Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged with first-degree domestic assault on Monday.

A court date has not been scheduled for Jesse Jones. He was listed on the Boone County Jail roster on Tuesday evening and is being held without bond. Police wrote in a press release that his address was Centralia.

The Columbia Police Department wrote in a Tuesday evening press release that Jones, 38, was arrested in Hallsville.

According to the probable cause statement, multiple people called first responders on Sunday after seeing the victim walking near Ash Street and Ash Court looking “distressed, panicked and grunting with blood” on their shirt.

Police spoke with the victim near West Broadway and Greenwood Avenue. The victim had a broken jaw, had trouble talking and was bleeding, the statement says. The woman was brought to Boone Hospital for surgery, the statement says. The victim was able to identify Jones as the assailant, court documents say.

While at the hospital, the victim allegedly referred to other assaults, but did not disclose more details out of fear for their safety, the statement says.

The victim couldn’t remember all of the details of the most-recent assault, but told police she was hit by Jones while they were in a car with him, the statement says. She lost consciousness after the hit, but woke up with a broken jaw and was bleeding, the statement says.

Click here to follow the original article.

Madison Stuerman

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Governor Mike Kehoe signed Senate Bill 81 into law on Tuesday.

According to a news release, the bill includes multiple items that would strengthen public safety.

“From improving oversight and licensing to supporting law enforcement and victims of childhood abuse, this legislation gives the state the tools it needs to strengthen public safety measures,” Governor Kehoe said in the release.

The law modifies six provisions related to public safety. This includes expanding criminal background checks, license waivers for law enforcement spouses, extending the Line of Duty Compensation Act, and reauthorizes fee collections with the Missouri Emergency Response Commission.

The bill also creates Trey’s Law, which modifies the offense included in “childhood sexual abuse” for civil actions, along with authorizing nondisclosure agreements signed after Aug. 28 to no longer be enforceable under civil law.

Missouri’s firework laws have been updated with this law to match the national safety standards of the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory. State Fire Marshals now have oversight to inspect facilities and enforce compliance.

The bill was sponsored by Senator Kurtis Gregory (R-Marshall) and Rep. Timothy Taylor (R-Bunceton).

Click here to follow the original article.

Olivia Hayes

FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Fulton Police Department is warning residents on social media to be aware after cars were broken into or stolen.

“The most recent activity was in the Town and Campus Apartments and in the Commons Drive neighborhood,” the post read.

The post also asked residents to remove unsecured keys, fobs, wallets, money and weapons from their cars.

According to police, the two cars stolen over the weekend have been recovered.

Anyone who sees suspicious persons checking car doors or looking inside vehicles is asked to call 911 right away.

Check back for updates.

Click here to follow the original article.

Jazsmin Halliburton

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri House of Representatives will meet on Tuesday to go over and debate some of the bills that were passed during the Senate’s special session.

Committees within the House will begin debating these bills throughout the week. At 11 a.m., the committee for Economic Development will have a public hearing and executive session of Senate Bill 3, which is to incentivize Kansas City sports teams to stay in the state. The bill would also allow for a property tax freeze program for 97 counties in Missouri. Voters in those counties will decide in April 2026 whether or not to institute property tax rate freezes similar to what seniors receive in the state.

SB 3 also offers a $5,000 tax credit in 2025 to people whose homes were damaged in storms.

A budget hearing will begin at 2 p.m. to discuss Senate Bill 1, which the Senate approved for $50 million in funding to the University of Missouri’s Research Reactor. That bill also allows $125 million in storm relief to be allocated towards the St. Louis area and affordable housing relief throughout the state.

On Wednesday, there will be a fiscal review of SB 3 and Senate Bill 4. SB 4 would speed up the process of dispersing funds for emergency aid in the state.

If the House of Representatives approves these bills, the special session will reconvene on June 16.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

About 700 Marines were mobilized in Los Angeles in response to the ongoing protests over ICE detainments within the city.

President Donald Trump over the weekend became the first president in about 60 years to call in the National Guard without a request from a governor. It was announced on Monday that Marines would also be deployed.

Do you think Marines should be deployed? Let us know in the poll and in the comments.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was charged with a plethora of felonies after he allegedly rammed his Chrysler truck several times into a Ford Focus while he was drunk.

Jeremy Shacklett was charged with four counts of second-degree assault, nine counts of armed criminal action, one count of first-degree tampering with a vehicle, two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, one count of leaving the scene of an accident, a count of first-degree property damage and driving while revoked. He was also charged with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, both misdemeanors.

Court filings show he is being held on a $100,000 bond. An arraignment was held on Monday and a bond reduction was denied. His next hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 24. A mugshot was not immediately available.

According to the probable cause statement, a woman called law enforcement at 1:24 p.m. Friday claiming that a Chrysler truck was following her vehicle and kept hitting it. The Chrysler eventually forced the Ford off the road after hitting it several times, the statement says. The Ford contained the woman, a man who was driving and two children.

Deputies found the Chrsyler on Lake Road near Route B and noticed Shacklett appeared to be drunk. A breath test was taken and his blood alcohol level was .115, the statement says.

