News

Another University of Missouri fraternity chapter has been closed indefinitely.

Delta Sigma Phi Foundation executive director Phillip Rodriguez said in an email that the decision stemmed from “a pattern of behavior that goes against the values of our fraternity.” The MU Student Conduct Committee found that the fraternity had violated campus policy. University spokeswoman Sara Diedrich said the committee recommended that the chapter lose recognition for a minimum of three years.

Members of the Missouri House are bringing new regulations to the legislative table to control religious boarding schools.

“We have a number of our members that are very interested in filing legislation, leadership in the House has been very supportive of us taking action, and I believe it might be one of the first bills passed next year,” Rep. Sheila Solon, R-St. Joseph, said.

Officials are discussing canceling all but the mot urgent medical procedures and building a field hospital as the coronavirus surges in Missouri.

Dr. Alex Garza, the chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said on Friday that projections show the region’s hospitals maxing out intensive care units in a matter of days, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Garza said the task force is working with the state to determine what assistance will be necessary. Springfield area hospitals also report being overwhelmed.

NEW MADRID, Mo. (AP) — Three former officials of a small southeast Missouri town are facing felony charges after a state audit found more than $115,000 in fraudulent purchases and payments. The investigation in Parma drew attention after records sought for the audit were destroyed in two suspicious fires. Former Parma Mayor Tyus Byrd, former city clerk Helen Jean Frye, and David Thatch, a former water supervisor, were charged this week.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A suburban and rural county near St. Louis is requiring face masks. Franklin County's mask order takes effect Friday and expires Dec. 20. The mandate is notable for what Presiding Commissioner Tim Brinker described as “freedom-preserving” Franklin County. The area trends conservative. Local leaders had resisted requiring face masks for months. That changed after Republican Gov. Mike Parson's administration issued a public health warning in response to the recent exponential rise in Missouri coronavirus cases.

The City of Columbia Housing Programs Division is offering funds to nonprofits in order to help residents make housing and living payments during COVID-19. With nearly $740,000 awarded to Columbia through the CARES Act, the city went to residents in a survey to help determine the priorities for the Community Development Block Grant funding. Randy Cole, the manager of the Columbia Housing Programs Division, said the survey’s top three responses included rent payments, food security and homelessness.

The City of Columbia announced on November 20th that utility customers now have the option of paying their bills at Walmart.

According to a press release, the new option allows anyone to pay their bill at any participating Walmart in the country.

From Walmart, the bill will reach the city’s utility billing system in less than thirty minutes.

City of Columbia Treasurer Chelsea Miller said that this another step in providing more options for people to pay their utility bills.

The UM System Board of Curators unanimously approved a new $232 million hospital facility for Women’s and Children’s Hospital during its Thursday meeting.

The board also elected new leadership for the coming year and reviewed the system’s new governance structure.

The new facility is a key part of MU Health Care’s three-phase process to consolidate operations on the existing University Hospital campus, maximize efficiency and increase total capacity for the hospitals.

The Columbia Board of Education focused on three things at its Thursday work session: grades, special education and the district’s COVID-19 response.

Jennifer Rukstad, assistant superintendent for secondary education, presented data on grades for middle and high school students.

“We are up in D’s and F’s, which we expected,” Rukstad said.

Two people over the age of 80 died from COVID-19 Thursday, according to Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services Department.

There have been a total of 23 deaths from COVID-19 in Boone County.

The county also recorded 212 new cases Thursday, bringing the total of active cases to 1,085. There have been 8,923 cases in the county to date.

SEDALIA, Mo. (AP) — A west-central Missouri sheriff's department that was criticized for not having body cameras after a deputy fatally shot a woman is now equipped with the new technology. The Pettis County Sheriff's office has received 23 body cameras and accessories for its deputies to use. The county commission purchased the equipment after a deputy fatally shot 25-year-old Hannah Fizer in June in Sedalia. There was no body or dash camera video available from the shooting and it was revealed that the previous equipment used by the department hadn't worked for three years.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — More than half of bankers surveyed in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states are projecting a drop in holiday retail sales this year from last year as the coronavirus pandemic worsens across the country. The Rural Mainstreet Survey's overall index fell to 46.8 in November from October’s 53.2. It's the first time since April that the index has fallen, but it remains well ahead of the 35.5 reading in March, when the index bottomed out as the outbreak began. Any score below 50 suggests a shrinking economy, while a score above 50 suggests a growing economy.

Columbia College President Scott Dalrymple will step down from his position Dec. 1, the college announced Wednesday.

Dalrymple, who has served as president since 2014, said he will seek another position as president in the future but cited family as the reason for his resignation and his priority for the coming year.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson says she won't run for another term next year.

Krewson said Wednesday that she made the decision after celebrating her 68th birthday last weekend. Krewson says she wasn’t influenced by racial justice advocates’ calls for her to resign. She came under fire in June after she publicly revealed the names and addresses of anti-police protesters. Krewson is the city's first female mayor. She says she's not endorsing a candidate to replace her yet.

A Saint Louis University study shows mask mandates in St. Louis and St. Louis County slowed the spread of the coronavirus this summer.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday that the study compared St. Louis and St. Louis County infections to neighboring Franklin, St. Charles and Jefferson counties. The study found average daily case growth was 44% less in St. Louis and St. Louis County three weeks after those areas required masks. One of the study's authors is urging Republican Gov. Mike Parson to require masks across the state.

MU Health Care announced it will implement a new restricted-visitor policy for its outpatient clinics beginning Monday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Three Black female former detectives have accused the Kansas City Police Department of discriminating against them because of their race and gender during an internal probe of a unit that investigated sex crimes against children.