Science, Health and Technology

Missouri is fertile ground for payday lenders. With some of the loosest regulations in the nation, we are among the states with the most payday lending stores per capita. In this Health & Wealth report, the payday lending industry in Missouri fights for its life, as activists aim for the November ballot to try to rein in these lenders they say trap the working poor in a cycle of debt.

Three Missouri bats are confirmed to have white nose syndrome, found north of the St. Louis area.

MU professor emeritus of anthropology Robert Benfer has discovered rare animal-shaped mounds in Peru. The mounds are three to five thousand years old.

MU’s spokesperson Tim Wall says this research is great contribution for the university.

“This is groundbreaking research by an MU anthropologist," said Wall, "who has found not only some of the oldest structures in the western atmosphere but some of the oldest structures on the planet. These are as old as like the pyramids.”

The “Light it Up Blue” national campaign to raise autism awareness has landed a check for Columbia’s Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment Disorders. 

This year's mild winter and early spring has plants flowering and putting out leaves about three weeks sooner than usual. Some insects are out early too, but that may not mean it's time to stock up on extra bug spray.

A battery acid spill this morning resulted in fire crews being called to a generator room that provides power to Joint Communications and the Columbia Police Department.