Columbia Daily Tribune (Columbia, MO) articles from December 2002

Columbia Daily Tribune (Columbia, MO) archives from December 2002

Telecom Seeks to Expand Network in Missouri.
December 31, 2002... Byline: Steve Friedman Dec. 31--CenturyTel is looking to expand its telecommunications infrastructure in Missouri through a proposed $38 million purchase of a St. Louis-based fiber-optic network. The Louisiana-based local telephone...

Realtor Says Columbia, Mo.-Area Farm Development Issues Are Workable.
December 27, 2002... Byline: Justin Willett Dec. 27--While the prospect of developing a comprehensive plan for the 500-acre Philips farm has many people excited, some say the city must tread carefully because whatever it does will set a precedent for...

Consumers Wanting to Return Gifts Face Maze of Mostly Stricter Policies.
December 27, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Nelson Dec. 27--They come in wrong sizes, awful colors and outdated styles, but you grin, say thanks and mumble something under your breath about returning the gifts the minute the stores open. The sentimentality...

Columbia, Mo.-Area Stores Report Flat or Improved Sales.
December 27, 2002... Byline: James Goodwin Dec. 27--If the hot seller at Sears is any indication of what dads are getting this Christmas, they should prepare to hang pictures. Moms might be the true beneficiaries of the laser level, but it's apparent...

Columbia, Mo., University Professors Question Basketball Coach's Pay Hike.
December 27, 2002... Byline: Nate Carlisle Dec. 27--As far as Bill Wiebold is concerned, the score is tied. The University of Missouri-Columbia associate professor of agronomy says he has some mixed feelings over the contract extension awarded to Tigers...

Columbia, Mo., Biotech Firm Sells Equity Stake to Investment Firm.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Steve Friedman Dec. 23--A Los Angeles-based equity investment firm has gained a minority ownership stake in local biotechnology and research firm Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories. The deal, struck last week, will make...

Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo., Street Talk Column.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Andrew Waters Dec. 23--Ninth Street Deli, the old-style downtown sandwich shop that traded hands less than a year and a half ago, is on the verge of another ownership change. John DuPuy, co-founder of Socket Internet...

Oklahoma Class Action Accuses Insurer of Shortchanging Homeowners.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Steve Friedman Dec. 23--An Oklahoma class-action lawsuit could involve thousands of homeowners in 13 states who purchased insurance policies through Shelter Mutual Insurance Co. The civil breach-of-contract lawsuit challenges...

Columbia, Mo., Video Store Offers Alternative.
December 23, 2002... Byline: Eve Kidd Dec. 23--There are no neon lights at Ninth Street Video, and handmade signs lead customers to the small shop's film sections. Unlike its chain-store competitors, which thrive on mass mass-market appeal, Ninth Street...

Columbia, Mo., Retail Development Signs Tenets to Fill Half-Empty Building.
December 20, 2002... Byline: Julia Anderson Dec. 20--Since April 2001, Joni Deans has been happily cutting hair at her Parkwest Studio hair salon at Heritage Place in downtown Vancouver. There's a Starbucks next door, a Subway shop and a wine and gift store...

University of Missouri Faces Suit over Charity Payroll Deductions.
December 19, 2002... Byline: Nate Carlisle Dec. 19--Karl Kruse said all he wants is a chance for University of Missouri employees to give to his organization. "The point is, it's a public institution, and we have a right to be there," Kruse said. ...

University of Missouri Promotes Reactor on TV.
December 19, 2002... Byline: Nate Carlisle Dec. 19--The University of Missouri Research Reactor's drive for increased business has been handed off to a famed pro football announcer. Pat Summerall was the host and narrator in a paid advertisement...

Columbia, Mo., Councilman Criticizes Affordable Housing Plan.
December 17, 2002... Byline: John Sullivan Dec. 17--An experimental affordable housing project proposed for north Columbia faces a challenge as municipal officials consider withdrawing support for the proposal. Third Ward Columbia City Councilman Bob...

Ashland, Mo., Aldermen Shift Meetings for Pilot's Schedule.
December 17, 2002... Byline: Didi Tang Dec. 17--Commercial pilot Randy Eckley considers himself lucky to have a paycheck while there's turmoil in the airline industry. As Ward 3 alderman in Ashland, though, he has another problem. Eckley's new job...

