Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A senior property tax exemption that went into effect last year will result in Boone County issuing more than $2.2 million in tax credits to seniors.

Eligible seniors are able to apply for an exemption by each summer and voters in August approved decided to expand the law to apply to levies.

Boone County Collector Brian McCollum told ABC 17 News in an email on Thursday that the total credits to eligible taxpayers’ bill is $2,219,785.05. McCollum wrote that “taxpayers will see any eligible credit stated on the face of their real estate tax bill for their primary residence.  They will need remit the balance due by December 31, 2025, to avoid any delinquent charges.”

The law to allow the freeze was approved by state lawmakers in 2023 and Boone County voters OK’d it last year.

To be eligible taxpayers must be:

62 years old or older by Jan. 1 of the initial credit year;

An owner of record of their primary residence or has a legal or equitable interest in such primary residence as evidenced by a written instrument; and

Liable for the payment of real property taxes on the homestead.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

No one was injured after a building caught fire Thursday night at 3100 Dogwood Dr. in Fulton, according to a Friday press release from the Fulton Fire Department.

The release says crews were called to the address of Monet Desauw at 10:41 p.m. and saw flames going through the roof. The fire was brought under control by 11:28 p.m., the release says.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged with several sex crimes after he was accused of repeatedly raping and sodomizing a child over the course of several years.

Zackary Ray, 27, was charged with two counts of first-degree rape of a child younger than 12 years old, one count of first-degree sodomy of a child younger than 12 years old and a count of first-degree child molestation. He is being held at the Callaway County Jail without bond. An initial court appearance is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The victim’s father reported to law enforcement in June that the youth told him they were sexually abused for years when they were younger, the statement says. The assaults began when the victim was 10 or 11 years old and that Ray would assault them after the child’s mother left for work, the statement says.

The victim gave graphic details to law enforcement during an interview, and claimed that Ray threatened to kill the victim’s mother and grandmother if they came forward with information, the statement says.

Ray initially denied the allegations but eventually claimed “if this happened, I don’t remember it,” while talking with law enforcement, court documents say. Ray and others who spoke with deputies talked about his repeated drug use during the time, court documents show.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Association of Counties is looking for buyers of 10 old cars, including four hearses and two limousines, as it continues to convert the former Buescher Funeral Home into offices.

The vehicles were discovered as crews were clearing out junk from the building. The lineup comprises four hearses, a station wagon, two limos and three four-door sedans. Bids are being accepted until Nov. 1.

MAC deputy director David Owen said the cars were found in the building’s basement/garage area. A timeline for the renovation is not yet clear as cleanup continues, he said.

The oldest vehicle is a 1954 Packard-Henney. Several Cadillac sedans are among the cars up for bid.

Click here to follow the original article.

Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County commissioners are set to help keep the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri afloat as low-income locals worry the shutdown will mean no federal food assistance.

The commission is amending its contract to provide the food bank with American Rescue Act Funds to pour in an additional $50,000 to support operations and keep shelves stocked.

Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick said the additional funding is intended to supplement food banks as food insecurity rises because of SNAP and WIC benefits being delayed while the government remains shut down.

“If the shutdown continues into November, then [those benefits] appear to be basically running out at the end of this month, so we know that it’s going to create a lot of food insecurity,” Kendrick said.

Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri spokesperson Katie Adkins said Boone County is already seeing a high demand on top of people losing SNAP benefits and federal workers not getting paid.

“We serve a lot of people who are using SNAP dollars, and we serve a lot of people who are not using the SNAP program,” Adkins said. “The Food Bank is generally the safety net to the safety net program.”

Adkins said the Food Bank Market serves about 11,000 to 12,000 people a month.

Adkins also said that because the Food Bank buys in bulk, it can purchase three meals for every dollar spent.

During the last government shutdown, which lasted 35 days in 2018, Adkins said SNAP had extra funding, but that hasn’t happened this time.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Kansas City) and other representatives wrote a letter to the Department of Agriculture urging the agency to use contingency reserve dollars to temporarily fund SNAP.

“Choosing not to ensure SNAP benefits reach those in need this November would be a gross dereliction of your responsibilities to the American people,” Cleaver and other lawmakers wrote in the letter.

The letter states there’s enough in the contingency reserve to give Americans nearly two-thirds of the full SNAP benefits for November.

The ABC 17 News team spoke with U.S. Rep. Mark Alford on Friday who said the Democrats plan sounds solid, but earlier in the interview he said he wants the government to reopen.

“We need some Democrats to wake up, to put their pride aside, to put their fear aside and join us in opening the government,” Alford said.

