Articles

Some Boone County residents are upset over another possible annexation.

On Monday night, the City Council will consider a petition for voluntary annexation of a property on the southeast corner of State Route KK and River Hills Road.

JEFFERSON CITY — On Monday, Senate leaders will get their first look at a proposal to drastically cut Medicaid, the federally backed health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

On Friday, though, it was the people’s turn.

Tom Hutchinson is a zoologist, anthropologist, business man, carpenter and mechanic. His real passion, however, is in the music produced by his seven player pianos.

The 69-year-old Columbia resident started his unusual collection decades ago. Of the pianos he owns, three are in his workshop, one is in Mexico for refurbishment, and the rest — including a Nickelodeon made in 1913 and a combined player piano and player organ made in 1925 — occupy a 200-square-foot room in his house.

The chapel at The Bluffs, a Columbia skilled nursing facility, feels more like a living room than a church. The chairs are in a circle; a podium is pushed back against the wall, seemingly forgotten. Some residents come and go by wheelchair, others with the help of a walker.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, 10 women came to the chapel for a Bible study. A few dozed in their wheelchairs, while others chatted before class began.

Columbia’s unique and recognizable landscapes can be seen in books and on walls and postcards across Missouri. What isn’t seen, though, are photographs from the point of view of these well-known landmarks.

This is a different look at Columbia, from the places that have been admired, walked by and gazed upon.

Thirty years ago, public health officials across the country sought to ban lead-based paints, a major cause of lead poisoning in children.

Today, the children who were once at risk for this hazard have become parents. But despite widespread public attention and millions of dollars in prevention efforts, lead poisoning remains a problem in houses that predate the 1978 ban on lead paint.

Monday is my 30th wedding anniversary. I’ve been leafing through several photo albums, reminiscing about my life as Mrs. Harl. The wedding, which took place on a Friday evening, was the second for both of us. We had a private ceremony at the church. I wore hunter green. The gal who stood up with me wore white (go figure!). I had my hair cut the day before at the barbershop downtown. It wasn’t more than a half-inch long anywhere on my head. My groom had beautiful blond, shoulder-length hair coiffed into a pageboy.

The reception was at a local hotel. About 50 guests were invited. Looking at the pictures, you might think we had a costume theme. My older brother, who was a security guard at the time, came during his dinner break and was in uniform. Another guest wore a scarf around her hair — kind of a peasant look. There was one gentleman who wore the loudest plaid sports jacket I’ve ever seen. It gave him the air of a used-car salesman (although he was a police officer by day).

A team of MU researchers is working on a new method of short-term weather forecasting that will enable meteorologists and hydrologists to better predict when and where heavy amounts of rainfall will occur.

The new model, known as “nowcasting,” could allow forecasters to issue flash flood warnings earlier and more accurately. Such floods are among the deadliest force of nature, killing an average of 140 people every year in this country, according to the National Weather Service.