JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) Lincoln University announced the hiring of its first director of the new Security Sciences Institute on Friday. The university hired Adrian S. Petrescu as the SSI director, according to a news release. Petrescu’s role will be to oversee the certificate program and related activities, recruitment and advising students in the programs.
Continue Reading
BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ) Firefighters returned to a house fire early Friday morning after battling the flames throughout the night. Firefighters initially responded to a house fire on Thursday night in northern Boone County, just south of Highway 124, between Harrisburg and Hallsville. The Boone County Fire Protection District was called at 9:30 p.m. to
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Columbia police are still searching for a man seen with 59-year-old George Showalter before he was killed at the Red Roof Inn in 1994. George Showalter, date unknown On April 17, 1994, Columbia Police responded to a call at the Red Roof Inn Motel near Interstate 70 and found Showalter facedown and
Continue Reading
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) The Jefferson City Police Department will add a second community resource officer to enhance support for the city’s homeless population and bolster mental health outreach efforts. Jefferson City’s current community resource officer focuses on mental health outreach and connecting unhoused individuals with available resources. They also work to balance the needs
Continue Reading
NAACP lawsuitDownload COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Missouri NAACP has sued Attorney General Andrew Bailey for failing to include the disparity index, a key racial profiling measure, in the state’s 2023 annual vehicle stops report. The disparity index measures whether officers are stopping minority drivers at a higher rate than white drivers. It is published in
Continue Reading
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) Black drivers were again pulled over at a rate surpassing white drivers in Missouri in 2024, according to an annual report released Thursday. The Attorney General’s Vehicle Stops Report is due on June 1 each year, but was released early with that date falling on a weekend. The report provides data
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A lawsuit filed by an umpire who was accused of attacking a woman and a deputy in 2023 was moved to federal court on Wednesday. Neal Sidebottom, of Versailles, was charged in 2023 with first-degree assault and misdemeanor resisting arrest. The case was transferred last year from Camden County to Moniteau County. A judge was
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A sex offender in Fulton was charged with a plethora of child sex crimes on Thursday. Leslie Lee Rodgers, 65, was charged with two counts of child enticement, seven counts of statutory sodomy of a victim younger than 12 years old, two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of tampering
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Columbia City Clerk’s Office has confirmed that Vera Elwood will appear on the ballot in the Aug. 5 election for the open Ward 2 seat. City Clerk Sheela Amin wrote in an email that her petition – which was submitted last week – was deemed sufficient. She is running against Ken
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Columbia Fire Department will continue doing training exercises on Thursday at the parking garage on Fifth and Walnut in downtown Columbia. During the training, the stairwell on the west side of the garage will be closed to the public, however, all other areas of the garage will be available for parking.
Continue Reading
Elon Musk is done with governing. The tech billionaire said Wednesday that he is stepping down immediately from his role with DOGE, which has made waves with its job cuts and other moves to reduce government spending (critics point out that government spending hasn’t actually gone down). May 30 had long been eyed as an
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A crash in the westbound lane of Interstate 70 led to a lane of traffic becoming blocked on Wednesday night. A viewer at 10:14 p.m. said they saw the crash occur minutes before in the westbound lane and said multiple cars were involved. Boone County Joint Communications sent a notification at 10:17
Continue Reading
EDITOR’S NOTE: The story has been corrected to remove a reference to fighting teens being armed. COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A 16-year-old is in custody on suspicion of taking part in a fight that led to a deadly shooting Tuesday just outside Columbia. The teen suspect and the victim were part of groups that had met
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) More than a month after a tornado destroyed Columbia’s recycling facility, nearby cities are grappling with an influx of recyclables. Columbia’s recycling program has been suspended since the April storm that leveled the city’s facility, forcing the closure of curbside collection and all eight drop-off centers. Curbside pickup is still active, but
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Jackson County Judge Jerri Zhang issued an order vacating her previous rulings that allowed abortions to continue in Missouri. The action withdraws Zhang’s own prior orders and is procedural with the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday that stopped the enforcement of state abortion regulations. The high court ordered Zhang to end
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Several Mid-Missouri law-enforcement agencies are taking part in active-shooter training at the Community R-6 school district until the end of the week, the Audrain County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Wednesday social media post. The post said the training occurred Wednesday and would last until Friday. “Passersby and residents will notice
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Jefferson City man who is currently incarcerated has been charged with several child sex crimes dating back to 2012. Joe Stevens, 39, was charged on Wednesday in Cole County with two counts of first-degree statutory rape, one count of forcible rape, three counts of forcible sodomy, three counts of first-degree child
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Three people were arrested and charged with misdemeanors after refusing to leave an establishment after a bar fight in Morgan County on Sunday. Nicole Patricia Kusgen, 50, of Jefferson City, was charged with first-degree trespassing, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. She posted a $10,000 bond and was release from the Morgan
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Two people charged with first-degree murder in Benton County in a Columbia man’s death appeared in court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty. Michael Birnbaum, 28, and Kayley Birnbaum, 35, both of Springfield, Missouri, are charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. They are being held at the Benton County Jail
Continue Reading
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ended a ruling that stopped the enforcement of state abortion regulations, telling a Jackson County judge to try again. The ruling says that Judge Jerri Zhang applied the wrong legal standard when she approved a preliminary injunction in December 2024 to block the enforcement of state
Continue Reading