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The Kraatzes had all the right things for a great party — drinks, dinner, a movie and even carpeted seating for their guests of honor, CPR mannequins Little Anne and Baby Anne.

Jim and Elizabeth Kraatz, both professors at MU, held the first CPR party in Boone County Tuesday night, allowing friends to leave their home with a different kind of party favor — CPR certification. The Kraatzes’ guests were instructed and certified in infant and child CPR by trainers from the Boone County chapter of the American Red Cross, who came equipped with all of its typical classroom gear. The party certified eight people.

Rock Bridge coach Terry Whitney was standing in his team’s bullpen watching his freshman-and-sophomore team play Hickman on Tuesday when Scott Reller’s name was brought up.

“What a jerk,” Whitney said, laughing. “No, he’s a very, very, very hard worker. I said that three times, didn’t I? That’s how hard of a worker he is.”

You don’t need to be an expert or have any formal training to try your hand at bonsai.

The Mid-Missouri Bonsai Society, which has been in Columbia almost two years, has members with more than 25 years of experience as well as those who have just started working on their first bonsai.

Seed stores and catalogs are replete with all one needs to grow a $100 tomato or a $200 one with only a bit more shopping. But by far the most useful thing you will find in my garden does not come from a nursery at all and was made for entirely another purpose.

I first noticed a garden use for “cattle panels” north of Sturgeon where an Amish gardener had bent one into a graceful arch and was growing gourds on it. The arch had an unusual lack of symmetry to it, somewhat like the cross-sectional upper arc of an aircraft wing, making its 16-foot sweep especially attractive. The thought immediately struck that such a thing could support my Armenian cucumbers (very unusual and very, very good) and zuchetta (or trombocini) squash (a pale green Italian variety not much like zucchini and delicious).

Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ fashion trademark, made popular more than 50 years ago, is now hotter than ever. The oversized sunglasses are back in the fashion scene, and Columbia has eagerly embraced the trend.

“They sell immediately,” said Laura Wilson, owner of Blackberry Exchange. “About 95 percent of our first order has sold within the first three weeks.”

Cantaloupes just got a little sweeter.

Lewis Jett, Missouri vegetable crops specialist and an MU department of horticulture assistant professor, has been experimenting with a special variety of super sweet cantaloupes for nearly two years.

On Tuesday, junior outfielder Janessa Roening became the first Missouri softball player to be named the USA Softball National Player of the Week. She was also named Big 12 Player of the Week.

Roening was 7-for-13 with four runs scored, seven RBI and two home runs in three games – a win against North Dakota State and two victories against No. 4 Texas A&M. She was 4-for-6 on Saturday against Texas A&M, including the winning single. On Sunday, Roening hit a two-run home run in the fifth and tied the game with her two-out single in the seventh.

Chris Johnson said Monday’s round felt different. He felt more comfortable than earlier this year.

Johnson, a Hickman sophomore, decided to change his approach entering the Class 4 District 5 boys’ golf tournament at Meadow Lake Acres Country Club in New Bloomfield.

Social Security is not the only thing in need of reform when it comes to supporting the United States’ aging population, U.S. Rep Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo., said Monday at a luncheon with members of the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

To support Social Security re-form, he said, more issues need to be brought to the table and dis-cussed at length.

Two years after graduating from MU, 1st Lt. William A. Edens is still remembered for his quick wit. His sense of humor made him famous in the Department of German and Russian Studies.

“One of my colleagues remembers a project where he did an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression that was absolutely hilarious,” professor Nicole Monnier said.

CINCINNATI — Jim Edmonds considered bunting, then changed his mind and hit a three-run home run. John Mabry just tried to put the ball in play, but put it over the center-field wall for the go-ahead runs.

The greatest ninth-inning comeback in St. Louis Cardinals history was made of odd moments.

The Internet has opened new doors for today’s technology-savvy college students.

A new option for measuring equality in sports, however, has people concerned the Internet could close doors for female athletes. Others say it could help re-evaluate the division of money in college athletics.

When an accident brought Drew Brown to the emergency room in January 2000, hospital workers took on new importance to him. The nurses who attended to Brown became critical players in a moment of trauma and uncertainty.

The first nurse’s indifference evoked feelings of distrust and fear. A second nurse developed a relationship with Brown that comforted him and made him feel empowered to make decisions. The impact of these differences helped Brown decide to become a nurse.

Feminism is a word — and movement — usually associated with women.

Some men are tired of continuing to define things based on gender. They are tired of most men never considering themselves feminists, of being part of a culture that perpetuates inequality in gender.

Leigh Lockhart, owner of Main Squeeze, came to Columbia for a reason.

“Columbia was just the right size for me,” she said. “It’s easy to open a business here. St. Louis is intimidating.”

The improvement work on the Columbia Terminal Railroad Corridor between Roger Street and College Avenue will soon begin, as the City Council authorized the city manager to solicit bids at Monday night’s meeting.

The railroad terminal dates back to the Civil War.

For former Missouri basketball player Jeffrey Ferguson, the prospects of continuing a basketball career received a blow early Saturday morning.

Ferguson was arrested around 2 a.m. Saturday and charged with unlawful use of a weapon, a felony, and three misdemeanor counts of third-degree assault.

Oklahoma quarterback passed over in the NFL draft, won’t be invited back to the Kansas City Chiefs’ mini-camp.

White, who won the Heisman Trophy as a junior in 2003, got the news Sunday from coach Dick Vermeil at the end of a three-day tryout for rookies. He had been competing with seventh-round draft choice James Kilian of Tulsa for a possible spot with the Chiefs, who already have three veteran quarterbacks on the roster.

According to what I read in newspapers, some Americans are fearful that our country is heading toward a Christian theocracy. I really don’t think there’s reason to worry about that. A theocracy, perhaps, but Christian? Debatable. But then, if you believe the religious right is truly a Christian movement, I can understand the fear. Of course, people have the right to define themselves any way they choose, and those who want to can sign on to that belief, as well. It would be difficult, though, for me to imagine followers of Jesus Christ invading someone’s country with bombs and bullets as an example of loving their neighbors as themselves. And even though we may not agree with all of Pope Benedict XVI’s policies, he certainly has not advocated the shedding of blood as a method of carrying out Christ’s teaching. Obviously, people have the right to interpret the Scriptures any way they choose, but the hearers of their words should take the measures necessary to verify that the written words and the spoken words agree.

What is really getting on my nerves, though, is the way some journalists are labeling these politicians as members of the “faithful” simply because they spout religious verbiage as they make their political pronouncements. Some are actually criticizing politicians who prefer to keep their religion as a personal matter. I think it is a dangerous practice to try to identify the “faithful” on the basis of their public persona. It is bad enough when brainwashed cult members adopt this attitude, but when so-called literary types begin to do this, it is time to be concerned. We can remember that David Koresh’s flock also saw themselves as the “faithful.”

Harsh words sounded and tears rolled down the cheeks of community members who met at a community circle gathering Monday to discuss Medicaid cuts signed by Gov. Matt Blunt last week.

A wide circle of chairs and wheelchairs was formed in the Friends Room of the Columbia Public Library so community members could share their fears of potential Medicaid losses and how cuts would affect their disabled and elderly friends and family, and themselves.