Shackle allegedly admitted to following the Ford and hitting it every time the driver of the Ford slowed down or used his brakes, the statement says.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Board of Education at its Monday night meeting unanimously approved next school year’s budget for the district.

The district expects to spend roughly $307 million this upcoming school year. Previous reporting indicates that roughly three-quarters of the budget is made up of staff salaries and benefits.

The Board had approved a new salary schedule in April, which included pay raises to base salaries for employees in order to help recruit and retain teachers.

According to meeting documents in previous reporting, CPS experienced a nearly $7 million decrease in its fund balance.

Click here to follow the original article.

Haley Swaino

CENTRALIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The bear spotted in Centralia on Saturday was a cinnamon black bear, according to Missouri Department of Conservation biologist Nate Bowersock. Cinnamon bears are a subspecies of the American black bear.

Centralia residents were warned on Saturday to be on high alert in a social media post from police after a “brown bear” sighting in the city.

Multiple people have seen the bear and shared videos with ABC 17 News.

A cinnamon bear is seen Saturday in Centralia. Courtesy of Jason McCollum

Bowersock said he has seen many of the bear sighting videos going around and confirmed it is not a brown bear.

“That bear is what we call a cinnamon black bear or a black bear that has a reddish brown coat color,” Bowersock said. “It is a black bear and not a brown bear, which would then suggest a grizzly bear, which is whole different species, which we do not have here in Missouri.”

He said black bears can range in color from blonde to black.

According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Show-Me State is home to roughly 1,000 black bears.

Courtesy of Emilee Lawson (Centralia)

Bowersock said the MDC received reports of a similar-looking bear in nearby Callaway County.

“It’s potentially moved up there to the Centralia area,” Bowersock said. “And we haven’t gotten any reports on it now since I think late Saturday so it might have moved on.”

MDC has seen more young bears out earlier this year.

“We’re seeing a lot of younger bears,” Bowersock said. “That bear (in the video) also looks like a young bear dispersing from its native range. So just (it is) trying to find a new place to set up shop and and live its own life.”

If someone encounters a bear, Bowersock said the best way to stay safe is to steer clear of it.

“Black bears are more scared of us than we are of them, which can be hard to think about because people have a lot of thoughts about bears in general, whether it’s a black bear or grizzly bear,” Bowersock said. “But the big thing is giving them their space.”

He said, like any wild animal, these bears are wild.

“They are just trying to look for food at the end of the day, and especially for a black bear, their whole lives revolve around food,” Bowersock said. “They wake up out of hibernation in the spring and they’re looking for food and trying to just pack weight on.”

Centralia police advised residents to not approach, attempt to pet or feed the bear. MDC encourages the same.

“We always encourage people to never feed wildlife and for bears especially, they can become what we call habituated,” Bowersock said. “They can start to lose that fear of humans if they start to get that free food.”

Since finding food is typically a bear’s top priority this time of year, he said they will often look anywhere for food sources that could meet their needs.

Bowersock said taking down bird feeders and other sources of food can help keep curious bears away as they bulk up before retreating to hibernation later in the year.

“If you think about it, a bird feeder can be enough calories for a bear for an entire day of searching the woods on its own,” Bowersock said. “That’s a lot less energy for them to expend to go bird feeder to bird feeder than scouring the woods for food.”

Bowersock said no injuries have happened as a direct result of bears being fed in Missouri, but that has happened in other states. Cleaning or bringing outside grills and smokers inside is another precaution to take if a bear has been spotted in the area. He also recommends not leaving garbage out.

“Especially since that time of year, we all like to be grilling and smoking,” Bowersock said. “That can be very enticing to a bear.”

Bowersock said in the grand scheme of things, bears do not pose a deadly threat.

“If you do hear of bear activity in the area, you don’t need to be freaking out by any means, but you should try to pull in those attractants,” he said.

As the bear population in Missouri is growing, Bowersock said it’s important to remain vigilant.

“We estimate about a 9% growth rate, which means we expect the population to double in size every 10 years,” Bowersock said. “Right now we estimate a little over a thousand Bears statewide.”

MDC receives regular bear reports out of Mid-Missouri. Bowersock estimated 1,015 confirmed bear reports in central Missouri this year, mainly south of the Missouri River.

He said the Ozark region is where the department sees the most bears.

“We’ve had more active sightings earlier in the year so far this year,” Bowersock said. “I think part of that might just be the fact that we are seeing that increase in the bear population and they are really starting to explore new areas, which includes north of the river and central Missouri.”

According to a social media post from the Centralia Police Department, animal control and conservation officials have been made aware of the bear and are monitoring the situation. Anyone who notices the bear should immediately call law enforcement at 311.

People can also report a bear to MDC on its website.

Click here to follow the original article.

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe addressed plans to remove diversity equity and inclusion language from the city’s Strategic Plan during office hours the city is hosting in June to respond to concerns over a recent White House order halting federal aid for such programs.

Members of the public voiced concerns on Monday over the city choosing to comply with the new federal regulations.

“I just don’t want us to lose ourselves, we just have to understand that Columbia is a very inclusive environment, I want to make sure it stays that way,” Columbia resident Harry Castilow said during Monday’s meeting.

