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A foul ball off the bat of Tiger shortstop Heather Kunkel had just whizzed by Missouri coach Ty Singleton’s head during Wednesday’s doubleheader.

The close call had left Singleton, who coaches third base when the team is at bat, grinning like he had gotten away with something.

One year ago, Mark Leroux was disappointed.

His Austin Peay State University’s golf team had just finished third in the Ohio Valley Conference championship. Austin Peay had won three consecutive titles in the conference, and the third-place showing was unexpected.

A former Barton County Community College assistant men’s basketball coach pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he falsified academic credentials and work-study time sheets for athletes, including former Missouri player Randy Pulley.

Mark Skillman, 30, of Russellville, Ark., entered his plea at an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kan.

The two men faced each other, palms outstretched and fists at the ready. One, two, three primes and then the shot.

One man threw scissors, the other paper.

MU’s Comedy Wars audience was treated to a special performance by comedian Tim Schwartzman on Wednesday night.

Introduced as an exchange student from Comedy Battles at another Missouri college, Schwartzman said he was at Memorial Union to check out MU’s weekly improv event.

When Don Fullington retired from MU in October, he left with the best wishes of his co-workers.

Fullington worked in the Missouri Unions — the Memorial Union and Brady Commons — for 22 years. His job as maintenance custodian included making the floors of Memorial Union shine. Now at age 50, health problems have forced him to retire.

What was learned: The Contracting and Organizations Research Institute at MU has revamped its database of contracts by designing a Web interface for easy use. The database, called the CORI K-Base, is available to legal and business researchers, as well as the public. It includes more than 25,000 contracts and agreements that were gathered by corporate security filings and other public and private entities, said Michael Sykuta, director of CORI and founder of the database.

How it works: The CORI K-Base can be easily navigated and allows users to search the collection by full-text or keyword searches. Users also have the option of searching by filing date, company name, industry classifications and contract type. The results are displayed in HTML format.

The game of rock, paper, scissors (which has, believe it or not, a variety of similar names) is often used to settle disputes or make decisions. According to the World Rock, Paper, Scissors Player's Responsibility Code, it's necessary to determine beforehand what is being decided. The code also states that safety comes first and all jewelry should be removed before play, and advises against using rock, paper, scissors to make life-threatening decisions.

JEFFERSON CITY — A plan to change the state’s school foundation formula suffered a significant setback Thursday with a House committee’s vote to defeat the proposal.

“What you saw here was a rural versus urban divide,” said Rep. Brian Baker, R-Belton and chairman of the House Special Committee on Education Funding.

Missouri State Fire Marshal William Farr resigned earlier this month, and the Missouri Department of Public Safety now lacks directors for two of its divisions.

Farr resigned April 15, four days before Keith Fuller, director of the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, and his deputy, Lori Baskins, were fired after an internal investigation. Public Safety spokeswoman Terri Durdaller said Farr was not under investigation when he left, but she would not say more about his departure.

Mary Nell Porter’s friends have a daunting set of tasks.

They are trying to figure out a woman who was involved in everything but who kept each part separate. They are trying to pinpoint telling moments of a woman who was always organizing her next activity.

Don’t call Columbia Regional Airport to ask when it’s closing down. Airport Superintendent Bill Boston is getting a bit tired of handling those calls.

But you can’t blame people for being concerned. The number of passengers flying through the airport annually has declined from 41,000 in 1994 to 18,000 in 2004. That statistic is alarming even for airport administrators, who face increasing competition from shuttle services such as MO-X and blame potential passengers’ misperceptions about service at Columbia Regional.

Five state-of-the-art Columbia kitchens will be open Sunday on the Kitchens in Bloom Home Tour. The tour is a fund-raising event for the Boone County Council on Aging.

“The kitchens are fabulous,” said council member Stephanie Panagos said. “They’re dream kitchens that some of us just wish we could have.”

JEFFERSON CITY — After several changes, the House Health Care Policy Committee on Wednesday brought mercury-free vaccinations one step closer to law.

The bill now awaits debate on the House floor.

A representative of the MU Office of Administrative Affairs interviewed a University of Kansas student Thursday who says he was assaulted by MU Police Chief Jack Watring during a scuffle over a sign at a March 6 basketball game at Mizzou Arena.

Chris Kaufman said he spoke with Lisa Wimmenauer, associate director for Administrative Affairs, in a private meeting. She also interviewed his friends Christian Green and Rich Littrell, who were with him at the game.

Cups and soda cans mingle with the twigs and leaves in the grassy section beyond the left field fence at University Field.

A few paces from the litter is an old John Deere tractor, the paint of its yellow lettering slowly chipping from the Kelly green-painted body.

Marc VanDover, the Rock Bridge girls’ soccer coach, knew he was going to have a young team this season.

But he had no idea he would have only one senior.

Missouri pitcher Michael Anthony Cole, 20, was dismissed from the baseball team on Wednesday after he was arrested on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in connection with the stabbing of a 21-year-old man after a party early Sunday.

According to a release from Columbia Police Sgt. Stephen Monticelli witnesses said the stabbing occurred at about 5:30 a.m. after Cole went uninvited to a party on Tessa Way in south Columbia.

Bob Coons, the Jefferson City baseball coach, said John Wilson, his sophomore shortstop, always does the little things needed to win.

But against Rock Bridge on Wednesday, Wilson came through with several big plays.