Month: March 2013

A large apartment fire that left four families without homes and shut down a major road Friday night has been ruled accidental, according to Boone County fire crews.Public Information officer Gale Blomenkamp told ABC 17 News Saturday that a juvenile playing with a lighter started the fire, which spread to about four of the Heritage

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The typical Missouri household might have relatively little to gain from a Senate-endorsed overhaul of the state’s tax policies.The proposed mixture of income tax cuts and sales tax hikes could save a few dozen dollars annually for a family of four earning just slightly more than Missouri’s median household income

In a brief filed Friday, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said he did not want to hear the appeal of a convicted Columbia killer.Ryan Ferguson filed an appeal last month after Cole County judge Dan Green denied him a new trial in the spring, citing a lack of new evidence. AG Koster agreed, writing that

After months of drought rain and melting snow has been pouring over fields and roads across the area.It is much needed moisture that could be dangerous for anyone its path. As of Sunday night a large portion of Mid-Missouri was under a flood watch or warning and the Missouri river could reach flood stage this

The rain and melted snow water may have caused a sinkhole to finally break through in Cole County this weekend.The owners of the land off of Route C told ABC 17 News the hole started showing in June and at that point they filled the area back up with dirt.However, with recent water runoffs the

***UPDATE MONDAY 7:13 P.M.***James Woods got 165 years in prison for assaulting and robbing two elderly women in Mid-Missouri.The first case in 2011 involved a 98 year-old victim. During the latest attack in 2012, Woods stole a necklace from a 72 year-old woman after following her home from a shopping trip in Columbia.Police arrested Woods

(AP) – A St. Louis-based philanthropic organization has awarded $1 million grants each to four food banks in the state.The Missouri Foundation for Health announced recently that it gave the grants to the Southeast Missouri Food Bank in Cape Girardeau, the St. Louis Area Food Bank, the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in

Class 5 Championships:Boys BasketballHickman: 73Kickapoo: 68Jimmy Whitt scores 27 ptsGirls BasketballRock Bridge: 50Nixa: 22Class 3 Championships:Salisbury: 70West Platte: 46

Final 2012 numbers from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration showed Missouri with more meth lab busts than any other state again.Since 2004, Missouri has led the nation in busts all but two years – 2010 and 2011. In 2012, the DEA recorded 1825 meth lab busts in Missouri, beating second-ranked Tennessee by 240.According to numbers

Monday night Columbia School board members could vote on change to school start times.The plan Superintendent Chris Belcher is backing will have middle schools starting at 7:30 a.m. Lee, Midway Heights, New Haven, Ridgeway and Benton, Rock Bridge and Two Mile Prairie elementary schools would start at 7:40 a.m. All other elementary schools would start

It won’t feel like March as temperatures stay in the 30s Monday with gusty northwesterly winds. Temperatures will start near 30 in the morning with some light snow showers possible. Clouds will break up late in the day with afternoon highs in the upper 30s, dropping to the mid 20s Monday night as skies clear.

A young Missouri girl was killed in a single-car accident on I-44 in Pulaski County Saturday afternoon.The Missouri State Highway Patrol says 8-year-old Hannah Lamb of Nevada, Mo. was killed after the van she was riding in crashed on eastbound I-44 near mile marker 152. According to troopers, the van was driven by 15-year-old Logan

***UPDATED TUESDAY 8:30 P.M.***The second day of trial for Shelley Richter moved from emotion to science. On Monday, Lane Schaefer’s parents testified.But Tuesday came down to the medicine. Dr. Nitin Patel, a University Hospital physician, told the jury Schaefer’s brain injuries reflected “non-accidental trauma,” and had most likely occurred the day prior. He treated then-seven

A federal judge sentenced a southwest Missouri man Monday to more than eight years in prison for his involvement in six bank robberies including two in Missouri dating back to 2010.Kenneth Dewain Parker, 49, appeared in court Monday. He admitted to the robberies last July. Parker robbed the U.S. Bank on Broadway in Columbia in

Heavy snow and rain over the past month has improved Mid-Missouri’s severe drought conditions but the melting snow and recent rain is pushing creeks and streams into fields. Experts expect the foot and a half of snow melting plus rainfall over the weekend will ease the extreme drought condition hurting Missouri farmers. ABC 17’s Storm

MoDOT crews are cleaning up the remnants of a rock slide along highway 63 in southern Boone County from Friday. They tell ABC 17 News the bluff crumbled and went spilling onto the shoulder and even into the driving lane. Crews expect to be cleaning up into Tuesday.This might not be the last time they

Temperatures will rise slightly Tuesday and Wednesday, into the mid 40s which is still below the 30 year average of 54 degrees. A substantial warm-up arrives Thursday and Friday as winds shift to the south, bringing highs up to near 60 Thursday and mid 60s Friday under mostly sunny skies.

Columbia police arrested four people Thursday for aggressive panhandling near a busy shopping center at the corner of Trimble Road and Brickton Road.Levi Monie-Turnlow, Bobbie Leos, Erma Boyd and Joe Rosales were picked up for misdemeanor panhandling, a violation of a 2000 city ordinance. The CPD arrest report said the four had been arrested for

On Sunday a 26-year-old from Versailles was killed in a crash in Morgan County. It happened off of Quarry Lane on a private road.Troopers say Paul Allgyer was riding on the back of a flatbed truck when he fell as it was turning. He was then run over by the vehicles rear tires.

As Columbia’s director of Parks and Recreation gets ready to head into retirement this week, his replacement has been named.City officials say Mike Griggs, the assistant Parks and Recreation director, will take over as director effective March 15.He was chosen out of 100 applications to take over for Mike Hood who retires March 14 after