Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A shakeup has occurred in Stover.

The Stover Police Department wrote in a Wednesday night social media post that now-former Mayor Clayton Judd will step down from his position in order to become the city’s new police chief.

Judd had won a narrow race in April against Michael Lowe. Alderman Gregg Sidebottom was named the mayor pro tem during the meeting. Sidebottom previously served as the pro tem prior to Judd’s election.

“In a small town like Stover, it is not uncommon for family and friends to end up working together. It is never something that was planned, just the nature of close knit communities. With that said, Sergeant Cassidy Judd’s continued service in her role does not fall under Missouri’s nepotism laws. The City follows all legal and ethical guidelines, and these matters are addressed appropriately and lawfully when they arise,” the post says. “Clayton Judd ran for mayor with every intention of serving his full term. However, when he was asked to take on a larger role for the good of the community, he humbly resigned as mayor and accepted the responsibility of leading our police department.”

Former Chief Chuck Black’s retirement was announced during a June 9 special City Council meeting. Judd also stepped down during the same meeting.

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia is simplifying the time limits on on-street parking meters downtown by making operational changes.

Starting the week after July 4, the city will reduce the number of time-limit options from six to four. The goal is to simplify payment, reduce confusion and increase parking turnover.

Currently, drivers choose from six time limits:

24 minutes

1 hour

2 hours

4 hours

5 hours

10 hours

Under the new plan, according to a council memo, drivers will choose from:

15-minute curbside pickup

1 hour

3 hours

10 hours

“Two hours often isn’t enough for someone to comfortably dine, shop, or attend a meeting,” Columbia Public Works spokesman John Ogan wrote in an email Thursday. “Switching to 3-hour meters in core areas gives visitors a better experience while still promoting turnover,”

There are 1,795 on-street metered spaces in downtown Columbia, according to the city, and 1,666 will be affected by the changes.

Proposed parking limitsDownload

The 1-hour meters will be near government buildings, the police station and the post office. Three-hour meters will be concentrated in the heart of downtown, including areas south of Elm Street. Long-term 10-hour meters will be found west of Fifth Street, east of Tenth Street and north of Ash Street.

Ethan Jones, owner of Mindnright Wellness on Broadway, said changing the hours from two to three in the heart of downtown won’t make a difference,

“People take the ticket anyway because there is nowhere else to even park at and so I don’t [think] expanding it an extra hour even matters,” Jones said.

Jones claims many drivers don’t care enough to look at the time-limits and the color-coordinated meters.

“I don’t think people pay attention to any of that they are just trying to find a spot to park at, but I think the 15-minute parking [spaces] are nice for my customers. But outside of that I don’t think people pay attention to the color coordinated of times, three hours might help people stay a little longer,” Jones said.

Student Finn Boland sees the change as adding flexibility for quick visits downtown.

“It doesn’t restrict anyone because it goes above the minimum expectations unless you are trying to do the five hour one in which case you would have to default to the 10,” Boland said.

Lauryn Carolton has lived in Columbia for about five years and said parking downtown has always been an issue. But the extra hour gives her piece of mind.

“I kind of put a couple quarters in and hoped by car was still there i think that extra hour will be beneficial if you go see a movie and get something to eat that’s about three hours so it makes a lot more sense,” she said.

The changes do not affect meter rates or enforcement hours. Parking costs per hour won’t change, and meters will still be enforced Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. On Saturdays, enforcement runs from 8 a.m.-noon. Sundays are free.

A Walker Consultants analysis showed that Columbia has more time limit variations than most comparable cities, with three or four time limit systems being standard.

Ogan said equipment delivery could affect the schedule of the changes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

State Rep. Dave Griffith (R-Jefferson City) is looking to become the Cole County Clerk next year.

Griffth – who will be at the end of the limits of his term next year – told ABC 17 News on Wednesday that he plans on running for the clerk’s office. He said that he is planning on running after learning that Clerk Steve Korsmeyer will not seek reelection.

Filing for the November 2026 election begins in February of the same year.

Griffith currently represents Cole County in the Missouri House and was elected in 2018. His biography on the Missouri House’s website says that he served as the executive director of the American Red Cross for six years, was a member of the Jefferson City Council and spent 23 years working for KRCG.

He served as a green beret in the U.S. Army, according to the bio. He is also a member of the Kiwanis Club, Rotary International, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Easter Seals Association, Red Cross Board of Directors and the Special Olympics, his biography says. He is a graduate of Missouri Southern State University.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Rehabilitation work on the northbound Highway 63 bridge over Interstate 70 in Columbia begins next week and will require extending the single-lane, head-to-head traffic in the area, according to a press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The existing work zone is between the Broadway overpass and Conley Road overpass. Beginning Wednesday, June 25, all through traffic on Highway 63 between Broadway and Vandiver Drive will be shifted to the southbound lane for head-to-head traffic, the release says.

