Springfield News-Leader
Poor air quality lingers in Midwest, Northeast
Smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada, along with fires in northern Minnesota, kept air quality at unhealthy levels across parts of the Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast on July 17, shrouding cities in haze and prompting warnings that the...
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Fighting escalates in Persian Gulf
DUBAI – Iran and the United States exchanged intensified fire on July 16 in a weeklong escalation that has all but torn up last month’s truce, but Iran’s release of a U.S. citizen was seen as signaling a path to avert the resumption of allout war. For...
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Kirk memorials fail to gain traction
It didn’t take long after Charlie Kirk’s assassination on a university campus in September to hear calls to erect memorials in his honor. Lawmakers, councilmembers, pastors and college leaders announced plans to rename highways, build statues and...
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Latest Starship launch projected for July 16
SpaceX will launch the world’s largest rocket for the second time in 2026 as the race heats up for Elon Musk’s commercial spaceflight and technology company to be ready for NASA’s next moon mission. The company said it is working toward a July 16...
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Senator Kennedy , 74, becomes viral sensation
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana looked closely into his phone’s selfie camera, then flipped the view around to reveal a lush oasis: his backyard. “This is another one of those silly videos my staff told me I needed to make,” the 74-year-old junior...
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Heat waves turn homes dangerous for all ages
Most people know that heat waves can be dangerous. What they may not realize is that the heat indoors can be much worse than outdoors. When the power goes out and air conditioning stops, a house starts to function like a greenhouse. Heat enters...
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Our American Vision
As we celebrate 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, we asked Americans across the Midwest a simple question: In a few words, what does America mean to you? The answers we received in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,...
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Trump says Iran requests to continue negotiations
The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to have fallen apart over continued strife over the Strait of Hormuz as Iranians buried their supreme leader, killed by U.S.-Israel forces at the outset of the war. There were no new...
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Climate change ‘fingerprint’ seen in heat
Early July brought historic extreme weather for the fourth year in a row, and scientists again see the “fingerprint” of climate change in a deadly Fourth of July. In 2023, it was a record-smashing heat wave. In 2024, history-making Hurricane Beryl...
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Program gives struggling artists $1,000 a month
Though artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to produce images, music and text, the technology is also making it harder for the people who have traditionally produced this work to earn a living. A photographer who once was commissioned...
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Platner weighs future of Senate bid
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the head of Senate Democrats’ midterm operation, told Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, to immediately withdraw after a woman said he...
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Independence Day parade saw huge turnout once again
Blaring music and hundreds of people decked in the nation’s colors took over the streets near Drury University as the 35th annual Midtown Fourth of July Parade celebrated a special American birthday. Shouts of “Happy 250!” echoed from the crowd of...
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Safety issues beset Silicon Valley defense startup
Ayear ago, Ryan Tseng, the head of U.S. defense tech startup Shield AI, announced his company had turned a new page. h After a gory incident that partially severed a U.S. Navy official’s fingers during a test of its V-BAT drone, Shield AI had addressed...
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SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY
The 56 steps, cut from pink granite, ascend to a neoclassical temple that seems plucked from ancient Greece and deposited on a Kentucky hilltop. One for each year of President Abraham Lincoln’s life. h If the first eight steps, rising amid the site’s...
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Tiny Caribbean island made U.S. independence possible
The American Revolution is often told as a heroic story of 13 colonies rising up against a mighty empire and, with some help from France, winning their independence. But the real story is more complicated. As the United States celebrates the 250th...
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THE MEANING OF REVOLUTION
Like Americans today, the people living in the United States in 1826 were preparing to celebrate a milestone for their country. July Fourth of that year marked the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As what was known as the “Jubilee”...
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High court upholds birthright citizenship
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump called on Congress to take action ending birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court on June 30 rejected his attempt to redefine who is born American, a centerpiece of his hard-line approach to immigration. “The...
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Find fun in the Ozarks
While Independence Day often hogs the spotlight in July, there is more to do than just enjoy fireworks this month. The Ozarks are offering up something for everyone, from fishing to exploring caves to meeting local authors. Here are 29 events to keep...
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Beef-A-Roo employees refuse to work without pay
Leah Guster doesn’t know how she’s going to cover her rent or her car payment. Cheyenne Flagg, a single mom of four, isn’t sure how she’s going to pay for her 18-month-old’s daycare. They’re not alone — none of the employees at the 3312 E. Chestnut...
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‘We all care about our kids’
Sarah Laub tried everything to get her son with learning disabilities a better education. She drove him to a private school an hour and a half away from their home in rural Missouri before being directed to the local public school. When he continued...
