MU announces new endowment for veterans

Friday, November 12, 2010 | 6:20 p.m. CST

BY Thomas Nagel

COLUMBIA — At least 300 veterans are currently enrolled at MU. Now, the university is working to develop a new endowment to assist them.

Announced on Veterans Day at the grand opening of MU's Veterans Center, the Mizzou Military Veterans Endowment is in the early stages of fundraising and planning.

“It was just established a couple weeks ago,” Annette Sobel said. “The fund is specifically for programs for veterans.”

Sobel is the chairwoman of Chancellor Brady Deaton’s Task Force for a Veteran-Friendly Campus and a retired major general in the Arizona National Guard.

The endowment resulted from meetings of the task force, during which members decided to pursue the project. The group was formed by Deaton in August 2007 to look at how the campus can be more accommodating to veterans. It is comprised of 28 members including MU faculty, staff and students.

Boone County National Bank is the first and only donor at this time. It made a contribution of $5,000 to the endowment fund after the bank was contacted by Sobel, said Steve Erdel, president and CEO of the bank.

“We owe (veterans) a lot. It was the right thing to do for the right reason,” he said.

Sobel said she expects more fundraising will take place, possibly led by the Mizzou Student Veterans Association, which recently participated in the MU School of Social Work’s Helmet Heroes art auction to benefit a scholarship in the field of military social work.

Like the funding, the plan for the endowment is in the early stages. Sobel said it would provide further funding to programs assisting veterans through the new Veterans Center.

“Some veterans who have been through wartime experiences have specials needs,” Sobel said.

In addition to providing counseling for students and university-employed veterans, Sobel said, the center will help veterans use opportunities they receive through the GI Bill and other government programs.

“The first step is to make sure all the constituents are represented,” she said of future discussions, which will determine exactly what programs the endowment will benefit.

“What we need to do is a baseline assessment of what the education needs are and where the gaps exist," she said.

On Halloween, tricks for adults, too.

Sunday, October 31, 2010 | 9:20 p.m. CDT; updated 1:10 a.m. CDT, Monday, November 1, 2010

BY Thomas Nagel

COLUMBIA — For grown-ups, Halloween is still about costumes and jack-o-lanterns.

“When you get right down to it, adults have always been into Halloween since the sixties," said Arro Froese, owner of Gotcha & Getcha, a costume store on Tenth Street. "It’s all about costuming. There’s no age restrictions on Halloween, and I got the Halloween rule book.”

While carving pumpkins Sunday afternoon outside her apartment building on Ninth Street, commonly called the "J-Slums," MU sophomore Natalie Devlin expressed a college student's views about costumes.

“I’m wearing the same costume I wore last year because I made my costume last year," she said. "It feels lame to buy a costumes the year after you made one.”

For East Campus resident Sally Geniec, wearing a costume to Halloween parties is about being individual within the larger theme of the weekend.

“I just borrowed a fur hat from a friend and just drew on whiskers to be a wolf,” she said. “I went to a zombie ball where everyone was dressed like zombies Friday night.”

Of her wolf costume that evening, she explained, "I just put a lot of red marker on my face, darkened my eyes. It was kind of confusing for some people.”

Part of that Halloween theme is wearing a costume, and the notoriety it can bring a masquerader.

“Now that Halloween weekend is happening, people have been putting pictures online and getting excited,” Geniec said.

Thus, for costumed partygoers, a good wardrobe requires innovation.

“Kudos to the guy who was Abraham Lincoln, all-star basketball player," Froese said at his store on Sunday. "Any costume can always be a little bit better with just a little imagination."

At the store, surprisingly popular costumes were Katy Perry and Elmo, he said.

“We sold about 80 blue wigs on day two,” he said. “We’re not doing many Abbott and Costellos.”

For many, Halloween is about reinventing childhood memories or simply creating those that one had missed in his or her youth.

“My family, they just deprived me of so many childhood glories," MU junior Trent Hayob said while he carved his first jack-o'-lantern with Devlin on the porch of the J-Slums. "I only shot off fireworks once, and I was with a cousin because my mom is all against shooting off fireworks. But then when you get to your twenties, you’re just like 'I feel like carving a pumpkin." Why not?"

Hayob said he had big plans for Halloween in order to recapture his youth.

