Go Centralia!
Our Centralia coverage is part of a year-long project of community engagement between Missouri News Network journalism students and teams and the community of Centralia.
The team of journalists wandered the town square talking with people, went to the pumpkin festival, hung out at the Book Bean, ate lots of lunches at Bluebird Bistro, and hung out an awful lot at the library! It was all part of a plan to get to know people, listen to stories about the town, and get to know each other.
Our community partners include the Centralia Public Library, with director Amy Hopkins and the library team, and the Centralia Fireside Guard, with editor and MU Journalism alum James Smith.
The project is part of a national collaborative, News Ambassadors, that seeks to conduct journalism that finds solutions, complicates the narrative, eliminates the perception gap, and builds relationships through listening and connecting. Our partners at America Amplified also provided training, inspiration, and production for this project.
Previous News Ambassadors engagement projects have been conducted with reporting in Moberly and Sedalia. You can see those stories below.
Please reach out:
Please reach out to us with your story ideas - you can reach us at news@kbia.org and at the newsroom at 573.882.5611.
Enjoy these Centralia stories and conversations!
The team of journalists wandered the town square talking with people, went to the pumpkin festival, hung out at the Book Bean, ate lots of lunches at Bluebird Bistro, and hung out an awful lot at the library! It was all part of a plan to get to know people, listen to stories about the town, and get to know each other.
Our community partners include the Centralia Public Library, with director Amy Hopkins and the library team, and the Centralia Fireside Guard, with editor and MU Journalism alum James Smith.
The project is part of a national collaborative, News Ambassadors, that seeks to conduct journalism that finds solutions, complicates the narrative, eliminates the perception gap, and builds relationships through listening and connecting. Our partners at America Amplified also provided training, inspiration, and production for this project.
Previous News Ambassadors engagement projects have been conducted with reporting in Moberly and Sedalia. You can see those stories below.
Please reach out:
Please reach out to us with your story ideas - you can reach us at news@kbia.org and at the newsroom at 573.882.5611.
Enjoy these Centralia stories and conversations!
Centralia Stories
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Centralia's trees are infected with Emerald Ash Borers, an insect that feeds on and eventually kills ash trees. -
Tanner Littrell wasn't sure he wanted to start a restaurant in his wife Mariah's hometown. He and the business would need support — and the community has provided it.
Columbia Missourian: Local voters reflect political divide as Trump inauguration nears
From optimism to disappointment, from high hopes for the economy to dark fears about it, the mood of local voters as Donald Trump’s second inaugural approaches reflects the political divide seen across the nation.Boone County occupies 691 square miles in the middle of the country, but between supporters and opponents of the incoming president who live here, there’s little common ground... Click to read more
Centralia - Missouri on Mic
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Lorry Myers spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. Myers is a fourth-generation resident and a columnist for the Centralia Fireside Guard. While she loves the community aspect of the town, she says she’s worried about how specific tax boundaries are affecting public infrastructure, like the Centralia Public Library. -
Centralia Mayor Chris Cox spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. He’s got deep family roots in the community, and is approaching six years in the mayor’s office. He believes Americans should focus more on what we’ve got in common. -
Paul Million spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. He's a life-long Centralia resident and family man who just welcomed his second grandchild into the world. He’s also a man of faith, and lover of small town life.
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Carol Maher spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. She’s newly retired after a long career in education, including 20 years as a school superintendent. Now, she’s enjoying small-town life in her farmhouse between Hallsville and Centralia.
About the project: https://americaamplified.org/2025/02/11/kbia-library-listening-session/
Moberly
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This year, KBIA and the Missouri School of Journalism have been involved with a reporting project called the News Ambassadors. Two KBIA reporters worked with a pair of reporters from Columbia University in New York City for the last few months. The idea was to look at two seemingly different communities: Moberly, MO, and Flatbush, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, in New York City. The project involved community outreach, including listening session events in both communities in October. We wanted to find an issue to cover that is important to both communities, that we might not be covering well enough now, and see what we could learn by covering that issue in both communities at the same time. Here’s what we found. -
The Missouri School of Journalism and KBIA invite Randolph County citizens to a community outreach project that we believe will amplify the voices of the Midwest.
Sedalia
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Third places are important for forming friendships and flexing the imagination — and the Boonslick Regional Library in Sedalia provides an extra space to gather outside of home and work. -
The service center supports Sedalia residents on multiple fronts.
Centralia
- Centralia Mayoral Incumbent Does Not See “Benefit” in Contesting Close Election
- Afternoon Newscast for July 11, 2018
- Parts of Centralia Set for Boil Water Advisory
- Centralia Juvenile Detained with Gun at School
- Centralia Public Library Gets Funding for New Equipment
- Confederate Rock Gets New Home in Boone County
- Centralia Soldier's Remains Return Home 45 Years After His Death
- Voters to decide bond issues in Centralia, Fulton
- As states tighten gun restrictions, two central Missouri mayors seek to attract gun business
- Centralia voters re-elect Grenke for mayor
Moberly
- Moberly receives grant to demolish abandoned grain towers near downtown
- Emergency service consolidation helps reduce response times in Randolph County
- $14 million housing project converting an empty school in Moberly is nearly complete
- Moberly renews investment in AI data tool to boost tourism
- Progress continues on future MACC flight school
- Population increases in some mid-Missouri counties but decreases in others
- New Moberly Police Chief focuses on staffing and reducing crime
- Moberly Police Department plans for new officers and equipment
- Moberly seeks transportation sales tax renewal in upcoming election
- Public school budgets affected by state and federal policy changes
Sedalia
- As other fests cancel amid threats, Sedalia Pride Picnic to continue
- PFLAG Sedalia makes space for 'people seeking support for themselves or for their loved ones.'
- Connecting residents to resources: 'Something that seems small can make all the difference in someone's life.'
- Programs for Sedalia seniors, 'kind of started in the fitness realm, but then it's grown.'
- Kehoe won’t confirm redistricting. Republicans in the room say it's likely
- The Pettis County Health Center in Sedalia is now a 'Milk Depot'
- All power outages resolved in Columbia after Tuesday storms
- 'A day away at the fair': the sights and sounds of the 2023 Missouri State Fair
- Deputy Won't Be Charged in Missouri Woman's Shooting Death
- Civil War Artifacts Stolen From Missouri Museum