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KOMU 8 •

Voluntary Action Center still accepting donations for holiday program to help families in need

Columbia - The Columbia Voluntary Action Center is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its  'Adopt a Family' holiday program this year, and asking for donations to support 200 families who are still in need. The program allows sponsors to be paired with families during the holiday season and requires $50 to $75 per child, per family, for gifts, as well as $25 per person, per family, for a holiday meal.Chief Development Officer, Anastasia Pottinger, says the program accepted 1,008 families this y...
Missouri Independent •

The unseen harvest: Pesticides, cancer and rural Missouri’s health crisis • Missouri Independent

Nestled in Missouri’s Bootheel is the small town of Kennett, the Dunklin County seat. With just over 10,000 residents, it’s a close-knit community where good-natured teasing is a common show of affection.
Once a sprawling swampland, it has since been transformed into an expanse of flat, fertile fields where agriculture stands as the backbone of the region’s economy.
Kennett’s houses don’t get much taller than one story, and as visitors stroll down the main street, they’re welcomed by a mix of re...
Investigate Midwest •

A farmer's fight: Cancer, chemicals and a return to organic living - Investigate Midwest

Unyielding is a University of Missouri School of Journalism project for Investigate Midwest.

William Caplinger, a superintendent for a commercial construction company, runs an organic farm in Sulfur Springs, Arkansas, about one hour from Joplin, Missouri. He and his wife, Heather, raise all their food for consumption, completely chemical and pesticide-free. 

Caplinger has Stage 4 prostate cancer. His shift to all-natural started shortly after his diagnosis four years ago, at the age of 52. The...
euronews •

Why Big Tech is going for the nuclear option to power its AI ambitions

Three Mile Island, a US power plant infamous for a nuclear meltdown in 1979, is getting a restart and a rebrand to fuel artificial intelligence (AI) endeavours.
The reason behind this change in fortunes? None other than the multi-billion-euro tech behemoth, Microsoft.

Under a deal announced in September with power giant Constellation Energy, which owns part of the nuclear facility, Microsoft will use carbon-free energy from the plant to power its data centres.
To add to this agreement,...
euronews •

How do you make Europe's rail network faster?

The EU's plan to boost cross-border rail will take some serious investment, as it won't be easy to speed up a network that's currently sluggish and poorly-connected.
The European rail sector got together on Monday (23 September) to discuss that issue — and where better to do so than on a six-hour rail trip?

During the trip from Brussels to Berlin, coffee and conversations flowed among over 230 participants on how to get the continent on a par with its peers.
Green MEP Tilly Metz believe...
Columbia Missourian •

Mayor responds to criticism from community about recent international travels

“It really helped me put in perspective that we’re part of a larger global community. And we need to be thinking about the decisions we are making because they impact Columbia, but they also have a role to play with our neighbors across state lines and oceans,” Buffaloe said.

“It really helped me put in perspective that we’re part of a larger global community. And we need to be thinking about the decisions we are making because they impact Columbia, but they also have a role to play with our ne...