The Art of Healing through Ayurvedic Herbs
You might never guess that in the backyard of her home in south Columbia, Ranjana Hans is growing a variety of Ayurvedic herbs (including turmeric, ashwagandha, and tulsi) and using them to create healing, health-boosting pastes, soaps, beverages, and syrups for her local community. Growing up in India, Ranjana remembers her mother and her grandmother […]
A Place for Solitude
Just 30 to 40 minutes northwest of Columbia, nestled in the woods of Fayette, lies what can only be described as an oasis. Breathe at JJ’s Folly Bed & Breakfast offers a rustic retreat like no other. If you like log cabin charm and outdoor recreation, you’re in for a treat — bonus if you’re […]
Beautiful Boy
Today, I sat in my car in the hospital parking lot and sobbed. It was an ugly, sloppy sobbing that was born of frustration, desperation, and hopeless defeat. I had just walked out the ER doors with my 9 year old in tow. It was the third such visit this year, but this time I […]
Back to the Future
It’s fitting that Carolyn Orbann was immersed in research about a global pandemic when COVID-19 hit Columbia in March 2020. Spurred by the 100-year anniversary of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, Carolyn, an associate teaching professor in the department of health sciences at MU, had been studying how Spanish Flu impacted the state of […]
Mid-Missouri Black Doula Collective
The Mid-Missouri Black Doula Collective was created and established as a response to learning about high maternal mortality rates amongst Black women, the overall goal being to provide mothers with both education and a companion certified and trained to help women through pregnancy, the birthing process, and postpartum life. Erica Dickson, a doula and founder […]
In Our Own Backyard
Human trafficking, which includes both sex trafficking and labor trafficking, generates $150 billion a year globally, making it the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, second only to drug trafficking. The statistics are sobering, and startling, because human trafficking isn’t just a concern for other people in other cities. It’s happening right here in […]
Art & Soul
The nine-square-block area north of Broadway makes up a small portion of downtown Columbia. But inside those blocks, known as the North Village Arts District, over 150 artists are creating vibrant music, artwork, and other products inside renovated and repurposed warehouses, buildings, and shops. Cafés, restaurants, yoga studios, galleries, performance spaces, a distillery and other […]
Candidates You Should Know
Barbara Buffaloe Tanya Heath Randy Minchew Maria Oropallo David Seamon
It Started with a Spark
Some might say he was lucky. Or that he was at the right place at the right time, he connected with the right people, he had some good cards. But Emmett Russell would say he worked for everything he has earned in his career as a functional artist, and he did it all for his […]
True (or False) COMO Royalty
It is easy to spot the glamorous Queue Queens while waiting in line at the True/False Film Fest. Their intricate outfits, which they often spend months curating, make it obvious to even newcomers who they can go to for assistance. What you don’t see behind the outfits and their helpful, cheerful disposition is the amount […]
Curators of the Lost Art and Artifacts
To say that museums preserve history is accurate, although the statement often invokes a smell of musty attics and molding books. Preservation is undoubtedly a key function shared by Columbia museums, but their collective mission is to entertain, educate, and inspire. Every year, thousands of people visit the Boone County History & Culture Center, Masonic […]
Á La Polonaise
Nestled in a small, unassuming yet cozy building lit by a neon sign, Café Poland adds traditional Polish cuisine to Columbia’s diverse food scene. Co-owned by mother, Iwona Galijska, and her son, Robert Burlinkski, the restaurant opened at 807 Locust St. in January 2013, a few years after the family moved to Columbia from Alaska […]