Category: kmiz-local-news

Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Starting Saturday, SNAP benefits won’t be loaded onto EBT cards for people to buy food, which may put an extra financial strain on SNAP recipients that are pet owners.

Unchained Melodies Dog Rescue Director Melody Whitworth said she’s seen a year-long trend of people rehoming pets because they can no longer afford pet care.

“Even without the SNAP benefits being pulled, everything has gone up in price. Everything,” Whitworth said. “You go to the store, groceries cost more, utilities cost more, rent’s going up, people have lost their jobs, people have gotten their hours cut and so that has led to the beginning of the rehoming crisis.”

Unchained Melodies doesn’t rehome dogs often, and refers people to other shelters or rescues in the area. Whitworth said animal shelters can take in pets when space is available, but many are already full.

“If people can’t find a shelter or rescuer to take them in, they go out and dump them on somebody’s property or out in the country,” Whitworth said.

The Central Missouri Humane Society website suggests pet owners should try to rehome their pet before allowing CHMS to take over because it’s a faster process, pets don’t enjoy being in the shelter and pet owners can decide who their pet goes to.

CMHS also has a free pet food pantry for anyone in need that is open on the first Saturday of the month, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia residents Saturday raised nearly $45,000 in a fundraiser walk to end amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

Some people got together in teams to raise large sums of money to donate, while others donated individually to the national ALS Association for research on the disease.

The one-mile walk at the Cosmo-Bethel Park attracted about 100 people.

Team Tiger raised $1,000 for a cause that hits close to home for member John Cleek Jr., whose dad died from ALS in 2022.

“My dad, one thing that he said, as far as anybody asked what bit of advice would you give to somebody that had ALS, he said, ‘If you’re able to, get out and do everything that you ever wanted to do in your life, you know, because one day you’re not going be able to,'” Cleek said.

Cleek said he’s raising money to find a cure.

“This is a dreadful disease that nobody asked for,” Cleek said. “We’ve got to try to do our best to help the ALS Association and help the research efforts and stuff, so they can find a cure for this disease someday.”

The total fundraising goal is $72,000.

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Olivia Hayes

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Police Department says a person is dead after a crash in the 3600 block of Highway 50 West Friday evening.

Preliminary scene investigation by the department’s traffic unit revealed a 2018 Chevrolet SUV was westbound on Highway 50. Someone on an electric scooter was crossing the grass median northbound in the area.

The electric scooter entered the westbound lanes of Highway 50 by continuing northbound. The scooter and car collided. The operator of the scooter sustained deadly wounds from the crash.

This incident remains under criminal investigation by the Jefferson City Police Department. The crash report said the driver of the SUV was not hurt in the accident.

JCPD’s traffic unit was unavailable for comment Saturday.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Military veteran Joseph Gray was approved to receive disability pension, but that — and his Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits — were put on pause once the federal government shut down.

Now, he’s struggling to eat a meal every day.

“Usually, I eat OK and have never needed any help before, but I’ve never been in this position either, where the government took away everything they promised me,” Gray said.

He got his first set of seven meals on Friday from Aging Best, a nonprofit that provides homebound seniors with free, frozen meals.

Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Wednesday that $10.6 million is being transferred from the Senior Services Growth and Development Fund to Missouri Area Agencies on Aging. Columbia’s Aging Best will receive a little more than $1.2 million.

“It’s all going towards programming and feeding people,” said Patty Wickham, a spokesperson from Aging Best.

Wickham said the funds Aging Best is receiving are an increase in funding from previous years, but the nonprofit would have gotten the funding later. Kehoe simply made that money available earlier.

Wickham said that since the government shutdown, more people who have lost their SNAP benefits have been calling and trying to receive free meals. However, only home-bound seniors are eligible for the program.

“We’ve had to turn some people away, and direct them more towards their local food pantries and food banks,” she said. “There’s definitely been a strain that you can feel through the panicked voices on the calls.”

If you or someone you know is facing food insecurity as a home-bound senior, you can visit the Aging Best website. You can also visit the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri’s “food finder” website.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Supporters of Columbia resident Owen Ramsingh, a citizen of the Netherlands who is being held in an El Paso, Texas, immigration detention center, rallied Friday night ahead of his detention hearing next week.

Ramsingh was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Chicago O’Hare Airport in September as he returned from a visit to his native country. He is a legal permanent resident of the United States, where he has lived since childhood, but the federal government has cited past drug possession charges for detaining him.

