Month: July 2018

The state is short 700 correction officers. That’s nearly an 8th of what it would need to be considered ‘fully staffed.’ ABC 17 News talked to officers who work at Tipton Correctional Center who say if an emergency or attack were to happen right now, they’d feel helpless. {“author_url”:”https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI3QjnEpXs_DN63eq5t6l0Q”,”type”:”video”,”provider_url”:”https://www.youtube.com/”,”thumbnail_height”:360,”width”:480,”provider_name”:”YouTube”,”author_name”:”Joe McLean”,”url”:”https://youtu.be/d7gHmYERun0″,”title”:”ABC 17 News Investigates Missouri prison

FRIDAY: A cold front will move through and winds will shift from the west to the northwest at 8-15 mph. However, it will still be hot with high temperatures topping out close to 90. We could see a few isolated storms south of HWY 50 early on Friday morning, but most areas will stay dry.

The city of Columbia Solid Waste Utility continues to experience severe collection staff shortages. According to a press release, the staffing agency that has been providing temporary workers told the city they would no longer be able to provide that service. The city said it is looking into other options to get temporary staff to

A head-on crash in central Columbia is currently blocking an intersection. Two cars hit each other at West Boulevard and Worley Street, according to witnesses on scene. The crash is blocking the intersection. This is a developing story. Stay with ABC 17 News for more details.

With less than a month until the primary elections, several mid-Missouri counties are searching for additional poll workers. According to their respective clerk offices: Boone County is short 27 Republican judges, Callaway needs three, and Cole County is looking for two additional staffers. When fully staffed, Boone employs 365 judges; Cole and Callaway bring in

The Jefferson City Police Department and the Jefferson City Fire Department combined efforts to complete a three-day active shooter training course in Jefferson City. It is the 11th year of this training. The first day of the course started with the involvement of all Cole County police officers, firefighters, and medical personnel. The course trainer,

Missouri House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty’s office confirmed Thursday that the representative is resigning. Her resignation will be effective at 11:59 p.m. Sunday. McCann Beatty represents the Kansas City metro area in the Missouri House of Representatives. She served eight years in the legislature. Her office confirmed she will become the director of the

It’s common knowledge that lightning can be dangerous, but what’s not well known is of the two types of lightning strikes which one is more dangerous. One Callaway County man experienced this firsthand when a tree on his property was struck and bark was blasted several feet in all directions. “It’s hard to imagine the

Residents in the City of Columbia will get another chance to provide input on the proposed Gans Creek cross country course. A public hearing is set for Thursday night at 7 p.m. It follows another public hearing last week. According to the city, the project could serve as the future home of the Mizzou men’s

Authorities arrested a sex offender for being at the City of Belle Fair. According to a post on the Maries County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, deputies and officers with the Belle Police Department arrested Scott G. Birmingham, of Bland, for being a sex offender at the Belle Park during the fair. Authorities said Birmingham was

TONIGHT: Lingering showers and storms are expected until 10 PM with the best chance south of I-70 and west of HWY 63. Any severe threat will dissipate after sunset, with temperatures bottoming out in the lower 70s through the night. Winds will be out of the southwest up to 9 mph. FRIDAY: A cold front

The Mexico Department of Public Safety responded to a tree struck by lightning Thursday morning. The department said it happened around 10:30 a.m. in the 800 block of Garfield Avenue. According to a post on the department’s Facebook page, crews arrived on scene to find the strike had followed the cable lines to a nearby

The Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District announced it received a new $3,000 state grant Thursday morning. According to the fire protection district, the funds come from the Missouri Department of Conservation. The grant matches the fire district’s expenses for wild-land firefighting equipment dollar for dollar. “We are very pleased to receive this support from the

THURSDAY: A strong line of thunderstorms will continue to track through Mid-Missouri as we head into the early afternoon hours. As the line tracks to the southeast it will bring the threat for damaging winds and quarter size hail. Frequent lightning is also a main threat with any storms across the region. As the storms

More funding would allow the state to improve roadways and keep drivers safe, said MODOT’s Mike Belt. “We are having more and more crashes. More and more fatalities on our roadways and the more we can do, the programs we can put out there to help keep motorists in the lanes and keep them safe,”

THURSDAY: Scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely into the morning hours, mainly along and north of I-70. Any storms will gradually shift to the southeast through the day, as an associated low pressure system tracks to our north. Any storms that form through today could bring the threat for damaging winds and large hail. Despite

UPDATE: According to Boone County Assistant Prosecutor Roger Johnson, Brill claimed he was sleep deprived when he crashed into the school bus. “Mr. Brill indicated he had been working and had worked a 16 hour shift and was on his way home from that shift at the time of the crash,” said Johnson. “He also

ABC 17 News is monitoring attendance at the Boone County Fair, two years after the fair moved to Sturgeon. The fair had a relatively low turnout in 2016, its first year in Sturgeon, followed by an even smaller turnout in 2017. President Jeff Cook previously told ABC 17 News about 4,500 people came to the

The Columbia Fire Department is on pace to spend more on overtime this fiscal year than it did last year. Records obtained by ABC 17 News show that the department was the only one of the four departments that spent the most on employee OT — fire, police, utilities and Public Works — on pace

MoDOT workers barely avoided a serious crash with a semi-truck while fixing a pothole on Route 54 in Jefferson City, according to the Central MoDOT District Facebook page. The workers suffered “only minor injuries” after another MoDOT driver used his car horn to warn them of the oncoming vehicle. “Those workers may have been seriously