COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A discrimination lawsuit filed by the former warden of Jefferson City Correctional Center provides details about the workings of the facility, including when multiple inmates died by homicide. The lawsuit filed by Doris Falkenrath, the warden at JCCC from April 2021 until June 2024, claims that she was discriminated against for her
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Starting in early September, Highway 50 over Vetter Lane in Jefferson City will be narrowed a crews work on the bridge for several months. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, starting Sept. 8, construction crews will start to narrow Highway 50 over Vetter Lane to one lane in each direction. Traffic
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Cole County judge heard several motions on Ryan Ferguson’s historic verdict against Travelers Insurance Tuesday morning. Both sides are asking for adjustments to the final dollar amount that Ferguson will receive. A Cole County jury sided with Ferguson and six former Columbia police detectives in November in their lawsuit against Travelers Insurance.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) Cole County Judge Brian Stumpe on Monday denied the temporary restraining order the Missouri National Education Association sought against House Bill 12, which would give over $51 million to the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program for families to use on private school tuition. The MOScholars program will give families of children
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COLUMBIA, MO. (KMIZ) A 20-year-old man has been indicted by a Cole County grand jury on child sex crimes. Charles Yeager Jr. of Holts Summit was indicted on counts of first-degree sexual abuse and fourth-degree child molestation. Court documents state Yeager had sex with a minor between June and October 2024. Documents also state he has a
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The ramp from Center Street in Holts Summit to eastbound Highway 54 will be closed Monday, according to a Thursday press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation. The ramp will be closed for resurfacing from 7 a.m.-4 p.m., the release says. Drivers must use an alternate route and all work is
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) Cole County deputies on Wednesday took part in an active-shooter training session at Lincoln University, giving deputies a realistic scenario to prepare for the worst. Inside an empty Perry Hall, about a dozen deputies practiced their response. “So the training is about the response to an active shooter, we try to
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Someone was flown to University Hospital after they were in an accident in Cole County, according to a Tuesday press release from the Cole County Fire Protection District. The release says crews responded to the St. Thomas crash at 5:32 p.m. One vehicle was on its side in the middle of the
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct information about the Puri Group’s purchase of the property. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) Nearly a decade after its closure, the Truman Hotel is coming down. Puri Group Enterprises, the building’s owner, said Tuesday that criticism from the community over the deteriorating building was the motivation behind
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Columbia man was charged with a dozen felonies in Cole County after a chase in Jefferson City allegedly led to him hitting an officer’s patrol vehicle. Travion Reams, 32, of Columbia, was charged with aggravated fleeing, six counts of armed criminal action, three counts of second-degree assault, one count of first-degree
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Cole County’s top prosecutor will not accept criminal cases submitted by a deputy who recently pleaded guilty to a pair of misdemeanors. Prosecutor Locke Thompson wrote a letter to Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler saying he would not take cases submitted by Mercy Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty last week to reckless driving
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) Cole County Emergency Services is encountering “unexpected challenges” in adding a new Safe Haven Baby Box to its Adams Street location. Cole County EMS Chief Eric Hoy said building architects determined the location they want to put the box needs modifications. “The installation documents from Safe Haven were provided to the
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A woman accused of killing a 4-year-old boy in 2018 has been deemed competent to stand trial. Quatavia Givens, 33, was charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and abandoning a corpse in relation to the death of 4-year-old Darnell Gray in 2018. She is listed on the
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The Cole County Commission signed a contract Tuesday to have a salary study done for the county’s more than 350 full-time employees.
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A Columbia man who was released from federal custody this summer after his sentence was commuted by then-President Joe Biden is in the Cole County Jail.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) A Jefferson City businessman is the fourth Republican to officially declare for the Sixth Senate District race next year. Jake Vogel, president of Jefferson City Coca-Cola, wrote in a social media post Monday that he would seek the seat currently held by term-limited Republican Mike Bernsketter. The Sixth Senate District covers
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A court date has been scheduled in Ryan Ferguson’s civil case for later this month. A Cole County jury sided with Ferguson and six former Columbia police detectives in November in their lawsuit against Travelers Insurance. They claimed Travelers refused to pay out the remaining $2.9 million of a more than $11 million
Continue Reading JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) A state psychologist testified Friday that a woman charged with murdering a 4-year-old boy in Jefferson City in 2018 is mentally competent to go to trial. Tiffany Harris, a forensic examiner and senior psychologist for the Missouri Department of Mental Health, testified during a hearing in the Cole County Courthouse that
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Cole County deputy pleaded guilty on Friday to a pair of misdemeanors related to a December 2023 crash that left a driver with serious injuries. Mercy Gonzalez, of Jefferson City, pleaded guilty to reckless driving and failing to obey a traffic control device. She was sentenced to two years of unsupervised
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The former head cook of the Jefferson City Boys and Girls Club has been charged with a child sex crime in Cole County. Scott Minor, 45, of Jefferson City was charged on Thursday with child enticement. He is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond. A court date has not
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