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By Evan Townsend  ¦   As a motorist, the best way to stay safe from snow, sleet and freezing rain is to stay off the road. If you are venturing out, the National Weather Service suggests you keep these items in your vehicle.

By Kearston Winrow  ¦   Partners in Prevention is the Missouri higher education substance abuse prevention consortium. The organization created the Missouri College Health Behavior Survey to track the progress of evidence-based programs and collect data for social norming campaigns. The graphs below show MU students’ responses to the survey concerning alcohol habits. In the survey, students could select more than one response for each question.

By Kearston Winrow  ¦   Each semester, MU’s Office of Greek Life releases a report of GPA among fraternity and sorority members. The report includes how well each member performed within Greek Life and how well they performed among MU students. The chart below shows the members’ GPA per semester from spring 2009 to fall 2012.

By Amartya Bagchi  ¦   On Monday, First Ward City Councilman Fred Schmidt suggested an ordinance that would ban alcohol consumption in Douglass Park. In 2011, the city banned alcohol consumption in three parks: Flat Branch, Village Square and Paquin. Alcohol consumption is legal in all other city parks.

By travis hartman  ¦   Columbia Public Works will remove the pedestrian bridge at the J.W. "Blind" Boone Community Center on Friday night, despite the snow. Providence Road between Ash and Worley streets will close from 7 p.m. Friday until 9 a.m. Saturday at the latest. The department says all detour routes are safe and passable.

By Colleen Maag, Elizabeth Scheltens  ¦   The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for Thurday to be in effect from 6 a.m. to midnight. The National Weather Service predicts snow and sleet accumulations of three to seven inches throughout the day and warns of ice on the roadways.

By Courtney Lindbeck  ¦   After almost two years of NCAA investigation into his conduct at the University of Miami, Missouri men’s basketball coach Frank Haith received notice of allegations of a failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance at Miami. The timeline below shows the NCAA’s investigation of Miami and Haith’s involvement in a scheme to bribe players to play for the Miami Hurricanes.

By Malory Ensor  ¦  

By Julie Fine  ¦   As of 2010, 73.9 percent of the United States is using fluoridated water. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fluoridated water can help reduce tooth decay and promote good oral health. The first map shows the levels of fluoridated water from state to state. Most states do not have regulations or requirements regarding fluoridated water. For example, 79.8 percent of Missouri water is fluoridated, which works out to be about 3.9 million people using fluoridated water.

Missouri might rank higher than 75 percent of the United States when it comes to fluoridated water, but when it comes to the number of adults receiving a teeth cleaning at least once a year, it falls short. The second map shows the percentage of people in each state who have had their teeth cleaned in the past year.

By Yu Yan  ¦   February is American Heart Month. U.S. News evaluated and ranked 29 diets with input from a panel of health experts. The Ornish Diet ranks first for heart health based on its low-fat content and variety of foods allowed.

By Jennifer Bailey  ¦   According to National Conference of State Legislatures, seven states have enacted a version of the parent trigger law. The trigger law gives parents the power to intervene at their children’s schools if the school is underperforming. After petition requirements are met, common options for parents are to convert the school into a charter school, transfer their children to a different school in the same district, replace faculty or close the school. Missouri Speaker of the House Timothy Jones introduced a similar bill — HB 393 ­— in February 2011, but it did not pass a committee hearing. Last week, The Associated Press reported Jones had filed a new version of the parent trigger law.

By Christina Trester  ¦   The crime rates from 2008 to 2012 in Columbia are shown in the graphs broken up by type of crime. Some crime rates, such as reported rape, rose in 2012 while others, such as assault, fell.

By Roman Kolgushev  ¦   The Army Corps of Engineers predicts that runoff into the Missouri River above Sioux City, Iowa, will be 20 percent below normal this year. This will provide only enough water for a minimal channel 8-feet-deep and 200-feet-wide. A normal navigation channel is 9-feet-deep and 300-feet-wide. Barges might not be able to carry full loads.

By Miranda Zhang  ¦   Missouri’s largest coal-burning power plant in Labadie made Franklin the No. 1 county for greenhouse gas emissions in 2011 in the state. The following map shows the greenhouse gas emission levels of the 114 counties and the city of St. Louis based on a database released in January by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

By Evan Townsend  ¦   Delta Air Lines discontinued service to Columbia Regional Airport on Feb. 13 and American Eagle Airlines began flying to and from the airport the following day. On Sunday, Frontier Airlines announced it will end passenger flights in May to and from Columbia. Here is a look at some of the major changes in airline service in the past year.

By Veneta Rizvic  ¦   The number of driving under the influence incidents in Columbia has decreased this year compared with last year. Mapped data is from Aug. 20, 2012, to Feb. 7, 2013.

By Shelly Yang  ¦   Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe spoke before Congress on Feb. 6 to advocate the Postal Service’s plan to end Saturday first-class mail delivery, starting in August. Currently, no law requires the Postal Service to deliver mail six days a week. However, current legislation includes a provision that has blocked the Postal Service from cutting service in the past. This legislation expires in March. The service says the plan could save the agency $2 billion annually.

By Hany Hawasly, Amartya Bagchi  ¦   Missouri law is among the most lenient in the nation when it comes to drivers and their phones. It allows texting while driving for any driver 22 or older. Most U.S. states restrict texting while driving, and 10 states ban all hand-held cellphone use outright. This map shows which states have enacted legislation restricting cellphone use or texting while driving.

By travis hartman  ¦   The total number of traffic crashes in Missouri has dropped 47.8 percent since 2002, with the most significant drop of 46,000 occurring from 2011 to 2012.

By ninh pham  ¦   The number of crashes involving cellphones has increased since 2002. Last year, of the 96,964 reported crashes in Missouri, 1,360 involved cellphones. In 2002, 957 crashes involved cellphones out of 185,907 total crashes. Missouri law allows cellphone conversations, but prohibits texting while driving for people 21 and younger.