The paved road began to turn to gravel as the van carrying Rasha Abousalem neared the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos. Neither Abousalem, the director of humanitarian operations for a small Missouri-based aid agency called Global First Responder, nor the other aid workers and volunteers, were prepared for the scene ahead of them.

A maze of curvy, unfinished streets winds around and atop a hill at 7770 S. High Point Lane off Route K south of Columbia. Although the streets might soon be lined with homes for what a neighboring property owner calls would-be "cliff dwellers," efforts to complete the Heather Hill Estates development have stalled.

Harvard graduate and conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro criticized colleges Thursday as places of political correctness and "leftist fascism" that is silencing freedom of speech in an address at MU. The talk was titled "Truth is Microaggression." "Let me say one thing first, I don't care about your feelings.

Few would think that someone who grew up on a farm and attended a one-room schoolhouse would go on to travel the world and influence so many lives. In 1968, Mrs. Sechler's husband, Dale Sechler, was offered a job with the Agency for International Development in India. So, the Sechler family moved to India for two years.

Members of MU's Korean and Chinese student associations met with the owners of Sunshine Sushi, a restaurant in the MU Student Center, regarding the perceived insensitivity of its logo. The two groups, along with Jeff Zeilenga, MU assistant vice chancellor for student auxiliary services, and Julian Kiehn, campus dining services director, met with the restaurant owners Tuesday afternoon.

"No, mine!" one child yelled as he tried to grab a book from another toddler. "She wants to use the book, too," child development advocate Abike Akinmoladun said in an attempt to teach the importance of sharing. Verena Wilkerson, lead child and family development advocate, said Early Head Start is "an amazing program."

MU will spend $60,000 to build two bio-retention basins near Providence Point, behind Hearnes Center and next to the site of its new softball stadium, as part of its effort to reduce flooding and stormwater pollution in Hinkson Creek. Bio-retention basins are man-made depressions that are filled with a variety of soil mixtures and plants such as swamp milkweed, river oats, copper iris, cattails and palm sedge.

A large pair of scissors was used to cut a red ribbon and thus to celebrate the ongoing construction of Boone County's new emergency communications center Friday morning. The disaster-proof building, located north of the Boone County Sheriff's Department, will provide more room for 911 dispatchers and communications technology to accommodate Boone County's increase in population.

*This story has been updated to correct the cost estimate for the fourth Flat Branch sewer project. The city will spend $3.1 million to build a new sewer line along Flat Branch from Lakeshore Drive to Elm Street. The project is the first of four that will renovate the aging and deteriorating sewer system along Flat Branch.

The Columbia Parks and Recreation Department will install LED lights in the Activity and Recreation Center and the Lake of the Woods Clubhouse in order to increase energy efficiency and lower utility costs. The City Council on Monday night unanimously voted in favor of the proposal to reinstall LED light fixtures on Monday.

The council was initially only expected to consider a report on the cameras. Fourth Ward Councilman Ian Thomas, however, moved that the staff be directed to prepare an ordinance to move forward on reinstalling the cameras. That motion died for lack of a second*, meaning the cameras won't be operating in Columbia any time soon.

The Columbia Area Career Center was among 26 national winners of an annual Lowe's Home Improvement store grant issued through SkillsUSA, a nonprofit national student organization. The center received $20,000 to help fund the construction of a vegetable garden and a rain garden. The gardens are a sustainability project made to benefit the community by reducing pollution and providing the center's culinary and agriculture students a hands-on learning experience alongside the traditional classroom education.