“We’re going to Necropolis later tonight," he said. "I’ve been to a haunted house before, but it’s been a long time. For a while you skip out on childhood things while you’re growing up because they’re not cool anymore.”

Froese said much of adults' excitement is a sign of the times.

“You got to understand that a lot folks between my age and the college-age kids we’re brought up in an age of fear, when you couldn't trick-or-treat in your own neighborhood, when you could only trick or treat at the mall,” he said. “Things are starting to loosen up. And all those young adults are like, ‘yeah I want to use a knife and carve a pumpkin.’”

60,000 expected to cast ballots in Boone County

Saturday, October 30, 2010 | 7:39 p.m. CDT

BY Thomas Nagel

COLUMBIA — All the clamor surrounding the 2010 campaign will conclude Tuesday as an estimated 60,000 Boone County citizens join voters across the state and nation to cast ballots in the general election.

Boone County Clerk Wendy Noren made her turnout projection Friday based on the number of absentee ballots cast and the number of new voters registered. Noren said both numbers are up significantly from the 2006 midterm elections, when 58,175 county residents voted. Population growth might also make for a larger turnout, she said.

She's prepared for a busy day. “We had 52 (polling places) in April and August. We’re up to 79 now,” she said.

Although that should speed things up at the polls, it can confuse people about where to vote, especially if they’ve changed addresses.

“The biggest problem for voters is they don’t file a change of address before they go to a polling place,” Noren said. “If they go to the old polling place, they have to do a change of address and go to the new polling place.”

Noren emphasized that voters should check their polling place on the election notices they receive in the mail. Not receiving a notice is “a sign they should go to our website,” Noren said. Those without Internet access should call the clerk’s office at 886-4375.

The U.S. Senate race is likely to be the key draw for voters, Noren said. Columbia voters also will decide whether to extend a sales tax for parks and whether to ban the use of Tasers in the city.

Boone County voters will choose a new presiding commissioner, elect or help elect representatives in five Missouri House districts and cast ballots in the 9th District congressional race.

Statewide, voters will cast ballots on three constitutional amendments, the state auditor's race and two propositions, including Proposition B, which calls for new rules for dog-breeding operations.

In the city, Tom Mendenhall of the Friends of Columbia's Parks committee said he's optimistic about Proposition 1, which asks voters to extend for five years a one-eighth-cent sales tax for parks that's scheduled to expire in March.

“I feel pretty good about it. I don’t see any negativity,” Mendenhall said.

The committee was formed by Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid to promote the ballot issue. Mendenhall said members have spoken to civic clubs, written e-mails to neighborhood associations and created radio ads.

Committee member Meredith Donaldson also expressed confidence.

“I’ve been talking to friends and neighbors and even people in the grocery line,” Donaldson said. “We had a few naysayers at the beginning. Right now, generally, when I talk to people, they’re favorable.”

The more contentious issue, perhaps, is Proposition 2, which would ban the use of Tasers and similar devices in the city. Neither police nor private citizens would be able to use or threaten to use Tasers.

The proposition was placed on the ballot by initiative petition. Law enforcement agencies oppose the ban, but the group People for a Taser-Free Columbia hopes a grass-roots campaign has persuaded people to pass it.

“It’s a neighbor-by-neighbor campaign. We’ve visited 2,000 homes,” member Mary Hussmann said. “We’re not going for tit for tat with the Police Department. It’s not our style or a winning strategy or what we believe.”

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan predicted Tuesday that 2.1 million people, or 51 percent of Missouri’s 4.1 million registered voters, will cast ballots on Election Day. She based that estimate on a compilation of projections from the state's 116 election authorities. Carnahan, a Democrat, is also running against Republican Congressman Roy Blunt and two third-party candidates for the U.S. Senate seat.

At polling places in Boone County, a new tool will help speed up the voting process. Laptops equipped with scanners, first used here in the August primary, will match bar codes on voters' ID cards and drivers licenses to the names and addresses of registered voters. Noren said the system is faster and more accurate than finding a voter’s name in a book.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. A sample ballot is available on the Boone County Clerk's website.

The Missourian’s Voters Guide lists races, candidate biographies, propositions and amendments, as well as information on how to vote.

