COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

To honor the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, the University of Missouri and the City of Columbia hosted its annual wreath-laying ceremony Wednesday morning.

The ceremony featured a procession and a flyover by an MU Health Care helicopter. The event also hosted the Mizzou ROTC Joint Service Color Guard, the City of Columbia Honor Guard and speeches from Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, Mizzou Naval ROTC Captain Thomas Ulmer and MU Provost Matthew Martens.

During the ceremony, speakers shared what they were doing 23 years ago, and how this day signifies unity for our nation.

“I remember the silence of campus,” Buffaloe said. “I remember us all kind of looking at one another, not knowing what was happening.”

The wreath-laying procession was led by members of MU’s Veterans Center and Missouri Task Force One. The task force is a 62-person group of Missouri responders who, for 14 days, helped search the wreckage of the World Trade Center.

Katie Clark, a native of New Jersey, attended the event. Many commuters from Monmouth County –where Clark grew up — who worked at the World Trade Center lost their lives that day.

“My take away from today’s ceremony was really acknowledgment and respect,” Clark said. “Feeling so far from home, being in Missouri, it brings me some pride to live here.”

During his speech, Ulmer encouraged the nation to stand united and stay committed to the ideals of freedom, justice, and peace.

“We must remember that the tragedies of 9/11, it’s not just one of tragedy, but it’s of hope and it’s of resilience,” Ulmer said. “It is a reminder that in the face of adversity, we are capable of extraordinary things.”

Music was provided by Boone County Fire Protection District Pipe and Drums.

A police officer has been fired after being charged with animal abuse for killing his K-9 partner in Missouri.

The Savannah, Missouri, Board of Aldermen voted in a closed session Monday to terminate Lieutenant Daniel Zeigler, the city announced on a social media post.

Zeigler has been charged with one count of animal abuse, which is a class A misdemeanor, and is scheduled to appear in court on October 8 in Division 5 of Andrew County Circuit Court.

A statement by the Savannah Police Department said: “In a close session meeting on Monday, September 9, 2024, the Savannah Board of Alderman voted to terminate employment with Lieutenant Daniel Zeigler.”

Newsweek has contacted the Savannah Police Department for comment.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Andrew County Circuit Court, Zeigler and his K-9 partner, Horus, a full-breed German shepherd, finished their overnight shift at 4:49 a.m. on June 20. At 5:54 p.m., Zeigler contacted Police Chief Dave Vincent to report that Horus was dead.

The affidavit states that Vincent discovered Horus had been left in the police vehicle all day and died from heat exposure.

Horus joined the Savannah Police Department in 2021 when he was nearly 2 years old, police said. Savannah is located about 45 minutes north of Kansas City.

According to court records, investigators tested the AceK9 system in Zeigler’s vehicle on June 26 and found that the safeguard was fully functional on the day Horus died.

When tested, the system repeatedly honked, rolled down the rear windows, and activated a fan once the vehicle’s internal temperature reached 90 degrees.

Court documents state that the system was working properly and would have had to be manually deactivated to bypass the safeguard. The Kansas City International Airport recorded a high of 88 degrees at 3:53 p.m. on June 20, 2024, according to the probable cause statement.

“This test demonstrated the AceK9 system inside the Savannah Police K-9 vehicle was in working order and would have had to been manually turned off/deactivated on June 20, 2024,” prosecutors wrote. “The deactivation of the AceK9 system directly contributed to the death of K-9 Horus by removing a safeguard to prevent such an incident.”

Witnesses reported hearing Zeigler say he thought he had brought Horus inside after his shift.

Another witness, who helped bury the K-9, told investigators they heard Zeigler tell Chief Vincent that Horus’ death was his fault.

Horus’ death sparked outrage in the Savannah community and beyond, with many calling for justice for the K-9.

In Missouri, animal neglect is considered a Class A misdemeanor. It is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000.

The severity of the punishment depends on the nature of the crime.

Misdemeanors are considered less serious than felonies in the United States.

First-term offenders are likely to receive a misdemeanor.

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Missouri football might just have an effort problem.

No, not the indifferent, uncaring kind.

The Tigers, when it comes to the multiple holding penalties that cost them yards during Saturday’s win over Buffalo on Faurot Field, might be trying too hard to finish off some blocks.

“You know, we’ve got to learn to let go. When the ball is out, (when there’s) leverage, when a defender is broken away, we cannot continue to engage with the jersey of the defender,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “And, so, there were three of those that were clear calls — easy, easy calls that are something that we have to correct. 

“And you appreciate guys playing with effort and energy, but they’ve got to know when it’s crossing the line into a penalty.”

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The Mizzou offense still is off to an efficient start. The 2-0 Tigers have averaged more than 200 rushing yards per game, and they took what was offered to them in the passing game to comfortably knock off the Bulls.

But the penalties are a lingering issue. Especially with 24th-ranked Boston College on deck.

The Tigers had five flags thrown against them for holding vs. the Bulls, although only four of those stood on the final stat sheet. One holding call against wide receiver Mookie Cooper was declined by Buffalo because the Bulls picked Brady Cook off during the same play.

“I mean, up front our mentality is we’re trying to finish people all the time,” Missouri left guard Cayden Green said. “So, sometimes we go a little bit overboard. We’ve just got to work on not going so overboard.”

Two of the fouls went against offensive linemen, with Green picking up one and right tackle Armand Membou inviting the other. The others were called against tight ends Tyler Stephens and Jordon Harris.

Missouri now has 17 offensive penalties on the season, and exactly zero of those have gone against the Tigers’ defense. Only one came on special teams, when the Tigers took a delay of game on a punt against Murray State.

In addition to the four holding calls against Buffalo, the Tigers had three holding penalties against Murray State. That’s going to take a little more cleaning up than, quite literally, letting go.

“You know, we’ve just got to work on getting our hands inside,” Green said. “We talk to refs before the game and during the week so we can see what kind of officiating we’re dealing with, and so we just work off of that throughout the week, work on getting our hands inside and finishing blocks, but not finishing, you know, in a bad position.”

Those four holding calls were part of a much larger issue from the offense Saturday. The Tigers incurred 10 offensive penalties om all, which cost them 80 yards.

Three of those were formation penalties: two on ineligible receiver calls; one on illegal formation. Those drew the ire of the head coach more than perhaps any other offensive misstep.

“Well, quite honestly, the alignment penalties are just embarrassing,” Drinkwitz said. “As the head football coach, that’s on me. That’s undisciplined football, and for me to allow that to happen — we had an alignment penalty in the first game, and to have it again in the second game? That’s on me. So, that’s got to get corrected (and) get taken off the tape.”

That prompted the Tigers, per the head coach, to carve out a period of their Monday practice and dedicate the time to alignment and alignment alone.

The remaining three penalties called on MU’s offense Saturday were a facemask violation on backup right guard Mitchell Walters and a pair of false starts.

“The other ones — we’ll be alright,” Drinkwitz said. “We’ll figure that out.”