Paul Pepper

Heart of Missouri CASA is hosting their annual 'Voices of Columbia' fundraiser in a new location this year! ANGELA CARSON and KELLY HILL tell us how the money raised (the goal is $50K!) will be spent. Also, LINDA REED BROWN invites everyone to the 65th annual Olivet Christian Church barbecue/fundraiser, happening June 10th in Columbia! Proceeds benefit a small number of local early-childhood learning centers. (5:35) May 23, 2023

Columbia mayor BARBARA BUFFALOE takes time out of her busy schedule to fill us in on some of the more pressing matters facing the mayor's office these days (yes, roll carts are coming!), and the advice she was given by former CPS superintendent Dr. Peter Stiepleman. May 22, 2023

"In 2022, we had almost 10,000 people who shared more than 60,000 hours of their time." Despite this staggering statistic, KATIE ADKINS says The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri is always on the lookout for even more volunteers, especially during the summer months! Also, GRAHAM McCAULLEY is looking for high school students to participate in a week-long summer camp that will expose them the many aspects of financial planning. "It sounds boring...but we've built in a lot of fun." Registration closes soon! (4:24) May 19, 2023

National Federation of the Blind (Columbia Chapter) president GARY WUNDER shares with us three bills that the NFB recently took to lawmakers in Washington, D.C. for consideration: the Medical Device Non-Visual Accessibility Act; the Blind Americans Return to Work Act; and a bill that allows for those who are sight-impaired to compete on an even playing field in the workforce. May 18, 2023

Did you know that May is National Osteoporosis Prevention and Awareness Month? And did you also know that approximately 50 million people in the U.S. are affected (at some level) by #osteoporosis? Does your lifestyle put you at risk of being a part of this statistic? We ask OsteoStrong Columbia owner DAYNA GLANZ! Also, The Missouri Symphony is rebranding their popular Hot Summer Nights series with a new name this year! Executive director TRENT RASH is here to tell us what we can look forward to at the first-ever Firefly Music Festival. (4:50) May 17, 2023

For the past two years, DR. TOMOTAROH GRANZIER-NAKAJIMA and DR. RAMON MARTINEZ, III, have been instrumental in giving Missouri State Legislators 'science notes', or two-page, comprehensive briefs that provide all the information they need to know in order to make an informed decision. Their efforts are a result of a two-year, post-doctoral fellowship with MOST Policy Initiative that has now come to an end. May 16, 2023

This year, spruce up your yard with native plants- or, as CAROL DAVIT likes to call them, "the foundation of nature's web of life." Missouri Prairie Foundation is hosting a native plant sale this Saturday, May 20 at Bass Pro Shops in Columbia - get details on today's show! May 15, 2023

Storyteller LARRY BROWN tells us the "fascinating" story of Sacred Sun, an 18-year-old Native American girl from what is now Saline County, Missouri who - along with her husband and a handful of others - found herself on a tour of Europe in the late-1820s led by St. Louis resident David de Launay. He took them there to make money for himself. While overseas, Sacred Sun became pregnant with twin daughters; upon her return she was the subject of a portrait by Charles Bird King. May 12, 2023

It's becoming an age-old debate: Mac or PC? PC or Mac? The line dividing the two has been drawn for decades now, with both sides holding strong as consumers stake their flag on one side or the other for one reason or another. So what IS the big deal? For the answer, ITCOMO's ROBERT RICKETTS takes us back to the early-1980s... May 11, 2023

Today's show is for the smoker out there who doesn't like to be told not to smoke. DRS. SATISH KALANJERI and JEREMY JOHNSON, Truman Veterans' Hospital, hear you: "of course we don't want to harp on people" but..."having this conversation where our viewers know that cigarettes contain all these toxins might get them to think that maybe it's about time we think about stopping smoking." May 10, 2023