Council to commission study of airport terminal

Friday, October 29, 2010 | 4:59 p.m. CDT; updated 2:07 p.m. CDT, Saturday, October 30, 2010

BY Thomas Nagel

COLUMBIA — We’re ready for winter was the the tone expressed by officials from the city of Columbia, Boone County and Columbia Public Schools as well as area law enforcement and emergency personnel.

The agencies met at the Activity and Recreation Center on Friday for an annual conference to discuss how they will coordinate efforts when cold weather brings icy conditions to the area.

On Columbia’s streets that effort should be cleaner than in years past, said Sam Thomas, street and storm water maintenance manager for the city. He said that this year, the city will not use cinders to treat icy roads.

Last year, the city used a salt and cinder mix for the first half of the winter and then moved to salt-only for the second half, said Jill Stedem, public information specialist for the city's Public Works Administration.

Thomas said public opinion influenced the decision to stop using cinders.

“The public does not like cinders because they’re dirty," he said. "But they do provide traction and don’t cost anything.”

They city will still keep a stockpile of cinders in case conditions such as extreme iciness or cold call for it. A new storage facility, a vinyl building, will allow the city to react more effectively to events calling for cinders, Thomas said.

“We can mix enough for that event, so we don’t have too much stockpiled,” Streets Superintendent Darrell Lampkins said.

Thomas said the city has 5,000 tons of salt stockpiled, but he will pre-order 2,500 more tons just in case. He said that in 2008, early river ice prevented barges from delivering salt to Columbia.

Thomas also said 13 roads have been added to the city’s snow routes in response to changes in Columbia Transit’s bus routes.

Although the city plans to move ahead with a cinder-free winter, Columbians may still see cinders on major roads.

“We try not to use cinders in town, but depending on a storm, it’s better to have traction,” said Dwayne Vandelicht, Missouri Department of Transportation superintendent.

MoDOT is responsible for state highways that run through the city, including College Avenue, Stadium Boulevard and Providence Road.

MoDOT has stockpiled about 600 tons of cinders. About half of those come from Columbia’s power plant, Vandelicht said.

Those cinders, mixed with salt and sand, might help MoDOT’s plan to use less salt than in previous years. By spending less money on salt, the department would have more money for roadway repairs next summer, Vandelicht said.

Another cost-cutting measure is that Boone County is one of two counties in MoDOT’s District 5 that will be allowed to replenish salt reserves from the headquarters, Vandelicht said.

“They know Columbia is important because it is so populated,” he said.

Columbia receives an average snowfall of 23 inches, but this winter has potential for more ice than usual, according to a prediction by Brain Kochel, weather center manager at Weather or Not Inc., who was also at the snow conference. The company provides daily forecasts and predictions for Columbia and Boone County.

Kochel presented diagrams showing the northern half of Missouri in a predicted nationwide cold pocket covering much of the northwestern U.S. and the southern half of the state on the edge of a predicted humid area covering much of the southern U.S.

“I guess it’s always great to look for the worst case and know you’re prepared for that,” Vandelicht said.

Writing about Red Lights

I’m usually nervous the night before a GA shift. I never know what will happen. Today’s went thanks in part to a big bowl of oatmeal and my thermos of coffee.

Around 9 a.m., I took a story about MoDOT’s plan to stop approving new red light cameras with the intention to study the hot issue.

When I first read the AP story and the St. Louis Post Dispatch’s original, I took notes on details and possible sources. Thinking about localizing the issue, I started doing homework on the Missourian’s website. I also went to MoDOT’s website and the city of Columbia’s to make a list of possible sources.

The city government must be exceptional about access. A page about red light cameras featured a media package from 2009, when the program began. I printed a page, with contacts listed, directly from the site.

I also wrote down some names of citizens –camera protesters from a year ago- who were mentioned in an article. The issue seemed to be the blur between cameras as a cash cow and public safety. To look into the cash side, I made my first phone call to the municipal court clerk’s office for some statistics. Shara, the clerk, was very helpful. Before I called I wrote down what data I was interested in, and it certainly helped us exchange questions and information.

Next I started trying to get in touch with some officials. Shara said that police dept. had some stats that I wanted. I first called Jessie Haden who was out of the office till Monday. When I called Jill Weinke, she asked me to e-mail her questions. I sent her an e-mail at about 11:30. Around 4 p.m. she e-mailed me back saying she forwarded my questions to Jessie. Jessie e-mailed Moday.

