Category: kmiz-local-news

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

City of Columbia residents are now having their cardboard curbside recycling recycled, instead of being diverted to a landfill.

The recycling center has resumed processing residential paper and cardboard, according to Columbia Utilities. That service hasn’t been available since spring, when a tornado destroyed the recycling center.

In an email, Utilities spokesman Jason West said there are some limitations to paper processing due to weather. The processing center currently does not have a roof or walls, leaving both machinery and stored paper material vulnerable to rot and damage.

“When it is not too windy and not rainy, we will be able to bale the material,” West said. “However, if the wind is blowing too much or if the material is already wet when collected, we will not be able to bale every day until the area is at least covered.”

“Extremely low temperatures could also cause us not to be able to use the machinery because it is just sitting outside and we don’t have a heat source down here,” Recovery Superintendent for Solid Waste Tom Elliott said.

According to Elliott, crews collect around three bales worth of fiber recycling every recycling route, with three to four routes run per day. One storage container that is shipped off holds 28 bales.

Elliott added there are no immediate plans to reopen drop-off recycling centers in the city. Residents can continue separating paper waste from other recyclables and leaving them either in another container or alongside the recycling during curb-side pickup. Residents in complexes with recycling dumpsters should also continue separating materials. Wax and plastic-covered paper is also not accepted.

“We are bailing and selling this material, so the cleaner, the material, the better,” Elliott said. “If we can remove the contaminants in the waste from both the containers, the mixed containers, and the mixed fiber, that would help us tremendously.”

The Material Recovery Facility in Columbia was destroyed by an EF-1 tornado on April 20.

Columbia resident Samantha Harrison hopes for the city to start accepting other items, like glass. However, she said this is a step in the right direction.

“Recycling is a great thing for the earth, I think we need to do as much as we can right now,” Harrison said. “Anything that the city can put towards it is incredible.”

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County plans to spend more than $20 million in its 2026 budget for upgrades to equipment, vehicles, and radio systems for first responders.

The Boone County Commission introduced its proposed budget for 2026 at its Tuesday commission meeting.

Total spending for the budget adds up to $143,956,629, a 3% increase over the 2025 budget. The 2026 total revenue projection is estimated at $133.8 million, a 12.9% increase over 2025. A chunk of that is unspent American Rescue Plan Act money, which must be spent by the end of 2026.

The budget is centered around five priorities:

Improving workforce retention and reducing workforce turnover and vacancies.

Addressing priority staffing and space needs

Providing new and replacement equipment, vehicles, technology and infrastructure.

Providing public safety improvements through training and retention.

And more financial stability and transparency of the county’s operating funds.

However, reduced reimbursements from the state government for prisoner expenses, juvenile detention expenses, public health initiatives and various grant opportunities are creating new challenges, county commissioners say.

Revenue from use and sales tax collections is anticipated to remain flat.

To improve workforce retention and reduce job turnover and vacancies,

The county government hopes to improve worker retention and reduce turnover and vacancies with a new county-wide pay plan and compensation structure. Since the pandemic, the county has reported unexpectedly high employee turnover and longer job vacancy rates. Since 2023, the county has been working with an outside consultant on employee salary increases and reducing workforce turnover.

The new pay plan moves the county from an open range model on a single pay grid to a hybrid step and range model with positions placed on pay grades.

The cost to implement the study and the 2026 pay plan is $3.9 million.

To address staffing and space needs, the county is in the final stages of construction on the Regional Law Enforcement Training Center and Public Safety Childcare Center on its Public Safety Campus. The proposed budget includes 26.4 full-time equivalent employees to staff the campus.

The $18.3 million Regional Law Enforcement Training Center is anticipated to open by Jan. 1. The Regional Law Enforcement Training Center will partner with more than 25 other law enforcement agencies in the area. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office will conduct academy training for recruits and continuing education credit training for certified peace officers.

The $5 million Boone County Public Safety Child Care Center also has an anticipated completion date in 2026. The Childcare Center will provide extended access to childcare for first responders who work forBoone County. The budget includes $1.1 million for initial operations.

The budget includes approximately $9.2 million to replace and buy new equipment. This includes $2.1 million for portable and mobile radios, more than $500,000 for vehicle replacements, $150,000 for new vehicles, $400,000 to replace machinery and equipment, more than $120,000 for new machinery and equipment and more than $500,000 for computer hardware replacements and new computer hardware.

Joint Communications is also expected to go live with a radio system in 2027 that will improve county-wide communication among first responders. In preparation, the 2026 budget includes funding for mobile and portable radios at $10.8 million and $2 million for a radio tower.

The Boone County Jail has reached its 200-bed capacity due to overcrowding. When at capacity, Boone County contracts with other counties in Missouri to hold inmates while they wait for a trial or mental evaluation. The budget assumes that the cost will increase by $1.3 million over last year, for a total of $2.1 million.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The House on Tuesday afternoon approved a bill to release files related to the Epstein sex abuse investigation.

Watch the debate and vote in the player.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Regional Airport will be adding new flights to and from Florida with Allegiant Airlines.

