Articles

GRENOBLE, France — For Lance Armstrong and his Tour de France challengers, the true test begins now, in the thin air of the Alps, on snaking climbs lined by screaming fans.

“The mountains put everyone back in their place,” Armstrong’s team manager, Johan Bruyneel, said Monday as the 175 riders left after week one of the three-week race enjoyed their first rest day.

DEARBORN, Mich. — Tony La Russa found his All-Star starter on his own pitching staff.

Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals will get the ball for the National League tonight at Detroit’s Comerica Park, capping a successful comeback from right shoulder surgery. His AL opponent on the mound will be Chicago White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle.

“Pass it back!” The chorus echoed throughout the bus as about 30 children from Columbia’s First Ward passed water bottles and powdered donuts to those seated in the back.

It was going to be a long day.

Columbia’s Commission on Cultural Affairs met Monday to approve final recommendations for funding art projects in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

Sixteen groups turned in requests for funding, totaling $127,180. Although the commission has increased its funding from last year by 2 percent, they were unable to meet the groups’ requests. The board plans to give out just under $76,000 this year to local groups and organizations.

City Manager Ray Beck recommended a salary and benefits package for city employees that includes a 20 percent increase in the cost of health insurance before turning to a discussion of proposed tax increases at the City Council’s Monday night work session.

“This is the biggest hit since I have been city manager,” Beck said about the increased cost to the city and employees.

ST. LOUIS — If you’re on the job, and you’re reading this, you should probably get back to work.

The MU Police Department retired a 23-year veteran and replaced it with $250,000 rookie last month.

The department’s new computer system from New World Systems came online June 20 and replaced the department’s Sunguard HTE system, which was installed in 1982.

New houses, paved streets and a city park are just a few of the additions to Amy Anderson’s neighborhood during the past 40 years. But there’s one addition that’s been missing.

“When we moved in, the developer said the city was planning to build a sidewalk across the street,” Anderson said. “I called the city over the years, but they never put one in.”

DETROIT — Bobby Abreu won the Home Run Derby with a record-setting performance Monday night, hitting an astounding 24 home runs in his first turn at bat before outslugging hometown favorite Ivan Rodriguez in the finals.

Abreu also smashed the mark for total home runs with 41, besting Miguel Tejada’s 2004 total of 27 by the second round. He hit 11 in the finals, another derby record, to Rodriguez’s five in an event that lasted 3 hours, 3 minutes.

Thirteen-year-old Tanisha Peal steadies her shot at the foul line. Behind her, Tia Kemp, 9, spins head over heels through cartwheels on the gym floor. In the corner, kids play cards.

Tanisha fires her shot over the head of city recreation worker Erick Flemming and into the hoop. Because of low attendance, it was a game of one-on-one.

Inmates at several maximum security prisons can no longer participate in education classes or substance abuse treatment due to recent budget cuts.

The Department of Corrections has closed education programs at three of the state’s five maximum-security prisons — Cameron, Potosi and Jefferson City — and eliminated the substance abuse treatment program in the Jefferson City prison, the only program of its kind at a maximum-security facility. The programs being eliminated served approximately 657 inmates at those three prisons in fiscal 2005.

Missouri Task Force 1, an urban search and rescue team, is returning to Boone County early after Hurricane Dennis left minimal damage and no deaths when it hit the Gulf Coast over the weekend.

The task force received deployment orders Friday and left at 11:15 a.m. Saturday for Meridian, Miss., said Boone County Fire Protection District Captain Gale Blomenkamp. They were given orders Sunday to move to Hattiesburg, Miss. On Monday at 1 p.m., the task force receive demobilization orders and expects to return by noon today.

For the past 10 years, MU nursing professor Marilyn Rantz has worked to create a way to help people measure the quality of care provided by nursing homes for their loved ones.

“I’ve always had a real interest in wanting to understand what quality care is in nursing homes and how to improve it in nursing homes,” said Rantz, who worked in a nursing home for 12 years.

It seems I barely got on Missouri’s “No Call” list just in time before all the unsolicited e-mails began to pour in. Otherwise, the time I would have spent answering annoying telephone calls, plus the time I spend deleting unwanted e-mails, would have equaled the time I spend sleeping. One can only wonder at the miracles that might take place if these marketers would devote as much time trying to improve the status quo as they do in creating ways to make nuisances of themselves.

I often think about how people of my mother’s generation seemed to have so much leisure time, in spite of the fact that they had so few labor-saving devices. In our house, there was only a wringer-style washer for the laundry and our clothes had to dry on the line. The only work-saver I recall was a vacuum cleaner. Clothing and linen had to be ironed because there were no permanent press fabrics. Nevertheless, my mother always had time to read books and teach us girls the fine points of sewing, embroidery, knitting and crochet. And more important, there were always those memorable hours spent in conversations, which were great adventures in learning. There was no end to new topics to discuss, intriguing theories to investigate and introductions to other cultures that needed to be explored.

Aaron O'Neal, a redshirt freshman on MU's football team, died Tuesday after collapsing at a voluntary practice.

University Hospital Public Relations Manager Mary Jenkins confirmed the death of O'Neal. She would not release the cause of death, but did confirm that O'Neal was brought to the hospital.

Dori Burke, a death investigator for the Boone County Medical Examiner's office, said that O'Neal died at 4:05 p.m. in the emergency room of the hospital. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Christian Basi, a spokesman for MU said that the university is currently focusing on O'Neal's family. It is trying to make accommodations for them and any needs that they might have when they arrive from O'Neal's hometown of Creve Coeur, a suburb of St. Louis. The university is also trying to make counselors available to O'Neal's teammates and friends.

O'Neal, 19, was a sophomore at MU and redshirted his freshman year. O'Neal was a four-sport standout at Parkway North High School in St. Louis County.

He rushed for 1,562 yards and 19 touchdowns his senior year, earning Class 5A all-state honors. He also excelled in basketball, track, and baseball.

O'Neal, a 6'3" 220-pound middle linebacker, was third on MU's preseason depth chart.

MU's football team is scheduled to begin official practices on August 8.

The football team held a short meeting at the Student Resource Center Tuesday night. Players left without comment.

Players reached by phone by the Missourian refused to comment.

Bob Bunton coached O'Neal at Parkway North.

"That's all the kid wanted to do, was play for Missouri," Bunton said to the Associated Press. ""He was so happy and doing so well. I just feel bad for his family.

"Aaron had always been a picture of health. It was something he really took pride in."