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Quiet forests and old fields could hold thousands of dollars of untapped resources, say scientists at MU’s gourmet mushroom research project.

A federal judge said Wednesday he will block a new Missouri law that would have required physicians to wait 24 hours after consulting a woman before performing an abortion.

Missouri is spending more money per person for health care than the national average. But the state is in the bottom of nearly every measure of health, according to a study released Wednesday.

“We’re not getting enough from our investment,” said James Kimmey, president and CEO of Missouri Foundation for Health, which commissioned the study. “Despite the spending, we’re not getting results one would expect.”

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri will be getting federal funds to help reduce the number of overweight children in the state.

According to 2001 information gathered by the state’s Health Department, 21.5 percent of children in the state are overweight, which was a 2 percent increase from the previous year. These figures are significantly above the national average of 13 percent.

Three months after OATS, an agency that provides transportation for Missourian seniors, lost its funding and was forced to cut its services in half, local agencies find themselves in a crunch to pick up the slack.

The Boone County Senior Board met Wednesday with State Rep. Steve Hobbs, R-Mexico, and Boone County Council on Aging Director Lois Shelton to begin planning a course of action. Shelton said some local agencies are being overloaded with transportation requests from seniors.

Vladimir Yarets Alexeevich’s red motorcycle has seen the world and it shows.

The cycle, which Alexeevich calls his “little donkey,” is plastered with stickers from the states and countries of its travels. The Jawa350, manufactured in the Czech Republic, has taken Yarets through 29 countries including the Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Morocco, Jamaica, Venezuela, Cuba and the United States.

The Wal-Mart Supercenter to be built in south Columbia will face additional scrutiny because of its proximity to Hinkson Creek, said Sierra Club representatives. The club also is questioning whether the development plans will stand up to state and federal regulations.

On Monday, the Columbia City Council rezoned a 53-acre site along Grindstone Parkway to accommodate plans for the Wal-Mart and accompanying commercial and residential development. Before work can begin, however, Aspen Acquisitions must apply for various state permits, most significantly a land-disturbance permit from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Commercial zoning requests for two adjacent tracts on East Walnut Street are raising objections from city planners, who believe the rezoning could lead to undesirable businesses in a part of the downtown area that doesn’t have a “commercial feel.”

Newton Riley is asking the city for C-2, or central business district, zoning on his property that includes Dearing Hall, a former dormitory of Stephens College used for apartments. Riley declined comment on his request, which goes before the city Planning and Zoning Commission at 7 p.m. today on the fourth floor of the Daniel Boone City Building, 701 E. Broadway.

Drugs that combat depression are among the most commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals in the United States. But the stigma of mental illness is still more frightening to many sufferers of depression than the disease itself.

Since 1990, Screening for Mental Health, Inc., a nonprofit organization, has been trying to overcome that fear with a National Depression Screening Day. Today, therapists from the Family Health Centers will be at the Columbia Public Library from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Truman Veterans Hospital from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. offering free, anonymous screenings for depression and other mental disorders.

Water and sewer bond issues on the November ballot won the unanimous endorsement of Regional Economic Development Inc.’s board of directors Wednesday.

“We need an infrastructure that meets the needs of the existing residences and businesses and allows for future growth,” REDI President Bernie Andrews said. “Upgrades and repairs are needed to make sure we can support what is already here.”

Columbia, a city known for its top journalism school, its low unemployment rate and its consistent rank ing as one of the most livable places in the country, is also home to a top equestrian program. Surprised?

The Equestrian Management Program offered by Stephens College boasts one of the most well-known programs in the United States, helped by having one of the oldest continuous riding clubs in the country, the Prince of Wales Club.

When former Democratic Texas Gov. Ann Richards noticed that the collars of her shirts no longer fit properly, she went to visit her doctor. She learned that her spine had compressed and she had lost a half-inch in height.

JEFFERSON CITY — Opponents of Missouri’s new concealed-gun law are trying to shoot it down before it takes effect. They plan to file a lawsuit today claiming it violates the Missouri Constitution.

The lawsuit seeks both an injunction blocking the law from taking effect Saturday and a permanent declaration striking it down.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Seething over taxes and red ink, voters dumped the unpopular Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with political novice Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Hollywood action star who now faces the colossal challenge he asked for: jump-starting California's flagging economy.

Davis, the Democrat who presided over California's economy as it careened from boom to bust, was recalled Tuesday less than a year into his second term. According to partial returns, more than 54 percent of voters called for his ouster.

Information on how to get a concealed weapon once the new law goes into effect.

MU has been awarded a $10 million grant to find ways to improve math education across the country. The grant from the National Science Foundation will run over five years and will be used to fund a new Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum.

The center, scheduled to start operating in January at Townsend Hall, will have three goals, said Barbara Reys, professor of mathematics education and director of the center:

Although warm weather has not fully turned its back on Missouri, now is the ideal time to prepare your home for the cold months ahead.

Friends and family might be the only thing standing between mentally incompetent Missourians and a gun-carrying permit.

While the background check for Missouri’s new conceal-and-carry law provides a look into the applicant’s criminal history, there are a few items that won’t be checked.

As the leaves change color and begin to fall, many Columbians are more than ready to leave lawn care behind. However, experts say the next several weeks are actually the most important to resurrect and prepare your lawn for next year.

JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri State Penitentiary, once home to the likes of gangster Pretty Boy Floyd and boxer Sonny Liston and one of the country’s longest-running gas chamber units, may be the state’s next tourist trap.

Three 250-room hotels are just a few of the amenities being proposed in the master plan for the 167-year-old complex, which will close in 2005.