All on- and off-ramps are expected to remain open.

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Celeste Springer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A Michigan attorney says he is in contact with the wife of the Boulder terror attack suspect and has released a statement on her behalf.

Hayam El Gamal, the wife of the Boulder terror attack suspect, was taken into ICE custody along with her kids after her husband allegedly unleashed a fury of Molotov cocktails on demonstrators in Boulder. The demonstrators hoped to bring attention to Israeli hostages; the suspect, Mohamed Soliman, reportedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the alleged attack.

“My five children and I are in total shock over what they say my husband did in Boulder, Colorado earlier this month. So many lives were ruined on that day,” read a portion of the statement from El Gamal. “There is never an excuse for hurting innocent people. We have been cooperating with the authorities, who are trying their best to get to the bottom of this. We send our love to the many families who are suffering as a result of the attack.”

According to officials, Soliman was living in the country illegally after his visa expired. Following the alleged attack, his family was swiftly taken into custody to be processed for removal from the United States. A federal judge ruled that the family cannot be deported without due process.

A press release from attorney Eric Lee says Soliman’s wife and kids have been in an immigration jail in Texas for the past two weeks.

“This includes my two four-year-old children, my seven-year-old, my fifteen-year-old, and my oldest daughter, who just turned eighteen in jail,” said Hayam El Gamal.

Attorney Eric Lee says the federal order prevents the government from deporting the family under expedited removal. They will have their day in court, and Lee told KRDO13 over the phone on Wednesday that he hopes to make it clear that no one in the United States should be punished for the alleged crimes of another person.

Lee also said that the family can’t be deported under expedited removal because they have been in the country for more than two years.

According to the Immigration Legal Resource Center, “any noncitizen who entered the United States with a visa or documentation cannot be removed under this process. Even if they have overstayed their visa, they are entitled to a hearing before an immigration judge. Additionally, anyone who has lived in the United States for two years or more before an enforcement encounter is not subject to expedited removal.”

According to Lee, the family entered the country legally on valid visas. He says they overstayed those visas, but had acquired work permits. Lee said they were derivatives of an asylum application, which is sought when a person has a well-founded fear of persecution in their original country.

El Gamal’s full statement is below:

“My name is Hayam El Gamal. My five children and I are in total shock over what they say my husband did in Boulder, Colorado earlier this month. So many lives were ruined on that day.

There is never an excuse for hurting innocent people. We have been cooperating with the authorities, who are trying their best to get to the bottom of this. We send our love to the many families who are suffering as a result of the attack.

My kids and I were arrested by ICE on June 3, put on a flight to Texas in the middle of the night and have now been in an immigration jail in Texas for two weeks. This includes my two four-year-old children, my seven-year-old, my fifteen-year-old, and my oldest daughter, who just turned eighteen in jail. We are grieving, and we are suffering. We are treated like animals by the officers, who told us we are being punished for what my husband is accused of doing. But why punish me? Why punish my four-year-old children? Why punish any of us, who did nothing wrong?

Since coming to America three years ago, we have tried to do everything right. We got work permits. We learned English. My daughter and I volunteered teaching English to other immigrants, to help them become more comfortable in America. We have always tried to be good neighbors, cooking food for those around us regardless of whether they are Muslim, Christian or Jewish. I do not judge anyone based on his religion. If your heart is good, that’s enough.

All I want is to give my children good lives. My oldest daughter volunteered at a hospital; she has a 4.5 GPA and wants to become a doctor, to help people in this country. My kids want to go to school, they want to see their friends and deal with their grief from recent weeks. But here they can’t sleep. They cry throughout the day, asking me, ‘When will we get to go home?’

When we were first detained, my children were forced to watch officials rough-up another detainee, and they cried and cried, thinking they would be roughed-up, too. Now my seven-year-old is about to have her birthday in jail, and my fifteen-year-old, too. All they want is to be home, to be in school, to have privacy, to sleep in their own beds, to have their mother make them a home-cooked meal, to help them grieve and get through these terrible weeks. But instead, we are here, in jail in Texas, where you can’t be human. Where you are always being watched.

Where you are woken up in the middle of the night by guards and given food fit for animals.

Only mothers can truly understand what we are going through. I did everything for my kids. It has been two weeks in jail, how much longer will we be here for something we didn’t do? How much longer until the damage to my children is irreversible? It has been so hard for me to stay strong for my kids. I’m so tired. I ask the American people, with all my heart, to please listen to our story and help us.”

