Missouri

Officers and crew members of USS Columbia visited one of its namesake cities last week

Published

2 years ago

April 21, 2024

Officers and crew members of USS Columbia visited one of its namesake cities last week

The commanding officer of the U.S. Navy Los Angeles Class attack submarine USS Columbia encountered a pleasant coincidence Wednesday when visiting Columbia.

The submarine and Flat Branch Pub and Brewing both are celebrating 30-year anniversaries. The vessel’s mess hall is known as Flat Branch Café.

“The Flat Branch anniversary is a happy accident for us,” said Cmdr. Brad Foster, noting this week’s visit was coordinated via the Mayor’s Task Force on the USS Columbia and Friends of the USS Columbia Submarine SSN-771 headed up by chair Anne Moore of D&M Sound. “My first tour on submarines was on the Columbia, so I knew her from before. When I got this command, I remembered there was this lady that worked in Columbia, Missouri.”

So, he reached out to Moore about a visit to one of the vessel’s namesake cities. Others are in Illinois and South Carolina.

Columbia could see a crew member return visit in October 2025, based on a recent task force meeting agenda.

Those who were here this week were Foster; Lt. j.g. Zachary Rosen, the junior officer of the year; Chief Petty Officer and Missouri native Matt Choiniere; and Petty Officer 1st Class Billy Kilmer, the junior sailor of the year.

Along with recognition at Tuesday’s city council meeting, the crew members met with the University of Missouri ROTC, visited Columbia College and its veterans center, presented at Benton Elementary School, which has a roughly decade-long relationship with USS Columbia, Foster said, and the meet-and-greet event Wednesday at Flat Branch.

The visit this week was about getting familiar with the submarine’s namesake city, so that information can be brought back to the upward 150-strong crew, Foster said.

“This city is great,” he said, adding students at Benton Elementary had lots of questions to ask. “(Columbia College) does a lot with satellite campuses to help service members get a college degree. … Long story short, we’ve seen an awful lot of Columbia and everything we have seen has been great.”

Columbia has been very welcoming, Foster said. He also was impressed by how many people in the community know the connections between the city and the submarine.

Making the Columbia connection

The USS Columbia is stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. When the relationship first was established, it was overseen by then Mayor Mary Anne McCollum and the submarine itself was sponsored by former first lady Hillary Clinton.

The vessel is unique in that it is known as “the last slider,” said Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, who issued a proclamation about the city’s affiliation with the USS Columbia.

“When the submarine was christened, Mayor McCollum and a delegation traveled to Groton, Connecticut for that ceremony,” she said. “It was the last time a submarine was launched by dramatically sliding 1,400 feet down a wooden ramp into the river.”

The relationship with Flat Branch and naming of the mess hall came from when then crew members had come to work out the namesake city details and ate at Flat Branch Pub, which was greatly enjoyed, Buffaloe said. Some of the interior design and even some of the equipment was designed in Columbia, thanks to D&M Sound, she added.

“The crew’s entertainment system was a gift from all three namesake cities and custom designed by Moore. The submarine proudly displays the black and gold from (the University of Missouri) with banners and posters from Mizzou athletics,” Buffaloe said.

The USS Columbia will be in service at least another 10 years, Foster said. Around the time it reaches the 40 years of service mark, the U.S. Navy will make a determination on whether that service will continue, he said.

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

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Missouri

Man, 20, charged in Kansas City, Missouri, road rage shooting that critically injured woman, 19

Published

5 hours ago

May 16, 2026

Press Room

Man, 20, charged in Kansas City, Missouri, road rage shooting that critically injured woman, 19

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County prosecutors filed charges Friday against a 20-year-old South Kansas City, Missouri, man in connection with a road rage shooting earlier this month that left a 19-year-old woman in critical condition.

Around 12:30 a.m. on May 4, Kansas City police officers were dispatched to the area of U.S. 71 Highway and E. 31^st Street after the department’s ShotSpotter system recorded the sound of gunfire in the area.

As they responded, a separate call came into 911 dispatchers reporting a shooting. Police eventually located a shooting victim, later identified by family as 19-year-old JayLee Gross, in the passenger seat of a 2021 Kia K5, suffering from a gunshot wound to her head.

According to court documents, the driver of the Kia told police that he and Gross had just helped a friend fix a flat tire on the highway and were attempting to get back on to northbound 71 to go home. The driver told police that as he attempted to merge, he could not get on the highway without pulling out in front of a dark-colored Ford Fusion.

