Articles

The reason that Rock Bridge boys’ basketball coach Jim Scanlon quit coaching after the 1999-2000 season was so he wouldn’t have to feel the way he felt on Thursday.

Many colleges and universities across the country hold “pro days” for NFL scouts to get a better look at players who did not attend the NFL scouting combine. Most schools only have players from their team participate, but MU invited players from other Missouri schools such as Missouri State, Northwest Missouri State, Southeast Missouri State, Missouri Valley and Missouri Western State to come and participate Thursday at the Devine Pavilion.

Missouri 174-pound wrestler Ben Askren showed how at ease the Missouri wrestling team was about the Big 12 Conference Championships when he walked in 5 minutes late to the Tigers’ media day wearing a tie-dyed shirt and a red bandana .

JEFFERSON CITY — Andrew Stodgel has served in the Army for 18 years and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, so he’s used to long deployments in faraway places. But Thursday at a deployment ceremony for 16 members of the Missouri National Guard, Stodgel was thinking about the people he was leaving behind.

WASHINGTON — Drug treatment centers have seen a substantial rise in the number of people seeking help for methamphetamine abuse, a report released Thursday said.

Consumers can expect to benefit in coming months from lower prices of dairy, meat and grain products, according to a report MU researchers delivered on Thursday to policymakers in Washington. The balance sheet, however, doesn’t look as favorable for farmers facing higher costs for fuel, fertilizer, feed and interest costs.

John Dennison said most of his high school career was consumed by choir practice and school musicals. So when Dennison was badly injured in a car accident on Feb. 6, the choir decided to host a benefit for its former member to offset the costs of his recovery.

JEFFERSON CITY — When a Missouri legislator goes out to dinner or to a basketball game on a lobbyist’s dime, Missourians are supposed to get a look at the final tab.

It was a sunny, brisk March morning when Winston Churchill and Harry S. Truman, the two military leaders who fought to bring Hitler to his knees, rode in slow-moving cars through the streets of Fulton. A marching band led the small parade to the Westminster College gymnasium, where Churchill ambled onto the stage and gave one of the most important speeches of the 20th century.

When Cliff Thornton takes the stage, he tends to talk about race and class biases associated with the war on drugs.

A public forum on Saturday seeks to provide Columbia citizens the opportunity to discuss how the federal No Child Left Behind Act has been working in Missouri.

Sid Sullivan is not happy with the way Missouri state politics are shaping up in the legislature these days.

In 2005, the amount of money MU spent on research rose to its highest level ever — nearly $180 million. This figure is 10 percent higher than the previous fiscal year. More than $140 million of the externally-generated funds came in the form of awards from federal sources such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, the sun was high and strong, the breeze light and gentle. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” was appropriately blaring from the baseball stadium. An hour away from game time, and one stadium over at the Audrey J. Walton Stadium, the Missouri track and field team gathered for its first outdoor practice this season. A few members of the team arrived early in shorts and tank tops to enjoy the warmth and lay in the sunshine before they got to work.

The Missouri softball team doesn’t perform much music. If it does, it’s not in front of large audiences or at famous venues. But that doesn’t stop the Tigers from touring the country in a bus fit for rock stars.

The Missouri gymnastics team has had its share of leaders this season. Senior Lauren Schwartzman is ranked second in the country on balance beam. Another senior, Jodie Heinicka, is tied for second on uneven bars, and freshman Adrianne Perry is 15th in the all-around. But when you ask Heinicka about team leadership, two names are at the top of her list: Ali Gilmore and Lisa Puccio.

The Central Missouri Food Bank is expecting a huge donation this week — 18,589 cans and packages of food, to be exact.

Michael Cole said he woke from nightmares every morning for the past 10 months. He said going to class was difficult. But now, Cole said, he doesn’t want to revisit the past. And because Boone County assistant prosecuting attorney Connie Sullivan signed paperwork Thursday dropping the charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action against Cole, he won’t have to.

It’s been a busy five months for Ken Koopmans, Columbia’s transportation manager. Since October, he’s had to manage Columbia Regional Airport. During that time, the city’s pick for a permanent airport manager pulled out amid controversy and the airport’s only commercial airline said it planned to quit flying at Columbia.

Richard J. Hardy is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Missouri. He has taught for more than 33 years in public and parochial schools, a private music school, research universities and at a liberal arts college.