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OZARKS CELEBRATE
America’s semiquincentennial — the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — is just days away. Across the nation and in the Ozarks, people are gearing up to celebrate this Fourth of July with flair and style. h Here are the...
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Trump sees wins on immigration, guns
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump victories in two immigration cases June 25. In the divide between gun rights and gun violence, the justices struck down another state law, this one in Hawaii, aimed at curbing guns in public...
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‘NURTURE HOPE’
A teenager scrolls through their phone at the dinner table, barely looks up and answers questions with one-word replies. For many adults, that image has come to stand for a larger fear: that today’s young people are disconnected from others and may be...
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‘Opening the conversation, not building it around a project’
Data centers that train and run artificial intelligence models are currently a hot button issue across the United States, including in the Missouri Ozarks. On June 22, the Springfield City Council heard a special ordinance that would put a 120-day...
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Helping hand in healing
The birth of Danielle Stewart’s daughter thrust her into advocacy. She tells the story often. “Imagine walking into a hospital to have your first child,” Stewart said. “And leaving on a stretcher alone, paralyzed from your waist down.” Stewart says a...
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Juneteenth events celebrate Black history and success
For 161 years, African Americans have celebrated their freedom. From the end of slavery in 1865, through the segregation era during the 1900s, to seeing Black leaders thrive in the 2000s, the tapestry of Black history in America carries on from June...
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Millions fewer are receiving food aid
Angelina Guatemala, 64, counted on federal food stamps after retiring a couple of years ago in Ogden, Kansas, from assorted jobs arranging flowers, decorating cakes, and preparing meals. But a rules change Congress adopted last year for the...
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Fundraiser grows after dam tragedy
More than 72 hours after four people went over the Lake Springfield Dam in a kayak, one remains missing as of June 18. On June 14, the Springfield Fire Department was called to rescue 12-yearold Aurelie Stawny, 17-year-old Sofie Stawny, 19-year-old...
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Michigan swimmer to tow 250 cannonballs
Jim Dreyer, the 62-year-old long-distance swimmer who calls himself “The Shark” and has achieved unusual feats in the water, is planning a new test of strength: The Michigander aims to tow 250 cannonballs while swimming 22 miles. Take that, UFC...
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LOWER CRIME RATES AT RISK
The United States is experiencing one of the steepest declines in violent crime in modern history, including a murder rate at its lowest point in more than a century. Homicides across 35 major American cities fell 21% in 2025, amounting to 922 fewer...
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Special bench unveiled at the Patriotic Party in Park
The Saturday night thunderstorm that prompted flash flood warnings passed by cleared out just in time for the Patriotic Party in the Park, honoring America’s 250th anniversary and National Flag Day on Sunday, June 14. The Rachel Donelson Chapter of...
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Downtown Springfield decked in rainbows for Ozarks PrideFest
George Cherry took the microphone from GLO Executive Director Aaron Kitchens on Saturday, June 13 and looked out into the colorful crowd at Park Central Square with pride. Cherry recalled moving to Springfield in 1980 as an openly gay man at a time...
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Custom-built Chateau Charmant listed for $1.5M
More than two decades ago, Robert Palmer drew a castle and told his wife Bonnie Palmer, “I want to build you a castle.” The drawing came to life as the Palmers, alongside their daughter, built what is now dubbed Chateau Charmant, French for “Charming...
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FBI Director: Securing World Cup a ‘huge lift’
ABOARD FBI JET – With 48 teams, 36 base camps and 11 stadiums, the World Cup, which kicked off on June 11, is one of the biggest security challenges the FBI has ever faced. That’s before you account for 3 million visitors, including heads of state,...
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Public PayCheck report
The wages and benefits of public employees consistently are among the top expenses local governments and entities fund using tax dollars. With the use of taxpayer funding comes public scrutiny, as well, thanks to Missouri’s Sunshine Law, which ensures...
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1 dead, damage reported after storms hit Midwest
Severe storms and tornadoes that tore through the Midwest on June 11 left one person dead, downed trees and plunged thousands into darkness with power outages. The storms capped multiple days of outbreaks across several states, with tornadoes, storm...
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‘Along the way’
It was his eighth day in the saddle of a bicycle, pedaling day and night and dealing with the summer heat, when 66-year-old Joe Barr cycled through Springfield the morning of Wednesday, June 10. The Queen City was just a temporary stop on his journey...
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Forecasters: Brace for coast-to-coast heat wave
Summer heat is on the way from coast to coast, forecasters say, with high temperatures well into the 80s and 90s and even 100s in some areas. In fact, the national temperature outlook map for June 11-17 shows that abovenormal temperatures are forecast...
