Madison Conte

Around the state of Missouri, the rise of coronavirus cases has pushed hospitals to allow access for essential procedures only. Visitors are drastically limited, temperatures are taken at the door and routine health checks have been delayed or halted. 

For a week now, our community has been under new rules. Restaurants, gyms, hair salons and churches have re-opened their doors. We are in the hopeful beginning phases of finding a new normal. Our key words have gone from "stay at home" and lockdown, to recovery and reopening.

The state of Missouri is in the first phase of the Show Me Strong Recovery Program and the City of Columbia and Boone County have also issued the first step in reopening guidelines that have been in place for a week.

Barbra Horrell is a life-long Columbian who graduated in 1959, with the last segregated class at Douglass High School. She went on to become the first black student from Columbia to get a full ride in scholarships to MU, and then spent 45 years with the university before retiring. Horrell is a key advocate for historic preseration and education in Columbia with the Sharp End Heritage Committee. 

KBIA's conversation series "You Don't Say" explores the black experience in Columbia, then and now.

In this edition, long-time Columbians Muriel Browder and Monica Naylor discuss what it was like to grow up in the families of prominent education advocates during an era on the brink of social change.

As the coronavirus continues to spread, and as states and local governments are looking at re-opening plans - the race is on. Researchers all over the country are working together to find treatments and vaccines.

The FDA and American Red Cross have partnered with the Mayo Clinic for a clinical trial involving “convalescent plasma.” It’s exploring the idea that people who have recovered from an illness now have antibodies for it in their blood that might help in the fight against COVID-19.

And MU Health Care is a partner in this innvovative effort.

Remember when we were all fascinated by the unfolding election year and presidential primaries? 

Today, that seems a lifetime ago. The coronavirus broke out in the United States just in time for the Democratic presidential primary. Around 40 people tested positive after Wisconsin’s primary election, and states are now scrambling to find a better, safer way to vote.

Amid everything else - this is still an election year. Voters in Boone County and throughout Missouri will make decisions on June 2nd - and there’s that other little election coming up in November.

In this episode, we talk about seniors — how to stay safe, keep in touch with family and friends, and stay healthy during this coronavirus pandemic.  We explore what's going on in Missouri's nursing homes and long-term care facilities, the challenges workers and residents face there and what it's like being a senior during the COVID-19 outbreak.