The driver told police the Ford started to drive aggressively, getting back in front of the Kia and brake-checking it. After exchanging words, the driver of the Ford took an exit ramp from the highway. As the car was exiting, the driver of the Kia told police he heard the sound of several gunshots and glass shattering.

Court documents reveal that the driver of the Kia turned to ask Gross if she was OK, and that’s when he noticed she was unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound to her head.

Using city traffic cameras and vehicle VIN databases, detectives eventually identified the driver of the Ford Fusion as Jamahn Tatum.

After gathering evidence and conducting surveillance, KCPD gang squad detectives arrested Tatum on Thursday, May 14, and brought him in for questioning.

During the interview, Tatum admitted to owning a Ford Fusion but initially denied involvement in the shooting. As police revealed they had tracked his car at the scene, court documents state, “Tatum stared off for a moment before taking a deep breath and sitting back in his chair. After a brief moment, Tatum then asked, ‘What are we looking at right here? Deadass bro, this s*** for real, for real is self-defense.”

Tatum eventually admitted to firing the shots toward the other vehicle, repeating his claim of self-defense, saying that if the driver of the victim’s vehicle knew how to drive, “none of this s*** would have happened, I promise you.”

When police asked Tatum why he didn’t contact police, he told them he didn’t think it was serious until he read about the incident the next day and saw that Gross was in critical condition. Police then asked Tatum why he didn’t contact police once he found out how serious it was, to which Tatum said he was scared. Tatum told detectives that he felt bad for the victim, but reiterated he felt he was antagonized by the victim’s driving.

On Friday, prosecutors charged Tatum with first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon by shooting at a vehicle resulting in injury.

Tatum remains in custody at the Jackson County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond.

—

If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.

Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.

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Missouri

Missouri consumers file class-action lawsuit against Good Day Farm

Published

17 hours ago

May 16, 2026

Press Room

Missouri consumers file class-action lawsuit against Good Day Farm

A marijuana dispensary chain with locations in Springfield and Columbia is again facing allegations of creating a monopoly to take advantage of the Missouri recreational marijuana market.

Damon Toussaint Frost Jr. filed a class-action lawsuit May 4 in Jackson County Circuit Court against Good Day Farm, Missouri’s largest dispensary chain.

Frost, who is identified in the court filing as a Missouri resident who has purchased recreational cannabis from GDF, alleges that the dispensary chain’s and its affiliates have conspired to monopolize recreational cannabis sales in Missouri, resulting in Missouri consumers paying significantly higher prices than they would have in a free market. Frost and other class members — defined in the suit as Missouri citizens who have purchased recreational cannabis products from Good Day Farm or its affiliates in Missouri — are seeking that the “illegal conspiracy” be dismantled and that they be compensated for damages.

Frost is represented by Michael Williams of Williams Dirks Dameron in Kansas City. Williams did not respond to a request for comment as of publication.

A spokesperson for GDF denied the allegations.

“The claims in this lawsuit are baseless and without merit. Our company operates in full compliance with all applicable Missouri state laws and regulations, and we will vigorously defend that record,” the spokesperson wrote in an email Friday, May 15, afternoon. “We will not allow aggressive legal tactics to distract us from what matters most: our mission to deliver uninterrupted service and exceptional products to the patients, customers and employees who rely on us.”

This isn’t the first class-action lawsuit filed against the dispensary chain. In April, two Missouri-licensed cultivators and manufacturers alleged that GDF violated the Missouri Constitution and created a “cartel.”

Like in the April lawsuit, Frost’s lawsuit alleges that the “GDF consortium” — which includes Good Day Farm Dispensaries, Codes Dispensaries, Greenlight, 3Fifteen Primo and Fresh Karma — has control of about 25% of dispensary licenses in Missouri. The Missouri Constitution mandates that entities are limited to owning, controlling or managing no more than 10% of the total dispensary licenses in Missouri.

In order to circumvent the 10% cap, GDF “arranged for investors to invest into limited liability companies” that would then acquire already-licensed entities from owners, court records said, and would then be operated by GDF. The lawsuit alleges that GDF created four limited liability companies.

It also alleges that GDF employees, including the compliance director, general counsel and former director of investor relations, were listed on paperwork for various Codes, Greenlight and Fresh Karma dispensaries.

“Defendants anticompetitive conduct (i) robs consumers of choice and selection of products, and (ii) leaves third parties to compete for a significantly (and increasingly) small sliver of shelf space in the overall Missouri market,” the petition said. “In addition, Defendants misconduct will likely result in fewer competitive brands on the market, substantially reduced diversity of products available and sold, and, ultimately, to fewer choices, lower quality, and higher prices for consumers.”

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