Month: November 2013

Thanksgiving Eve is “Blackout Wednesday,” according to social media. This disturbingly-creative title was given to this day because it is said to be the biggest bar night of the year. According to law enforcement, it is also one of the biggest nights for impaired driving. Jefferson City bars have extra staff on duty tonight to

Several free Thanksgiving meals will be offered across Mid-Missouri. In Columbia, volunteers are still needed for the 16th annual “Everybody Eats” event. The meal is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Stamper Commons on the Stephens College campus. Organizers say volunteers are needed at 9 a.m. to help with setup. This year, baskets

Electricity has been restored to Fulton after the entire city lost power Tuesday evening. Fulton City Administrator Bill Johnson confirmed to ABC 17 News that the entire town lost power before 5 p.m. Around 5:45 p.m., power was restored to all of the city’s residents. During the outage, many city phone lines were inoperable. Power

Every winter brings freezing temperatures, which when accompanied by moisture, can cause dangerous conditions on the roads. Snow is not the only precipitation threat during the winter months. Ice storms, caused by freezing rain, can cripple entire cities and they are not unusual for Missouri winters. In fact, Missouri has some of the highest average

A normal amount of snow for Mid-Missouri is about 18 inches per year. During the last three winters, we have been anything but average. 2011 was one of the snowiest and 2012 did not seem like winter at all. The winter of 2012-2013 was nearly the winter that never was. December and January were warm

Winters in Mid-Missouri are rarely the same from year to year. To give an idea of where we stand compared to previous years, we often talk about what is “normal,” which is actually the most recent 30 years of data averaged out. Although we have cold winters here in Missouri, we often have periods of

While we make sure to bundle ourselves up during the winter months, it is also important to prepare our cars for what’s ahead. Being stranded on the side of a road in a snowstorm could be miserable and even life-threatening. It only takes a few steps to get ready for the cold, but it’s more

An investigation is underway after the Huntsville police chief was found dead in his home early Wednesday morning. Officials confirmed Huntsville Chief William “Buddy” Stuck, 64, was found dead in his home. The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control and the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department are both investigating the death. An

Columbia police arrested Rudy Perez, Jr. for brutally killing Robert Hill at the Truman VA Hospital in February. Just days before Perez’s murder trial in September, he discovered prosecutors had accepted his plea of not guilty due to reason of insanity. That means instead of going to a prison in the Department of Corrections, Perez

Some of the year’s most dangerous toys still sit on store shelves in mid-Missouri. The Consumer Product Safety Commission looked at toys with toxins — like lead — choking hazards, magnets, and loud noises. The group placed the most dangerous toys on a list to warn parents about because these toys were not recalled. Some

Police in the capital city arrested a woman for faking a robbery, just months after she was charged for stealing money from her workplace. Jefferson City police say around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sara Hlavacek, 31, of Jefferson City, called police, saying she had been robbed in the 200 block of East High Street. Hlavacek told

Nearly 400,000 burglaries happen in the U.S. during the months of November and December, according to the FBI. During the holiday season, people are busy shopping and traveling. This makes a perfect combination for burglars. The average time it takes for a burglar to get in and out of a home is less than 10

Construction has begun on the new Primrose Retirement Community in Jefferson City. This 84-unit independent and assisted living community will bring more than 30 new jobs to the community. Primrose Retirement Communities has more than 30 locations in 15 different states and is based out of South Dakota. About five years ago, the company began

A new “organizational structure” at Lincoln University will cause several employees to lose their jobs. The university announced Tuesday that some top-level positions were combined with the duties of other positions. Because of the restructuring, some employees will be laid off. ABC 17 News confirmed seven employees will be terminated. Three of the employees had

A Mid-Missouri man was given the death penalty for a brutal 2009 murder. On Tuesday, Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce sentenced David Hosier, 58, to death for killing Angela Gilpin. Hosier is also suspected of killing Gilpin’s husband Rodney in their Jefferson City apartment, but the trial was only for Gilpin’s murder. In October,

Ford is recalling the Escape small SUV to fix oil and fuel leaks that can cause fires. The hot-selling SUV has been recalled seven times since it was redesigned and went on sale in the spring of 2012. The first of two recalls announced Tuesday affects more than 161,000 Escapes worldwide from the 2013 model

According to AAA, 40 million people will hit the roads this Thanksgiving holiday. Many others will take to the skies. However people are getting to their destinations, MoDOT officials and the Columbia Public Works Department is telling people to build extra time into their travel schedules. The wintry weather in some locations could could pose

A Sturgeon man will spend the next five years in prison for possessing child porn and failing to register as a sex offender. In October, Karl Ball pleaded guilty after investigators found more than 1200 pictures and more than 20 videos of kids as young as nine at his home. Investigators also found out that

The holiday shopping season is set to kick off in just a couple of days, and shoppers will likely stop for a meal at an area mall food court. About a year ago, ABC 17 News first reported the Columbia-Boone County Health Department shut down two restaurants at the Columbia Mall after inspectors found numerous

Cole County Presiding Commissioner Marc Ellinger met with Lincoln University officials Monday afternoon to discuss a potential health clinic. The clinic would be on the Lincoln campus in Thompkins Hall. The university has unused space in the back of the building that could be converted into the clinic. The clinic would be staffed by Cole