News

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster plans to create a new task force to focus on urban violence. The attorney general's office says the panel could start work in late spring with meetings in Kansas City and St. Louis.

Koster, a Democrat, won a second term this past November. During his re-election campaign, he said he was considering task forces to focus on urban crime and to evaluate the annual report on law enforcement traffic stops.

A Missouri House bill aims to restrict the use of cash welfare benefits at casinos and liquor stores.

Columbia mayoral candidate Sam Allison has announced his withdrawal from the city-wide race.

Regional news coverage from the KBIA newsroom, including:

• Lincoln University names its new President
• Columbia College names its new Interim President, and the committee to find the permanent replacement
• One of the candidates in the Columbia mayoral race drops out

An administrator at a college in North Carolina will become the new president of Lincoln University in Jefferson City. Lincoln University curators announced Friday that Kevin D. Rome will be the school's 19th president, beginning June 1.

Columbia College has named current Executive Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs Terry Smith as its interim president. According to a press release today, when Dr. Gerald Brouder retires as President in August of this year, Smith will take over. The college has a goal of having a new president named by July 2014.

 This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes, in which reporters talk to newsmakers and experts about important issues related to food production.

The Republicans who hope to replace Jo Ann Emerson in the U.S. House of Representatives stressed their conservative credentials while trying to differentiate themselves in a crowded field at a voter forum in Cape Girardeau Thursday night.

Before taking the stage, the 12 candidates worked the room, grinning from ear-to-ear, shaking hands and making small talk. About 300 people filled the Concourse building, but the candidates honed in on those wearing red, white and blue ribbons.

The former CEO of a failed artificial sweetener facility in Moberly has waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges of theft and securities fraud.

Last year, the University of Missouri School of  Journalism gave eight individuals the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.