“A green card is a privilege, not a right, and under our nation’s laws, our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement about the case.

People rallied for Ramsingh’s cause at the Columbia Elks lodge Friday night ahead of his Nov. 6 hearing. It’s one of nine fundraisers family and friends have held to help Ramsingh’s family and pay legal bills.

“I’m pretty sure the judge is going to grant him release, and it’s just, I hope ICE doesn’t hold him for a full 30 days,” said Robert Olsen, Ramsingh’s best friend and the man who went with him on his latest trip. “You know, we can get him back before Thanksgiving.” 

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ABC 17 News Team

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Week 10 of the Missouri high school football season is tonight.

Scores from Mid-Missouri teams will be posted below.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

One of four men charged with stealing an ATM pleaded guilty Thursday.

Augustus C. Sherman, 25, pleaded guilty to vehicle theft Thursday in Camden County. A charge of felony stealing was dropped. Sherman was sentenced to five years in prison for being a prior and persistent offender, court records show.

Sherman was one of four men charged with stealing a truck and using it to bust open an ATM at Oak Star Bank in January in Osage Beach. Cases are still open against Mylek Freeman, Christopher Delasbour and Tyrese Holloway.

The suspects took off in another vehicle, which was later found in Oklahoma, where they were arrested, court records say. The probable cause statement says that $47,315 in cash was found in the vehicle, but $11,440 of it was from the ATM.

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Olivia Hayes

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Lincoln University’s police chief says safety is everybody’s concern for its Centennial Homecoming tradition.

The department is using multiple forms of technology to keep those attending homecoming events safe, along with more than 600 Flock security cameras across campus. The campus uses the RAVE Guardian app, which allows users to directly message campus police.

Chief Gary Hill said the Flock cameras are also fitted with gunshot detection.

To celebrate 100 years, the university has held a number of events throughout the week, like a talent show on Tuesday and a DJ battle on Wednesday.

On Friday night, there will be a Centennial Masked Ball benefitting student scholarships at 5:30 p.m. in Jason Hall and a Homecoming Step Show at 8:00 p.m. at The LINC recreational center. The festivities continue into Saturday with a homecoming parade at 9 a.m., followed by the homecoming football game against Truman State University at 2 p.m.. A concert will follow at The LINC at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The RAVE Guardian works along with the university’s RAVE Alert system. Hill said faculty, staff and students can download it to their phone.

“The Guardian, they can say they’re going to leave a building and they can hit this button and it will tell us that,” Hill said. “An alarm will go off here in our dispatch area, and then we’ll call them and say ‘Hey, we just received the Guardian alert from you. Are you okay?'”

The RAVE Alert system allows university officials to push out important messages campus-wide.

“If we have an active shooter situation, weather alerts and things like that, any kind of emergency situation, we’re able to push that out to people’s cellphones and that comes across your email as well,” Hill said.

The safety plan also includes a multi-agency effort from state, county and local law enforcement. Hill said 14 county deputies are among the extra personnel being brought in.

Hill said the goal with having multiple agencies on site is prevention through presence. The university has also brought in 20 outside staffers to handle traffic and security.

“They’ll be working the metal detectors and making sure to secure the doors to make sure no one’s trying to get in for free or anything like that,” Hill said.

Even with the use of technology to keep homecoming goers safe, Hill says safety is also as simple as saying something to law enforcement if you see something or someone that raises concern.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Open burning season in Jefferson City will start Saturday.

The season runs from Nov. 1 to March 1 under city ordinance, and residents can burn yard waste between sunrise and sunset, the city wrote in a news release Friday. Fires should be attended to while they’re burning, and they should be put out by sunset.

People who violate the ordinance can be ticketed and fined.

Yard waste can also be dropped off at 708 Ellis Blvd.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council will vote on Monday to allocate $50,000 to the Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri, as the federal government shutdown continues.

The item appears on the city council’s consent agenda in Monday’s meeting. Consent agenda items are voted on in a block without discussion.

The city government announced the decision in a news release Friday, saying the city would allocate $50,000 of emergency money to the food bank. The status of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are in doubt for November because Congress has not voted to fund them.

Two federal judges ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must use a contingency fund with $5.3 billion in it to cover SNAP payments. However, the program costs about $8 billion to $9 billion per month.

“Many households in our community depend on SNAP to meet their most basic needs,” Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said in the news release. “This funding ensures that The Food Bank can continue to serve families who suddenly find themselves without this vital support.”

The Boone County Commission has also approved an extra $50,000 for the food bank.

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