COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Despite an 8% increase in revenue last school year, MU Athletics still required more than $25 million in university funding to operate. The athletics department finished the 2024–25 fiscal year with a $9.1 million budget deficit after expenses rose 4%. The shortfall marked a significant improvement from the $18 million deficit recorded
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. The City of Columbia Sewer Utility is proposing to replace a privately maintained sewer system near the intersection of South West Boulevard and West Stewart Road. If approved, the utility would construct a new public sanitary sewer to serve the affected property owners. According to Assistant Utilities Director Tom Ratermann, the project will
Continue Reading
MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ) For nearly seven decades, a pair of grain towers have loomed over Moberly’s downtown skyline, a familiar landmark for anyone driving through the Magic City. By this time next year, those towers are expected to be gone. City officials plan to demolish the long-vacant towers after securing more than $320,000 in federal
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Missouri law enforcement agencies continue to expand their participation in a federal immigration enforcement partnership more than nine months after the state first moved to align itself with President Donald Trump’s directive to broaden cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A 1996 federal law allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Columbia Parks and Recreation voted unanimously to move forward with a new design of the Douglass Park basketball courts on Thursday, following community debate over a proposed name and theme for the $900,000 renovation project. In 2023, the city announced that the courts would honor Willie Cox, a former assistant coach of
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Columbia woman who was charged with 29 counts of animal abuse has now been sued by more than a dozen dog owners from across the United States and abroad. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in Boone County, names Magnum Opus German Shepherds LLC and its owner, Melissa Sanders, 26, and alleges
Continue Reading
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe outlined his legislative priorities for the upcoming fiscal year during Tuesday’s State of the State address, calling for significant budget cuts as Missouri confronts a looming fiscal imbalance. Kehoe’s proposed budget includes about $600 million in cuts to the core operating budget, reducing total spending from $55.1
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and its Office of Childhood are working with federal officials as more than half of the state’s child care providers continue to wait for overdue payments. DESE said in a release Friday it received a request from the federal government late Thursday for a
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Boone County jury found a Fayette woman guilty of murder and other charges in an 8-month-old girl’s death from 2021. Jennifer Johnson, 49, was found guilty on Thursday of felony murder in the second degree and two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child in the April 2021 death
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The second day of the trial of a Fayette woman charged with second-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child in the 2021 death of an 8-month-old girl resumed Tuesday morning. Columbia police arrested Jennifer Johnson in April 2021, after being called to a home in the 1000 block of Elleta
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The trial of a Fayette woman charged with felony murder and endangering the welfare of a child in the 2021 death of an 8-month-old girl began Monday. Columbia police arrested Jennifer Johnson in April 2021, after being called to a home in the 1000 block of Elleta Boulevard in north Columbia. She is accused
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Gov. Mike Kehoe met with Columbia officials on Monday to discuss public safety in the city. Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, City Manager De’Carlon Seewood, and Police Chief Jill Schlude were among those in attendance for the meeting at the governor’s office in the Capitol. According to Kehoe’s office, the meeting had been
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The family of a woman charged with felony murder for the 2021 death of an 8-month-old girl maintains she is innocent. Columbia police arrested Jennifer Johnson in April 2021, after being called to a home in the 1000 block of Elleta Boulevard in north Columbia. She is charged with felony murder in
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Flu cases are rising sharply across Missouri as the state heads into the heart of the winter illness season, with emergency room visits rising nearly 6% according to the latest report from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. From Dec. 14–20, Missouri recorded 146 new influenza-related hospital admissions. Emergency room
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The process of verifying more than 300,000 petition signatures aimed at forcing a statewide vote on Missouri’s newly redrawn congressional map is now underway. The redrawn congressional map — which is backed by President Donald Trump — are designed to shift political control in Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, currently represented by Democratic
Continue Reading
VIENNA, Mo. (KMIZ) A fire that heavily damaged a Vienna residential care facility in August has been ruled accidental, according to a revised fire investigation report that cites security video showing the Vienna police chief discarding a lit cigarette shortly before the blaze began. According to state fire marshal records obtained by ABC 17 News, the
Continue Reading
Editor’s note: A paragraph previously referencing another education organization has been corrected to reflect that the proposal was passed by the Columbia Board of Education. COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Missouri state lawmaker is pursuing legislation aimed at limiting superintendent payouts and protecting taxpayers, building on a proposal originally put forward by Columbia Public Schools. State
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Columbia Public Schools has determined how it will spend some of the $9 million it received from Boone County after a property-tax settlement with Ameren Missouri. The county reached a resolution earlier this year in a long-running dispute before the Missouri State Tax Commission. The agreement resolved litigation over property taxes owed
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The City of Columbia is working on a major update of its building codes, proposing to adopt the 2024 International Building Codes that govern residential and commercial construction, safety, energy efficiency and plumbing standards. The city currently operates under the 2018 codes. On Wednesday, the city’s Community Development department hosted a public
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Hundreds of gold chocolate coins fell from a Columbia firetruck on Tuesday evening for Chabad of MU and Mid-Missouri’s annual Hanukkah menorah lighting outside of Columbia City Hall. However, this year’s celebration carried a bit of extra weight in the wake of a deadly attack at a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia.
Continue Reading