Month: April 2015

“Within the school our police radios were essentially useless for us,” said Sgt. Brian Leer, with the Boone County Sheriff’s Department. Right now emergency responders and law enforcement cannot use their radios inside a Columbia high school. The reason is a lack of radio signal. Battle High School has been open for two years now

Columbia Public Schools sent home a letter to parents warning them of a dangerous game some students are playing called the “pass out game” or the “choking game”. It’s anything but a game. Children try to strangle themselves or each other to cause them to pass out and get a “high” from it. After getting

Efforts are underway to improve emergency communications and operations in Cooper County. The Cooper County Commissioners approved an eight person advisory board at their meeting Thursday. “We feel like it’s the commission’s responsibility to dictate how things are operated, and without having an advisory committee that is knowledgeable in the area, we’re making blind decisions,”

The Missouri Supreme Court has set a June execution date for a man convicted of fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 2-year-old daughter in 2000. The court on Thursday ordered 48-year-old Richard Strong to be executed June 9 for the deaths of Eva Washington and her daughter, Zandrea Thomas. The victims were found dead Oct.

Missouri lawmakers are considering a bill that would require high school students to take a 30 minute CPR course before they can get their diploma. House Bill 457 is sponsored by Representative Ron Hicks from St. Peters. Students can take the class anytime in their four years of school. The bill has been circulating in

A Columbia teen is in jail Thursday after police said he broke into several cars before driving off in one of them. 17-year-old Matthew Baumann was arrested and is facing various charges including felony tampering. One day after a woman reported her car missing, police got another call reporting someone was breaking into cars. The

Construction plans are moving forward at East Elementary in Jefferson City. The school board just approved a contract for the work this week worth $3.1 million. ABC 17 News has reported on the overcrowding problems at East earlier this year. East Elementary has some of the largest class sizes and highest numbers of minority students.

Maintenance work in Columbia will soon slow down some Boone Co. drivers. Starting Monday, drivers can expect some lane restrictions on east Broadway between Old Highway 63 and Highway 63. Crews will perform some crack seal maintenance on the road from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day. Workers will flag drivers through the work

A Maryland woman is in the Boone County Jail Thursday following felony stalking and intimidation accusations. Police arrested 50-year-old Caroline Lazinger Wednesday in the 4200 block of Bethel Street. Investigators said Lanzinger showed up at a male family member’s sports practice at Cosmo Bethel Park. The family member told a coach she wasn’t supposed to

One Mid-Missouri leader said something has to be done to fix our roads before it’s too late. ABC 17 sat down with Boone County’s Presiding Commissioner, Dan Atwill, during our 9 a.m. newscast. Atwill wants to raise the state’s gas tax by two cents, even though recent efforts have stalled in the Missouri Senate. Atwill

The Sunrise Beach Fire Department has sold one of its trucks to help fund other needs. The fire chief said they sold the pumper apparatus to a volunteer department in Georgia. He said the truck had been on reserve status since last year when the decision was made to sell it. The money from the

Two theft suspects were released from jail after apparently stealing several DVDs from Walmart. Police arrested Corey and Jamie Perkins Wednesday night for stealing. Investigators said they put the discs in a purse at the Conley Road Walmart in Columbia during two separate trips. Both times, the items were valued at more than $500.

A boil order has been lifted for a Callaway County city. The city of Auxvasse was working on an ongoing water improvements project with water lines being replaced. The order was issued Wednesday for work on the project that was approved by voters in 2012.

If your child is a junior in high school, now is a great time to start looking for college scholarships. The deadline for awards are months away, giving you and your child a head start on applications, essays and other requirements for those awards. Weeding through the numerous types of scholarship offers can be overwhelming,

After a quiet Thursday, more active weather is possible as we push toward the end of the work week. Moisture filtering back into the region on the back side of high pressure to our southeast could bring some scattered, light rain showers late Thursday night into early Friday. There will likely be ample dry time

Police in Columbia are investigating the death of Kaycee A. Blackburn, 24 of Columbia, Mo., who was hit and killed by a semi-truck on I-70 early Thursday. Reports of a body on the road near the Providence Road bridge over the interstate were called out shortly before 3:30 a.m. Personal items of Blackburn’s were located

Dave Griggs watched the town grow around, then away from Business Loop 70 in Columbia. Previously Highway 40, businesses began building along the road in order to capitalize on the traffic from the coast-to-coast highway. But when Interstate 70 came, traffic began going north of the strip. Since then, development burgeoned farther south, and Business

The Columbia Police Department is requesting money to hire an outside consultant to figure out if the department is efficiently using its staff. The proposal was first introduced Monday night at the city council meeting. City staff is asking to use $40,000 to pay for the consultant. That money would be taken from what’s called

A woman was assaulted on the University of Missouri campus early Wednesday morning. University Police said it happened around 1 a.m. in the parking lot at Tiger Avenue and Stadium Boulevard. The woman told police a man grabbed her arms and pushed her into the side of the car, but she was able to escape

Mizzou got its fifth consecutive run-rule win on Wednesday, but the focus was on ace Tori Finucane after she left with an injury early in the win. The Tigers held their breath as catcher Kirsten Mack slid into Finucane on the final out of the first inning. Finucane remained down on the ground for almost