Getting in touch with Kevin Keith, the director of MoDOT, I simply called the MoDOT office, as there was no direct contact number for him that I could find. After one transfer I was told he was on the road. Leaving a message with a person in that office, I was very happy when he called me back around 11:00.

From 12:00 to 1:00 I went home for lunch, as I’ve learned most offices do the same.

Around 1:30 I left a message with Tony St. Romaine’s office, as he was out. A person in that office recommended him over Bill Watkins for a source of red light cameras.
Tony gave me some really interesting information that localized the story. MoDOT’s pause is actually affecting a local project. After speaking with Tony for a long time, I felt really good about starting to write. I tried calling some camera opponents but couldn’t find any numbers in the phone book and deadline was getting near at 3:00.
The hardest part about writing for me was organizing issues. There is the issue of the red lights themselves, the pause, and finally local side. To settle this I spent about an hour writing what I knew and rearranging as I wrote. I’m very happy with final piece. I wish could have had fewer typos for my editor. This what I’ll have to try to improve on next time I’m writing on deadline.

New delay on red-light cameras affects Columbia project

Friday, October 15, 2010 | 7:06 p.m. CDT

BY Thomas Nagel

COLUMBIA — The city of Columbia had been preparing to install its sixth red-light camera at Range Line Street and Vandiver Drive. But an announcement Friday by the Missouri Department of Transportation has thrown up a road block.

MoDOT wants to study the cameras’ use on state highways and is temporarily halting its approval of new red-light cameras. Existing cameras are not affected.

Interim Director Kevin Keith said the decision came after a conversation this past week with his colleagues, during which concerns were raised over municipalities’ use of the cameras.

“MoDOT thinks red-light rolling cameras are a good public safety tool," Keith said. "We just want to look back and see if we’re doing it right.”

The delay in Columbia is because Range Line is also Missouri 763, a state highway, and under MoDOT's authority.

Gatso USA Inc., which operates the city’s five other cameras, is responsible for asking the state for permission to install a red-light camera. Assistant City Manager Tony St. Romaine said Gatso sought the approval for the Range Line-Vandiver intersection a few weeks ago, but MoDOT has yet to respond.

“Gatso has done a traffic survey at that intersection, and the number of red-light violations were sufficient to support a red-light camera going in there,” St. Romaine said. “We’ll certainly have to put that on hold.”

The length of the delay is uncertain. “Quite frankly we just got started," Keith said. "I don’t think it will be a long thing.”

Plans for a study have not yet been formalized, Keith said.

Although Keith would not give specific examples of concerns about red-light cameras, he said enough issues have been raised that the state legislature might consider banning their use.

“One of the issues we’re looking at is if we want to set a procedure statewide,” Keith said.

St. Romaine agreed. "My guess is MoDOT is receiving some pressure from legislators," he said. "Bottom line, there needs to be some statewide regulations."

MoDOT has the power to approve the installation of cameras on its roads, but municipalities are responsible for creating their own procedures for operating them and issuing citations, Keith said.

“If this tool is abused, there’s a chance legislation would be passed to eliminate it,” Keith said.

The Missourian reported in April that the state Senate passed a ban on red-light cameras as part of a transportation bill. However, that measure has yet to gain approval in the House of Representatives.

One criticism of red-light cameras is that they could be used as cash cows for cities, Keith said.

St. Romaine defended Columbia’s cameras. “We anticipated that this would not be money maker for the city," he said. "I can certainly say that we have a problem with people running red lights.”

Before the red-light cameras were installed, the city issued about 300 violations per year, St. Romaine said. Since the beginning of this year, 1,056 people paid their red-light tickets, totaling $125,353 in revenue, Columbia Municipal Court Clerk Shara Meyer said.

However, the amount of revenue generated has fallen short of projections, and the city has eliminated a vacant city counselor position as a result, according to its 2011 budget. Moreover, $41 of each $120 ticket goes to Gatso to cover operating costs.

St. Romaine said of other more profitable red-light programs, “I’ve read about some municipalities across the nation. I think a lot of those, who have high numbers of red-lights tickets, ticket people for right on red. We’re not in the process of ticketing everyone who doesn’t make a complete stop on a right on red.”

He added that Columbia’s red-light cameras take pictures of drivers’ faces, so a ticket must be sent to the actual violator as opposed to a car’s registered owner, as in St. Louis.