Columbia, Mo., Council Approves Street Design.
December 17, 2002... Byline: Justin Willett Dec. 17--Property owners along the route of the proposed Green Meadows Road extension told the Columbia City Council last night to stick with established standards in designing the road, which will link Providence...

Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo., Street Talk Column.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Andrew Waters Dec. 16--If there's a doughnut with a cult following, it's Krispy Kreme. For years, local aficionados have had to travel to St. Louis or Kansas City for one of the company's gooey confections. Now Krispy Kreme...

Doctors Get Unusual Call to Missouri Legislature.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Josh Flory Dec. 16--A doctor in the House? Actually, there will be five physicians in the Missouri House of Representatives and another in the Senate when the next legislative session begins next month, an influx of...

Columbia, Mo., Businessman Donates Tract to Expand Fairground.
December 16, 2002... Byline: James Goodwin Dec. 16--Columbia businessman Tom Atkins said yesterday that he would fulfill his summertime pledge to donate 80 acres to the Boone County Fairground by the end of the year. Pushing for the county and city of...

Mexico, Mo., Loses Another Big Employer with Wire Plant Closing.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Steve Friedman Dec. 16--It was Mexico, Mo.'s first economic development success story in the late 1980s. The new magnetic wire plant built in 1987 in the Audrain County community diversified its economy and made it less reliant...

Jefferson City, Mo., Flexes Retail Muscle by Luring Big-Name Firms.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Steve Friedman Dec. 16--As Columbia longs for prominent retail names such as Famous Barr, Bass Pro Shops and Kohl's, one highly-coveted shopper's paradise is dotting another landscape 30 minutes away. In a flattened rock...

Columbia, Mo., Youths Learn Problem-Solving Skills at Robotics Competition.
December 16, 2002... Byline: John Sullivan Dec. 16--A robotics team of Columbia middle school and junior high boys knows better than many their age that the path to success is littered with frustration. After winning a regional robotics competition last...

Ruling against University of Missouri in Tuition Case Has Unclear Future.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Nate Carlisle Dec. 16--If you're wondering when you'll get your tuition refund check from the University of Missouri, here's some advice: Don't bother watching the mailbox for a while. Last week's finding by a St. Louis...

Missouri Sen. Bond Downplays Role in Highway Funding Bill.
December 13, 2002... Byline: Josh Flory Dec. 13--JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.--Missouri's senior U.S. senator will play a key role when Congress crafts a new highway spending bill next year, but he downplayed expectations yesterday while speaking to a group of...

Columbia, Mo., Advisory Group Drops Plan for 'Far-North' Interstate Bypass.
December 13, 2002... Byline: Steve Friedman Dec. 13--Near north 1, far north 0. If any Interstate 70 bypass loop is built through Columbia off the existing roadway, it likely won't be on a so-called "far-north" corridor. Members of the Improve I-70...

Columbia, Mo., Low-Income Homes Proposal Worries Neighbors.
December 12, 2002... Byline: John Sullivan Dec. 12--Residents living near a proposed development touted as the future of affordable housing claim developers and city officials kept them in the dark about the project. "The key point that bothers us is...

Job Drain Worries Missouri's Economic Gurus.
December 12, 2002... Byline: Josh Flory Dec. 12--JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.--Predictions of an early economic recovery turned out to be wrong, and Missouri's director of economic development said yesterday that the state continues to be in a recession. Joe...

McDonald's May Signal More Growth in Ashland, Mo.
December 12, 2002... Byline: Didi Tang Dec. 12--As another sign of increasing growth in the small southern Boone County city, the Golden Arches are likely headed to Ashland. The corporate giant seen by some as a harbinger of future development is seeking...

Columbia, Mo., Visitors Bureau Seeks to Resolve Bed-Tax Disagreement.
December 10, 2002... Byline: Justin Willett Dec. 10--The Convention and Visitors Bureau Advisory Board yesterday declined to support changing an ordinance governing a tax-financed tourism fund, but it pledged to improve guidelines for the fund and to work...

Columbia, Mo., Airport's Master Planning Projections Fail to Reflect Reality.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Steve Friedman Dec. 9--Forecasting and reality have been polar opposites at Columbia Regional Airport. Highly ambitious master plans have forecast radical expansion in the number of commercial airline passengers flying out of...

Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo., Top Drawer Column.
December 9, 2002... Dec. 9--BOONE COUNTY NATIONAL Bank has named Jeff Brinegar a mortgage loan officer. Brinegar began his employment with the bank 15 years ago as a teller. In 1993 he joined the credit department, and in 1999 he was promoted to a personal loan...

Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo., Street Talk Column.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Andrew Waters Dec. 9-- SANDWICH CHAIN HOPES FOR MEATY EXPANSION: Maid-Rite Corp. wants to unleash its signature loose-meat sandwiches on Mid-Missouri in the very near future. The Des Moines, Iowa-based company is looking for a...

Columbia, Mo., Thai Restaurant Caters to the Frugal and the Adventurous.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Ty Hawkins Dec. 9--John Pham and Farsheid Amirpanah take an egalitarian approach to business management. The owners of Bangkok Gardens, a Thai restaurant at 26 N. Ninth St., divvy all tips among their dozen employees. They've...

Urban Sprawl Evident in Columbia, Mo., Study Says.
December 9, 2002... Byline: John Sullivan Dec. 9--Growth in the four smaller metro regions of Columbia, Springfield, Joplin and St. Joseph taken together outpaced that of St. Louis and Kansas City in the 1990s. Combined with the unprecedented development of...

Lawyer Suggests Vouchers as University of Missouri Tuition Payback.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Nate Carlisle Dec. 9--Robert Herman said it's not his goal to put the University of Missouri out of business. "I'm sure that they're accusing me of that, but that has never been my goal," said the attorney representing...

Columbia, Mo., Conoco to Pump Ethanol for Postal Service.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Steve Friedman Dec. 5--Ethanol supporters finally have cracked the Columbia motor fuel market with the city's first E-85 pump. Tiger Conoco owner Steve Gerhardt recently agreed to be the sixth fuel retailer in Missouri to...

Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo., Top Drawer Column.
December 2, 2002... Dec. 2--ONWARD & UPWARD: Dave Gaffney has completed an advanced course in marketing new homes. The course was conducted by the Council of Residential Specialists of the National Association of Realtors. Charles James of Fulton has been...

Columbia, Mo., Businesses Vow to Improve Roadway's Aesthetics.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Steve Friedman Dec. 2--The forest of overhead power poles densely populating the Business Loop 70 corridor is constantly referred to as an eyesore. History has shown, however, that improving the roadway is easier said than done....

Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo., Street Talk Column.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Andrew Waters Dec. 2-- TIE TO MANUFACTURER SETS TABLE FOR FURNITURE OUTLET: Greg Jarvis aims to shake up the local furniture market. Jarvis and his father, Lester, have opened a new store in east Columbia called Carolina...

Habitat Aims to Bid for Columbia, Mo., Neighborhood Lots.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Cory de Vera Dec. 2--The Columbia City Council tomorrow will consider selling property it owns in the Indian Hills subdivision through a sealed bid process, giving anyone interested an equal chance with Habitat for Humanity to...

Columbia, Mo., Group Protests Recreation Center Costs.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Justin Willett Dec. 2--Still unhappy about fees for the city's soon-to-be-opened Activity & Recreation Center, members of Grass Roots Organizing are circulating petitions asking the Columbia City Council to ensure "full access"...

Boone County, Mo., Trust to Help Fund Private School Repairs.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Cory de Vera Dec. 2--Columbia Independent School and six other organizations got a boost this week when the Boone County Community Trust announced distribution of more than $68,500 in grants. The private school received the...

Missouri Governor Seeks More Revenue as Business Targets Spending.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Josh Flory Dec. 2--To understand the current battle raging between the administration of Gov. Bob Holden and business-oriented interest groups, consider the following number: $1.2 billion. That's the difference between state...

Bankruptcies Leave Columbia, Mo., Utilities Holding Bag.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Cory de Vera Dec. 2--If the Columbia City Council agrees, the city will pick up the tab for hundreds of utility customers who didn't pay their bills, including current businesses such as Kmart and defunct operations such as...

University of Missouri-Columbia Club Revives Christmas Tree Sales Tradition.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Forrest Rose Dec. 2--Pine trees cover the field, some in the shape of perfect inverted cones, others short and misshapen. Every year after Thanksgiving, the University of Missouri-Columbia Forestry Club selects and cuts the best...