Month: March 2013

A Cole County judge has sentenced Clifton Sparkling, 21, for his role in the rape and kidnapping of a woman.Sparkling will spend the next 30 years in prison. He has to serve at least 85 percent of that sentence, before he’s eligible for parole.In December, an Osage County jury convicted Sparkling of forcible rape, forcible

***UPDATE WEDNESDAY 3:25 P.M.***The American Red Cross has opened shelters in Columbia and Marshall for those who have lost power due to the winter storm.- The Columbia shelter is located in the Broadway Christian Church, 2601 West Broadway.- The Marshall shelter is in the First United Methodist Church, 225 East Arrow.Both shelters will be open

During a bust in Vienna deputies found suspected drugs and a child inside a home.On Tuesday investigators with the Maries County Sheriff’s department were conducting a narcotics investigation at a home on Third Street.They found suspected meth, marijuana and several items of drug paraphernalia. Audrey Strange, 28, was arrested on various charges. She is currently

***UPDATE THURSDAY 6:40 P.M.***Co-Mo Electric has below five thousand customers without power. Crews tell us they aren’t sure if they’re going to have everyone fully restored by Friday. They say it could last into the weekend.***UPDATE THURSDAY 1:30 P.M.***- Howard Electric is reporting, as of 11:20 a.m., outages have been reduced to 485 members.- Boone

The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office is looking a woman suspected of passing counterfeit $100 bills.According to officials, they have received several reports of the fake bills within the last few days. The bills were used at Casey’s and Dollar General in Auxvasse and Ozarkland in Kingdom City on February 24. Casey’s employees and an area

COLUMBIA (AP) – The U.S. Postal Service is looking into moving some or all operations at the Columbia mail processing center to facilities in St. Louis and Kansas City. A study of how consolidation would affect service could take four to six months.The Postal Service announced in August that the mail-processing services in Quincy, Ill.,

A business in Fayette plans to reconstruct after the winter storm on Tuesday led to the collapse of their building.The building and the business’ reopening both depend on how bad the damage is.E.O. Recycle is one business leasing a spot in the building where the roof collapsed. Their CEO, Debra Miller, says she received a

***UPDATE Tuesday 6:46 P.M.***We checked back in with Ross Tuesday, who got her driveway and walkway shoveled the day after the last report.She now has plenty of frozen dinner and food in her refrigerator in case of an emergency after experiencing being snowed in for six-days. Ross said she is glad she can now go

We’ll continue to have overcast skies with snow chances through early Friday. Thursday will start off with cloudy skies and some snow flurries, remaining cold through the day with afternoon highs in the mid 30s. Another wave of low pressure aloft will slide in from the northwest and light snow will become steady Thursday evening

Three developers are moving to phase two in the plan for a new conference center in Jefferson City.Ehrhardt Hospitality Group out of Hannibal is proposing to build the center on state property adjacent to Broadway and West McCarty Streets.Drury Development Corporation out of St. Louis is the second developer. Their proposed locations are pre-qualified sites

Right now authorities in Randolph County are on the lookout for a man wanted on several warrants.Investigators say Dontay Cropp has warrants for probation violation on two counts of child neglect and rape. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contract the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, (660) 277-5095 or the Moberly Police Department,

A person with knowledge of the trade tells The Associated Press that the Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to acquire quarterback Alex Smith from San Francisco.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade does not become official until March 12, when the NFL’s new business year begins.It’s the first big player move by

***UPDATE FRIDAY 8:01 A.M.***Sam’s Club is back open in Columbia. Store employees say they opened 7 a.m. Friday morning. The Walmart on Grindstone Parkway is still closed until further notice.***UPDATE 4 P.M. THURSDAY***The Walmart on Conley Road has reopened this afternoon. However, Sam’s Club will stay closed until Friday.The Walmart store on Grindstone Parkway has

A Columbia woman pleaded guilty Thursday to filing a false federal tax return in order to claim refund based on another person’s return.Authorities say 34-year-old Sherhonda Washington filed 53 false returns and refund claims during the 2008 and 2009 tax returns. She filed those returns in the names of people who lived in the St.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – The days of changing clocks twice a year could come to an end under a proposal pending in the Missouri Legislature.A Republican House member wants the state to get rid of daylight saving time, but only if 20 other states agree to do the same.The House Emerging Issues in Agriculture Committee

Highway officials say anytime you have bad weather, it could cause potholes and damage the road surfaces. Following two winter snow storms, priority and side streets are cleared, but people are reporting more potholes all around Mid-Missouri. Potholes are everywhere from roads in the University of Missouri’s East Campus to Highway 63 and officials say

In response to recent shootings, another Mid-Missouri law enforcement agency is training its staff on how to respond to a similar emergency.Cole County Sheriff’s deputies will be trained to immediately enter a shooting scene without waiting for backup. The office will be the first law enforcement agency in the state to use that approach.Deputies will

Keion Bell scored 24 points and Jabari Brown added 23 to lead Missouri to a 90-68 win over South Carolina on Thursday night.After shooting 67 percent (16 of 24) in the first half, the Tigers (20-8, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) made 12 of their first 13 shots from the field in the second half to go

March will start off with more cold weather with temperatures only reaching the lower 30s, well below the average high of 49 for March 1st. Clouds will stick around Friday with some light snow showers possible early in the day. Friday and Saturday nights will be colder as the clouds move out, dropping into the

Closing arguments were delivered Thursday evening in the case against a rape and kidnapping suspect.ABC 17 News has been following Sean William’s trial all week. He is accused of kidnapping a woman, raping her, and keeping her hostage in a deep freezer in Moberly.Michael Wright and Tracy Stodgell both pleaded guilty to their roles in