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Trump’s aid cuts undermine justice
IZIUM, Ukraine – Roksolana Makar braved icy roads and the threat of drone strikes to interview a woman in the Ukrainian town of Izium who said Russian forces tortured her. Surrounded by woods and farmland, Izium still bears scars from a 2022 Russian...
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QUESTIONS SURROUND STADIUM RENAME
Just a week before the Route 66 Centennial celebrations began, the city of Springfield, Springfield Cardinals and other partners announced the renaming of the city’s baseball field, from Hammons Field to Route 66 Stadium. More than a month later, and...
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Carr family gift supports ‘The U’ at Ozarks Tech
The Durham Company Carr Family has donated a significant sum to support the new Michael L. Parson Student Union at Ozarks Technical Community College, according to a community announcement. The gift, described as a six-figure contribution, will help...
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Top spy agencies feud over turf, mission
WASHINGTON – The CIA has stopped contributing to some intelligence assessments, including those related to the Iran war, produced by the office of the nation’s top spy as disputes over intelligence-sharing and areas of responsibility boil over, say...
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AI partners could upend human relationships
When the movie “Her” debuted in 2013, its plot felt like science fiction. The protagonist, Theodore, is a jaded man with no vigor for life. He comes alive after talking daily with his artificial intelligence chatbot, Samantha, with whom he eventually...
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County commission OKs subdivision outside Willard
Despite hours of testimony in opposition over the course of several public Greene County meetings, the Greene County Commission unanimously approved the rezoning of 14.3 acres for a subdivision just outside Willard city limits. Springfield Councilman...
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Area women sew clothes for children in poverty
Every month, groups of women in three southwest Missouri cities gather for a work day. Some cut men’s shirts, others sew fabric into dresses and shorts, while others oversee and check garments for quality control. Together, these Ozarks women,...
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‘AN OBVIOUS NEED’
Women experiencing homelessness in Springfield finally have a dedicated space to turn to for a warm and safe place to lay their heads at night. Crosslines Community Outreach officially opened its new Safe to Sleep shelter space Thursday, May 28,...
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War impacting MO farmers’ diesel costs, crop plans
While industries across the U.S. are experiencing shortages as a result of the war in Iran, it appears Missouri farmers could come out without much impact — this year, at least. The conflict has seen closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway for...
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‘FAR MORE THAN A BUILDING’
The Missouri State University Foundation announced May 27 more new private gifts for the Clifton M. Smart III University Advancement Center, including a custom “Mo State” Steinway player piano. During Wednesday’s event, the foundation also announced...
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Trump often repeats debunked claim
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has repeated his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him at least 107 times in the last six months, keeping the grievance front and center even as he faces new political risks from the war with Iran...
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Cannabis legalization spurs innovation
Innovation in health care saves lives. But not all health innovations have enough evidence to actually benefit patients. Barriers to innovation are often higher in illicit or restricted markets, including cannabis, stem cells and cryptocurrencies....
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DOJ scrubs news releases about Jan. 6 from its site
The Justice Department acknowledged that it has removed web pages that detail charges, convictions, and other information related to the myriad defendants involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. After Washington Post staff writer Meryl...
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THE LIMITS OF LOCKDOWNS
There have been 63 school shootings – meaning any time there is gunfire on a school campus – so far in 2026. h They happen so often that preparing for one has become normal. Students as young as 4 years old routinely practice for the possibility of a...
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Trump announces 5,000 troops to Poland
President Donald Trump said on May 21 that an additional 5,000 troops would deploy to Poland, an apparent reversal of an earlier threat to reduce U.S. military presence in the country, as his administration has floated pulling American forces from...
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Shifting gears downtown
Over the decade that the Springfield Brewing Company’s Community Bike Shop has operated, it has constantly grown and expanded. This summer, the shop will open a second location, adding a storefront on Commercial Street. The Community Bike Shop started...
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Universities still hold Native remains, artifacts
Many universities and museums in the United States have long held Native American burial artifacts, other sacred objects and even human remains. Most of these collections were acquired in the late 19th and 20th centuries. They came from grave...
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Subdivision proposal fails to win over planning board
A rezoning that would have made way for a larger subdivision on 93 acres of land just outside Willard was recommended for denial due to infrastructure concerns. A new proposal was presented Tuesday, May 19 that would rezone only a portion of the...
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AI ventures into literature
At some point in the next several months, I am hoping to receive a modest check as a member of the class covered in the class-action settlement Bartz v. Anthropic. In 2025, the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, best known for creating the...