"We, I think, have gone above and beyond with our program to make sure we are really sending our violations to the actual car driver," St. Romaine said.

While MoDOT prepares to study red-light cameras, Columbia is in the process of reviewing its own red-light camera program.

On July 23, the Missourian reported that St. Romaine had asked city auditor John Blattel to study red-light cameras' effectiveness in preventing accidents, as well as the revenue and expenses they generate. That report is not yet complete, but St. Romaine said it could be used to justify Columbia’s future use of the cameras.

"I think we will continue to look at other potential locations in the city of Columbia while they’re in the process of figuring out what they want to do," St. Romaine said of MoDOT.

Council to commission study of airport terminal

Friday, October 1, 2010 | 6:55 p.m. CDT; updated 1:20 p.m. CDT, Sunday, October 3, 2010

BY Thomas Nagel

COLUMBIA – At Columbia Regional Airport, planners are thinking about the future. On Monday, the Columbia City Council will vote to allocate funds for a study to recommend improvements for the airport’s terminal.

As more passengers fill Delta Air Lines flights, the only commercial airline operating out of Columbia Regional Airport, the terminal’s ability to handle future capacity is of concern.

“If another airline or Delta wants to add more flights we’d like to able to accommodate that,” said John Riddick of the Airport Advisory Board.

Before Delta Air Lines began service to the airport in 2009, its projected load factor, or passenger-to-seat ratio, was 42 percent. Based on that prediction, the airline began flying 34 passenger turboprop airplanes at the airport.

In February 2010, the airline upgraded to 50 passenger jets, and the load factor has been around 82 percent for three daily flights, said Jill Stedem, Public Information Specialist of the Columbia Public Works Administration.

“They went to the jets which were fifty seats and the load factor didn’t fall off, so there’s a lot of people there,” Riddick said.

Before the council is a proposal to allocate $33,700 for a conceptual study of the terminal, which would influence a possible renovation of the building, according to a report prepared for the city council by John Glascock, Director of Public Works.

“Design is not until 2014,” Stedem said explaining the purpose of the study. “Unless we get funding ahead of that it’s quite a ways a way.”

Consultant Reynolds, Smith and Hill (RS & H), who were responsible for the airport’s master plan, which was completed in 2009, would carry out the study if approved.

“They’ve been working with the airport staff for last two years, so they are well versed in what we need at Columbia,” Stedem said.

The plan details recommendations for capital improvements, but has some limitations.

“The master plan does not deal with the terminal itself. It deals with the runway and space around the outside,” Stedem said.

Future capacity is the key concern. Though the plan does grade the terminal fair to good for flow of passengers, acceptable delays, and level of comfort, it doesn’t make recommendations for improving the building. The master plan and officials predict that the current building won’t adequately serve an increase of travelers.

“Obviously as the airport continues to grow and commercial service continues at the rate it is now, we will need to find funding for this in the future,” said Stedem. “We had in the 1960s the building that we are trying to continue to utilize the best way we can.”

Riddick explained the barrier to further airport expansion is the terminal’s inability to accomodate multiple flights at once, as flights must be scheduled around each other.

“Maybe the time they’d like to come here is dictated by other airports. Larger airports will have time slots,” he said. “We can really only handle one flight at a time with the current building.”

Riddick said the study could deal with other space concerns, such as security and fire protection.

When security was added after 9/11, temporary buildings were constructed to accommodate passengers waiting for planes after passing through security, said Riddick.

If you go down to the airport, (the terminal) is a nice brick architecture,” he said. “I’d be nice to not have a temporary buildings. They’ve been there for a long time.”

Riddick added that the temporary building is too low to accommodate a Jetway from the terminal to an aircraft.

Another concern regards how the building houses the airport’s emergency vehicles.

“It was built, my guess, in the 1970s. The types of trucks that are available now are quite a bit wider than they were in the 1970s. Getting out is okay, but it takes a while to get back in,” Riddick said.

Riddick said that if a separate building could house those vehicles, like at other airports, the space could be better utilized in a redesigned terminal.

Although the conceptual study and tentative designing phase depends on Monday’s council vote, improvements are already underway. Stedem said that the airport will renovate its restrooms this fiscal year; Riddick said that more seating has been recently been installed in the terminal's waiting areas.