Columbia Daily Tribune

Robbers Target Adult Video Store

Columbia police are looking for two suspects who robbed Bocomo Bay adult video store last night. Officers responded to the store at 1122 A. Wilkes Blvd. at 11:11 p.m. A 41-year-old store clerk said a black male in his early 20s came around the counter demanding money, then forced him to the floor and displayed a handgun.

Messing with River Means We All Lose

The Missouri River was instrumental in the location of the city of Columbia. When the village of Smithton - as it was called back in those days - was founded, it was deemed wise to place it well away from the Big Muddy, high on a hill where annual flooding and the occasional big flood would not be problematic. At the same time, the founders of what is now Columbia wanted to have access to the river, so Old Plank Road was born and led down to Providence Landing. Old Plank Road was so named bec...

Fire Spills From Crematorium Equipment

Traffic was tied up downtown for about a half-hour yesterday afternoon as firefighters responded to a crematorium fire at Parker Funeral Service and Crematory. Several Columbia Fire Department trucks and about 18 firefighters arrived at the funeral home at 22 N. Tenth St. after flames escaped the crematory equipment, Battalion Chief Steve Sapp said.

Slow Burn

Tribune Column ; for Scoop On Harrisburg, Just Ask Palmer's Crowd

One of the best places to get a Boone County history lesson, most of it based on fact, is at Palmer's Market in beautiful downtown Harrisburg. Each morning, the half-dozen tables fill with folks from all walks of life retired farmers, current businessmen, an occasional politician, auctioneers, lawyers - but only by invitation, school board members, hunters and columnists on the hustle.

Fratello Takes Fall for Grizzlies' Stall

With the Memphis Grizzlies in the midst of a youth movement, Jerry West wants them playing at an uptempo pace. The team's president of basketball operations also decided Mike Fratello was not the right coach for the Grizzlies at this time, so he replaced him with Tony Barone Sr. yesterday. It will be the first NBA head-coaching job for Barone, Memphis' director of player personnel the past seven years.

Missouri Makes Hospital Infection Rates Available

Missouri officials have released a report they say will provide an overview of how state hospitals fare in preventing infections. The report, which will be updated quarterly, takes a cue from a state law requiring hospitals to disclose information about infections that occur at their sites.

Mascot Melee

Arrests and Summonses

Authorities made the following arrests and issued summonses from 7 a.m. Dec. 28 to 7 a.m. Dec. 29 COLUMBIA POLICE

Banking On Minivans ; Chrysler Stands by Classics As Ford, Gm Leave Market.

DETROIT - Soccer moms and dads, take note: Rumors of the minivan's death have been greatly exaggerated. Even as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. plan to ditch their minivans in favor of newly popular crossover vehicles, Chrysler Group, which invented the minivan in 1984, is preparing to unveil its next models, and it's counting on high-volume sales.

Diabetics' Future Depends On Research

When he was 9 years old, our middle son began to behave oddly. Normally talkative and happy, he seemed to have no energy and complained often of feeling sick. We had him examined by the pediatrician but found nothing. We took him to a therapist, who thought he seemed depressed. A few weeks after the first meeting with the therapist, David began to show symptoms we understood. He started to get extremely thirsty and had to run to the bathroom frequently. This time, the pediatrician had no trou...

Titans' Young Answers the Questions

Remember all the questions raised about quarterback Vince Young when he reportedly scored a 6 on the Wonderlic intelligence test at the scouting combine? They've been answered.

In Oh so Many Ways, Our World's a Perfect 10

Nearly 30 years ago, I viewed a nine-minute documentary film by Charles and Ray Eames in the home of friends that had a lasting effect on the way I look at things. "Powers of Ten," produced by the husband and wife team in 1977, simply and beautifully illustrates both the humbling vastness of the universe and the exquisite complexity of life. The film, conceived to teach physics to non-physics majors, starts with a view of picnickers in Chicago. Then every 10 seconds it zooms out 10 times fart...

Parenting

Certain child-rearing subjects hit huge nerves, one such subject being adoption. I opined in a recent column that it is unwise for parents to make a child's adoption the centerpiece of his or her life, to do what most adoption professionals recommend and refer to it regularly. I am also generally opposed to "open" adoption, which I think would be more accurately termed tentative nonkinship custody, but that's another column. Needless to say, I received a good amount of mail from both adoptive...

Area Scene

Hickman drops tourney game The Hickman boys basketball team fell to 5-5 yesterday after losing to Ruskin 63-48 in the second round of the Neosho Holiday Classic.

Sportscene

Tyson arrested for DUI, possession Mike Tyson was arrested for driving under the influence and possession of cocaine after police stopped him leaving a Scottsdale, Ariz., nightclub early today.

Zito's Deal Highest Ever for Pitcher

The Bay Area's other Barry is the new face of the San Francisco Giants - now and well into the future. Barry Zito and the Giants reached a preliminary agreement on the largest contract for a pitcher in baseball history, a $126 million, seven-year deal. Zito joins the Giants three weeks after the club came to terms on a $16 million, one-year contract with slugger Barry Bonds for a 15th season.

Prediction

Oregon State 34, Missouri 30 If the Beavers can dictate the tempo with their physical, ball- control offense, the Tigers might struggle like they did in losses to Nebraska, Oklahoma and Iowa State. Expect more struggles against All-Pac-10 junior Yvenson Bernard, who might be one of the nation's most underrated running backs. The Tigers can't afford to get sloppy on offense against an Oregon State defense that led the Pac-10 Conference in sacks and takeaways. Unless Chase Daniel and the Tiger...

Time to Get Your Game On ; Frivolities End, Focus Returns to the Sun Bowl.

EL PASO, Texas - At some point between Wednesday's trip to Mexico and yesterday's team luncheon in downtown El Paso, Gary Pinkel applied his game face. No telling if it was splashed with Brut, the chief sponsor for today's Sun Bowl, but Missouri's coach was clearly ready to stop talking and start playing. "We've gotten to the point," Pinkel said yesterday, "where we want to play."

Cougars Guard Lets His Game Do Talking ; Silence Golden for Columbia's Hall.

The expression on Trae Hall's face rarely strays from the ordinary. No matter what the situation, it's almost impossible to get a read on the soft-spoken Columbia College guard.