Our neighbors in St. Louis and Kansas City are two of 25 cities in the U.S. to get a perfect score on the 2013 Municipal Equality Index, or MEI. Columbia and Jefferson City fell further down the list. The MEI is conducted by a national organization working for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. The study looks at equality issues including nondiscrimination policies in cities and states.
Many farmers irrigate their fields with river or groundwater to grow their crops. But across the Midwest, farmers are taking a hard look at their water usage. In Nebraska, which leads the nation in the number of irrigated acres, farmers have had to become more efficient as water grows scarcer.