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 Rep. John Martin (R-Boone County) was in attendance for a November Columbia Board of Education meeting when he first heard that it was a legislative
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A convicted sex offender on Monday pleaded guilty to keeping artificially generated child pornography on his cellphone. Charles Hooton, 64, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to four counts of child porn possession and one count of failing to register as a sex offender. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. The probable
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) David Williams, who spent more than three decades with the Jefferson City Police Department and recently retired as a captain, was appointed by Gov. Mike Kehoe to the Board of Probation and Parole, according to a Friday press release from Kehoe’s office. JCPD announced Williams’ retirement in a public social media post
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) On Friday, Good Morning America will be stopping in St. Louis for its “50 States in 50 Weeks” tour, leading up to the 250th birthday of the United States of America. Each week, a GMA anchor or correspondent will visit a new state, following the order in which they joined the United
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Former Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin filed to form a campaign committee on Tuesday for a potential 2026 state house run. Tergin served two terms as Jefferson City’s mayor from 2015-23 and was unable to run again because of the city’s term-limit rules. Filings with the Missouri Ethics Commission show she filed
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Missouri’s general revenue collection is expected to drop in fiscal 2026 compared to the previous year, according to a revenue estimate released by Gov. Mike Kehoe’s office on Wednesday. The estimate projects a 2.1% decrease in general revenue collection compared to the previous fiscal year. Missouri’s current fiscal year ends June 30.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The state is asking a federal judge to reopen a dismissed redistricting lawsuit after dueling arguments made in public about when a new, legislature-approved congressional map takes effect. The state says the map is in effect now while Secretary of State Denny Hoskins verifies the referendum to put the map on the
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday that aims to make the National Churchill Museum in Fulton a national landmark. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) made the announcement of the bill’s passage in a post on X. The museum is located on Westminster College’s campus, which was the site of Churchill’s
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) EDITOR’S NOTE: AI was used for background in researching this story. The Missouri Department of Conservation is pausing its chronic Wasting Disease management efforts to find a more sustainable option. The disease was detected in the state in 2010, and is reportedly on the rise but relatively low, with around 1% of
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The ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Team has issued a Weather Alert Day for dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills in the negatives between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
This weather can cause symptoms and signs of frostbite to appear in less than 30 minutes. The extra factor of wind can make the process set in even faster.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) According to a Missouri Hospital Association report, Missouri hospitals saw a 4% drop in vacancies in 2024; however, overall turnover has remained steady. 2025_WF_Report (1)Download Based on 2024 data, the report found that the overall turnover rate for Missouri hospitals has been above pre-pandemic levels at 22.2%, compared to 21.5% in 2020.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The state is working with stakeholders to figure out how to implement restrictions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Missouri Department of Social Services said Friday. The state was approved to adjust the SNAP program to exclude items like sodas, candy, packaged and prepared desserts and juice with less than 50%
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The judge in a lawsuit surrounding Missouri’s new redistricting proposal has opted to not rule on the case until collected signatures are verified. Cole County Judge Christopher Limbaugh wrote in a Friday decision that People Not Politicians had submitted more than 300,000 signatures to Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to certify in
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A woman was arrested and charged after a trooper allegedly found 221 pounds of marijuana in her vehicle during a Thursday traffic stop on Interstate 70 in Montgomery County. Briana Roberts, of Spanaway, Washington, was charged on Friday with first-degree drug trafficking and endangering the welfare of a child. She is being
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Conservative political group Americans for Prosperity told ABC 17 News this week that Gov. Mike Kehoe is working with them on a plan that would phase out Missouri’s income tax. Kehoe has been a vocal supporter of the idea for some time, telling ABC 17 shortly after his election that he supports getting rid of
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EDITOR’S NOTE: A statistic about income taxes paid by the top 1% of earners has been corrected. COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Gov. Mike Kehoe might be looking to phase out income tax in 2026, but to do that, the state would have to expand the sales tax base to include services, according to conservative group Americans
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Missouri’s new congressional maps are now state law. That is, according to the Missouri attorney general and secretary of state. However, the group fighting the maps says that’s not true, and that the map was suspended from going into effect when they submitted more than 300,000 signatures on a petition to override it. In a
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The USDA said Wednesday that it had approved Missouri’s request for a waiver from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rules, allowing the state to exclude sugary food and drinks from the program. SNAP helps low-income Missourians pay for food. Starting next year, they won’t be able to use SNAP funds to buy prepackaged sweets, candy, soda,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin (R-Shelbina) will partake in a town hall on Wednesday night about artificial intelligence within the state. Zimmer Communications is hosting the event at its Columbia office. The event will consist of O’Laughlin and Tim Marczewski, who is the state’s director of AI and Innovation at
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MO Healthy SNAP Waiver – Oct 22 2025_0Download COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The USDA said Wednesday that it had approved Missouri’s waiver seeking to exclude candy, soda and other junk food from purchase with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding. Missouri was one of six states receiving a waiver Wednesday, including Hawaii, North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia
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