Jennifer Moore

A seven-year-old boy from Rogersville, Missouri will take center stage this weekend on a billboard in Times Square.

Paxton Uchtman couldn't care less about superheroes or video games, but he's obsessed with farming and  his toy farm animals. And that creativity helped him win a national video contest hosted by the iconic toy company Schleich, which is known for its animal figurines.

Uchtman talked to KSMU's Jennifer Moore Friday by phone about the contest and his toys.

In this month's episode of Engaging the Community, Missouri State University president Clif Smart tells KSMU's Jennifer Moore that lower COVID-19 casecounts on campus indicate there's not a need to alter how MSU administers its holiday breaks.   

Listen to the episode here:

 UPDATE on Friday, Nov. 13, 5:00 a.m.:   After Thursday's recount, Fogle won the election by 76 votes, flipping Missouri's 135th House District seat to blue.

Original story below:

The sound of ballots sifting through a machine Thursday morning filled the room at the Greene County Election Center in Springfield as part of a manual recount in a Missouri House race. 

The recount is for the Missouri House District 135 race between the top two candidates, Democrat Betsy Fogle and incumbent Republican Steve Helms. 

We’re less than a week before a historic presidential election, one that coincides with a pandemic.

Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller said he expects about triple the number of people who voted by absentee in 2016 to cast their ballots this year by mail or by absentee.    

KSMU’s Jennifer Moore interviewed Schoeller this week to get an update on new procedures and safety concerns.

Hear the interview below:

There’s an old saying:  money makes the world go ‘round.  And in rural communities, there’s often less of it, especially during a historic pandemic.  KSMU shares one town’s economic journey through this extraordinary year in the final part of our series, COVID in the Rural Ozarks.

At the small craft brewery, Wages Brewing Company in West Plains, beer flows from six taps, bringing customers treats like a milky winter stout and their signature “Landlocked IPA.”

Lin Waterhouse, an author living in West Plains, knew it wasn't a good sign that her husband's nursing home was calling her.

“In their e-mail, they would tell us that anyone with a [COVID-19] positive loved one would be contacted by phone,” Waterhouse said.

Her husband, Dave, was asymptomatic. But since nursing homes are doing more universal testing, a nasal swab had caught traces of the coronavirus in his nasal passageways. He was eventually moved into a COVID corridor.

Correction: an earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the rural Mercy St. Francis hospital in Mountain View, Missouri does not admit COVID-19 patients. A spokeswoman for Mercy, Sonya Kullman, said the hospital does admit COVID-19 patients. Our story has been edited to reflect that change.

Earlier this month, Misty Traver of Willow Springs, Missouri, heard a sound she won't likely forget. Her husband of nearly 25 years, who had tested positive for COVID-19, was dry heaving.

In this episode of Engaging the Community, Missouri State University President Clif Smart explains the decision to open up the JQH Arena as a polling place for all Greene County voters on November 3.

That means voters will have the option of either casting their ballots at their regular polling place or at the JQH Arena.

Smart said while MSU, as a public institution of higher education, doesn't endorse individual candidates, he thinks "this presidential race, in particular, is the most important race in my lifetime."