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By ninh pham  ¦   The Missouri House of Representatives is considering a law to grant motorcyclists a “helmet holiday” during the month of August in an attempt to promote tourism. Missouri has one of the strictest helmet laws in the country.

By Amartya Bagchi  ¦   American Airlines’ new flights to Chicago and Dallas have been consistently full. About 43.5 seats (rounded up to 44 seats in the graphic), or 87 percent of seats, on the 50 passenger aircrafts, have regularly been filled.

By ninh pham  ¦   With combined asset of $9.5 billion, Stanley and Ann (Walton) Kroenke from Columbia rank 248th and 276th on the magazine’s annual rich list respectively. Together with three other Missourians, the total wealth of the state’s billionaires is $25.3 billion. The map below shows the combined total wealth of each state’s billionaires.

By Yu Yan  ¦   More than half of all Americans will celebrate this year’s Saint Patrick’s Day, which is on March 17. Wearing green is still the top choice for celebrating the holiday.

By Colleen Maag  ¦   MU hosted a public meeting of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development on Friday. The primary role of the presidentially appointed board is to advise the U.S. Agency for International Development on hunger eradication and global food-security assistance efforts. This chart demonstrates the decline in global undernourishment between the periods of 1990 to 1992 and 2010 to 2012.

By Veneta Rizvic  ¦   During its first year in the Southeastern Conference, the Missouri men’s basketball team finished 22-9 overall. Missouri will play its first SEC tournament game Thursday against Texas A&M. The Texas A&M team finished 17-14 overall.

By Kearston Winrow  ¦   Attendance at Missouri state parks has risen four consecutive years. From 2011 to 2012, state parks saw a 1.38 percent increase in attendance, the biggest increase in the past 10 years. The chart shows the attendance from the last five years.

By Shelly Yang  ¦   Nakhle Asmar, the MU math professor who has agreed to buy and renovate the Niedermeyer building, owns several rental properties in central Columbia. The map shows where his properties are located.

By Elizabeth Scheltens  ¦   Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope Wednesday. He is the first pontiff to take the name of Pope Francis.

Here’s a look at the most popular pope names throughout history.

By Julie Fine  ¦   Located about 30 million miles from the sun, comet Pan-STAARS can be best seen in the west, as close to the horizion as possible. Experts recommend looking for the comet 30 minutes after sunset. The diagram below shows how to best locate the comet with the naked eye in the month of March.

By Libby Burns  ¦   The Columbia City Council approved plans to construct a pedestrian barrier in the current two-way left turn lane on College Avenue, between University Avenue and Rollins Street. There will also be two mid-block crosswalks with pedestrian havens in the median between Rosemary Lane and Wilson Avenue and between Wilson Avenue and Bouchelle Avenue. Additionally, the city plans to install pedestrian traffic signals at the crosswalks, new pavement markings and signs.

By Malory Ensor  ¦   The Columbia School Board on Monday approved a new three-tiered transportation program which staggers the start times of schools. This change offers high school students more flexibility in their schedule by allowing students to take online and “zero hour” classes outside regular school hours. The graphic below depicts the new school day hours.

By Jennifer Bailey  ¦   The current contract holder of the Niedermeyer building, Collegiate Housing Partners, has reached a tentative deal to sell the building to Nakhle Asmar, an MU mathematics professor. Located at 920 Cherry St., the Niedermeyer Apartments were built in 1837 and is the oldest building in downtown Columbia. Earlier this year, Collegiate Housing Partners filed for a permit to demolish the building.

By Amartya Bagchi  ¦   The College of Cardinals began the process of electing the next pope — the papal conclave — Tuesday. The College of Cardinals is a body of the Catholic church. The 207 cardinals were named by the pope to elect his successor. Cardinals over age 80 are not eligible to vote in the conclave. Eleven cardinals from the U.S. are eligible to vote in the conclave.

By Libby Burns  ¦   The MU Dance Marathon raised more than $150,000 Saturday night, twice as much as last year and 10 times more than in 2008, when it started.

By Courtney Lindbeck  ¦   The U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center has released the College Scorecard to provide better information to students and parents about college affordability and value. The College Scorecard contains information about a college’s costs, graduation rates, loan default rates, median borrowing and employment. This chart compares the College Scorecard results of Columbia College, MU and Stephens College.

When 911 calls pile up at the offices of Columbia/Boone County Public Safety Joint Communications, call-takers and dispatchers can’t communicate quickly enough with callers.

By Amartya Bagchi  ¦   The 2012-13 season has been a tumultuous one for the Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team. At times, the Tigers have been ranked in the Top 10 by The Associated Press. At the end of the regular season, however, the Tigers are unranked. Likewise, the title of No. 1 team in the AP poll has changed hands several times. The timeline below chronicles Missouri’s ups and downs, as well as the revolving door of No. 1 ranked teams this season.

By Elizabeth Scheltens  ¦   To comply with National Fire Protection Association standards, 911 dispatchers must answer at least 95 percent of calls in 15 seconds or less and 99 percent of calls in 40 seconds or less.

For the past seven months, Columbia/Boone County’s Public Safety Joint Communications has not met this goal.

By Yu Yan  ¦   The total number of children under age 6 potentially needing child care is 306,392 in Missouri. A report from Child Care Awareness of Missouri provides detailed information about Missouri’s 2012 child care facts.