Missourians, including hundreds of thousands of children, are on Medicaid, and they’re not on Medicaid because they want to be. They’re on Medicaid because they can’t afford health insurance in the private market.

“These are working people and their children who need health care, and it’s just wrong to go and cut their health care when they’re trying to make ends meet, trying to help their kids, trying to make sure that they’re able to provide for their families. So I hope that the House GOP and the Senate GOP will get the message here.”

Watch the interview in the media player.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man accused of causing a grocery store to go on lockdown last year was found guilty by a jury on Wednesday evening.

John Linzie, 45, was found guilty of second-degree making a terroristic threat and first-degree property damage. He was previously charged with first-degree making a terroristic threat and first-degree property damage.

A sentencing date was not immediately available.

According to a probable cause statement, Linzie allegedly threatened to “grab a shotgun and shoot everyone” at 7:20 a.m. that morning at the Gerbes Supermarket on West Broadway. Court documents say Linzie threw trash cans at the store’s glass door, broke some of the cart corrals and wanted to fight staff.

 According to court documents, a manager at the store had locked down the store to keep Linzie from entering and staff said it would cost at least $1,000 to fix the cart returns.

The jury trial will take place in front of Judge Jacobs.

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Matthew Sanders

The final hours of the 2025 legislative session are ticking down, and a plan to help fund stadium upgrades for Kansas City sports teams is at the center of a power struggle in the General Assembly.

The Missouri House has approved the incentives. However, they’ve been held up in the Senate, where a bipartisan group of senators has taken issue with the House rejecting funding for capital projects, including major items in Columbia and Jefferson City.

State Sen. Stephen Webber (D-Columbia) held the floor for hours Tuesday to prevent action on the stadium funding, supported by Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough (R-Springfield).

Should the Senate approve the stadium deal before the session ends Friday? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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