Month: July 2015

A cluster of showers and t-storms moving in from southwestern Missouri will track to the east-northeast Thursday evening and overnight bringing the threat of heavy rain to the Lake of the Ozarks to near Mexico where a Flash Flood Watch is in effect through early Friday morning. Rainfall amounts of 1- 2 inches are possible

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after an inmate tried to escape Thursday morning. It happened just before 11 a.m. Investigators said Timothy Midgyett chipped through some dry wall in the ceiling of a cell in an attempt to escape. But detectives said the dry wall in the jail is extremely strong and there

After a rain delay, construction is also beginning on a new water main near the Business Loop in Columbia. The pipe along Texas Avenue near Creasy Springs Road has been breaking down. Now, it’s getting replaced with a larger line, which means firefighters can use more water during emergencies. Local traffic was affected Thursday, and

A Columbia man was arrested Wednesday, accused of exchanging explicit photos with an underage teen from Ohio. The investigation into Matthew Melton, 35, started in late May, after a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Melton was arrested at the Central Bank of Boone County, where he worked as a branch

Some Missouri lawmakers are once again pushing to change the state’s voting laws. A new campaign has been launched in hopes of requiring a photo ID a the voting booth to prevent voting fraud. The campaign is being led by Secretary of State candidate Jay Ashcroft. He was joined in the Capitol Thursday by Senator

Some Columbia health groups celebrated the start of a new project that is now underway Thursday. On Thursday, the University of Missouri, Cox Health, and Mercy health systems held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new medical education project. It’s aimed at training more physicians for Missouri. Funds for the project amount to $42.5 million. They

A downtown parking garage in Columbia will close for major maintenance Thursday night. Officials are asking drivers to remove all vehicles from the garage by 6:00 p.m. Crews will deep clean the garage and move handicap parking spaces closer to elevator landings. The work is expected to wrap up by 6:00 Tuesday morning.

ABC 17 News has been watching the impact of the recent rain on the Lake of the Ozarks and the Osage River. Ameren officials said they have now closed the flood gates at the Bagnell Dam. The news comes just a day after it announced the gates could stay open for up to two weeks.

After constant days and nights of heavy rain across Mid-Missouri, some roofs and gutters may be letting rain water get inside houses. “For a good roof, there’s no problems and it continues to shed water,” said Jim Pellock, President of Premiere Construction Services in Columbia. “Sometimes weak roofs can be opened up and exposed by

We are tracking another wave of low pressure in Oklahoma which will move to the northeast and send a warm front through Mid-Missouri Thursday night and Friday. As the front gets closer, a few storms are possible by early evening at the Lake of the Ozarks. Most storms will develop late in the evening and

With so many rain delays the last few weeks, many construction projects across Mid-Missouri are seeing delays. In Jefferson City, the rain is presenting several challenges, according to Britt Smith with Jefferson City Public Works. “Not only does it delay contract work, but as you might imagine we have work that we want to get

A man from Boone County sued the city of Centralia after suffering thousands of dollars in medical costs from an injury suffered at the park. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Boone County, claims the city should have known about the problems involving ash trees at Recreation Park before a limb fell on Garret Bickel in

Although rain started moving out of mid-Missouri Wednesday night, multiple roads in Boone County remained closed due to flooding. ABC 17 News checked in with emergency responders to see if the road conditions were impacting response times. It’s an issue that luckily emergency crews haven’t had to face this week despite all the rain. Both

The Boone County Fair will be up and running in the next few weeks, but the fair and the land it sits on face an uncertain future. A look at the soggy fairgrounds Wednesday, it’s hard to imagine in just a few weeks the midway will be filled with the sounds and lights of a

A woman is on back on the streets after bonding out of jail Wednesday for charges in a deadly northeast Columbia crash. Last week, ABC 17 News confirmed Nicole Weddington was accused of involuntary manslaughter. Investigators did not find any evidence proving Weddington had slowed down before crashing into the back of a semi-truck off

ABC 17 News has been monitoring Missouri levees after the large amount of rain Mid-Missouri has seen over the last few weeks. The levees have to stay structurally sound because giant, man-made hills are the last line of defense against the Missouri River. That responsibility falls largely on landowners. “This protects the farm lands and

Several roads in Boone County were closed this morning due to flooding, but as the day went on some of the waters receded. ABC17 News monitored some problems areas throughout the idea such as Creasy Springs Road, Junction ZZ, Blackfoot Road and Brown School Road. While many of the roads had signs that warned of

Traffic was slowed on I-70 Wednesday evening due to a crash in Columbia. The rain led to several crashes on the interstate late Wednesday afternoon. Several units responded after a car flipped on I-70 westbound at Rangeline. The scene was cleared shortly before 6:00 p.m., but traffic was still backed up and moving slowly. There

Jefferson City’s Transportation and Traffic Commission is considering changes to to a road some residents said is dangerous. The discussion came after a resident requested the commission restrict left turns into a local gas station. Right now, there’s no turn lane for cars to turn left into the Phillips 66 gas station near Ellis Blvd.

The Columbia Parks and Recreation Department is asking the city of Columbia to fund an upgrade meant to help make the park safer. The department is asking for $45,000 to install lights at Stephens Lake Park. Park officials would hang 22 dusk to dawn lights along the East Walnut trail, walkways, and upper parking lot