U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., meets with Springfield Mayor Ken McClure and other Queen City leaders ahead of City Council’s vote to join a county-level prescription drug monitoring program. “The opioid epidemic is one of the greatest public health crises of our generation, and we need all hands on deck,” McCaskill said in a news release. “Mayor McClure is a strong partner in these efforts, and I look forward to working with him on this issue that is affecting so many families across Missouri.”

Photo provided by THE OFFICE OF SEN. CLAIRE McCASKILL

Thane Kifer, CEO and chairman of Farmers State Bank and a Bolivar alderman, breaks ground June 30 on a 61-room Best Western Plus Vineyard Hotel and Suites in the city 30 miles northwest of Springfield. He’s joined by city, construction and development officials at The Vineyard, his mixed-use project near Southwest Baptist University. Kifer hired Springfield-based O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC to manage the hotel.

SBJ photo by EMILY LETTERMAN