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Recent features in streaming audio:

8/27/08 The University of Missouri is in tight financial straits and looking at places to make cuts. The Missourian is a traget because for the consecutive year its deficit is expected to exceed one million dollars. Sara Wittmeyer explores what could be at stake for a traditional newspaper at the world's first school of journalism.

Click here to particpate in an online discussion about this story and to learn about the complications the KBIA newsroom faced in covering this story.

8/25/08 Shoplifting is a growing national problem with billions of dollars worth of merchandise being stolen each year. A team of KBIA reporters looked at the problem from four angles. Part I examines what retailers are doign to protect themselves and how shoplifting affects consumers.

7/16/08 Missouri has become a model nationally for its method of dealing with troubled youth. The state developed a reputation for transforming traditional correctional facilities into something that more resembles a campus. The Fulton Treatment Center is one Missouri facility that takes a non-traditional approach, in a campus style environment, to housing and schooling kids who have broken the law. The Center is run by the state's Division of Youth Services, or DYS. KBIA's Robby Berlin recently visited Fulton Treatment Center, and got a tour from some of the youth who live there. Click here for the story.

6/18/08 Community volunteers are working alongside Missouri National Guard soldiers in several river towns located along the Mississippi. Workers are struggling to keep ahead of the water, which is expected to crest in Missouri this week. KBIA's Janet Saidi visited one historic river town along the Mississippi to see how volunteers and guard troops are faring as they race the rising water.

5/22/08: More than 1,000 Missouri National Guard reservists leave for Kosovo tomorrow. KBIA's Sara Wittmeyer went to Camp Atterbury in Indiana as they trained for the peacekeeping mission. Click here for the audio feature and bonus images and video.

5/13-16/08: A four-part series about Columbia's stormwater infrastructure. Click here for more.

3/11/08 Monday Night Big Band is made up of a group of Columbia jazz musicians who get together each week and jam. But recently their music has taken on new meaning, as the group has begun a series of benefit concerts...KBIA's Chris Leeker has more on this weekly jam session that turns into a benefit concert, starting with a performance tonight.

3/6/08

Filmmakers from around the

country were walking the streets of Columbia last week during the True/False Film Festival. One of those filmmakers was Alex Gibney (pictured at right), who arrived in Columbia days after winning a Best-Documentary Oscar for his film, "Taxi to the Dark Side."

In the film, Gibney explores the story of a taxi driver at the Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan, using that story as a window into the detention and interrogation practices under the Bush administration. Gibney also explores the testimonies of military interrogators themselves. KBIA's Sean Powers met up with Gibney while he was in town. Here's their conversation.

Click below to watch the first part of Sean Powers' four-part video interview with film-maker Alex Gibney. (length: 10:01)

Click here for part two of the interview. (length: 9:05)
Part three. (6:55)
Part four. (4:48)

3/1/08

This year's True/False film festival showcases dozens of documentaries, shown to hundreds of film-goers, over four days at venues throughout downtown Columbia.

The festival also relies on hundreds of volunteers each year to pull the whole thing off. KBIA's Laura Parkinson caught up with some of this year's crew while they talked film...and moved furniture.

2/29/08

This month there have been lectures, performances, meetings, and celebrations commemorating black history month. A team of KBIA reporters have collaborated to bring you this feature report...Christina Jacobson begins our coverage...

2/25/08

Columbia residents want to do something about the recent spike in violent crime. It was the subject of a community action meeting in December. And more recently a public forum over the weekend. The goal of the most recent meeting was to invite teens to engage in the conversation and offer suggestions about how to make Columbia a better community. KBIA's Meredith Miller attended the two-day summit and has this report.

2/11/08

It's not a typical wrestling or gymnastics event, but the two sports combined for Mizzou's second annual "Beauty and the Beast" meet. KBIA's Ken Boehlke was there and files this report.

2/7/08

Students at Rock Bridge High School are learning firsthand how they can positively change the world. They're participating in conference calls with world leaders and activists like former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. KBIA's Catherine Wolf visited the school to find out how something as simple as a conference call can inspire a new generation of activists.