According to Allegiant Airlines’ website, Columbia will be one of the airline’s new destinations starting in June 2026. It will have two destinations in Florida, to and from Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport and Orlando Sanford International Airport.

This announcement comes after a record number of passengers for COU, according to a press release. Total passenger traffic exceeded 28,000, with arrivals and departures combined.

Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said that when people are not flying out of COU, they are losing people who would rather drive to the St. Louis Airport to get to vacation destinations like Florida.

“We know people are driving to Saint Louis to fly to Florida with the I-70 construction,” said Buffaloe. “I very much expect that we’ll see more people using COU because no one wants to drive down I-70 during those shoots. They would much rather be home safer.”

Vice President of Revenue and Planning for Allegiant Airlines Kristen Schilling-Gonzales, tells ABC 17 News that the airlines and COU have been trying for more than a decade to get this deal done in Columbia. “The fine folks of central Missouri are looking for nonstop flights for favorite leisure vacation destinations,” said Schilling-Gonzales. “And honestly, one of the more recent changes has been I’ve heard a lot about construction on I-70, making it a little more difficult”

The expansion of the airport parking lot continues with the west lot across from Airport Drive, which is expected to be finished by the start of December, and design for the north lot has begun. Airport Manager Mike Parks said that the airport restaurant will be finished around the time Allegiant starts its flight.

Travelers will have the opportunity to access the restaurant on both the public side and the secure side of the airport. “If you are flying out, you’re already past security, you could order a hamburger or a chicken sandwich or whatever that might be needed on the secure side,” said Parks. “But you could also have things on the public side. And I think this timing works out really, really well.”

In September, United Airlines returned to COU after four years with two daily flights to Chicago O’Hare and Denver. United plans to have three daily flights to Chicago O’Hare in December.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was arrested on Sunday evening after he allegedly threatened to stab the owner of Southside Pizza in Columbia and an employee at the business.

Danial Knott, 22, was charged in Boone County on Monday with second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action and two counts of fourth-degree assault.

He is being held at the Boone County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Court filings say he is from St. Petersburg, Florida, while jail records say he is from Columbia. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says police were called at 10:24 p.m. Sunday to Southside Pizza on Peachtree Drive and when they arrived, saw Knott sitting inside the restaurant with blood on his shirt. Police were given a knife recovered by staff.

The statement says Knott walked into the bathroom and turned off the lights. When the owner of the business went to turn the lights back on, he saw Knott urinating on the floor and told him to leave, the statement says. The owner then grabbed Knott and Knott pulled out a knife, court documents say.

The owner allegedly had a cut on his thumb and told police he may have been cut by Knott, the statement says.

Two other people had saw Knott pull out a knife as the owner called police, court documents say. Two people allegedly saw Knott holding the knife while walking toward the counter of the business and he allegedly threatened to stab the owner and an employee if he did not receive a speaker, the statement says.

Knott allegedly slurred his speech while talking with police and claimed he pulled out a knife when someone tried to fight him, court documents say. Knott told police that the blood seen on his shirt was his own.

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Mitchell Kaminski

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. 

The Jefferson City Council voted 7-2 in favor of a 48-unit apartment project on East Elm Street, which has received pushback from nearby residents. 

The proposal would be for a Preliminary Planned Unit Development Plan for property at 1740 East Elm St. The project calls for 12 apartment buildings, each containing four, one-bedroom units, that are each two-stories tall. 

Concerns raised by about a half-dozen opponents during the public comment portion of the meeting included increased traffic, roadway capacity, stormwater runoff, potential declines in nearby property values, resident demographics and the level of on-site supervision. Several commenters also questioned whether the project would function as low-income housing.

Brian McMillian, one of the project’s developers, told the council that although the area is busy, most future residents would not be driving, so increased traffic should not be an issue. He added the trees and vegetation planned for the site would make the property “barely visible” to nearby residents, addressing concerns about potential negative effects on the neighborhood’s character.

“It’s just a matter of time before one of these individuals gets killed by a car. I live on that road,” one man said during the public meeting in response. “There is a miles per hour speed limit,  a little bit less, 30 miles (per hour), I can tell you, I’ve come around late at night and there’s been a deer right in the middle of the road and I barely had time to stop.” 

The Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the proposal Oct. 9 and voted 6-0 to recommend approval.

The plan proposes one parking space per unit, fewer than the city’s standard requirement of 1.5 spaces per unit for apartment developments. Access would come from two driveway entrances on East Elm Street. According to planning documents, new tree rows along both sides of the development and the preservation of trees at the rear of the property would help buffer the site from surrounding homes.

“They said at the zoning meeting that they did they only anticipated staffing there during the weekdays,” one man said during Monday’s public hearing. We think that’s that’s also a concern if they would have a mental illness episode.” 

“I feel like this could be a detriment to our neighborhood if they refuse to take the medications,” another woman added during the hearing. “I appreciate the fact that low-income housing is important,  but my husband and I  have worked hard to get what we got, and we can’t afford for the property value to go down.” 

Andrea Cheung, a CJCA Development representative, said the organization has operated in Jefferson City for 50 years, serving people with mental health challenges, and many of their experienced managers have more than 20 years of experience working in the field.

