Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The owner of a pit bull in Cole County has filed a lawsuit to prevent the county from euthanizing it.

Keith Nilges filed a lawsuit on Monday against Andrea Putnam, an animal control officer with the Cole County Sheriff’s Office. ABC 17 News reached out to the sheriff’s office and Sheriff John Wheeler said the department does not comment on potential litigation.

The petition says the family lives in rural Cole County and one of its dogs, a pit bull named Scooby, bit a deputy on June 27 when the deputy arrived to their property while the family was not home.

Court documents say the home and the dog were inside an electric fence and that signs around the area warn dogs are on the property.

The deputy was treated at an emergency room after Scooby bit their forearm, and the bite was determined to be a “Level 4 bite,” court documents say. The dog was impounded and eventually released back to the family on July 1, the petition says.

When the dog was being removed from the home, it allegedly had to be forced to leave the fenced in area “because he has been rigorously trained to adhere to that fence line,” the petition claims.

On July 2, the family received a letter signed by Putnam stating the dog was determined to be dangerous and was ordered to be euthanized within 10 days, court documents say. The petition says this was the third time the dog had bitten someone.

“The other two incidents referenced in Officer Putnam’s report involved individuals arriving at the property without advanced notice and approaching the property while neither Petitioner nor any family member were present,” court documents say.

A summons was issued for Putnam on Tuesday.

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Mitchell Kaminski

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jefferson City has issued about 18% more parking tickets for expired meters through the first half of 2026 than it did during the same period last year, the first year the city has contracted with a private company to manage parking enforcement.

Records obtained by ABC 17 News show the city issued 4,674 expired meter citations between Jan. 6-June 30, compared with 3,963 during the same period in 2025. 

The increase comes after Jefferson City contracted with PCI Municipal Services LLC to provide parking management and enforcement beginning this year. The City Council also increased the fine for expired meters from $6 to $25 to help cover the cost of the contract.

“The City did contract with PCI to provide professional parking management and enforcement, and as the data reflects, there has been an increase in parking enforcement activity compared to the previous year under the City’s prior model,” city spokesperson Molly Bryan said in an email to ABC 17 News.

Ticket totals were higher early in the year before gradually declining each month. The city issued 998 expired meter tickets in January; 1,020 in February; 840 in March; 696 in April; 635 in May and 485 in June.

During the same months in 2025, the city issued 182 tickets in January; 639 in February; 1,110 in March; 889 in April; 546 in May and 597 in June.

ABC 17 News also requested records showing how much revenue the city or PCI has collected from parking citations this year. Bryan said those records are not immediately available.

The increase in enforcement comes as downtown parking has become a point of frustration for some residents following the demolition of the Madison Street parking garage to make way for the city’s new conference center. The garage’s closure, combined with higher parking rates and increased fines, has drawn criticism from some downtown visitors.

ABC 17 News spoke with a dozen people downtown Tuesday. Five said they were visiting Jefferson City and were unfamiliar with the parking changes. One couple said they do not live in the city, while another person said she uses public transportation and does not own a vehicle. Two others declined interviews but said they were unhappy with the combination of fewer parking options and higher parking costs.

Jefferson City resident Stephanie Gladbach, who has lived in the city since 2000, said finding parking downtown has become increasingly difficult.

“Parking downtown is terrible,” Gladbach said. “They took down the garage because of political nonsense that no one wants to deal with anymore. The current City Council seems determined to remove as many parking options as possible and increase parking rates.”

Gladbach said city leaders often point to the total number of parking spaces available downtown, but she believes many are too far from where people need to go.

“If you talk to anyone on the council about it, they say, ‘Oh, there’s 1,500 spots downtown,’ except downtown extends from Lafayette all the way to Highway 50. I’m not parking at Lafayette to go to the Truman Building. And I’m not parking at the Truman Building to go to the library, especially not when we’re in the middle of a heat wave and it’s 95 degrees outside,” she said.

While Gladbach said she understands why the city increased parking rates, she said she disagrees with the decision.

“I know we’re in a budget crisis and get all that, but it’s only hurting downtown businesses when it’s hard to park downtown. When rates are up downtown, you are harming the people whose livelihood depends on people coming downtown. You’re only going to hurt us in the long run, especially because downtown is one of our best spots to come see in Jeff City. You make it harder to be downtown. You’re only hurting everyone,” Gladbach said.

ABC 17 News has submitted a Sunshine Law request seeking records showing how much revenue the city has collected from parking citations since PCI began managing parking enforcement.

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Melissa Houston

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Council approved plans for the budget and construction of the new Jefferson City Conference Center during a special meeting Monday.

The conference center will be located in the “heart of Jefferson City,” according to Mayor Ron Fitzwater, on the corner of Madison Street and East Capitol Avenue.

Fitzwater said the council now has about 90 days to approve the needed documents.

Fitzwater said construction should pivot from tearing down the parking garage to building the $145.9 million conference center in October.

“We’re looking at the beginning of October to the middle of October for construction to start heading in the other direction instead of tearing down on that property, seeing something come out of the ground, and get ready for the facility,” Fitzwater said.

Fitzwater said the city will post updates throughout construction.

“It’s an exciting project. I think the community is really getting excited now that they’re starting to see some very positive movement,” Fitzwater said.

The city received a key piece of funding for the project when Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a budget last month that included $15 million for the conference center.

“We thank Governor Kehoe and the legislature and certainly our local legislative delegation for helping us to provide that funding,” Fitzwater said.