Governor Mike Kehoe also joined the national talk on SNAP benefits and the government shutdown when he posted Thursday to X, urging Missourians to donate to local food banks.

“Missouri is all about neighbors helping neighbors. Across our state, food banks and pantries have been hard at work preparing for an increase in need as the Democrat-led federal government shutdown continues,” Kehoe wrote.

It’s uncertain right now how a prolonged shutdown will affect WIC benefits.

A Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokesperson said they are closely monitoring funds with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will know more next week.

In the meantime, Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services continues to schedule and see families in the clinic as it awaits a clear answer on November benefits.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jefferson City firefighters encountered “heavy fire conditions” in the front of a house during a call Friday morning.

Firefighters were sent to the 100 block of North Polk Street a little before 8 a.m. and found the flames when they arrived, according to a Jefferson City Fire Department news release. Everyone inside had already gotten out safely by the time firefighters arrived.

Firefighters had the blaze under control in about 20 minutes, but remained to help with the investigation into the fire’s cause. That cause remained unknown late Friday morning.

The American Red Cross was called in to help the displaced residents, the release says.

Click here to follow the original article.

Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man suffered serious injuries Thursday after his motorcycle collided with a semi-truck in Audrain County.

According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, the 30-year-old Jefferson City man’s motorcycle was hit by a semi-truck that ran a stop sign at Route K and Audrain County Road 565 around 5:18 p.m. Thursday. The Vandalia man, 20, driving the semi-truck, crossed the road and hit the side of the motorcycle before the bike rolled and got caught under the semi.

The Jefferson City man was taken to University Hospital by Audrain County EMS and was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

The driver of the semi-truck was not wearing a seatbelt, but was not injured.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

The country was surprised earlier this week to see images of heavy equipment tearing down the East Wing of the White House.

President Donald Trump is clearing the 123-year-old section of the presidential mansion to make way for his 90,000-square-foot ballroom, which will dwarf the chief executive’s residence when completed. The cost of the project has gone up from about $250 million to $300 million, which Trump has said is coming from private donations instead of taxpayer money.

The White House released a list of companies it says are paying for the project on Thursday.

What do you think of the project? Let us know by voting in the poll.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man from California, Missouri, who is facing felony charges in two counties has now been charged in Moniteau County with 29 counts of possessing child pornography.

Ernest Blair Jr., 21, was served a warrant on Thursday, according to court records. He was previously charged in Miller County with first-degree making a terroristic threat after he allegedly called in a gun threat last year to Eldon High School after a student asked him. A hearing in that case is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 at the Miller County Courthouse.

Blair was also charged earlier this year in Moniteau County with second-degree statutory rape. The probable cause statement in that case says Blair knew the victim was 15 years old and that the two were “trying to conceive a child.”

Multiple probable cause statements say law enforcement became aware of the “relationship” Blair had with the child on April 10. Law enforcement spoke with the victim on April 22 and she allegedly gave details of repeated assaults, the statement says.

Law enforcement arrested Blair on April 29 and he was charged with statutory rape the same day. Deputies obtained a search warrant to see Blair’s phone and the Missouri Digital Forensic Center gave a report months later indicating several images and videos of child porn were stored on the phone, the statement says.

A hearing in the statutory rape case is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18 at the Moniteau County Courthouse. A hearing has not been scheduled in his most-recent case.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

HALLSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

A number of law enforcement officers were seen in Hallsville on Thursday as they arrested a sex offender who had a warrant for his arrest, according to a social media post from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.

Eric Dwayne Gathings, 51, of Hallsville, is currently being held in the Boone County Jail on a U.S. Marshal hold and Boone County accusations of failure to register as a sex offender and being within 1,000 feet of a school. Charges were not available on Casenet on Thursday evening.

Residents may have noticed a large law enforcement at the corner of Route B and East Highway 124 around 4 p.m. A number of people had called ABC 17 News about seeing law enforcement around that time and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office was seen with an armored vehicle when an ABC 17 News photographer was at the scene. Gathings was arrested at 5 p.m.

Boone County Sheriff’s deputies and a Hallsville police officer are seen near an armored vehicle Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, near the corner of Route B and East Highway 124 in Hallsville. [Sam Roe/KMIZ

The post from the sheriff’s office says Gathings was unlawfully residing at a residence located near the Sassafras Moon and that he failed to register the address.

“Over the last three weeks, probable cause was developed to believe Gathings was residing at 121/123 E Highway 124 in Hallsville, MO, which is within 1,000 feet of a public school and within 1,000 feet of a childcare facility. On 10/23/2025, a search warrant was issued to seize Gathings from 121/123 E Highway 124,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

He was found hiding in an attic in the building, the sheriff’s office wrote.

Click here to follow the original article.