News

Three men pleaded guilty before a federal judge over the last week to conspiring in heroin trafficking in Columbia. 34-year-old Toney Antwane Jones, 31-year-old Gregory Lamont Townsend, and 36-year-old Terrell Deandre Williams all appeared in court for the same charge. Jones and Townsend are both from Columbia; and Williams from St. Louis. According to court

University of Missouri students are helping others to feel safe wherever they are. The app you download on your phone is called Safe Trek. “It’s kind of a bridge between doing nothing and calling 911,” said Nick Droege, Co-Owner and Chief Operating Officer of Safe Trek. Droege and four other University of Missouri students created

The Cole County sheriff says low pay is making it hard to keep deputies. On Tuesday, Sheriff Greg White and the Cole County Commission applied for a grant that would give county deputies an extra $200 a month. The Deputy Sheriff Salary Supplementation Fund Grant was created in 2008 as a way to increase salaries

The Columbia Police Department had one person in custody Tuesday afternoon for analleged kidnapping, but that man has since been released. Officers responded to a kidnapping call shortly before 9 a.m. The female caller told dispatchers her female friend was taken by a man they knewfrom the Columbia Mall and was headed east on I-70.

A new deal could keep the city of Columbia out of the courtroom over downtown development. The Opus Group agreed to withdraw their threat of a lawsuit against the city if city council votes to rescind the current development agreement with the company and instead approve a new agreement. First Ward councilwoman Ginny Chadwick is

A Rolla man pleaded guilty to having heroin in Phelps County Court Monday. Dennis Elms was charged with felony possession with intent to distribute heroinand was sentenced to 15 years in state prison. Since Elms has prior drug convictions, he is not eligible for probation or parole. Elms was arrested for the charge in April

The Capital Mall in Jefferson City is monitoring a t-shirt shop after several complaints were received, stating the shirts were too vulgar. After viewers contacted ABC 17, Daniel Winn went to the mall and found the shirts were just feet from a children’s train that tours the mall. Mall management has acted and asked the

Kim Anderson was set to begin a long-desired tenure as the University of Missouri’s head men’s basketball coach on Tuesday. Anderson grew up not far away, in Sedalia. He played basketball for four years as number 32 on the Smith-Cotton High School basketball squad. While there, Anderson was an all-American and ABC 17 News learned

As of Monday the Mid-Missouri Red Cross chapter is waiting to send volunteers to the Arkansas area. The local Arkansas chapter is providing care to those affected with the help of the national American Red Cross. “What we try to do when we have a local disaster like we do there is for that chapter

The University of Missouri announced Monday that former University of Central Missouri head basketball coach Kim Anderson will become Mizzou’s 18th men’s basketball coach. Anderson is coming off a 30-5 record with the University of Central Missouri Mules and the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship. “We are pleased and excited to have Kim Anderson

In an effort to make students and the community safer, the Eldon R-1 School District will break ground on a storm shelter beginning at the end of May. “We’ve been in the process for the last two or three years, writing the grant with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and we were notified last January

A t-shirt kiosk at the Capital Mall got some unwanted attention after mall customers started complaining to management and writing to ABC 17 News. The shirts had explicit gestures, including references to drugs and sex. Customers were upset because the kiosk was just feet from a children’s train. We talked to Capital Mall management and

Fulton Police are still investigating a shooting that took place on Saturday night around 8:00 p.m. They said they believe the incident was isolated and should not pose anymore threat of violence. Charles Williams said he has lived across the street from Carver Park for over five years. Williams takes his grandchildren to Carver Park

Rolla police say there is an especially dangerous batch of heroin circulating in the city. They believe this batch is behind at least one death and six overdoses. Police say the town has around 200 overdoses a year from heroin and the problem has gotten worse in the past six years. Authorities say that’s the

A Morgan County man is sitting in jail after police arrest him for child molestation. Police took 42-year-old James Varner into custody earlier this month. Court documents say he inappropriately touched a 13-year-old girl on several occasions beginning last July. When asked if the victim’s statement was true during his interrogation, Varner said in court

University of Missouri police issued an alert Saturday night after a female student reported being inappropriately touched by an older man on the quad. On Monday authorities identified the suspect as Khaled Fathy Mahmoud Salem Farag. According to the Clery release, the girl and a friend were walking between The Residence on the Quad and

A Springfield man is in the hospital after an SUV jumped a guard rail on the Grand Glaize Bridge and rolled into the water. On Monday investigators said the victim is Adam Marquart, 23, who remains in critical condition. Officers on the scene found Marquart laying unresponsive along the bank of Lake of the Ozarks.

ABC 17 News has confirmed a flight is scheduled from Warrensburg to Columbia Regional Airport Monday afternoon, at the same time the University of Missouri board of curators meet behind closed doors. According to FlightAware, the plane leaves Warrensburg at 12:30 p.m. Monday, arriving just after 1 p.m. Former Tiger player and assistant coach Kim

Cierra Gaytan-Leach is a Southern California girl who found a home in Mid-Missouri. “I’m a big country fan, and I like that whole kind of lifestyle,” the senior says of the area. “So I just really enjoy it.” Gaytan-Leach closed out her Missouri career with a second-team all-SEC honor. She helped the Tigers defeat Arkansas

ABC 17s Sports Director Austin Kim talks with Power Mizzou’s Gabe DeArmond about the search for a new Mizzou men’s head basketball coach and the challenges the position brings.