From the Roundtable: Broadening Broadway is in the best interest of ALL Columbians
The Broadway narrative is well known. The street that runs through the center of Columbia dates from the antebellum era when it was the Old Trails Road, is the second-removed uncle to Interstate 70. To widen or not to widen a controversial stretch of this thoroughfare has been a community question for decades. But now, […]
From the Roundtable: Columbia Photo move rekindles memories of homegrown business
On June 28, 1967, I walked into Capen’s, a relatively small photography store at 1009 East Broadway, and found a business that was clearly in transition. I bought an ancient record album, which perhaps was a remainder from the store’s previous existence as the Radio Electric Shop. My souvenir of the day was marked down […]
From the Roundtable: Return The Tiger to its glory by approving tax increment financing
The Tiger Hotel has been a downtown landmark since it opened in November 1928. Six years ago, John Ott, David Baugher, Renea Sapp and I bought this historic building. The nine-story building’s use as a hotel was gradually marginalized over the years by more modern highway hostelries. Efforts to develop a different purpose for the […]
From the Roundtable: New police chief a good choice as crime debate divides city
One of the things Denver-area native Ken Burton says he’s looking forward to is returning to a locale that has a real winter. Preparing for the April 1 starting date as Columbia’s new chief of police, Burton is moving northeastward from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex into a situation that in the long run could make […]
From the Roundtable: Power Brokers should engage in constructive, not destructive, activity
One of the most intriguing mysteries within any community is figuring out who has the clout to get things done. Every community has a small contingent of Power Brokers, private citizens who have the ability to get things done because of one or more factors-their possessions, positions, experience in the community and just plain raw […]
From the Roundtable: Economic recovery will require realistic cooperation from all sides
Peering into 2009 leaves me uncertain about local economic conditions given the huge financial upheaval that’s been going on the past few months. While this swoon in the traditional pattern of business cycles appears to be the most serious dip since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the City of Columbia so far seems to […]
From the Roundtable: Keep Historical Society in Columbia, even if it takes eminent domain
Forty years ago, the city directory listed 227 S. Sixth St. as the address of the Campus Snack. I don’t remember much about that restaurant, but over the years, a variety of people have tried their hand operating venues that served food at this address and later adult beverages under a variety of names. Tom […]
From the Roundtable: Stop red-light cameras, green-light count-down signals and get in sync
Worth noting are a couple of interesting segments last week during KFRU’s “Morning Meeting” while Renée Hulshof was guest co-host with Simon Rose. How refreshing to have a woman on the local airwaves. Donning my critic’s hat momentarily, Renée’s role on KFRU should be firmed up and continued, which I understand may just be what […]
From the Roundtable: City, university join businesses in cutting expenses during downturn
Sometimes I feel like a canary in a coal mine. That was the caged bird that used to be sent into the pits underground to make sure conditions were safe before miners dug out the seams of coal. Pressed into service as a sort of economic canary these days, folks ask me about recessions past […]
From the Roundtable: The lines in the battle of West Broadway are drawn once more
The word libraried may not be in the dictionary, but that’s the term one KFRU caller came up with the other day to sum up his thoughts about the next stage of the contentious West Broadway “improvement” project. With Columbia poised to spend $105,000 on the design phase of the project, the caller and others […]
From the Roundtable: Building demolition waiting period could clash with owner’s rights
Very few communities have evaded the demolition of historic buildings. Sometimes they’re deemed historic before the destruction, but most often the distinction is made sometime later when a sense of historic perspective settles in. For reference, a thoughtful person occasionally assembles a set of old building and street scene photographs of a particular community and […]
From the Roundtable: Potential for inflation outweighs lack of consumer confidence
The timing couldn’t have been better. The interaction of Missouri Finance Commissioner Eric McClure with a group of area bankers at the latest Columbia Business Times Power Lunch on Tuesday provided considerable insight into what we’ve been through and maybe what we should be planning for. Stocks go up and stocks go down. As this […]