Category: kmiz-local-news

Marie Moyer

Editor’s note: A statistic about the number of fatal crashes has been updated.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The daughter of a 56-year-old Jefferson City man who died in a dump truck crash while riding his bicycle on Monday is hoping to raise awareness about the need for safety improvements along Business Loop 70.

Columbia police identified the victim of Monday’s crash as Roger Bone after he was hit by a dump truck while on a bike near the intersection of Business Loop 70 and Range Line Street. Police have yet to give details on how the crash occurred. A Columbia Police Department spokesman said no other details are being released.

Bone’s daughter, Alexis Hurst, said she and Bone were estranged, but that she had many memories with him growing up and with his grandchildren.

“He was a hard person to get along with, but he was still my dad, and we had a lot of great memories,” Hurst said. “When I was a kid, he bought me Light Bright, I remember, and he let me just paint his toenails and fingernails. He used to tell me how much he loved me.”

Hurst said Bone was homeless at the time of the crash.

“He worked so hard. He tried so hard. He was born in ’69, and he was still working two jobs just in the last year,” Hurst said. “Not to be able to hear him say, ‘I love you,’ it’s unbearable.”

Hurst also voiced concern about the state of the Business Loop and its need for improvements following a recent audit of the area that found a need for crosswalks and improved signal timing for traffic lights.

“The audit identified a bunch of areas for growth, for improvement, especially around vulnerable road users,” Chief Executive Officer of nonprofit Local Motion Mike Burden said. “Everybody deserves to get where they need to go, regardless of how they get there.”

State traffic crash reports show 11 crashes at the Range Line/Business Loop 70 intersection since Jan. 1, 2020, including property damage and injuries.

Monday’s crash is also the third fatal crash with a bicycle reported in Columbia since 2024, according to an email from CoMo to Zero Coordinator Krista Shouse-Jones.

“They need to fix all of that, so people don’t deal with this again, because it’s heartbreaking that I see people posting that they didn’t even know it was their own child [in the crash],” Hurst said. “I live in Fredricktown [Missouri] and there are traffic signals all out, traffic cones and road construction signs, even temporary.”

Carrie Gartner, director of The Loop beautification organization, said that the city is still collecting data and public opinion for Business Loop improvements, with a final report expected in late February or early March.

Bone’s family has set up a GoFundMe for funeral arrangements.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was charged in Gasconade County after he allegedly admitted to shooting his brother on Monday in the 3000 block of Idel Road near Rosebud.

Carson Adams, of Rosebud, was charged with first-degree domestic assault and armed criminal action. He was detained and a $50,000 bond was set. His mother Cynthia Adams was charged with two misdemeanors – resisting arrest and interfering with a first responder – and is being held on a $1,000 bond. Mugshots were not immediately available on Tuesday afternoon.

The Gasconade County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post that it was called about a man being shot and the suspect — who allegedly made threats to shoot law enforcement– running into a wooded area.

The victim was shot in the leg and was flown to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, according to the probable cause statement. Carson Adams allegedly admitted to law enforcement that he fired two shots at his brother, the statement says.

The victim allegedly used his own belt “as a makeshift tourniquet” until first responders arrived, the statement says.

The shooting allegedly occurred near burn pile and law enforcement found the gun in the woods near the area, court documents say. Two shell casings were also found in the area, the statement says.

Cynthia Adams allegedly yelled at officers to put their guns away when they arrived and “ignored repeated commands,” a second probable cause statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

No injuries were reported after a house caught fire Monday evening in the 8400 block of Zumwalt Road in Boone County.

The Southern Boone County Fire Protection District wrote in a social media post that crews were called at 7:25 p.m. and saw heavy smoke coming from the home when they arrived.

“Firefighters quickly went to work to bring the fire under control,” the post reads. “Thankfully, everyone made it out safely, and no injuries were reported. Firefighters remained on scene to ensure all hot spots were fully extinguished.”

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday rejected a former Missouri House clerk’s claim that she was a whistleblower for misdeeds by the House speaker.

Judge Lisa White Hardwick with the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals wrote that Dana Miller did not sufficiently prove that former House Speaker Dean Plocher was her supervisor, or that he could retaliate against her. Miller filed the lawsuit last year, accusing Plocher of violating House regulations, mismanagement, waste of public funds, abuse of authority and other misdeeds.

Miller alleged that Plocher targeted her for retaliation after she reported his actions related to a state contract. The court noted that Plocher had no direct authority to fire Miller because only the full House could do so.

Dana Miller appeal decisionDownload

Miller’s allegations against Plocher sparked a months-long investigation that did not issue a finding of wrongdoing against Plocher. Miller retired last year.

Tuesday’s ruling upheld a Cole County judge’s order dismissing the lawsuit.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A new mental health center in Columbia will triple the length of time patients can get treatment, with the hope of better caring for their illnesses.

Burrell Behavioral Health broke ground Tuesday on its new Behavioral Health Crisis Center on Texas Avenue in Columbia.

Burrell provides services specializing in mental health and substance use-related crises. Burrell’s Phoenix Clinic has provided residential and outpatient substance use disorder treatment for more than 50 years. 

“You can’t always get a psychiatry appointment, you can’t always get a therapy appointment immediately. So walking into the crisis center allows you to get services same day,” said Chelsea Brunstrom, Director of Columbia’s Behavioral Crisis Center.

The new Texas Avenue health center will be three times as large as its location on East Walnut Street at 5,437 square feet. Clients can receive up to 72 hours of care compared to up to 23 hours at the existing location. The new center is for people 18 and up and is voluntary. Any adult can receive mental health care, regardless of insurance or a person’s ability to pay.

