Month: June 2015

A Cooper County teenager was buried Thursday after being shot over the weekend. Sunday night, Cooper County authorities said Jeffrey Rinacke was shot in a home just outside of Prairie Home. Investigators have been tight lipped about the shooting. Residents nearby said Rinacke confronted a man by the name of Everett Mackey at his residence.

Callaway County prosecutor Chris Wilson announced Thursday he will not file charges against a Boone County deputy who was involved in shootout in February. On June 3, Wilson was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case of CJ Parker, who was fatally shot by the deputy after apparently killing three people. In a letter

The Jefferson City Police Department is in the process of installing new cameras into 27 patrol vehicles. Two cameras will be installed into each car, one on the dash, and another pointing toward the back seat. It’s a $175,000 project with about half the money coming from sales tax and the rest from drug forfeiture

Expect delays if you’re headed out on i-70 this weekend. The Missouri Department of Transportation has closed one east and west bound lane of the Blackwater River bridge, so crews can resurface it. MoDOT is expecting major delays during peak times this weekend, especially with Royals/Cardinals games in St. Louis. “With a lane closed in

A new program within the Columbia Police Department is focusing on high crime areas. The CPD Community Outreach Unit was just formed last month. And officers said they have already seen a difference. The unit is made up of two full-time officers and one part-time officer. They go to areas with higher crime levels like

Walgreens is recalling Nice! brand powdered sugar mini donuts for a possible mold risk. Consumers have complained mold was found on some boxes of the donuts. People who have bought the packages of donuts are urged to return them to any Walgreens store for a full refund. The product comes in 11.5 ounce packages marked

Dr. Jason Zerrer says seniors have a harder time regulating their bodies, which makes the heat more uncomfortable and dangerous. He said a number of health issues can contribute to the body not regulating properly. “All of these little factors go into the larger issue of regulatory mechanisms just not working quite as well as

Several Mid-Missouri organizations are receiving a gift from the United Way of Central Missouri. Thursday morning, United Way named 15 recipients for some extra funding. The organization is giving away $120,000 in one time grant money. “We are changing the lives of the people right here in our own back yards and we could not

Workers are hitting the trails in Columbia Thursday night, spraying for mosquitoes. The spraying happens every year, and is designed to reduce the chance of getting any diseases carried by mosquitoes. Crews are starting at 11:00 p.m. and stopping around 6:00 tomorrow morning. They’re using a red Chevy truck, and they’re focusing on the Grindstone

Cole County leaders are dealing with serious overcrowding issues, including at the health department and at the courthouse. The heath department needs more space, and leaders also want a larger, fifth courtroom to handle some capital murder cases coming up this year. They’re trying to keep everything centralized near downtown Jefferson City. We sat down

A Boone Co. road will close in both directions Thursday night, just northeast of Columbia. Route Z will close between Timmons and Rob Cook Road, so crews can replace a cross pipe. Traffic isn’t scheduled to reopen until 5:00 a.m. Friday, and detours will be in place.

Thursday will yet again be another hot day, with temperatures about 10 degrees above average in the mid-90s. Heat indices will reach the mid-upper 90s by late afternoon, and muggy conditions continue into the evening. A steady south wind continues to pull warm, moist air into the region, adding to the instability we’re seeing from

A Fulton woman is facing multiple felonies after Morgan County deputies say she stabbed a man inside a local cave. The sheriff’s department was called to Jacob’s Cave Sunday, off Highway TT just south of Versailles near the Lake of the Ozarks. They found the victim, David Emht, 60, from Cuba, with moderate injuries to

One person is in custody and two others are on the loose following a Columbia burglary and high speed chase. Police arrested Luster Jordan Jr, 22, from Malden, MO. Jordan was arrested on charges of burglary and resisting arrest. Investigators say he was the driver of the vehicle that officers were chasing in the 1700

A Columbia home on Highridge Drive caught fire Wednesday evening just before 6:30 p.m. Fire officials say the fire started in the garage. There was a few hundred dollars worth of damage, but crews were able to quickly put out the flames. It is unclear what started the fire.

IBM employees in Columbia who were part of the latest round of layoffs said the company has moved up their last days, meaning they now have less time to find new jobs. ABC 17 News is told their new departure date is June 30. For the last month, ABC 17 News has been investigating after

A highway patrol sergeant is in trouble for what his lawyer says was telling the truth. Randy Henry has publicly criticized the Highway Patrol’s handling of the drowning investigation of Brandon Ellingson. Ellingson is the 20-year-old who drowned a year ago at the Lake of the Ozarks while in Highway Patrol custody. On Thursday, Henry’s

Law enforcement analysts are calling for a change in the way police are trained. Some said “community policing” could be the way to solve some problems between police and the people they’re protecting. Charlie Jackson, the former Director of Public Safety in Missouri, said incidents like the one in McKinney Texas have been happening since

ABC 17 News is learning about some Mid-Missouri improvement projects in the works. The Columbia REDI board of directos met to talk about improvement proposals. ABC 17 News sat in on the meeting and learned Centralia is pushing to bring a hotel to the city. It said it needs more lodging for a basketball tournament

The trial for the operators of a former Columbia smoke shop is delayed. Both Kevin Bay and John Hawkins are accused of selling over $2 million in synthetic marijuana, known as K2. Jury selection was supposed to start next month, but that’s been pushed back until October. Police raided Bay’s home four years ago and