-Hayam El Gamal

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council on Monday night voted 5-1 to keep its current mission and vision statements after months of proposed change.

President Donald Trump on Jan. 21 signed an executive order that targets the language surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion — commonly referred to as DEI. — alleging it promotes discrimination. There have been concerns over whether keeping the mission statement could impact federal funding for the city.

However, the vote passed and now gives the green light to the City Manager De’Carlon Seewood to accept federal grants, which are used to fund the health department, police department, and affordable housing. 

The statement will remain to say, “We recognize the local government’s role in our community’s history of systemic oppression. We are committed to removing these barriers and rooting our priorities, decisions, and culture in the principles of diversity, inclusion, justice and equal access to opportunity.”

“So basically, what the council did was they reaffirmed our language. They just state that we are an inclusive community and that we value inclusivity,” Seewood said.

City Officials told ABC 17 News the White House administration could determine that the city is in violation of the executive order. If that happens, it could possibly result in the withdrawal of federal funding. However, the city won’t know it’s in violation until it’s been told it’s being investigated.

They also say they are looking into the idea of meeting in October to discuss the possibility of updating the city’s strategic plan, based on new data and input from the public.

Ward 5 Councilman Don Waterman was the only vote in opposition, saying he felt the new amendment and resolution language were insufficient in order to stay in compliance with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 21.

“The reason I wanted to change the language and I was in favor of changing the language is to protect the funding for the entirety of the City of Columbia,” Waterman said.

Some city officials believe the original statement is not in violation.

“The executive order identifies specific steps that cities are taking that might violate what they’re referring to as illegal DEI, and this is just a definition. It’s not an action step,” Ward 3 Councilwoman Jacque Sample said.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The family of Zarian Simpson is speaking out after one of people accused in the robbery and killing of Simpson appeared in court on Wednesday.

Simpson was killed on Sunday night at a Columbia apartment complex.

Steven Padden, 34, of Columbia is charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and second-degree felony murder. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A hearing was held on Wednesday where Paden appeared by video from the jail. A confined docket hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, June 26; while a preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, July 15.

Nathan Simpson, Zarian’s older brother, described Zarian as bright, intelligent and hardworking.

“He could do anything he put his mind to. I’m not even kidding. Like anything he wanted to do, he did it,” Nathan Simpson said.

Zarian Simpson just graduated from Hickman High School in May. His brother said he was saving up to buy a new car.

“He wanted a Corvette actually,” Nathan Simpson said. “My little brother fixed them cars, you know that? He did that himself. He put them together, he did the wraps, he did the star lights, all of it.”

The Missouri State Highway Patrol statistics show that Columbia has had 133 gun-related crimes this year. People ages 10-17 were the largest age group of those arrested for violent crime in Columbia, according to the data.

Nathan Simpson is urging the parents of teenagers to step up and break the cycle of violence.

“Half of these parents out here right now; You can’t even call them asking where the kids are. They don’t know. They don’t care. They just let their kids do whatever they want. And what’s even worse is have these parents is condoning it. They do it with them,” Nathan Simpson said.

Three teens are also behind bars awaiting their first court appearances. Two of the teens will face a judge on Friday morning.

The City of Columbia’s Office of Crime Prevention told ABC 17 News that after the events over the weekend, it’s looking into prevention and intervention strategies to help lower crime rates amongst youth in the area.

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Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Several Columbia community members on Wednesday gathered at Rose Music Hall in Columbia, soaking in the time to celebrate, before rain brought the celebration to an early end.

“It’s just very important for us to recognize how much people have to go through for us to be free and give people in our community of space to come together,” Charlee’ette Glover, lead program assistant of Moving Ahead, said.

The event was one of the many celebrations that will be held this week throughout Columbia for Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. The City of Columbia awarded funds to 12 events this year.

The city was awarded $29,800 in grant funding from the Missouri Arts Council.

While the event aims to serve as a celebration, some say recent political tensions– including President Donald Trump’s efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have crossed their mind.

“I can see how it makes some people feel unsafe,” Glover said. “But I think in the midst of that, this event is just a really good example of the fact that people do prevail, that when we come together as a community, we can stand against these sorts of things.”

James Gray also helped organize a Juneteenth celebration and luncheon that will take place at Douglass Park Thursday morning. He’s also a part of the Juneteenth parade scheduled for Saturday morning in Downtown Columbia.

Gray said both political tensions and Sunday’s shooting that left an 18-year-old dead may have some in the community feeling uneasy heading into celebrations. However, Gray said that makes celebrations more important than ever.

“It’s time that we stop talking and it’s time that we put out and do something,” Gray said. “That’s why it’s important that we come together. That’s why it’s important that we speak the same language.”

