Month: May 2016

Divers have found the bodies of two high school students who drowned during their senior class trip. The teens were from Saint Paul Lutheran in Concordia, about an hour west of Columbia. They were at Table Rock Lake Tuesday, in southwest Missouri, trying to swim to shore from a pontoon boat. Grief counselors were made

The ABC 17 Stormtrack team received reports of wind and hail damage during severe thunderstorms Wednesday morning and afternoon in eastern mid-Missouri. Residents in the Thompson area in Audrain County reported quarter-sized hail and small tree limbs blown to the ground. Later in the afternoon, county officials also confirmed seeing golf-ball sized hail near Mexico,

The University of Missouri and Shelter Insurance came out in support of the city’s proposed lodging tax hike at Wednesday’s REDI board meeting. This comes just one day after the Columbia Hospitality Association panned the proposal for its lack of transparency, namely that the city hasn’t presented a business plan for the use of the

Missouri lawmakers have passed a measure making it easier to buy medicine that treats and revives victims of heroin or painkiller overdoses. The House voted 147-2 Tuesday to let pharmacists sell naloxone, commonly known as Narcan. The bill cleared the Senate in April with a 29-0 vote, and it now heads to the governor. Naloxone

A Holts Summit man was arrested Wednesday following a rollover crash in the area of Route F and Highway 54. The crash happened shortly after 1:30 p.m.; two vehicles were involved, both heavily damaged. One of the drivers was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. When police got there, they learned

After a quiet afternoon, storm chances increase as we head into the evening hours as a cold front approaches from the west. The storms will be spotty by 5 PM and increase through 8 PM, forming a line just north of I-44 by 9 PM. This line will be out of our area by midnight.

Known as the Big Government, Get Off My Back Act, House Bill 1870 was approved by the Missouri Legislature Wednesday. The bill prevents the state government from imposing any user fees on small businesses with 50 or fewer employees. The act also provides special tax incentives to small businesses who hire new employees and pay

The Columbia Police Department has announced the appointment of Officer Clint Sinclair to serve a liaison officer to the city’s LGBT community. In the department’s announcement, Sinclair says Columbia has a large LGBT community, which for law enforcement can present new and unique challenges. Officials say creating this new position is an effort to bridge

A man convicted of killing a sheriff’s deputy and two other people in 2002 is scheduled to be put to death in what could be Missouri’s last execution for some time. Earl Forrest was convicted of killing Harriett Smith and Michael Wells in a drug dispute and Dent County Sheriff’s Deputy Joann Barnes in a

South 5th Street between Elm and Locust is expected to be closed for at least four weeks. The closure should start around 8 a.m. Wednesday and go through June 8th. Bengals and Casablancas are expected to be demolished during the closure. The contractors are also expected to install new sewer and water connections. There will

Hanover Blvd residents are seeing some positive changes in their neighborhood after a WWII veteran was beaten in broad daylight. The neighbors believed restoring a broken fence could help lessen the amount of troublemakers passing thru. As of May 10th, the fence was restored. When we originally aired the story on May 4th, 2016 residents

Mid-Missouri contractor Ken Jinson pleaded not guilty to defrauding customers in Cole County Court Tuesday. Jinson is accused of stealing a total of $22,000 from four customers in Cole County. Tuesday, another one of those customers in the case spoke to ABC 17 News. Jefferson City resident Casey Allen said he and his wife Anita

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is calling on Governor Jay Nixon to grant clemency for Earnest Leap, a man registered as a sex offender amid accusations he molested his son. Representative Jim Neely, R-Cameron, led a media conference Tuesday morning, during which he and his colleagues presented a letter to be delivered to Nixon’s

The Columbia Hospitality Association, which represents a majority of Columbia’s 36 hotels, motels and bed and breakfast venues in the city, announced Tuesday it will not support a 1 percent lodging tax increase unless the city comes forward with a specific financial plan on how it will use the money for business operations. They said

A child is recovering after getting hurt on a fence surrounding the Governor’s mansion in Jefferson City. She was on a school tour at the time. Shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters and medics responded to the mansion and found the child impaled on the fence. After making sure the child was stable, rescuers cut

COLUMBIA, Mo-University of Missouri graduate assistant students plan to sue the University over a union vote. They decided to unionize three weeks ago, but MU administrators are refusing to recognize the vote. In the letter that lawyers for the university sent denying the union, pointed out they consider the grad assistants students and not employees.

A former clerk in Boone County has pleaded guilty to federal charges related to her leaking information about a drug-trafficking investigation. Christin Sledd pleaded guilty to using a telephone to facilitate a drug-trafficking conspiracy. Ryan Kee, the father of Sledd’s child, pleaded guilty today to the same charge. According to prosecutors, while Sledd worked in

Starting next year, baseball and tennis will no longer be offered to student athletes at Lincoln University. The decision to cut the programs comes following a 10-month study of the university’s athletic offerings. It was based on factors like the school’s athletics budget, student-athletes’ experiences, facility needs, and expectations for success. The elimination will affect

Developers gave the Jefferson City Public Schools Board of Education a presentation of what the district would reportedly gain from the proposed tax increment financing (TIF) district Monday. At the school board meeting, Dr. Raman Puri with Puri Group of Enterprises said the school district could gain millions of dollars as a result. In Phase

The Columbia Public School Board voted to approve pay raises for employees Monday night. This marks the first time in eight years teachers have gotten a raise in base pay.It has been one of the big collective bargaining parts between teachers and CPS. The Board of Education also got a breakdown of how CPS wants