In September 2024, the City of Columbia allocated Burrell $3 million of American Rescue Plan Act funding to construct the new center.

“This is a place where no one has to face a crisis alone,” said Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Burrell will be able to expand overall treatment access with the expansion and provide more care to individuals in the Boone County Jail.  The crisis center is estimated to have saved the Columbia community more than $14 million in the last year, based on a Missouri-specific model of hospitalization costs, jail costs, law enforcement salary and crisis center operations costs.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental HealthServices Administration estimates that 1,248,000 Missouri adults, 26.5% of the state’s populationages 18 and older, had some degree of mental illness. Among them, 301,000 adults had aserious mental illness. The national survey also reported 264,000 Missouri adults have had seriousthoughts of suicide.

Between January and May, the Columbia Behavioral Health Crisis Center on Walnut Street saw 1,588 referrals, connecting 94% of clients to care and diverting 37% of clients from hospitals, Burrell says.

Burrell’s East Walnut location will continue to operate 24/7 without interruption to services during the construction. Burrell CEO Mat Gass said construction is expected to take about a year.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

HALLSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Hallsville School District is hosting a community forum Tuesday night to discuss Proposition 2 and four-day school weeks.

District leaders will be giving an update on its bond issues for construction projects and the continuation of the district’s four-day school week for students and staff.

The forum will be in the Secondary Cafeteria at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Hallsville School District’s $6.5 million bond no-tax increase to complete the second part of a three-phase plan for construction was approved during the April 8 election.

The bond would address:

Growing student population

Security upgrades

Improve parking and traffic flow

Building new classrooms at the primary school

New baseball field

However, the auditor’s office would not authorize the bond because the Boone County Clerk’s Office didn’t follow the newspaper publication requirements listed in state law, according to previous reporting.

The district will be discussing its four-day school week that has been in place since the 2022-2023 school year. Leaders will explain what it means for students, staff, and families, along with key dates and what is required by law.

Both will be on the Nov. 4, ballot.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council on Monday unanimously approved an agreement with two businesses to provide parking for the NCAA cross country championships that will occur next month.

The championships will occur Saturday, Nov. 22 and is expected to bring 3,000-5,000 spectators, in addition to the 32 men’s and women’s teams who will compete, according to filings from the city. The event will be held at the Gans Creek Recreation Area.

Discovery Office Park will provide parking located at 4210, 4215, 4220, 4230 and 42240 Phillips Farm Road, while Eurofins BioPharma will allow its lot at 4780 Discovery Drive to be used, according to information from the city.

The lots are booked from 5:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. that day. Shuttle buses will run from the lots.

The council on Monday also approved a contract for the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau to be a third-party vendor for merchandise at the event.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Council on Monday approved an agreement to hire Lauber Municipal Law to serve an interim role after City Attorney Ryan Moelman stepped down.

Moelman was recognized by the council at Monday’s meeting for his service. He will serve in the role until Friday. The city announced the appointment of Lauber Municipal by Mayor Ron Fitzwater on Friday in a press release.

The resolution was passed 9-1, with Ward 2 Councilman Aaron Mealey was the lone “no” vote.

Attorney Nathan Nickolaus will be responsible for engagement and will serve as the point of contact for the city. Office hours will be held from 8 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays, according to information filed by the city.

Nickolaus and the law firm represent a number of area municipalities, including Auxvasse, Fayette and Vienna.

Documents from the city say the law firm will charge $250 per hour per attorney and will not exceed $20,000 per month.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri System works is working to restore system services for students as operations to the school’s class management program Canvas remains unavailable after the massive Amazon Web Services cloud services outage Monday morning.

The outage, which began at around 3 a.m. was resolved by 3:40 p.m., according to national reporting. Experts estimated that the outage resulted in billions of dollars lost in missed work, delayed flights and locked accounts.

“I went to my French class and she (the instructor) was grading our midterm videos, but she said she had to stop around seven in the morning because Canva shut down,” MU student Beatrice Gottschalk said. “We were going to play them in class and comment on the videos and write down notes about each other, we couldn’t do that.”

MU spokesman Christopher Ave said in a statement that the school is aware of the issues.

“We are engaging with various stakeholders to work through the outage until services are restored,” Ave said.

In an email ABC 17 News obtained from a University of Missouri student, at 4:48 p.m., the UM Academic Technology department announced to students and faculty that Canvas was still facing service outages with no ETA for a resolution.

MU Professor and Director of the Cyber Education Research and Infrastructure Center Prasad Calyam reassured that no data was leaked, however, the outage did show potential holes in data storage strategies for major companies like Google, Venmo and Canvas.

Calyam compared Amazon Web Services to a storage unit, with the outage virtually “loosing the keys” to each company’s data storage locker, leaving websites in limbo.

“We access a lot of data and the system that actually helps us access the data basically went down, so we were asking for data and we were not getting any data,” Calyam said.

Calyam added companies are often advised to keep data in seperate locations to prevent this issue from happening.

“For those people who are building these services with Amazon, it’s a warning to kind of diversify their cloud strategy,” Calyam said. “Build a system that is not dependent on one source.”

Calyam also advises users to store important documents or files on hard drives to keep a hard copy available in case of future crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Kehoe on Monday announced in a press release that he appointed Beth Wulff to become Maries County’s next collector.

Wulff, of Vienna, currently served as the deputy county collector and replaces Jayne Williams, who had served in the role since 1999 before retiring.

The release says Wulff is a “a member of her local parochial schools, where she serves as SCRIP coordinator.”

She earned an associate’s degree in business and computer specialization from Metro Business College, the release says.

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