Gray said police will be at both events and members of the group have been trained to watch for suspicious behavior. The Columbia Police Department told ABC 17 News it plans to have normal patrols on Thursday and over the weekend.

A full list of Juneteenth events can be found here.

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ABC 17 News Team

KINGDOM CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Officials in Kingdom City on Wednesday held a groundbreaking ceremony for a bridge removal project.

Crews are getting rid of the low-clearance railroad bridge, over Old Highway 40 between Baynum Avenue and Highway 54.

The bridge was built for railroad use, and has a clearance of 13 feet, 1 inch. By removing it, officials say it will improve traffic throughout the area.

“We want to make this a place where people want to come and they want to be together and they want to stay or they want to come through and enjoy their time and then have a safe path out,” City Manager Larry Doyle said.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri Department of Emergency Medicine is seeking funding to launch a new safety initiative aimed at improving emergency response times and outcomes for crash victims in Mid-Missouri.

The proposed initiative, called the Advanced Critical EMS Response Program, would temporarily equip a local emergency response vehicle with advanced care tools; such as blood products, a critical care ventilator and portable ultrasound equipment. The vehicle would also be staffed by specially trained clinicians.

Currently, these advanced resources are only available through helicopter transport, which often delays the delivery of life-saving care. MU officials say the goal of the program is to reduce that delay and improve patient outcomes.

“Just because the helicopter lands at the scene of the incident, doesn’t mean that they’re going to be back in the air flying to the hospital in just a few minutes,” Boone County Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp said. “It takes some time. It takes a lot of coordination to make that transition.”

Blomenkamp said in many cases, ground crews can get patients to the hospital faster than air transport.

“Many times we can have a patient to University Hospital within our jurisdiction. We can get them there quicker than a helicopter can,” he said.

However, helicopters can be vital in certain situations, especially in complex rescues or poor road conditions.

“If we have an extended extraction, say we’ve got somebody trapped in the car that’s going to take us 30, 40 minutes to get them out, which it has happened, then the helicopter is probably our best bet,” Blomenkamp said. “They could be there and even start their treatment before we get the patient even out, which it has happened, then the helicopter is probably  our best bet because they could be there  and even start their treatment before we get the patient even out of that time  and get them out of the car,  we can load them into the helicopter and they can take off pretty quickly.” 

Blomenkamp also noted that helicopters require preflight checks, which can delay response time by up to 10 minutes. In contrast, a ground EMS unit equipped with similar advanced tools could reach the scene faster.

“That equipment that’s normally carried on a helicopter, i.e., blood products… that can be there on the scene quicker, then that’s where that response time really helps,” Blomenkamp said. “So if you can do blood products or some of those other drugs and things that they carry on a helicopter to the scene by ground in 15, 20 minutes, you’re doing stuff there a lot quicker than if you wait for a helicopter.”

The University of Missouri’s Department of Emergency Medicine is currently requesting letters of support from stakeholders as part of its grant application. The deadline to apply is June 26.

One letter was recently sent to the Columbia Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission. In it, MU officials said the program could significantly reduce emergency response times and improve survival rates for critically injured patients.

“We will use pre-post studies to assess the scalability of the program and its effectiveness for reducing fatalities in Columbia, MO,” wrote Julie Stilley, associate research professor and director of emergency medicine research. “This information will inform future strategies that may be used in the City of Columbia’s Vision Zero policy.”

Stilley also attended the June 3 Vision Zero meeting to discuss how emergency response times can impact crash outcomes.

“Vision Zero’s goal is to reduce or eliminate traffic fatalities. So currently, the response time for serious injuries is pretty long,” Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission Chair Elke Boyd said. “What MU wants to do is, they want to do a study to see what the effect is of equipping one emergency response vehicle with similar equipment to a helicopter.”

Boyd also emphasized how faster response times would benefit the city’s most vulnerable road users.

“It’s a fact that nonmotorized users of traffic have a much higher mortality rate when they do get into an accident than people who are driving a vehicle because we don’t have that protective outer shell,” Boyd said. “Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcycle riders are vulnerable road users that have a higher rate of death and injury. So we stand to particularly benefit from better response times.”

The commission drafted a letter of support, which was approved during their Wednesday night meeting. 

For the third consecutive year, Missouri has seen a decline in traffic fatalities. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, 954 people died in roadway crashes in 2024 — down 4% from 2023 and 10% from 2022. However, that still amounts to an average of 2.6 deaths per day.

The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety continues to emphasize that buckling up, putting phones down, slowing down and driving sober are key ways to prevent fatal crashes.

ABC 17 News has reached out to MU Health Care for comment.

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