On the Street

C of O on NPR

Millions of people heard about College of the Ozarks in November as the result of the school being featured in an eight-minute segment on National Public Radio. NPR's Midwestern correspondent, Greg Allen, spent a day on campus interviewing students, faculty and staffers to complete a story primarily focused on the school's work program. "My editor told me, Everywhere I look, I read something about this college,'" Allen said. "And he wanted me to come and see what it was all about." Allen spent time in the cafeteria, the dairy, the construction and art departments, and the fruitcake-and-jelly kitchen conducting interviews. Among the sounds he recorded on campus for the story were cows mooing in the barn and eggs frying in the cafeteria.

Click It or Ticket

The Click It or Ticket campaign, which ran Nov. 17-30, resulted in 6,943 tickets being issued for various traffic violations, including safety belt and child restraint laws. The statewide effort was focused on increased enforcement of Missouri's traffic laws. Of the total tickets, 1,180 were issued for safety belt violations, 26 for child-restraint violations, 2,616 speeding tickets and 3,171 tickets for other traffic violations. The next statewide enforcement campaign, You Drink & Drive, You Lose, will run Dec. 19-Jan. 4.

Christmas packages

The local U.S. Postal Service is reminding southwest Missourians that special security rules put in place by the FAA are still applicable for the mailing of stamped, metered or e-stamped packages that weigh 16 ounces or more. According to Postmaster Bill Brayman, those packages must be brought into the post office and presented to a retail clerk for mailing. Packages bound for international locations or those being sent to military AFO/PFO addresses have special customs requirements and must be mailed by a clerk. It's also important to note that all former package markings and labels must be removed before a box can be reused for mailing. All Springfield retail locations of the U.S. Postal Service will close at 2 p.m. Dec. 24, with regular hours resuming Dec. 26.

Slice of Nice

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southwest Missouri is already taking entries for its 2004 Holiday Card contest. The contest is open to children in kindergarten through 12th grade in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas. Students in public, private, religious and home schools are invited to submit artwork for consideration. The entry deadline is Jan. 31. For the 2003 competition, more than 550 designs were submitted. At least 10 winning designs will be printed and sold as cards for the 2004 holiday season. Proceeds from the card sales help CASA to provide trained volunteers for children in foster care. Additional information is available online at www.casaswmo.org.