The early retirement of Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones is a significant loss and setback for our community. Jones, a Columbia native who came up through the ranks of the Columbia Police Department, accomplished a great deal during his tenure. His efforts to change the culture of the department, raise employee morale and improve communication lines with […]
On May 23, 2023, I lost my best friend and co-conspirator with the passing of Inside Columbia magazine’s publisher Melody Garnett Parry. We had been married for 30 years and her absence is deeply felt. Beyond the loss felt by myself and our two sons, our community has lost a great leader and an exuberant […]
I remember growing up in the 1970s and watching the popular “Point/ Counterpoint” segment that would run every Sunday evening at the end of the “60 Minutes” television broadcast. Over the course of three short minutes, Shana Alexander and James J. Kilpatrick would debate the issues of the day. As a kid, I thought that the […]
According to its website, the core values of Columbia Public Schools are trust, integrity, collaboration, transparency, empathy and grace. Oddly enough, in recent months, school district administrators along with a handful of school board members have failed miserably to exemplify any of the six values to which they claim to ascribe. In fact, CPS Superintendent Brian […]
In the aftermath of November’s general election, it became very clear that voters in Boone County as well as those around the entire United States were essentially worried about two things: the economy and crime. In a community that relies on a major university and state government as the bedrock of its economic strata, most economic concerns […]
