Slideshow

By Calin Ilea  ¦   The Rock Bridge girls' basketball team hosted its annual team retreat sleepover Tuesday night.

By Elisa Day  ¦   Wale Aliyu was recently baptized as a Christian. He says the decision to build a stronger bond with God has given him a new direction in life.

By Elisa Day, John Schreiber  ¦  

By MISSOURIAN STAFF  ¦   The J.W. “Blind” Boone Community Center hosted an open house ceremony Friday. Phil Steihaus, Nancy Fay and Canail Coleman talk about the changes that have been made to the center.

By Katie Davis  ¦  

By Anna Moeslein, Dean Asher  ¦   The Heart of Missouri Chorus is a Sweet Adelines International group of women a capella singers. They practice several Christmas songs from October through December as part of their Holiday Singing Invitational, including “Carol of the Bells.”

FOR MORE: Nancy Russell, who has been a member for 28 years, shares some of her performance photos at MyMissourian.com.

By Lyndsey Nielsen  ¦   Since 1912, presidents have discussed the issue of health care in the United States. A timeline explores the evolution of their proposals.

By Jason Lenhart, Matt Willman  ¦   Firefighters from the Boone County Fire Protection District and the Columbia Fire Department took part in a man-down training exercise on Monday.

By LINDSEY WEYGANDT/Missourian  ¦   On Monday, the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts put on a Vaudevillian-style performance. The performers, known as Sutu Forte’s “Vaude Squad” began with a pre-show at 6:30 p.m. in the lobby. The pre-show warmed up the crowd for a night of entertainment with drums, vocals, guitar-playing, juggling and a Charlie Chaplin impersonator.

By Mito Habe-Evans  ¦   Dennis Thompson is blind with only one arm and one leg, but the Boone County Special Sportsmen's Association can help him do one of the things that he loves: hunt.

Mama Bessie's Cleaners hosted its annual Keep the Kids off the Street Halloween Party, but this year, candy and costumes were not the only high points of the event. Like every Halloween party hostess, Margaret Hickem-Smith, owner of Mama Bessie's, gave away candy, hot chocolate and food, but this year, piles of winter clothes, toys and school supplies were up for grabs.

With the help of donations from loyal customers, family and friends, Hickem-Smith organizes the annual gathering to give parents and their kids a safe place to celebrate.

"Most of the time, parents are at home, passing out candy while their kid is trick-or-treating," Hickem-Smith said. "This way, the parents know what their kid is doing, and they can have fun together on Halloween."

This year, Hickem-Smith received toys, socks and hats from the Columbia Fire Department and decided to help families who are struggling to pay for school supplies and winter clothes halfway through the school year.

Customers, churches and businesses chipped in, donating scarves, gloves, clothes and coats for the 150 kids who attended the party.

The Parkade neighborhood was alive with young trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. Perfect weather and Halloween falling on a Saturday probably contributed to the crowds.

By Chris Dunn, David Kennedy  ¦   Missouri beat Kansas State 38-12 in Manhattan, Kan., on Saturday.

By Jason Lenhart  ¦   For Veterans Day, Boone County paid tribute this morning to U.S. service personnel and veterans with a parade and an honors ceremony that ended at the Boone County Courthouse

By David Kennedy  ¦   COMOPOLO, a Columbia-based bicycle polo organization, held its championships at Cosmopolitan Park this weekend. The event attracted teams from across the country, including newcomers from Lawrence, Kan.

By David Kennedy, Laura Herring  ¦   Despite being ahead at halftime, the Missouri Tigers' weak second half lead to a 40-32 loss to Baylor on Saturday in Columbia.

By FARRAH PAPPA and LAURIEANN WOJNOWSKI/Missourian  ¦   A fundraising event for the new Ronald McDonald House was held at the Ingredient restaurant in downtown Columbia on November 5.

By John Schreiber  ¦   A 14-year veteran billboard installer describes his work above Missouri highways and interstates.

By CALIN ILEA and KEVIN ROBERTS/Missourian  ¦   Missouri beat Colorado 36-17 on Saturday in Boulder, Colo. Jerrell Jackson's one-handed catch highlighted the Tigers' performance.

By CHRIS DUNN and LAURA HERRING  ¦   Witches, wild things and Scarlett O'Hara, oh my!

Kids of all ages and their families came to the Hearnes Center Field House on Saturday to play games, bounce on moonwalks and collect even more candy at the annual Tiger Night of Fun. Here are a few kids who were excited about their costumes.

Have Halloween photos of your own you'd like to share? Send them to submissions@mymissourian.com. To see pictures sent in by readers, go to http://mymissourian.com/2009/11/01/halloween-2009-your-photos/.