ForColumbia was founded in 2015 to bring Christians and churches together to serve the Columbia area side-by-side. Organizers say it’s a way to share God’s love. ForColumbia will take place this year on Saturday April 29. More than 1,400 volunteers are planning 102 projects, and at least 45 area churches will be involved. The churches include the Chinese Christian Church of Columbia, Jesus House and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic church on Bernadette. Socket co-owner Carson Coffman and Columbia businesswoman Shelly Mayer joined host Fred Parry in-studio Saturday morning on 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable.” One of the projects volunteers will do is build a wheelchair ramp for a woman who lost both of her legs from diabetes complications. They’ll also re-roof and re-side an older Columbia woman’s home. The woman is wheelchair-bound:
(AUDIO): Missouri Congressman Alford hopeful about this year’s farm bill
A west-central Missouri congressman is hopeful Congress passes a good farm bill this year.
Every five years, Congress is expected to pass the “farm bill,” which sets national agriculture, nutrition and conservation policy. U.S. Rep. Mark Alford (R-Raymore) serves on the House Agriculture Committee. His district includes part of Columbia, Centralia, Hallsville and Sedalia.
“We are trying to make sure with the farm bill that we are getting our children fed, that our farmers are secure and that we are good stewards with God’s creation,” Alford says.
Child nutrition has traditionally been a bipartisan issue on Capitol Hill, dating back to the days of former U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth (R) and former U.S. Reps. Jerry Litton (D-Chillicothe), Ike Skelton (D-Lexington) Harold Volkmer (D-Hannibal). Litton, Skelton and Volkmer have since passed away. Congressman Litton died in the 1976 plane crash in Chillicothe, the night he won Missouri’s Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
Congressman Alford, whose sprawling district includes the Missouri State Fairgrounds, says Missouri farmers feed the world. He spoke to 939 the Eagle at the recent ribbon-cutting for Columbia’s massive Swift Foods plant.
(AUDIO): Columbia nurse and son credited for saving man who fell through ice south of town
A wrestler at Columbia’s Fr. Tolton high school and his mother are credited with saving the life of a man who fell through the ice at Cedar Lake, near Rock Bridge high school.
The incident happened in February, when a man dressed in just shorts and a t-shirt fell through ice, while trying the save his dog. Michelle Ankenman, the nurse at Our Lady of Lourdes school, heard an unusual sound that afternoon, and saw the dog running near the shore line.
“I stepped out a little bit further and I saw a hole in the ice and the dog was wet, so I was like oh my gosh the dog had fallen through the ice. And then I heard this sound again and I couldn’t see anything and I kind of stepped off to the side because we have some trees in our backyard. And when I stepped to the side, I saw a second hole with a man in the hole in the ice … who, he was not really able to speak at that point,” Ankenman tells 939 the Eagle.
She ran inside to tell her son Christopher, a 15-year-old who was dressed in pajamas while doing homework.
“I remember running down, I was going to look for a rope and my mom pointed out the hose. So I run, grab this metal elastic hose and we run down to the shore side and I kind of threw it out, missed the first time he seems to be a bit farther out. And then threw it again, got it to him. And he grabbed on, we just pulled him in,” Christopher says.
Christopher, a Tolton wrestler, tells 939 the Eagle that he didn’t have time to put a coat on. The man was in the icy water for 15 minutes. The Ankenman’s say he was blue and purple and had gashes on his chest from trying to pull himself from the ice. Michelle says it took 12 hours to get his temperature back to normal.
Ms. Ankenman tells 939 the Eagle that she feels that God put the man in her sight at the right moment and gave her and her son Christopher the ability to think clearly and to act quickly.
(AUDIO): Fourth congressional district GOP primary winner Alford appears on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”
Veteran Kansas City television news anchor Mark Alford easily won the GOP nomination for west-central Missouri’s fourth congressional district, earning more than 35 percent of the vote in a seven-way primary. Mr. Alford will face Lamar Democrat Jack Truman in November in the heavily-Republican district. Alford credits his campaign volunteers and supporters in all 24 …