News

The White House has announced President Barack Obama will be in Missouri next week to deliver a speech on the economy.

Jefferson City Police say they are ending the search for the body of Christopher Cray at the Allied Waste Landfill, just under a month after it began.

The acting secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs spoke Tuesday in St. Louis and said the beleaguered federal agency is making progress on a host of problems that led to his predecessor's forced resignation.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon traveled to Iowa to get a personal look at the latest methods in ethanol production.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, are prevalent in Missouri’s agriculture industry. The large farms are very controversial, and many have concerns about the environmental impact of the farms and humane treatment of animals living there. In Callaway County, plans for a new CAFO have prompted very vocal opposition. But CAFOs are also a mainstay of the agriculture industry, and are legal if maintained correctly.On this Intersection we addressed CAFOs in-depth: about what they are, how they’re used in Missouri, about the controversy surrounding them, and about the future of the operations in the state.

Regional coverage from the KBIA Newsroom, including:

• Missouri regulators return to the issue of paying bills with payday loans
• Demolition scheduled to begin on Monday at University Village Apartments
• Columbia City Council will vote Monday on approving funds for snow removal expenditures from last winter

The Columbia City Council is set to take a final vote Monday to appropriate funds to cover expenditures from the planned snow removal budget, according to the Columbia Tribune.

Demolition is scheduled to begin Monday at the University Village Apartment Complex on South Providence Road in Columbia, according to the Columbia Tribune.

Missouri regulators are again considering whether to stop payday lenders from collecting utility bill payments from their customers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in November proposed a reduction in the amount of ethanol made from corn in the nation’s gas supply, much to the dismay of Corn Belt farmers. The agency has twice postponed its ruling, and the delay is vexing many Midwest farmers and politicians.

The EPA wants to reduce the amount of corn-based ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply—though the exact amount of this reduction hasn’t been decided.

Recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that over 90 percent of U.S. field corn is genetically modified. That figure has nearly doubled over the past 10 years.

Most of the corn farmers plant has been embedded with a gene—usually from a bacteria—that protects the corn from pests or herbicides.

Ten years ago, less than half of the corn planted had a genetically modified trait. Today, 93 percent of all field corn does, up from 90 percent last year.

The city of Columbia finance department confirmed Thursday that funding for Columbia Access Television, or CAT TV, will not be included in the 2015 fiscal year budget.

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley's new campaign ad accuses his primary opponent of condoning sex trafficking, a charge that the opponent says "rises to the level of defamation."

A parish food pantry worker who was fired over her marriage to another woman is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

American Royal leaders say they raised more than $10 million toward the organization's goal of building a new structure to replace Kemper Arena in Kansas City.

St. Louis County health officials say they will hire researchers to study illness rates among residents near a creek that was contaminated decades ago by nuclear waste.

Missouri education officials plan to expand a scholarship program to some high school students who came to the US illegally before their 16th birthday.

The Missouri Department of Higher Education says those students will be eligible to participate in the A+ program, which gives qualifying students to receive two free years of tuition at a Missouri community college.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the program will be opened to students who have applied with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" status.

Today Paul Pepper visits with LIZ SCHIMDT, League of Women Voters, about two events attempting to educate you, the voter, ahead of the election on August 5th! At [5:12] JOSH SAFRANSKI tells us about an adoption event (with Second Chance) happening this Friday at Columbia's Alpine Shop! July 16, 2014

MU medical student Kayla Matzek is working at Cox Hospital in Branson, Missouri this summer. While a community with a population of only 10,000 might not seem attractive to some medical students, southwest Missouri is right where Matzek wants to be.

“I specifically want to go to a rural community because I think that you just get to know people more and it’s more of an intimate setting,” said Matzek, who grew up in a small town less than 30 minutes away from Branson.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is asking an appeals court to overturn a stay of execution for John Middleton, scheduled to die early Wednesday for killing three people in northern Missouri in 1995.

The long delays for veterans seeking medical care at VA hospitals have prompted The American Legion to set up a short-term crisis center in St. Louis this week.

The MU School of Medicine announced Tuesday Dr. Patrice Delafontaine will take on the position of dean.

For a long time in this country, landowners have taken steps to preserve their land from ever being developed.

Missourians with epilepsy that cannot be effectively treated by conventional means will now be able to use a cannabis extract under legislation signed into law Monday by Gov. Jay Nixon.

The legislation was sponsored by St. Louis County Republican Eric Schmitt, a state senator whose 9-year-old son has the central nervous system disorder.

Have you ever left a doctor’s office with more questions than answers? Don’t let that happen again. 

Join us Thursday, July 24th for an evening of conversation with health literacy experts Dr. Steve Pu and Dr. Ingrid Taylor of Health Literacy Missouri. Come take part in a live taping of KBIA’s local talk show Intersection, hosted by Ryan Famuliner.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has vetoed legislation barring people younger than 18 from buying electronic cigarettes while also exempting the nicotine products from other tobacco sales restrictions.

Nixon called the Senate bill a "thinly disguised and cynical attempt" to exempt e-cigarettes from the state's 17 cent-per-pack cigarette tax as well as further public health restrictions. His rejection on Monday fell on the deadline for the governor take action on bills passed by state lawmakers earlier this year.

Women make up around 29% of the technology workforce nationally. Only 18 % of technology degrees were earned by women in 2012, which is down from 35% in 1985.

A multi-disciplinary group of city, county and environmental leaders monitoring Mid-Missouri's Hinkson Creek say the watershed is on its way to good health again.

"Help the Hinkson" is a project that started two years ago to improve the Hinkson Creek watershed. The watershed serves as a drainage point for a portion of Boone County.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources declared the creek unfit to sustain aquatic life in 1998. In 2012, a group of citizens came together, with help from city, county and federal officials, to improve the quality of the water.

Columbia Water and Light crews have restored power to all customers who lost power in a severe thunderstorm late Monday night.

The jumping jack is about to become Missouri's official state exercise.

Gov. Nixon signed legislation Thursday adding the jumping jack to a list of more than two dozen official symbols and things.