Category: kmiz-local-news

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Animal Shelter may receive a $7,000 ASPCA grant to help with operational costs following a large animal abuse investigation in July.

Court documents reported that four people, Casey Logsdon, Jessica Morgan, Ashley Ousley and Henry Ousley Jr. were charged were charged July 24 with 19 counts of accessory to animal abuse.

Previous reporting indicates the four were arrested last month after Cole County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a mobile home on July 15 for a wellness check, where they were told about the animals.

On Tuesday, a warrant was issued for Randy Allen Morgan in connection with the July 15 investigation. According to court documents, Randy was the roommate of Jessica Morgan.

Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler reported deputies found 19 dogs, three puppies and two cats. During a later visit, they found two dogs, one cat, a gerbil, a lizard, two rabbits and some chickens.

“It was quite a few animals that we took to the shelter to drop off,” Wheeler said. “That’s a lot of work you’re pushing down on the shelter.”

Wheeler added that it costs the shelter around $4,000 for veterinary services for 19 animals. The sheriff’s office estimated it would cost $3,000 for the additional animals.

“My animal control officer found out that there was a possible grant through the ASPCA that could help offset some of those costs,” Wheeler said.

The Cole County Commission also approved the replacement of the Cole County Jail’s radio system. Wheeler said that the system is around 11 years old and helps staff communicate with each other inside the jail and across the street at the courthouse.

The repairs cost around $20,400.

“It’s getting where we can’t find parts for it,” Wheeler said. “It’s working pretty good right now, but like I said, what I don’t want to do is wait until it finally dies the last time and then we’re out because this could be a month or a month and a half turnaround.”

Logsdon and Jessica Morgan are scheduled for a council status hearing on Aug. 12, while Ousley and Ousley Jr. are set to make their first court appearances on Aug. 26. All four suspects have bonded out of jail.

Check back for updates.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An advisory that was issued for a missing St. Louis-area man with dementia has been canceled, according to an updated email from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Francis L. Lewis, 77, of Rock Hill, was found safe, according to the release.

Lewis is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighs about 180 pounds and has gray hair and hazel eyes. He was seen driving westbound on Highway 50 from the Gasconade River in Osage County.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia teenager who was found guilty of three felonies last month for a July 2024 shooting.

Jeremiah Johnson, 19, was found guilty by a Boone County jury on July 3 of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. He is currently being held at the Boone County Jail.

A man was shot at 1 a.m. July 10, 2024, in the 200 block of Lincoln Drive. Court documents in previous reporting show that shell casings were also found in the 400 block of McBaine Avenue and a gun was found near a Jeep Compass that was registered to Johnson.

Johnson allegedly told police that he was shot at and fired back, court documents in previous reporting say.

According to a probable cause statement in previous reporting, a woman heard banging on her front door around 2:30 p.m. the day before and saw Johnson and a woman who she didn’t know. The woman had apparently wanted to fight the woman at the residence, the statement says.

Johnson then allegedly sat in his vehicle, held a gun, but did not fire it then, the statement says. A witness also allegedly told police that she saw Johnson hold the gun while in the vehicle. One of the women was allegedly able to show police a photo from Johnson’s Instagram account that showed the gun, the statement says.

The witness allegedly told police that Johnson threatened to come back to the area and “shoot this place,” according to the statement.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An active-duty soldier at Fort Leonard Wood has been charged in Pulaski County with multiple child sex crimes.

Juan Cabrer-Matias, of St. Robert, was charged on Monday with second-degree statutory rape, sexual misconduct involving a child younger than 15 years old and fourth-degree child molestation. A warrant was served and a $75,000 bond was set. An arraignment was held on Tuesday.

A counsel status hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12 and a preliminary hearing is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26.

The probable cause statement says the 14-year-old girl was reported missing from Independence, Missouri, on May 9. On Aug. 3, St. Robert police and investigators from Fort Leonard Wood were trying to find the girl and eventually found her and Cabrer-Matias in a vehicle, the statement says.

The victim allegedly told police that she was in a “relationship” with Cabrer-Matias, but initially told Cabrer-Matias she was 18 years old. However, sexual contact continued after she disclosed her real age, the statement says. Text messages recovered by investigators allegedly showed that Cabrer-Matias knew of her real age in May, the statement says.

The victim had allegedly been living with Cabrer-Matias since she ran away, the statement says.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou football continued fall camp Tuesday after learning that 2025 season tickets had been sold out.

Watch a news conference following practice.

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Haley Swaino

COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Some Cole County property owners could soon be paying more in taxes.

Cole County’s Board of Equalizations voted Tuesday to raise the assessed value of certain parts of the county by 5%. The vote came after the State Tax Commission issued an order last Wednesday telling the county it had until Aug. 23 to raise property tax assessments.

The commission issued the order after finding that assessments lagged where they should be. That means property owners are paying less in taxes than they should be.

“It is the responsibility of the Commission to inquire into the methods of assessment and determine whether the assessing officers and boards of equalization are discharging their duties as required by law,” the equalization order states.