There is no exact date set for when this project will be completed, but Fitzwater said it is estimated to take 24 to 27 months and hopes the completion is done by the beginning of 2029 in time for the next legislative session.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A contractor for Missouri American Water will close part of West High Street for an emergency repair.

The repairs are expected to take place until 5 p.m. Tuesday and again from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to a Jefferson City government news release. West High Street will be closed from Hamlin Street to Hart Street.

It is unknown when work will be completed, the city says.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Smithton man suffered serious injuries in a UTV crash in Morgan County on Monday night.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, an 82-year-old Smithton man was driving westbound on Route DD near Route KK southeast of Tipton in a 2016 John Deere XUV865R when the UTV went off the right side of the road and overturned.

The man was flown to University Hospital with serious injuries. The report states that the man was not wearing a seat belt.

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Marie Moyer

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (KMIZ)

Lake residents were still managing the aftermath of the Fourth of July storms Monday, with thousands without power.

At around 5 p.m. Monday, Ameren’s online outage map showed around 2,500 customers powerless across the lake area. Officials clocked wind speeds of around 80 miles per hour, leading to several down trees and tree limbs.

“We ran 26 calls on Saturday alone,” Mid County Fire Protection Chief Scott Frandsen said. “It came basically out of nowhere and it wasn’t really wasn’t forecasted, the gust front that came through did quite a bit of damage all over the lake area.”

Seth Caby, of Caby’s Cuts Tree Service, said the effects of Saturday’s storm were some of the worst he has seen in 12 years of work. The group helped cut down trees in the Osage Beach throughout the weekend, including trees on cars, roads and even one that went through a house.

Caby reported crews working 13-14 hours Sunday clearing high-priority properties.

“It started Sunday like it is today and then real quick and in a hurry, it just got dark and gray,” Caby said. “It just kind of went into chaos and I’d say within a matter of 30 minutes, it was sunny again, and then the phone started ringing.”

MCFPD also reported several boat docks breaking loose and one person who was rescued after getting stuck in an elevator during a power outage. No deaths were reported.

According to a press release from Southwest Electric Cooperative, who oversees electricity for several counties, there were reportedly around 12,500 services without power following the storm. Crews restored power in 36 hours. However, Co-Mo Electric Cooperative locations still saw some outages Monday.

Frandsen agreed the storm was unusual for the area.

“We had to cut up some trees to open up some roads, we had to provide some security, some wires down, until the utility companies could get there and secure them,” Frandsen said.

With the storm moving through quickly, both Frandsen and Caby said they could easily focus on recovery and cleanup.

“Everywhere we went, there was neighbors helping neighbors, cleaning up, doing what they could do, it’s a strong, loving family community for sure,” Caby said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

One person was rescued on Monday afternoon after a tractor pulling a hydroseeder slid into a 24-foot trench at the Columbia landfill, the Columbia Fire Department shared on its social media.

Crews were called to the 5700 block of Peabody Road at 4:01 p.m. The post says the operator of the hydroseeder was ejected. Firefighters were able to speak to the patient – who had serious injuries – at 4:12 p.m.

“After locating the patient, crews quickly assessed the scene, stabilized the area and began to deploy trench rescue equipment with a focus on establishing a safe operational environment,” the post says. “Firefighters accessed the patient from a safe location, performed a medical evaluation and prepared for an extremely technical trench rescue operation.”

The victim was able to reach outside the trench and was eventually brought to an area hospital, the post says.

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Melissa Houston

COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)

One Sunday morning, a fire broke out at a home at the corner of Tara Lane and Hominy Creek Trail in northeast Columbia.

Columbia Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer told ABC 17 News there was a temporary delay in finding the home after dispatchers were given incorrect information about its location. The initial call was made at 4:27 a.m. from around Hillsdale Road, where the caller believed smoke was coming from behind the Links Apartment Complex on Clark Lane.

Columbia Fire Station 5 was called to the location at 4:30 a.m., and at 4:31 a.m., another call reported seeing “lots of thick smoke across from I-70 near the trail behind the links,” according to a dispatch call log.

Crews initially thought the fire could have been a natural fire outside, but quickly learned after the second call that a home had caught fire and crews from Station 4 were sent.

At 4:34 a.m., Station 5 firefighters arrived to the initial call area, but then found the smoke appearing south of Interstate 70, which led to a third fire station to send crews. Another caller reported a fire at 4:39 a.m. at Tara Lane.

At 4:40 a.m., there was another caller reporting a house fire with trees involved, and all units were sent over to Tara Lane. At 4:48 a.m., crews arrived at the property and started fighting the fire a minute later.

“The challenge was the number of callers that we had reported the fire on the other side of the interstate,” Schaeffer said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 20-year-old Rolla man was flown to University Hospital with serious injuries after he was seriously injured in a crash on Monday afternoon on Highway 63 in Maries County, north of County Road 333, a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report says.

The report says a 35-year-old Columbia woman tried to make a left turn while heading southbound in her 2010 Honda Pilot. She failed to year to the Rolla man’s 2001 Ford Ranger that was heading northbound, the report says.

The woman had moderate injuries and was brought to Capital Region Medical Center by ambulance, the report says. She was wearing a seatbelt and it is not known if the man wore a seatbelt, according to the report. Both vehicles were totaled.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.  

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Monday morning fire at a garage on Michales Cove Road in Sunrise Beach was started by a generator being run inside, according to a Monday afternoon press release from the Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District.

Crews were called at 7:56 a.m. and had the fire under control by 8:16 a.m., according to the report. The fire was determined to be accidental. No injuries were reported.

“The structure of the garage was intact, but the contents were a total loss,” the release says.

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