News

Columbia Public Schools saw an increase of 228 students on the first day of the 2019-2020 school year. CPS Community Relations Director Michelle Baumstark said that number is average for the district. “We’ve had some bubbles in certain years, where we’ve had a larger kindergarten class for whatever reason,” Baumstark said. “But every year, roughly

The judge in the trial of a Columbia man accused in an arson-for-hire plot erupted in frustration during cross-examination of a witness by the defense attorney Friday. Judge Steven Ohmer, a visiting judge from St. Louis, is conducting the trial in Boone County. Ohmer scolded Mehrdad Fotoohighiam’s lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, after he played a recording

A Columbia resident could face charges after 51 animals were taken from a residence Wednesday. According to a city Animal Control spokesman, the animals were taken to the Central Missouri Humane Society, which cannot accept anymore cats. The spokesman said animal control was notified about possible animal abuse Aug. 1. A citizen allegedly told animal

A donation of more than $1 million will help support physics and astronomy education at the University of Missouri. University leaders held an event Friday to announce the $1.28 million donation from 1965 MU graduate Ronald J. Boain. The money will go to the Department of Physics and Astronomy to pay for professional development costs,

Democrat Michela Skelton said Thursday that she plans to challenge state Sen. Caleb Rowden in November 2020. In a message posted on her campaign Facebook page, Skelton said Rowden and his Republican colleagues has “launched an all-out assault” on women, working families and small farmers. “Our communities and our children can’t take another four years

Health officials are warning Missourians of a hepatitis A outbreak that MIGHT become worse. Hepatitis A is a viral illness that affects the liver and can cause flu-like symptoms. Officials say more than 400 cases of hepatitis A have been reported statewide. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is urging at-risk population to

FRIDAY: Any rain chances we have today will be confined toward I-44 for the most part. The rest of us will try to move some of this cloud cover out toward this afternoon. Temperatures remain cool for this time of year, only topping out near 80. TONIGHT: Partly cloudy skies will take over as temperatures

The Maries County R-2 School District said all schools are closed Friday because of a water main break. The district posted on Facebook and said, “we apologize for the very short notice.” {“author_name”:”Maries County R2 Schools”,”author_url”:”https://www.facebook.com/MariesCoR2/”,”provider_url”:”https://www.facebook.com”,”provider_name”:”Facebook”,”success”:true,”height”:null,”html”:”&#lt;div id=”fb-root”&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;n&#lt;script async=”1″ defer=”1″ crossorigin=”anonymous” src=”https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v4.0″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;&#lt;div class=”fb-post” data-href=”https://www.facebook.com/MariesCoR2/posts/2232390143553297″ data-width=”552″&#gt;&#lt;blockquote cite=”https://www.facebook.com/MariesCoR2/posts/2232390143553297″ class=”fb-xfbml-parse-ignore”&#gt;&#lt;p&#gt;Due to a water main break all classes at Maries

The city of Columbia promised a new area for service animals to relieve themselves at Columbia Regional Airport following a federal audit over accessibility. The Federal Aviation Administration cited the airport for missing a service animal relief area as required by federal law past TSA security during a 2017 audit. Records obtained by ABC 17

Recovery efforts continue in Eldon, Missouri three months after an EF 3 tornado swept through the city. Chris Reynolds, senior minister at Ninth Street Christian Church, said many residents affected by the tornado are working to repair their homes while other structures remain damaged. “There are parts of town that are coming back together,” Reynolds

A man accused of a 2016 double homicide faces new charges linked to the original case. A grand jury indicted Brandon Rapier on two counts of armed criminal action and one count of aggravated stalking. He already faces two counts of first-degree murder. Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson filed a superseding indictment to review

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit of Camden County that said there has been a lack of oversight and failure to follow policies to ensure efficient use of taxpayer funding in the county government. “Throughout Camden County government, we made recommendations to ensure taxpayer dollars are used effectively and efficiently,” Galloway said. “The

A large portion of Tuesday morning’s Jefferson City Housing Authority meeting centered around the state’s implementation of a legal medical marijuana industry. Because the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development provides the majority of the housing authority’s funding, and the federal government considers marijuana a controlled substance, JCHA leaders suggested bringing their policy

The University of Missouri Police Department has named a student who was found dead in a residence hall Wednesday. MUPD was sent to Excellence Hall at about 4 p.m. Wednesday and found Erik Severson, 18, of Aurora, Illinois, in his dorm room unresponsive, the university said in a news release. An MUPD spokeswoman said Severson

A Jefferson City man was charged on Thursday after police responded to reports of a concerning social media post. Jefferson City police arrested Brian S. Groner, 26, of Jefferson City Wednesday, and he was charged with first-degree terrorist threat. Groner allegedly posted comments on a public page saying he was “Your Next Mass Shooter,” the

The University of Missouri is offering grief counseling after 18-year-old Erik Severson was found unresponsive in his dorm room. Severson was a freshman at the university. The university sent an email to students to tell them grief counselors are available for anyone who may need to talk. Jason Jacob lives in Discovery Hall, which is

TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy and cooler. Lows in the upper 60s. FRIDAY: Partly sunny, low rain chance. Highs in the upper 70s to around 80. EXTENDED: The weekend stays tranquil and pleasant with high pressure to our northeast. This will keep temperatures cooler than average by a few degrees with highs in the low 80s. Rain

Two prosecution witnesses faced intense scrutiny Thursday in the trial of a Columbia businessman accused or orchestrating an arson-for-hire plot. Merhdad Fotoohighiam’s defense lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, attacked the credibility of a woman whose boyfriend was also charged in the plot and a man who said Fotoohighiam approached him about setting the fire. Fotoohighiam is charged

The amount of water being released into the lower Missouri River will remain high at least into September. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday that water releases from Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will remain at current levels of 70,000 cubic feet per second. The Corps says it is still

A Howard County school district will pay $80,000 to settle claims in a lawsuit over the death of a former student who was allegedly bullied. The Glasgow School District released the terms of the settlement with Angela Suttner on Wednesday after a school board meeting. Suttner’s son, Kenneth, killed himself in 2016. Family members say