“After five decades of serving in this community,  we’ve seen firsthand how hard it is to find quality one-bedroom units. For people, it’s just almost impossible,” Cheung said during the meeting. “We understand that change always brings anxiety and uncertainty, but we’re really confident that this will be an asset to Jefferson City.”

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A deal to end the federal government shutdown included a provision that limits how much THC can be legally contained in hemp-derived products.

Under the new rule, hemp products could contain no more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. Experts note that hemp generally has much lower levels of THC than marijuana under federal law and effectively bans most hemp-derived consumer products.

The 2018 Farm Bill allows hemp with up to a 0.3% of THC per serving by dry weight.

Last year, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services estimated 40,000 food establishments and smoke shops, and 1,800 food manufacturers, were selling products in Missouri that would be banned under the proposed regulations.

A report called “Missouri Hemp Hoax” analyzed 55 products purchases from unlicensed retailers across the state. Testing found that 53 of the 55 products exceeded the 0.3% THC threshold. It found most products contained total THC between 10%-80%. It also found 16 of the 55 products failed for dangerous contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides or residual solvents.

Ethan Jones, owner of MindRight Wellness in downtown Columbia, has sold hemp products for five years. He said his business would be significantly affected if the House passes the measure.

“I have dispensaries referring business to me because these are people that are going to look for relief, and they’re not selling it,” Jones said. “Enough to make a financial impact to my business, that’s for sure. But on top of that, even further, eliminate the chance for me to help people in a way that I’ve been helping people for many years now in a very safe and effective way,”

Jones’s most popular product is a full-spectrum CBD gummy that contains 0.3% THC per serving. He said he sells between 40-60 containers a month, accounting for about 6.6% of his monthly sales. He said the gummies help people sleep, anxiety, pain relief etc.

According to Jones, most of his customers are working adults and older adults.

He added the new restrictions would force customers to look elsewhere for a product they use for health-related reasons.

“It’s confusing to hear all of this change, as it would be someone who’s been buying the same product for five years and now having no option to buy that, or unless they’re going to get funneled into a dispensary and pay probably three or four times the actual price for the same exact product,” he said.

With hemp-derived products possibly containing .04% per container, Jones says it would nearly make all products illegal.

“As it stands right now within that language there would be really no hemp industry left. So I don’t, it sounds purposeful to me, that they did it that way. Right now, within the regulations, that .03% per serving has been extremely safe,” Jones said.

“If you really look into people benefiting from these types of products, so in reality it could even get to the point that people end up going down an even worse route for literally just not having a simple legal option available anymore,” he added.

The lower dose of THC in products, Jones says will take the whole purpose away of a hemp-derived product and it won’t have the affect it with the current level of THC allowed.

“They just don’t seem to have medicinal value to people again this is someone who helps people everyday and has for years and seeing the direct impact its having on people’s lives it doesn’t work as well,” Jones said.

Rep. Dave Hinman (R-O’Fallon) plans to refile a bill he proposed that would allow Missouri businesses to sell low-dose Hemp THC beverages and edibles. He says it would protect local businesses and farmers.

“I would prefer to move forward with the bill I was going to present that allowed the two carve outs to happen.” Hinman said. “That would be my preference if I was able to do something. I think this is really kind of extreme by now allowing anything but if that’s the direction the federal government’s going in we don’t have much of a choice,”

However, he believes regulations are needed, as products tend to have similar packaging that tend attract children.

“There’s a lot of bad actors out there, unfortunately, that are selling products that are really marketed toward kids,’ Hinman said. “I had a meeting in my office last week where a group of folks brought in, bags that looked exactly like Skittles, bags that looked exactly like Doritos and that’s the kind of stuff that’s really putting a bad name on hemp products out here, is people that are selling that kind of stuff in their stores that children then get ahold of,”

The law will go into effect Nov. 12 of next year.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

No injuries were reported after a garage caught fire Sunday afternoon at a home on Pleasant Valley Road in Roach, Missouri, according to a social media post from the Northwest Fire Protection District.

The post says firefighters were called around 4:40 p.m. Sunday, arrived within nine minutes and saw flames. Callers told dispatchers that a propane tank reportedly exploded.

“With the assistance of our mutual-aid partners, the fire was brought under control. Units remained on scene for several hours to ensure full extinguishment,” the post says. “At the time of this incident, Northwest firefighters were also managing three other emergency calls, including two natural cover fires and a medical emergency. In total, Northwest Fire has responded to six incidents today.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man pleaded guilty on Friday to a federal gun charge, according a press release from the Department of Justice.

Lajuan Martin, 31, pleaded guilty to being a felony with a gun. He is being held at the Cole County Jail and a sentencing hearing has not been announced.

The release says Martin was arrested by Columbia police for driving without a license and a gun and drugs were found on him when he was brought to the Columbia Police Department.

Martin has prior felony convictions and is not allowed to own a gun.  

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A fall severe thunderstorm dropped hail on Columbia on Monday afternoon.

A former National Weather Service employee reported 1-inch hail in the Columbia city limits, according to the NWS storm reports page.

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