Columbia resident Shaunda Hamilton is the founder of Boone County Community Against Violence. She formed it after her daughter, 18-year-old Nadria Wright, was shot to death in 2019 after leaving the McDonald’s on the Business Loop, where she had picked up a milk shake. Ms. Hamilton joined 939 the Eagle’s Fred Parry in-studio for the hour on Saturday morning’s “CEO Roundtable.” She says after suspect Javion Lawhorn was arrested for murder, she went to every court appearance but was shocked to learn in March 2021 that Lawhorn had entered an Alford plea to first degree involuntary manslaughter and second degree assault and had been sentenced to seven years in prison, with credit for time served. An Alford plea is essentially a guilty plea in which the defendant maintains innocence, but admits that the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict at trial. Ms. Hamilton tells listeners that her daughter was studying nursing at Columbia College, with the dream of becoming a nurse. She says residents at Columbia’s Solstice Senior Living loved her daughter. Nadria worked there. She emphasizes that her daughter was not the intended target that night, and that another man was shot but not killed. Hamilton encourages you to volunteer for her organization, saying it’s about families and learning to “stop the bleeding” when it comes to gunshot wounds. She also tells listeners that the Boone County prosecutor’s office did NOT inform her about the Alford plea in 2021. 939 the Eagle’s Fred Parry criticized former Boone County assistant prosecutor Morley Swingle’s, during the emotional interview:
(LISTEN): Boone Electric Cooperative general manager Todd Culley appears on 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable”
Columbia-based Boone Electric Cooperative was Missouri’s first electric coop. It was formed in 1936 as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Rural Electrification Administration. Boone Electric today has more than 28,000 individual accounts that serve about 36,000 meters. While most of its members are in Boone County, they also have members in Audrain, Callaway, Howard, Monroe and Randolph counties. Boone Electric general manager and chief executive officer Todd Culley joined 939 the Eagle host Fred Parry in-studio for the hour on Saturday morning’s “CEO Roundtable.” Mr. Culley outlined the importance of their new $29-million corporate headquarters on Columbia’s Rangeline and they also discussed Columbia’s power plant on the Business Loop, which Mr. Culley says is no longer burning coal. Mr. Culley also says no new power plants are being built on the system, and he warns about potential large rolling blackouts across parts of the country in the next few years:
(LISTEN): Comobuz.com publisher Mike Murphy discusses transparency on 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable”
Comobuz.com publisher Mike Murphy says there’s a lot of dysfunction in local, state and national government. Mr. Murphy joined 939 the Eagle’s Fred Parry in-studio for an hour on Saturday morning’s “CEO Roundtable.” Mr. Murphy tells listeners that he rates the Columbia city council, Boone County Commission, Columbia school board and Boone Hospital trustees “all pretty bad” when it comes to transparency. Mr. Murphy praises UM System President Dr. Mun Choi, who’s in his seventh year. Murphy describes President Choi as incredible. The issue of homelessness also was discussed in-detail on the program. Mr. Murphy says Columbia needs a comprehensive homeless policy and is concerned about the proposed location of a new Columbia homeless shelter near the Business Loop. Murphy notes there’s a lack of crosswalks and sidewalks in that area, which is near the city’s power plant. Mr. Parry, a former Boone County commissioner, says Columbia is not far from Seattle or San Francisco when it comes to the homeless. Mr. Parry tells listeners that homeless residents “moved into” attorney Greg Copeland’s law office in downtown Columbia while he was out of town, destroying the office’s interior with defecation, drugs and needles: