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By RYAN GLADSTONE  ¦   Harry Besleme throws a bocce ball while practicing at Stankowski Field. Besleme, 31, will compete in the Special Olympics in Shangai, China, in October. Besleme has been in the Special Olympics for seven years.

By MEGHAN KRANE  ¦   Bob Stephens, left, and Harry Besleme were on the field at the Missouri football game Saturday. “They put out our name, and I kinda of waved,” Stephens said. “Right towards the end, I took Harry’s arm and lifted it in the air, and it seemed the crowd, they just went wild.”

By KATHLEEN BUHRMANN  ¦   Kevin Walsh checks email while burning a CD entitled "uncool" for a customer. The CD is a combination of songs from Windmill, Patrick Oswalt and the Beastie Boys.

By KATHLEEN BUHRMANN  ¦   Publicity fliers from local past shows smother the walls of Kevin’s World. Walsh tries to keep his shop involved in as many community events as possible, such as having dishes cooked on the shop’s back patio during the Twilight Festival, and giving his keys to the Blue Note so a performing band could use the shop as a dressing room.

By Photo courtesy of the Columbia/Boone County Health Department  ¦  

By ELAN COLELLO  ¦   The new sculpture at MU’s Life Sciences Center features eight discs that highlight new breakthroughs by researchers at MU. Al McQuinn, a 1954 MU graduate, commissioned the artwork.

By ELAN COLELLO  ¦   A sculpture by artist and architect Kenneth vonRoenn was dedicated at MU’s Life Sciences Center on Tuesday. The artwork is titled “Joy of Discovery.”

By Beth Schommer  ¦   Beth Schommer

By RYAN GLADSTONE  ¦   Anthony Pettit exhales smoke outside Snapper’s Bar on Seventh Street on Wednesday. Because of the city’s smoking ban, business must force patrons to smoke outside either on patios or in front of their buildings.

By RYAN GLADSTONE  ¦   An elephant waits for his turn to help out beneath the tent of the Carson & Barnes Family Circus on Monday. In the past, elephants were used to raise all tent poles between shows. But this elephant will only help haul the heaviest poles and let small forklifts slide the smaller poles into place. This elephant, as well as others owned by Carson & Barnes, will travel with the circus for eight months and then spend the winter at the circus’ base in Hugo, Okla.

By Amanda Lucier  ¦   Madasyn, 6, left, and her sister Mia, 2, visit the circus with their dad, Jason Kluck. The circus features animal performances, clowns and a menagerie of exotic and domestic animals.

By Amanda Lucier  ¦   An elephant waits for his turn to help out beneath the tent of the Carson & Barnes Family Circus on Monday. In the past, elephants were used to raise all tent poles between shows. But this elephant will only help haul the heaviest poles and let small forklifts slide the smaller poles into place. This elephant, as well as others owned by Carson & Barnes, will travel with the circus for eight months and then spend the winter at the circus’ base in Hugo, Okla.

By RYAN GIBBONS/Missourian  ¦   A broken right leg made Cougars starting midfielder Sam Gelven, right question his dream of playing professional soccer one day.

By AMANDA LUCIER  ¦   The afternoon rain on Tuesday was a welcome change from days of hot, humid weather in Columbia. These wet pedestrians are at the corner of Tenth and Cherry streets.

By The Associated Press  ¦   Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy

By CHIARA DELLA CAVA/Missourian  ¦   Jo Marquez, second from left, regularly brings her 3-year-old daughter, Trisha, to practice. Teammates call Trisha their “little mascot.”

By The Associated Press  ¦   "Halo 3" was released for the Xbox 360 on Monday.

By Nick Boney  ¦   Chris Lauer, of Blue Springs, poses with his "Halo 3" hoodie and limited edition spartan helmet while waiting for the midnight release of the game at Tiger Tech on the MU campus Monday night. Lauer bought the exclusive legendary edition of "Halo 3," which included the helmet, game, supplementary features disc and a case.

By Nick Boney  ¦   Fans of "Halo 3" pour into Tiger Tech on the MU campus Monday night for the midnight release of the popular video game. The lines stretched out of the store and into the downstairs of Brady Commons.

MU alumnus and New York Times best-selling author Lee Strobel returns to Columbia this week to discuss his personal religious journey.