News

A Morgan County man is being held in federal custody without bond for threatening to kill President Obama. 24-year-old Cameron Stout of Stover was federally charged with making multiple threats against Obama. Stout’s case will go to a federal grand jury in Jefferson City. A confidential informant on Friday told a Morgan County Sheriff’s deputy

A Mid-Missouri man accused of five crimes over the span of four months is headed to prison. Joshua Harrington was sentenced to 19 years in jail Monday after pleading guilty to a number of charges. Police think the crime spree might have started with a home invasion robbery off High Oaks Court near Nifong last

Sewer work will close parts of Lafayette Street Wednesday through Thursday. The work will close Lafayette from just north of east Elm Street to east Miller St. from 7:00 Wednesday morning through 9:00 a.m. Thursday. Drivers are encouraged to seek an alternate route and allow a little extra time to get to where they’re headed.

A Jefferson City Correctional inmate accused in another inmate’s death is scheduled to be in court Tuesday. The killing happened at the JCCC last August. Randy Teter is charged with first degree murder in the death of Mark Melton. Court documents said Teter beat Melton, and stomped on his head and throat. Melton was a

The Missouri State Highway Patrol Tuesday released numbers from its latest DWI saturation efforts. Troopers held a checkpoint this past Saturday in Boone Co. Thirty cars were stopped, and two of those drivers received DWIs. There were other various tickets handed out, including 5 for speeding, one for misdemeanor drugs, and a child restraint violation.

In one year, the GOES R Series satellite will be launched. This will help improve forecasts, and help detect severe storms earlier. Here’s how a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite works. It orbits with earth, approximately 22,000 miles above the surface over a fixed point. Currently, GOES satellitescollect data over those fixed points, every 30minutes. This

Boone County emergency management officials said they are testing a new outdoor warning system Tuesday. Officials said the old system caused confusion because all the sirens in the county would sound during the threat of severe weather, no matter where the threat was. “Citizens, for example, in the central part of Columbia said, ‘Well, the

Last summer, straight line winds caused $1 million worth of damage to two schools in Mid-Missouri. Last June, the principal of Prairie Home school got a call saying the roof of a portion of the school blew off and into the parking lot. “I was so surprised when people were sending me texts and pictures

The intensity of thunderstorms over Mid-Missouri can sometimes be underestimated due to a lack of radar coverage in the central part of the state. If you’ve ever been through a severe thunderstorm in Mid-Missouri and watched the ABC 17 Stormtrack weather team when severe weather arrives, you know Doppler radar is a key tool in

Thunderstorms are common in the spring and summer months, and sometimes can turn severe. A storm is considered severe if it is producing winds of 58 mph or greater, 1″ hail or larger, or a tornado. The structure and formation of a storm can give meteorologists insight on what type of severe weather threat will

In Mid-Missouri, we start the transition into warmer temperatures in March. Temperatures tend to be variable during the spring and summer months, however. The average high may be 61, but it isn’t uncommon to see highs anywhere from the low 50s to upper 60s. Temperatures become more consistent in the summer. April and May are

Once a tornado warning is issued, immediate action needs to be taken. Martina Pounds with Boone Co. Emergency Management said, “The main thing is to get down. Get down to the lowest floor.” Pounds said all commercial buildings in Columbia are required to have a designated storm area. If you find yourself at the mall,

The ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather team is here to alert you immediately if dangerous weather is moving into Mid-Missouri. For this reason, it is our policy to briefly interrupt programming for severe thunderstorm warnings so we can give you the latest information. However, if a tornado warning is issued, we will stay on the air

The weather pattern hasn’t changed much in the past year except to the transition from a weak La Nina condition last spring to a weak El-Nino condition this spring. When we talk about an El Nino pattern, we are referring to the shift in the upper level winds due to warmer than normal water in

A safety report for the Columbia Housing Authority revealed concerns about illegal drug use and harassment issues at Paquin Tower. “We suspect some drug sales going on at Paquin Tower so we’re investigating that,” CEO Phil Steinhaus said. Steinhaus said the Tower does have a slightly higher rate than the other Housing Authority properties. “We

Things got out of control Monday after someone tried to burn trash behind their home in Boone Co. Firefighters told ABC 17 about 5 acres are destroyed on Remie Road off Route Z, about 30 minutes northeast of Columbia. Eight crews responded at around 3:15 Monday, and kept flames from reaching the woods. A few

A cold front moves through by early Tuesday morning leaving us with temperatures more like mid-March. A cool breeze will increase from the northeast up to 20 mph early Tuesday as temperatures hover near 50, only climbing to the upper 50s to near 60 during the afternoon. Tuesday night will also be seasonal with low

A fight between two women in Moberly on Sunday ended with one in the hospital and the other under arrest. According to the Moberly Police Department, 23-year-old Angelica Benitez attacked the other woman on Bedford Street, hitting her with a car and stabbing her with a knife. The victim was treated at a hospital and

Officials plan to fix a small sinkhole in central Columbia early Wednesday. On Monday, crews were on scene taking some measurements to get the right materials. They think the stormwater pipe might have failed last week due to rain. The pipe was installed in the late 1960s. The sinkhole is off Nebraska Avenue near Providence

Police have made another arrest in connection with a chase and crash in south Columbia last week. Jamie Chick, 30, was arrested Sunday evening on suspicion of resisting arrest, domestic assault, driving without a license and failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. On Wednesday, March 11, a Boone County sheriff’s deputy reported seeing the