The order states that Cole County’s assessments in 2023 were 67.53% of market value.

Cole BOE Equalization Order to Increase Residential ValuesDownload

Western District Commissioner Harry Otto said Cole County has ongoing issues with property tax assessments because of Cole County Assessor Christopher Estes.

“He did not do a countywide reassessment, which the statute requires every two years,” Otto said. “It doesn’t say half of it one two year period and half of it another. And that’s been his mood the last several reassessment periods is to do half and half.”

ABC 17 News spoke with Estes on Tuesday prior to the meeting. He said over the years, many factors contributed to assessment backlog.

“In 2017, the county commissioners decided that the assessor’s office was going to have a new software,” Estes said.

Estes said his team’s software — which is used to do appraisals — was switched in 2020 and that change is to blame for a backlog that has left some areas of Cole County unassessed for years. He said the new system had many differences that has he and his team assessing portions of the county one property at a time.

“We lost the capability to do the sales comparable method,” Estes said. “In any practical sense, I would have to add additional staff. I would have to increase our budget a lot to be able to take care of that. So we’ve been stuck going property by property.”

He said he told commissioners that was the way he and his staff were forced to operate under the new system, but those concerns were ignored year after year.

“After the 2019 assessment, we had to go house-by-house through every single house in the county and review the information,” Estes said. “We had to see what percentage of brick and what percentage of frame a house might have, and then record that in our file for that property.”

Estes said years of not having the proper resources and staffing he needed to do the job is what led to the STC stepping in.

“We’ve had the software situation, we’ve had the COVID situation, and I have a staffing situation,” Estes said.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic dried up the housing market in Cole County.

“In Cole County, there’s usually about 400 houses on the market,” Estes said. “And at any given time over the past three years, they’ve averaged like 40 houses. Huge difference. So obviously, if your supply is really low, your demand is really high.”

He said that year being the same year the software switch happened created a “perfect storm” for the assessor’s office.

“So all of those things combined got us to where we’re at now. And in [20]23, the ’23-24 ratio study, we were at 67.53, which is just horrible. I’m actually embarrassed to say that number because it’s not where we usually are and it’s not where we would be if we had what we needed to do to do the job,” Estes said.

Otto said Estes let the county down and that did not uphold the duties of his office.

“He never takes responsibility. He blames the software. He blames the commission. He blames this inability to hire people. Well, that’s his job, is to find good people, hire them, put them to work,” Otto said.

Estes told ABC 17 News after the meeting that the vote to adhere to the STC’s order and raise property tax assessments by 5% was not the outcome he’d hoped for.

“It bothers me that all those taxpayers that are now going to see an increase do not have an opportunity to appeal the value of that,” Estes said. “That’s the big problem that I see with it right now.”

Estes is retiring at the end of August after nearly two decades of service.

Tim Theroff is set to become the new assessor on Sept. 1 and will be tasked with making the assessment changes when he takes office.

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon Told ABC 17 News in a statement that voter turnout for Tuesday’s special election is larger than she expected.

“It’s slightly higher than what we were expecting. My original estimate was between 8 and 9 percent, and we could potentially be closer to 10 percent,” Lennon said hours before polls closed on Tuesday.

Final estimates on Election Night showed a 12.58% voter turnout in the county.

Voters are voting on Proposition 1, which proposes an expansion of the senior property tax freeze in Boone County. In April 2024, voters approved an exemption for senior citizens from certain property tax increases, which they have to apply for every year.

Voters at the polls today shared with ABC 17 their thoughts on today’s special election. Voter Paula Williams said she doesn’t understand why they are voting on this issue again.

“Well, I’m not sure why we have to vote about the taxpayer [question again], No. 1, because I thought that was already a thing. But I want to make sure that that goes through because I’m one of those seniors,” Williams said.

Patricia and George Stien told ABC 17 News they voted yes because it affects them.

“We voted ‘yes’ because we own property. We’re seniors, limited income. So it’s a big issue for us,” Patricia Stien said.

Gale Sallee also told ABC 17 News she voted in favor of the proposition, as well.

“I’m in the right ward. We need to vote somebody else in. And I’m a senior citizen. So no more taxes,” Sallee said.

Anthony Winkler said he voted against the proposition.

“I voted “no” on the property tax simply because I. I think we should lower property taxes for everyone. And if we lower property taxes for one demographic, they’re not going to be interested in voting on my behalf in the future,” Winkler said.

Columbia residents are also voting on the new City Council representative for Ward 2 after former Councilwoman Lisa Meyer resigned earlier this year. The candidates on the ballot to fill the seat are Ken Rice and Vera Elwood.

The Friendship Baptist Church had issues with its poll machine around 11:15 a.m., according to the supervisor there.

“Individuals had to put their ballots in what’s called the provisional ballot box. Those ballots will still be counted. And basically what happens is that we run them back through the machine at the end of the day, Kenneth Freeman said.

Freeman said some voters were disturbed when the machine was out.

