COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Southern Boone Fire Protection District has announced its next fire chief. M. Jay Niemeyer was announced as the Fire Chief for Southern Boone Fire on Monday over social media. Niemeyer is replacing Jim Bullard, who retired in April after 47 years of service. The new chief has been a firefighter since
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A former pro-baseball player from Columbia was denied a new trial at his sentencing hearing on Monday. Blake Tekotte, 38, was found guilty by a jury in July of second-degree domestic assault and kidnapping. The judge sentenced him to 10 years in the Department of Corrections, but he could have the possibility
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The crash location has been corrected. COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Two Hallsville residents were declared dead at the scene of a crash with a tractor-trailer Saturday in Monroe County. A 46-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman were killed when their Ford Escape didn’t yield to the tractor-trailer on Highway 154 west of Perry, according
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on Tuesday announced the launch of a statewide telehealth network designed to help hospitals that do not have Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners available onsite. The department released training for the Sexual Assault Forensic Exams via Telehealth Network in August 2024 to support hospital staff across the state. Hospitals have until Jan.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The window for bids from companies to clear out homeless camps around the City of Columbia closed on Friday. Documents showed the city was looking for bids totaling fewer than $50,000. City spokesperson Sydney Olsen said the contractors would be on standby for when the city needs them. The contract would start
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A now-former Centralia police officer has been charged with seven felonies after he is accused of assaulting a woman over the course of several months. Curtis Higby, of Mexico, Missouri, was charged on Thursday with two counts of first-degree domestic assault, a count of armed criminal action, tampering with evidence, third-degree domestic
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A nurse practitioner was indicted by a grand jury on Friday and is now facing more felony charges. Michael James Lewis, 31, of Ashland, was charged on Friday with five counts of child porn possession, a count of second-degree domestic assault, third-degree domestic assault, tampering with evidence and tampering with a witness.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Boonville woman charged with incest in Benton County was arrested Thursday in Boone County. Troopers arrested Kimberly D. Schnieders, 35, on a warrant for statutory sodomy, child endangerment involving sexual conduct and incest on Thursday afternoon, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol online arrest report. Charges were filed against Schnieders
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A man charged with manslaughter has settled with the family of a woman who was killed in a crash in February 2024. Court documents filed on Thursday show Matthew Shilling settled with the family of Christina Mayfield for $25,000 in her death. Shilling is currently facing criminal charges in Boone County, including
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Columbia Public Schools is adapting to the evolution of artificial intelligence and its use throughout the district. CPS spokesperson Michelle Baumstark said the district has a group working to learn more about various aspects of AI. This effort is being led by Beth Winton under the direction of Adam Taylor, the district’s
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The City of Columbia’s Office of Violence Prevention is considering adding two “community navigation liaisons” to help defuse problems on the city’s public transit. “What this program does is it puts individuals on the transit lines with the driver to de-escalate and to actually navigate folks to services so that they’re not,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Kansas City man was charged in Boone County after he allegedly led law enforcement on a high-speed chase last month on Interstate 70. Beau Barrera was charged in Boone County with first-degree attempted assault and aggravated fleeing. A warrant was ordered and no bond was set. He was charged in Montgomery
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Prosecutors are seeking to amend a charge for a man who is scheduled to go to trial next month for his alleged role in a shooting that occurred in December outside of a Boone County bar. Steven Jones, 45, of Columbia, is charged with illegal gun possession and is being held at
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) President Donald Trump announced Monday he wants to change the shape of elections in the United States and eliminate mail-in voting and voting machines. In a post on Truth Social the president said he would “lead a movement” to get rid of mail-in ballots, and get rid of voting machines. Trump made
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Codefendants Samarion Robins, 20, and Oscar Ashford Jr., 21, were denied a bond reduction by a Boone County judge on Monday. Their Sept. 8 trial date was also pushed to Nov.18. The trial was pushed back after Judge Jeff Harris revealed that prosecutors handed more than 900 pages of discovery to the
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) K-12 students were leaving the Armory Sports and Recreation Center and Cosmo Park with backpacks, sharp pencils, and even sharper hairstyles Sunday after two local Columbia businesses hosted two back-to-school events. This year marked the 5th annual Renz Blendz Barbershop event at the rec center and the first-ever Broadway Hair Company event
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BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ) Four people – three of which were children – were injured in a crash on Friday night on Highway 124 between Hallsville and Centralia, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report published on Saturday. The report says a 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee – driven by a 42-year-old Jefferson City
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Two motorcyclists were hurt Friday morning when they hit a deer, one each in Boone and Cole counties. A person who crashed in the 4800 block of Route M in Cole County as flown to University Hospital at about 5:30 a.m. Friday, said Cole County EMS chief Eric Hoy. The motorcyclist had
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Prosecutors have dropped a murder case against one of the four teen suspects in another teen’s Columbia killing. Boone County prosecutor Roger Johnson told ABC 17 News that the state dropped the case against 19-year-old Tavan Williams-Patrick. Johnson said prosecutors plan to refile charges later. Johnson declined to comment on why the
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A registered sex offender has been charged with a felony after he allegedly kept child pornography on his cellphone that was generated by artificial intelligence. Charles Hooton, 63, of Columbia, was charged with possessing child porn. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. An initial court appearance was
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