Funding hard to find for repairs to Boone County private dams

Wednesday’s story about the Welch Lake earthen dam just outside Columbia’s city limits that is in need of some costly repairs was a follow up to a story I wrote a couple of months ago.
The dam’s been in disrepair for about a decade, but the dam’s owner, Danny Miller, said he doesn’t have the estimated [...]

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Pinkel inks $2.3 million annual salary

UM System Board of Curators unanimously approved MU football coach Gary Pinkel’s new contract that will pay him $2.3 million a year for seven years.
ESPN reported last week that a $2.5 million annual salary deal was in the works.
Pinkel negotiated a contract last year to the tune of $1.85 million per year through 2012.
More details [...]

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Pile on the dire economic news

Bad news on the doorstep…
Dana Corp. announced it will lay off 50 workers at its Columbia plant. The factory makes axles and other parts for Nissan, Ford and General Motors.
MU announced guidelines on its hiring freeze, including that the freeze will apply to graduate teaching assistants and student staff. MU Chancellor Brady Deaton outlined criteria [...]

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Editor answers readers’ concerns over ‘Dating Chase’

If you picked up a copy of our Nov. 7 Missourian or read our Web site centerpiece that day, you know we prominently displayed a story on Chase Daniel’s girlfriend, Blaire Vandiver. This sparked a lengthy, meandering string of comments on our Web site with both praise and criticism of the story’s placement.
The extreme interest [...]

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Move over crossword, facebook. Make room for Sporcle

As many of my readers are students living on Rolling Rock or in the Bearfield neighborhood, I’m taking some time to remark on a change I’ve noticed in college classrooms. (Those of you looking for Grindstone News, ignore this if you want).
As most I’ve talked to know, classroom reading no longer means textbook or workbook. [...]

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‘After deadline’ adds context to conversation for grammatical sticklers

While perusing The New York Times Web site, I stumbled upon “Bemused? Bewildered?” a piece by Philip P. Corbett published on Nov. 10. The topic of his piece, a part of the “After Deadline” section, was pointing out problems in usage that weren’t caught in published stories. This premise behind this piece is what kept [...]

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Good morning voters

I spoke to a few of our reporters who have been out at the polls since early this morning, and it appears that voting is going pretty slick. Not a lot of lines or people electioneering in south Columbia. One of our assistant director of photography drove around to most of the polls in north [...]

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McCain campaign to stop in Columbia on Monday

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain plans to visit Columbia on Monday, said Tina Hervey, communications director of the Missouri Republican Party.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Department was contacted by the Secret Service earlier this week about working with Columbia and Boone County law enforcement as part of McCain’s security detail, Maj. Tom Reddin of the [...]

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Afternoon headlines for Oct. 15

With the debate going down tonight, it’s high on many news sources’ radars. Here’s the things that will affect you more directly today…after you’ve chatted about the debate.
School board will invest in locally issued CDs
Mercury possibly in vaccines given to Missouri residents
KCOU seeks new transmitter, funding from MSA
Media analyst sees racism, sexism in political coverage

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Look for Schieffer to call candidates on question-dodging

CBS “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer told The Washington Post that he will challenge candidates to answer his questions when he moderates tonight’s presidential debate.
After watching the first two debates between the presidential and vice presidential candidates, Schieffer said he would try to make sure that the candidates answer his questions. In the vp [...]

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