Don Shrubshell photo

Convicted killer Ernest Lee Johnson, right, and Mike Dennis, a mitigation specialist for the defense, watch educational psychologist Denis Keyes point to a chart while testifying today about where Johnson’s IQ score lies on a bell curve. Johnson is undergoing a penalty phase retrial in the Casey’s murders.   Read the Article

Local News Stories
Killer retarded, expert says
By SARA AGNEW of the Tribune’s staff
A mental retardation specialist testified today that triple-murderer Ernest Lee Johnson has learned to manifest his behavior in a way that hides his mental deficiency from the average person.

Ex-officer placed on probation
By GREG MILLER of the Tribune’s staff
After using a tracking device to follow a 21-year-old woman, a former Columbia police officer will spend the next two years on unsupervised probation.

ABC way off on subsidy, state says
By JACOB LUECKE of the Tribune’s staff
Columbia’s expanding Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories Inc. is overshooting on estimates for the level of subsidy it will receive under a state employee training program, state officials say.

Ethics reform clears Senate
By JOSH FLORY of the Tribune’s staff
JEFFERSON CITY - The Missouri General Assembly took a step toward eliminating campaign contribution limits as part of a sweeping ethics bill that cleared the Senate yesterday.

School’s crash act has impact
By JANESE HEAVIN of the Tribune’s staff
Anne Janku watched this morning as emergency crews pulled her daughter’s limp body from a crashed van.

Farmers worried about basketball plan
By MATTHEW LeBLANC of the Tribune’s staff
Supporters of a proposal to build a multiuse facility next to the city’s Activity & Recreation Center are trying to ease some farmers’ worries that the project will force the Columbia Farmers Market to move.

Ag economics chairman recalled as ‘straight shooter’
By TERRY GANEY of the Tribune’s staff
Bruce Bullock, a professor and chairman of the Agricultural Economics Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia, seemed to have a gruff exterior.

New date scheduled for forum with Elders
Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders will talk about secondhand smoke next Thursday at a town-hall forum at Stephens College. The meeting is organized by groups from the University of Missouri-Columbia and supporters of a proposed citywide smoking ban.

Steinhoff on panel to boost education
Greg Steinhoff, director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, has been named to a new 20-member Math and Science Alliance.

City court amnesty ends with 21 arrests
Several weeks after an amnesty period began for people named in municipal arrest warrants, Columbia police yesterday arrested 21 suspects in a city warrant roundup.

Group honored for health efforts
The PedNet Coalition and the Columbia/Boone County Health Department have been recognized by a North Carolina-based group for helping to promote healthy lifestyles.

Gunman robs store on north Providence
A Providence Road convenience store was robbed last night for the second time in five months.

East Campus resident reports armed holdup
A Columbia man told police he was attacked and robbed by an acquaintance in his East Campus home last night.