2/4/08

Columbia City Council tonight will consider a plan to allow the construction of an auto dealership at the Crosscreek Development (pictured, right). That’s the area east of Highway 63 at Stadium Boulevard.

The city's planning and zoning commission has rejected the idea, but council seems divided on the issue. KBIA's Sara Wittmeyer has more...

2/2/08

The words of abolitionist playwright William Wells Brown are being brought to life tonight in the State Historical Society of Missouri's production of "William Wells Brown's Leap for Freedom: The Life and Writings of William Wells Brown." The play takes place at Boonville's historic Thespian Hall.

KBIA’s Catherine Wolf talked with two of the plays' organizers to learn more about Wells Browns life as a slave and his anti-slavery advocacy afterward.

Listen to Cheryl Black read a speech abolitionist playwright William Wells Brown made when speaking against slavery in the 1800s. Black is a professor of theater at MU.

Environmental Protection Agency workers are removing lead waste from former mining sites in Washington County. For a decade, the EPA has managed major clean-up projects in six counties throughout the southeast Missouri region known as the "Lead Belt."

EPA workers have removed contaminated mine waste from yards, school grounds, playgrounds, churches and day care centers. Washington County is the latest area to be taken on by the EPA.

1/29/08 In the first of this two-part series from Missouri's lead belt, KBIA's Catherine Wolf talks with EPA officials, health workers aynd residents in the lead belt, about the area's mining history and the legacy it has left behind.

1/30/08 In the second of this two-part series from Missouri's lead belt, KBIA's Janet Saidi goes to the EPA with questions about cleaning up mine waste in Missouri, and talks with one Missouri family that's still searching for answers.

Photo: The Losh Family outside their home in Iron County. Son Joey suffers long-term negative health effects from lead poisoning.

View a slideshow of the people and areas affected by the former mining sites in Washington County by clicking one of the following links:
small screen | large screen


1/23/08 Boonville is the oldest town in central Missouri, and many of the city's residences serve as a reminder of the area’s heritage. More than 400 homes are on the national register of historic places. And now officials are proposing changes that would place restrictions on some homeowners who don’t live in areas protected by the historic preservation society. KBIA’s Sara Wittmeyer has more...
Top: Julie Thacher's restored home is in beautiful condition, but she says it has taken a lot of work. Because she lives in a designated historic district, there are strict guidelines that dictate how repairs and restorations must be made.
Above: This two-story on High Street is one of many colorful historic homes in the area.	Above: This East Lake Victorian style house was the setting for the film, Saving Grace. The home was one of the first on High Street to be painted in bright colors.	Above: This house is located within the proposed historic overlay district. Some say its size and design jar with other houses in the area.

1/15/08 The Parents-as-Teachers program has grown from four pilot sites in Saint Louis to more than three-thousand now around the world. Governor Matt Blunt continues to put more money into Missouri's childhood education program. If his latest increase is approved, Parents-as-Teachers will have a budget of more than 36-million dollars in 2009. KBIA's Sara Wittmeyer tagged along with a parent coach to see how the dollars are used to improve early childhood education.

1/11/08 A new group in Columbia is working to promote marriage as a way to better the community. The Columbia Marriage Coalition held its inaugural meeting this week. KBIA's Sara Wittmeyer reports.

1/6/08 One local Columbia pastor has become part of a nationwide movement that aims to bring Evangelical churches out of the suburbs and into urban communities and culture. But mixing traditional church with a downtown lifestyle isn't so popular with some religious organizations...the Missouri Baptist Convention, for one. KBIA's Jennifer Galt went to church, and files this report.

1/4/08 Jefferson City is re-examining its casino ban. About 50 capital city residents attended a public forum last night at City Hall. Those in attendance were predominately against gaming, but others say it’s still something voters should have the opportunity to decide. KBIA’s Sara Wittmeyer has more.

To hear audio features that aired prior to 2008, visit our archive here.