Buffaloe reassured the public that the core of DEI and city programs will not be lost, however language involving goals of quotas or percentages may be removed to follow guidelines. She also reiterated that no programs are in violation of federal laws.

“[The Strategic Plan] has outcome objectives within it, so the outcome objectives within it have percentage goals of increasing diversity of boards and commissions and different things around that,” Buffaloe said. “How do we continue to do the work that is of our community values and also stay within compliance of the federal laws?”

The City Council last month passed a resolution last month that aims to shield city staff from lawsuits or claims stemming from their official duties, as long as they act within the scope of their role. That came after the city tabled an item that would have removed DEI language following pushback from community members.

The city wrote in its council memo for the May 5 meeting that the proposed changes to its vision, mission, core values, priority areas and goal statements in its strategic plan are to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump on Jan. 21 that targets the language used.

Buffaloe on Monday pushed that changes to the Strategic Plan’s language are necessary to keep federal funding for the city. A presentation during the meeting reported that Columbia receives more than $11 million in federal funding that covers projects around the city.

Columbia Transit Manager Mike Sokoff reported that around 48% of operations costs comes from federal funding.

“It helps with staffing, it helps with all aspects of keeping the doors open and the busses running,” Sokoff said.

“One of the conversations that we’ve had in the last two months is really helping the community understand how much of our local funding comes from the federal government and what will be the impacts if those are cut,” Buffaloe said.

During the meeting, Buffaloe also announce the City Council’s plans to reinstate the city’s initial definition of equity, “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.”

The definition was up for revision back in May and received pushback from the public after a new definition left out the local government’s role.

The city will host three other office hour meetings in June, they will cover the same presentation:

5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday with Ward 3 Councilwoman Jacque Sample and city staff at the Columbia Fire Department’s Fire Training Academy, 700 Big Bear Blvd.

5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday with Ward 5 Councilman Don Waterman and city staff in Room C of the Activities and Recreation Center, 1701 W. Ash St.

2-4 p.m. Sunday with Ward 1 Councilwoman Valerie Carroll and City staff at the Friends Room of the Daniel Boone Regional Library, 100 W. Broadway

After all the meetings, the city plans to use what they heard when editing the Strategic Plan on June 16.

Following Monday’s meeting, Castilow felt more comfortable with the City’s changes.

“I think this meeting has been able to answer the questions that I had specifically about us being able to avoid feeling like we’re bowing down to the executive orders,” Castilow said. “We as a community are able to meet the requirements of executive orders without losing our soul.”

Residents who are unable to attend office hours are encouraged to reach out to their council members.

Click here to follow the original article.

Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council spent more than $42,000 on a two-day retreat in May with city staff in Camdenton.

Records obtained by ABC 17 News show the final bill is nearly 2.5 times higher than the 2023 retreat to Independence, Missouri, which cost $17,153.94. 

The total cost of the trip to Camdenton was $42,606.85, with the bill including: 

$25,000.00 for training costs

$9,839.57 meals

$5,955.64 for lodging

$1,811.64 mileage

These totals included $15,597.88 for two days at The Club at Old Kinderwood, which mainly covered the cost of banquet food and drinks. 

City spokesperson Sydney Olsen said 37 people attended the retreat, which included all current council members, Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, Police Chief Jill Schlude, Fire Chief Brian Schafer, and City Manager De’Carlon Seewood. 

RetreatDownload

“This is something that we started in 2022, and it was an opportunity for City Council members and city leadership to get together, get out of town and talk about both what’s going well, what’s happening in the community and then also the organization, as well as what’s on the horizon,” Buffaloe told ABC 17 News. 

Seewood said that he has seen progress with how staff works together since starting these retreats.

“When I first became city manager, sometimes it felt like there was a lot of division between the council and you’re starting to see people really work more collaboratively together and there’s more relationship between staff and council to actually work on things as a team as opposed to this adversarial approach,” Seewood said. 

According to Buffaloe, topics discussed at the retreat included preferred methods of communication between staff and constituents, as well as key challenges departments are facing ahead of the fiscal 2026 budget.

“I’ve seen a tremendous change since 2022 with the relationships built between staff and the councilmembers,” Buffaloe said when asked if the retreat was effective. “We need the professionals on staff to do the day-to-day work to help meet the goals of our community members.” 

The biggest change in the retreat budget was a $25,000 fee to Raftelis for “training cost.” Records show the city paid Raftelis — which provides management consulting to help local governments — $15,000 for its May retreat. The city spent just $5,000 on Raftelis during its 2023 retreat. 

“Just like any corporation, doing leadership retreats are important and you see that happening across the nation,” Buffaloe said. “I view that local government needs to also follow those same practices.” 

Despite the hefty price tag, Seewood believes these types of retreats have contributed to the progress the city has made over the last two years. 

“One of the things you want to do is you want to make sure that your executive team, your board members, all are working for the best interest of the community,” Seewood said.  “Having those times away where you can actually sit down,  have a consultant kind of help, you kind of talk about goals, talk about objectives, talk about priorities to make sure that you can move in the right direction.”

Click here to follow the original article.