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Judge tosses evidence in Luigi Mangione case
A New York judge has partially granted a request to toss crucial evidence obtained after law enforcement located Luigi Mangione in the wake of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione, 28, was found at a McDonald’s in Altoona,...
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Cuba faces possible Trump ‘takeover’
The federal government’s moves to indict former Cuban President Raúl Castro will ramp up pressure for regime change in Cuba and could be a prelude to a U.S. military operation, just as the Trump administration sent troops into Venezuela in January to...
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‘I don’t want another mother to feel like this’
Humansville Police Chief Michael Mason took his own life Dec. 14, 2025. He was one of at least 27 law enforcement officers who died by suicide last year, according to the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection. His mother, Emily Hatcher-Irwin,...
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About this series
This article is one in a two-part series covering rural law enforcement and mental health, and is part of a larger project produced in partnership with Ozarks First. News-Leader reporter Susan Szuch and Ozarks First digital content producer Kathryn...
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Historic buildings demolished in Galloway
Heavy equipment, large dumpster containers and temporary fencing made their way onto a controversial Galloway Village property on Thursday, May 14, as demolition work began, expected to tear down a nearly 100-year-old building on Lone Pine...
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‘Vision come to life’
Mercy’s pediatric center in Springfield is marking a major milestone this week, with the center’s final beam being raised into place on May 12. The O’Reilly Pediatric Center, 6375 S. Innovation Ave. in Ozark, is anticipated to open in...
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Centurylong effort aims to keep nations White
Whiteness appears to be an official immigration credential in the eyes of the United States government. The Trump administration in late 2025 slashed the annual cap on refugee admissions to 7,500 for budget year 2026, down from the 125,000 cap set in...
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Trump needs positive China summit outcome
BEIJING – A year ago, President Donald Trump predicted that towering trade tariffs would bring America’s main economic rival to heel. He heads to China this week with that ambition blunted by court rulings, narrowing his goals to a few deals on beans,...
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Building community one request at a time
Long songs, songs that describe motion or songs about the seasons – if that list has you thinking about driving home from work with the windows down, you may already be a fan of KDRU’s Friday Happy Hour. h The brainchild of Drury communication...
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Tensions over AIPAC highlight political rift
WASHINGTON – A growing number of Democratic primary challengers are making opposition to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee a campaign issue as they seek to unseat party incumbents backed by the influential pro-Israel advocacy group. The...
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Msu alumna chasHs drHams
A year after graduating from Missouri State University, Callandra Hudak packed up and drove more than 1,600 miles to Los Angeles to chase her dream — acting. While she may have left her home state in the rear-view mirror, she carried her Missouri roots...
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Charting his own path
It’s been nearly 1,000 years since King Henry IV stood barefoot in the Italian snow to beg forgiveness after clashes with Pope Gregory VII, and over two centuries since Napoleon imprisoned Pope Pius VII in France. Now, a battle is underway between a...
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Demographic dynamics upending the world
Government-shaking protests in Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal and Sri Lanka – to name a few – have all in recent years been linked to what demographers call a “youth bulge.” Meanwhile, the economic slowdown in China and ballooning public debt in the United...
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City Council approves limits to campaign donations
Candidates running for a Springfield municipal office in next year’s elections will be limited in the monetary amounts they can accept from donors. With strong support from local groups, Springfield City Council unanimously approved campaign finance...
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Low Trump approval threatens Senate GOP
A few months ago, the prevailing thinking in Washington was that while Republicans could lose the House in the 2026 midterm elections, their Senate majority was secure. To win control of the Senate, Democrats would need to upset four GOP incumbents,...
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Route 66 centennial brings classic cars to Commercial Street
Route 66 does not touch Commercial Street, but on Friday and Saturday the historic district was buzzing with visitors, live music and a classic car rally as it hosted festivities celebrating the Mother Road’s centennial. While much of the national...
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New downtown plaza dedicated to Mother Road
At 4 p.m. on April 30, 1926, a telegram was sent from downtown Springfield’s Colonial Hotel to Washington, D.C., officially naming the iconic highway Route 66 and making Springfield its birthplace. h Exactly 100 years later, as the clock struck 4 p.m.,...
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Springfield in the spotlight
America’s most notable highway — Route 66 — is officially 100 years old. To kick off the national celebration of the Mother Road, NBC’s 3rd Hour of TODAY broadcast live from downtown Springfield Thursday, April 30. h The broadcast featured a live...
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‘THERAPEUTIC BENEFIT’
The Food and Drug Administration has announced the winners of national priority vouchers to study the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs, shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order paving the way for more research. In an...
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