The Columbia School Board voted to approve the limitation of public comment at future meetings during its meeting Monday night. The board also approved its 2022-23 COVID-19 plan.

The public comment policy moves the time for speakers from the end to the beginning of the meeting and limits the total time to 30 minutes. The Board of Education voted 5-2 to pass the policy.

The public comment policy will become effective at the next CPS Board meeting on Monday, Oct. 10.

A school bus operating for Jefferson City High School crashed through a parking lot Monday afternoon, resulting in nine injured students.

According to a crash report from Jefferson City police, around 2:12 p.m., the driver parked the bus near the school entrance and went inside. When students began boarding without the driver present, the bus began rolling backward downhill. Police stated the cause of this rolling is currently unknown. 

The team's game, originally scheduled for Monday night, has been indefinitely delayed due to the incident. 

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Have the latest local news delivered every morning to start your day informed.

One year after he was last seen, the family of David "DJ" Bowers prays for his return.

Bowers, 19, was last seen Sept. 12 of 2021. The details of his story since then have been riddled with challenges, according to his mother, Chyenne Noriega.

Bowers went missing days before a scheduled court appearance. He was charged in June with a felony count of stealing a firearm, and two misdemeanor counts of drug and drug paraphernalia possession, according to online court records.

Staff shortages in the classroom have forced the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to reduce the education requirements for substitute teachers.  

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education filed an emergency rule on Aug. 30 that reduces the number of required college credit hours for substitute teachers from 60 to 36. 

The rule will go into effect on Wednesday. It comes in response to the steadily declining number of teaching candidates, a trend that DESE says began over six years ago and was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 The old U.S. Bank building located on East Broadway in Columbia was demolished over the weekend to make way for a new multi-use building. The plan is for the building to have retail space on the bottom floor with five levels of residential space above. 

The City of Columbia hopes the commotion is worth it when a new multi-story building is built in the space. 

The Boone County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is increasing its commitment to outreach programs. Since last September, Boone County OEM has expanded its social media outreach and has increased their community events by one third.  

These outreach programs allow emergency services experts to get involved with various community groups in order to educate and inform people about preparing and staying safe during an emergency situation. 

Boone County residents can pick up a free informational emergency kit at the Boone County Emergency Communications Center. The kit has multiple informational forms about emergency preparedness as well as helpful tools such as a portable battery for charging phones and an emergency kit checklist.

Warmer days are ahead of us and it will feel more like summer outdoors, not like the autumn tease we just experienced.

There will be plenty of sunshine once again with daytime highs in the middle 80s this afternoon, nearly 5+ degrees warmer than yesterday due to a developing southerly breeze. 

Temps will generally become much warmer than normal for the remainder of the week. This warming pattern is in part to the air mass responsible for record heat that was building out west over the last week. That air mass is now becoming displaced here leading to highs in the upper 80s through Friday. 

To report an error or typo, email news@komu.com.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.