“Most voters were pleasant about it. They simply follow our directions. I was standing by the machine to make sure that their votes were still kept confidential, and when they put them in the box and they moved on,” Freeman said.

Freeman said it was not a normal situation, but it was fixed before noon.

Lennon commented on the issue in a statement, saying they always prepare for those eventualities, and the staff was able to address the jam quickly.

“Voters can choose to wait for the problem to be addressed and then feed their ballot into the tabulator, or they can place their ballot in an auxiliary slot on the tabulator and our bipartisan election judge teams will feed those ballots into the tabulator at the end of election night,” Lennon said.

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Matthew Sanders

President Donald Trump is targeting certain states in a bid to get enough of a Republican majority in the U.S. House to make it easier to pass his agenda.

Among the states he is eyeing is Missouri, according to Third District Rep. Bob Onder, whose district covers a good chunk of Mid-Missouri. The Republicans who support the idea say Missouri is a conservative state and should have a more conservative delegation.

However, critics point out that the lines were just redrawn after the last census, as required by law. Doing it again would be unfair play, and might not stand up.

What do you think? Should the legislature give it a shot? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia agreed to amend its existing agreement with the transportation service First Last Mile to include the company in a pilot “ride home” program aimed at assisting members of the city’s homeless population.

The city inked a deal with First Last Mile in January 2024, using a portion of the $25.2 million it received through the American Rescue Plan Act, which was intended to mitigate the public health and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of the contract includes First Last Mile helping the homeless community get back and forth to work and other medical appointments. 

The amendment, which was unanimously approved by the city council on Monday, will add First Last Mile as a transportation provider for the “ride home” initiative, but will not alter other terms of the original contract.

“We’re really looking at utilizing the most cost-efficient resource, and typically that’s a Greyhound. So then it’s really transportation from their location in Columbia to the bus station and then getting on the bus from that point on,” Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services Director Rebecca Roesslet said.   Other communities have been able to do this with some success, and Greyhound is the most affordable  way to move individuals across a greater distance.” 

The initiative stems from a suggestion made during a March 17 City Council meeting, when Ward 4 Councilman Nick Foster called for a transportation program to assist unhoused individuals trying to leave Columbia and reconnect with support systems—such as family, faith communities or specialized care—outside the city.

“I’ve seen this done in other communities. And in fact, there are organizations in town, some of our agencies, who work with homeless folks who do this kind of work. They just don’t have a dedicated fund for that,” Foster told ABC 17 News. 

Stakeholder interviews and feedback from Columbia’s Public Health, fire and police departments revealed a growing trend of individuals experiencing homelessness often traveling to Columbia for medical or mental health services, but not being able to return to their home communities. The lack of return options often worsened the very challenges that brought them to Columbia in the first place.

“We are a health care hub for central Missouri. We know anecdotally a lot of individuals come to Columbia County for medical care and various other reasons,”  Roesslet said. “ What we’re finding is that there is a challenge on occasion  for individuals to return to their home community  where they have this support to help them be successful in their lives.” 

The growing number of unhoused individuals from outside Columbia is increasing demand for services and further straining the city’s already overburdened resources.

“Homelessness and the unsheltered in our community are a concern for a lot of people in the community. We saw this from the community survey,  but we already knew this to be true, and it is a concern that we share. So that’s where it and that’s where it initially came from,” Foster said. “I think that one of the great things about this is it’s it can be an effective manner and a compassionate manner in which to help people  become stable again.” 

According to a June council memo, local nonprofits like Room at the Inn and Love Columbia assist about 50 people annually with transportation, typically via donated bus tickets costing $30–$300. However, none have dedicated funding and rely on donations or partner support. Similar limitations exist for other agencies and medical providers.

A model from Lawrence, Kansas, offers a potential blueprint. There, the city funds bus tickets for non-residents who commit to a return plan, helping reduce the strain on local services.

Columbia officials believe a similar effort could benefit both unhoused individuals and the city’s overwhelmed support system, though funding would be necessary to close the current service gap.

The city still has to hammer out several details so no launch date for the pilot has been set. However, Roesslet said it will be implemented, “it will be fast.” 

“Initially, we’ll be working with our providers that serve the individuals who are experiencing homelessness. All the referrals will come through them.  So this isn’t at the beginning stages, ”Roesslet said. “This is not something that would be opened up to the general public. We’re going to be working really closely  with those that are already providing case management services to the vulnerable population,  and then they’ll work with our social service agencies in the city or  social services specialists within the city who work at the health department to arrange that transportation piece.”

ABC 17 reached out to First Last Mile.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Fire marshals have determined a fire that occurred last week while crews were working on the new Eagle Bluffs Elementary School on Sinclair Road was accidental.

Columbia Fire Department spokeswoman Katherine Rodriguez told ABC 17 News in an email the fire was accidentally caused by construction crews who were using hot torches.

The fire occurred Thursday afternoon in the 5400 block of South Sinclair Road. The new elementary school is still on track to open in 2026, according to a message last week from Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark.

All construction workers were able to get out of the building and no injuries were reported. The fire was seen at the building’s HVAC unit on the roof.

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