Features

Although nationwide indicators point to a softening of the burgeoning U.S. housing market, some area real estate agents and developers see the slowdown in Columbia as a temporary trend. “The overall housing market is very strong, as strong as it has been in the last two years, but there is an over-in-ventory of new construction, […]

There are a few mystery shops I shy away from; bikini waxing and root canals top the list. Automobile dealers also scare the bejesus out of me. My friends and family would be all too happy to sit you down and tell you tales of why I, a.k.a. the “crash princess,” never should have been

Columbia’s radio market has had a shakeup, both in the latest Arbitron rankings and among the management personnel at Zimmer Radio Group and Cumulus Media, the two companies that own nine of the market’s top-10 stations. “It’s a crazy business, but it can be a lot of fun,” said Jerod Bast, who became the sales

Small businesses across the state may feel the positive repercussions of one of the final acts of the 2006 legislative session — the passing of House Bill 1827, which assists small businesses in providing health insurance for their employees. On July 14, Gov. Matt Blunt signed the group insurance bill into law in Springfield. It

It cost Mid-Mo Recycling $6,000 to find out whether individuals and companies are willing to recycle their old computers, monitors, televisions and other techno-trash. The company learned they were, to the tune of 39 tons that included 1,000 monitors. As an experiment throughout June and July, Mid-Mo Recycling waived its charge for taking computer monitors

One look at the home-based office of INTERIORS by Decorating Den shows customers what they can expect from the interior-design franchise’s owners, Janet Chance-Hetzler and TammyBurgher. The team works out of Chance-Hetzler’s home in Lake Arrowhead Estates, an ornate 8,000-square-foot French Country manor built in Southern Boone County by Chance-Hetzler and her husband, award-winning builder

On a scorching August afternoon, University of Missouri senior Beth Melenbrink lugged the last of her clothing and boxes into a Copper Beech apartment and took stock of her new surroundings. “It’s brand new and spacious, and there were plenty of apartments available,” Melenbrink said, explaining why she chose to spend her final undergraduate year

Uncommon carriers by John McPhee Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 248 pages, $24 Reviewed by Steve Weinberg The business of America is business, and when author John McPhee writes about business, he does it unlike anybody else. Uncommon Carriers in the 27th book by McPhee, otherwise best known for his nonfiction features in The New Yorker

MU finds another way to dispose of outdated computers: Sell them on eBay There’s more to eBay than getting good buys. For the University of Missouri-Columbia, it’s a way to sell some of the 100 to 150 computers tossed aside each month on campus. The large number of discarded computers stems from two facts: MU

Dreaming of that perfect job? At Hockman’s Tae Kwon Do, 21 Conely Road, that job belongs to Mike Witt. I arrive at 2 p.m. Wednesday, when his day starts. Sounds perfect so far, right? Witt, a fourth-degree black belt, has agreed to show me what it takes to be a tae kwon do instructor. Because