• Extra Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers are patrolling roads and lakes this Fourth of July holiday weekend. Every available trooper is joining Operation C.A.R.E. to stop speeding and impaired driving. Officers said they are targeting Boone County and the Lake of the Ozarks.
• A man from Columbia is behind bars without bond after a high-speed motorcycle chase Wednesday. A Boone County deputy spotted 39-year-old Joseph D. Richards riding with expired tags. Richards fled, hitting speeds of 90 miles per hour before a highway patrol trooper immobilized his bike. Police arrested Richards and found 15 grams of methamphetamine in his pockets.
• Columbia city staff and council members will discuss a proposed one cent sales tax increase for public safety at several scheduled town hall meetings that begin July 9 at various locations across the city. Columbia residents will vote on the tax during the Aug. 4 election.
• The former Turning Point day center for the homeless re-opened with a new name this week at its new location in the Voluntary Action Center’s “Opportunity Campus” on Business Loop 70. It will now be known as New Day Columbia.
Columbia Public Works Department street crews will begin chip seal pavement maintenance on multiple streets starting next week. Crews plan to work Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to a city news release. Orange "No Parking" signs will be placed at least 24 hours in advance.
• A man from Columbia was arrested Wednesday and charged this morning for a shooting last month in southwest Columbia. Police say 27-year-old Deangelo Hughes fired 12 shots into a home on West Bethany Dr. No one was injured.
• A city of Columbia contractor will be closing West Sexton Road at Jefferson Street and McBaine Ave. on Monday for a stormwater improvement project. The closures will last about 90 days.
• Columbia’s controversial new pedestrian safety ordinance sparked some protest as it took effect Wednesday. Police issued warnings and citations to demonstrators standing on medians at Business Loop 70 and Providence Road. The law bans pedestrians and drivers from interacting at busy intersections and narrow medians with speed limits of 35 miles per hour or higher.
• A huge new electronic billboard on the outside of the new north endzone of Memorial Stadium in Columbia went live Wednesday, highly visible for motorists passing by near the corner of Providence Road and Stadium Blvd. Similar lighted, rotating electronic messaging is prohibited in the city of Columbia - but not on university property.
• A historic Columbia church closed its doors Sunday. Wilkes Boulevard United Methodist Church finished 112 years of community service. The landmark could no longer afford to stay open. The congregation recently lost vital rental income when a local homeless ministry moved its entire operations to the new Opportunity Campus.
• Columbia will host its 74th annual Fire in the Sky celebration this Saturday at Stephens Lake Park. The free Fourth of July event starts at 6:30 p.m. with live entertainment and food trucks. The choreographed fireworks display begins at 9:15 p.m. Free GoCOMO shuttles will run from six downtown parking garages.
Abdula-Kaba Abdullah
• The Columbia Chamber of Commerce announced last week that Abdul-Kaba Abdullah has been named its new President & CEO, effective July 1. He is currently Executive Director of Park Central Development in St. Louis and is a former city manager of Berkeley. Abdullah will replace Matt McCormick who resigned in October to lead the Ocala, Florida, area chamber of commerce.
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Recent obituaries are here.