The Post-Dispatch was not the only publishing institution in Missouri to have a bad week. Yesterday morning, Tim Wolfe, the president of the University of Missouri system, announced plans to shut down the University of Missouri Press.

The news came as a complete surprise to the ten-member staff, editor in chief Clair Wilcox told the Columbia Daily Tribune.

It was true the press, which was partially funded by a $400,000 annual subsidy from the university system, had continued to operate with a deficit even after seven employees had been laid off three years ago, but who expects a university press to be a major money-making operation?

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UPDATE May 22, 3 p.m.: Our plans have been foiled. ABC News reports that a 24-hour surveillance camera will be placed in front of the Rush bust. It is the only statue in the Hall of Famous Missourians to be so honored.

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Despite the best efforts of House Democrats, the bust of Rush Limbaugh has been officially installed in the Hall of Famous Missourians in the state capitol. The deed was apparently done over the weekend, after the first Friday after the third Wednesday in May (or something like that), otherwise known as the close of the state legislative session.

Based on the official map of the Hall of Famous Missourians and some early Twitter reports, El Rushbo has been enshrined between Josephine Baker and a conveniently-placed trash can.

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Sculptor E. Spencer Schubert hard at work on the bust of Rush Limbaugh that was unveiled, amid much secrecy, earlier today.

Oh, that we were in Jefferson City right now, under the capitol dome, on the House floor where, at this very minute, legislators are proudly unveiling the latest statue to grace the Hall of Famous Missourians: the long-awaited (by somebody, probably) bust of Rush Limbaugh.

But wait! It looks as though this was a private ceremony, albeit one on government property, and in order to go, one had to be invited. And also one that was held three hours before the legislature was scheduled to convene.

Fortunately, through the magic of Twitter -- and, by the way, when does Jack Dorsey get his bust, huh? -- we were able to follow the ceremony through the eyes and iPhones of St. Louis Public Radio's Marshall Griffin, the Post-Dispatch's Virginia Young, the Kansas City Star's Jason Hancock, Progress Missouri's Sean Nicholson and FiredUp!Missouri.

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Got elk? We do. And we're getting more.

Got elk? Missouri does. And we're about to double the population by trucking in 35 more from eastern Kentucky.

Last year -- despite dire warnings from the Farm Bureau -- the Department of Conservation reintroduced 34 elk to a confined ranch in the southeastern part of the state. (And we say "reintroduced," because these creatures roamed Missouri's hills long before the arrival of the White Man, but were wiped out by the end of the Civil War).

Opponents had grumbled in a letter to the governor that

"Elk obstruct roads, trample fences, and decimate crops and forage.  Disease transmission between elk and livestock is a major concern.  Landowners suffer the brunt of the unintended consequences of elk restoration.  If imposing these risks associated with elk is deemed acceptable today, then will 'native' wildlife species that pose greater risks be next?"

But none of that has happened - at least so far.
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Spoiler Alert: They don't make Brown look good.

Hot on the heels of Stephen Colbert's Tuesday night bit on Missouri's destined-to-fail "Don't Say Gay" bill, Jon Stewart sent Aasif Mandvi to the Missouri House to speak with Rep. Wanda Brown (R) for a bit that ran last night. The topic? Civil rights, namely Brown's law protecting gun owners from ever being fired from their job for owning guns. As noted earlier this week, our legislature may not always accomplish much but they sure do entertain the rest of the country.

Video after the jump.
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Missouri Representative Zachary Wyatt

Republican legislator Representative Zachary Wyatt held a press conference today in Jefferson City at which he and several of his colleagues officially denounced the much-ridiculed "Don't Say Gay" bill proposed by fellow Republican Rep. Steve Cookson. Wyatt then announced to the world that he is gay, and asked his fellow GOP'er to rescind the bill.More >>

Last spring, the live "eagle cam" feed from Decorah, Iowa blew up the Internets, making national news and entrancing millions of people in 184 countries who watched bald eagles hatch their eggs in real-time.

But this spring -- as you read this sentence, actually -- the folks behind that project are toggling their lenses around the nesting area of the eagle's ugly cousins: Turkey vultures in Marshall, Missouri.

"As far as I know, it's a first [for this species]," says Bob Anderson, director of Raptor Resource Project, an Iowa-based non-profit dedicated to protecting falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks, and owls -- as well as their habitats. (Check them out on Facebook). And Anderson would know -- he's "been in the bird-cam world" for 20 years.
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Jim the Wonder Dog represents the best of Missouri's canine population.

The Missouri House Committee on Tourism and Natural Resources is attempting to determine which of three dogs should be our state's official "Historical Dog." The finalists are Seaman, the Newfoundland who accompanied Lewis & Clark; Old Drum, a dog of indeterminate breed who was cited in a Supreme Court case; and Jim the Wonder Dog, a hunting dog with mysterious powers of foresight.

Yes, this is a foolish use of government time and resources. Dogs, however, trump all arguments based on rational thought and logic. I mean, look at Jim the Wonder Dog. He's adorable, and he could predict the winner of the Kentucky Derby and elections, and identify strangers in a crowd based on verbal commands delivered in foreign languages, shorthand or even Morse Code. The most famous dog to come out of Marshall, Missouri, deserves the title -- it's not even close.
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Michante Varner may've started in a wolfpack, but he ended up as a wolfpack of one.

Daily RFT knows how it feels to get cross-eyed, pants-pooping wasted in Columbia. We're not proud of it, but yeah, we've been there.

However, we have never been woken up by the cops on the roof of a three-story building with absolutely no explanation.

When police arrived at 821 E. Walnut in downtown Columbia around 9 am on Tuesday, they found 20-year-old Michante Varner still snoozing.
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Oh, oh, wook at the pwecious baby!

Hunting season for most critters isn't until fall, but not in Kennett, Missouri, down in the Bootheel, where the citizenry is currently on the lookout for alligators.

"We've had reports of sightings in small lakes," says Sergeant Craig Crow of the Kennett Police Department. Only one has been caught so far, though, a three-footer trapped last week and sent to a federal wildlife refuge in Cape Girardeau.

But where did these gators come from? Is it a sign of global warning? Or maybe the apocalypse? Or a plague visited on the good people of Kennett?

Not quite.

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