News

A Higbee elementary school teacher could be facing charges after she was arrested this week for assault. ABC 17 News learned through the school’s website and parents that 40-year-old Deborah Walker is a 4th grade teacher. Sources told ABC 17 News Walker was arrested after ramming her car into the car of a 20-year-old Higbee

Right now, Missouri is one of 44 states using the common core standards to prepare students for college and careers. The federal government doesn’t require the standards, governors and state education leaders pushed their creation. But in the past few years common core has become controversial across the u.s., just in the last year here

The University of Missouri will ask for proposals from private developers who would partner with the university to build and operate a future child care facility on campus. The announcement follows a report from a task force created to examine the need for child care on campus. The main supporters of university child care are

The Republican-led Missouri Legislature has passed legislation that would task groups of parents and educators with writing new benchmarks for student achievement. The measure sent to Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday could pave the way for Missouri to become the second state to ditch the Common Core Standards, which have been adopted by more

One person died following a two-vehicle accident in Boone County. The accident happened at around 6:40 a.m. Thursday near the intersection of Route B and Oakland Church Road north of Columbia. Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers on scene told ABC 17 News a Ford Mustang was driving northbound on Route B and hit a Toyota

A fire damaged a home in Jefferson City Wednesday evening, forcing the family living there to find a place to stay for the night. The home is on East High Street; the cause of the fire and extent of the damage are unknown. Red Cross volunteers helped the family of six get food and find

Studying and drug abuse are not often two things one would automatically link together. However, with final exams wrapping up this week, some University of Missouri students have confessed to ABC 17 News that drugs help them study. The biggest ones are drugs like Adderall that are not even prescribed to them. Several students admitted

One local advocacy group pleaded this week for Gov. Jay Nixon to maintain first-of-its-kind funding for human trafficking training for state investigators. The funds were approved as part of House Bill 2008, the Department of Public Safety’s appropriations bill. Section 8.045 funded $100,000 for training law enforcement officials to identify human trafficking victims and situations.

From Spain to the plains of Mid-Missouri, Emilio Cuartero finds a home in the middle of America. “When I landed, I thought it was just going to be cows, corn fields, wheat fields,” the Spaniard recalls about his first trip to Columbia. The Tigers host an NCAA regional starting this Thursday. No. 8 seed Missouri

Columbia police said Wednesday they are still investigating a string of campus area crimes targeting college-age women involving sexual assaults and burglaries in the last year. 36-year-old Zane Black, the suspect in a nearly four hour manhunt in Columbia Friday and who was found dead of an apparent suicide on campus Saturday is being looked

Crews battled a fire at the Econo Lodge in Jefferson City Wednesday evening. The motel is on Jefferson Street off of Highway 54 near Ellis Boulevard. The Jefferson City Fire Department got a call at around 4:30 Wednesday afternoon, and theybelieve the fire was accidental. One unit was severely damaged and 4 others also had

On Tuesday, Governor Nixon allowed a new criminal code bill to become law without his signature. Nixon said drafting errors on the revised criminal code need to be fixed before it passes. He said he shares the same concerns raised by law enforcement and victims’ advocates regarding the errors. Representative Chris Kelly said when there

The University of Missouri System spent more than $100,000 on an investigation into a campus sexual assault. ABC 17 News submitted a sunshine request for the University’s contract with the law firm they hired in February to determine if they school appropriately handled allegations of a sexual assault from a former student. In 2011, MU

The Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce may continue to get its contract renewed with the Cole County Commission as early as next week. The Chamber met with the Commission Wednesday morning behind closed doors, but after the meeting, both groups said they reached an understanding. The Commission was supposed to vote to approve the

New numbers were released Wednesday showing dog attacks are not decreasing in the United States, even though fewer people have dogs. ABC 17 News obtained the report from State Farm Insurance ranking Missouri 14th in the nation for dog bites. That’s the highest ranking the state has ever had. The agency handled 88 claims in

Sedalia Police and K9 Unit searched a home early Wednesday morning at 409 North Grand Avenue to find methamphetamine, marijuana, and controlled prescription drugs. Police detained 6 adults upon entry to the home, where they found packaging supplies for drug sales and drug-related paraphernalia. K9 dogs did a sniff-test to find the drugs, and further

A Columbia man charged with second degree murder in the death of an 8-month-old baby girl waived his right to appear in court Wednesday. Cody Baker was arrested on February 28th after his girlfriend’s baby daughter was found unresponsive and later died at the hospital. Baker’s girlfriend, Anna Steele, is charged with second degree murder

On Tuesday, former Mizzou Tigers Michael Sam and EJ Gaines, along with their 2014 NFL Draft Class, spoke with media for the first time after being drafted by the St. Louis Rams.

36-year-old Calvin Hutson appeared in Cole County Court Wednesday morning for a pretrial hearing regarding the death of Andre Hudson in December 2012. Hutson is charged with second degree murder, first degree robbery, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Hutson is accused of killing Andre Hudson near W. Schroeder Way in Jefferson

Boone County deputies are investigating a stabbing that happened early Wednesday morning. Around 4:30 a.m. deputies and medics were called out to the 10,000 block of I-70 Drive Northeast for a report of a disturbance. Detectives say it was a fight and stabbing between a father and stepson. They are still working on the report