The latest local news, weather and high school sports in and around Columbia and Jefferson City

Thursday, September 02, 2010  UPDATED 4:05 p.m. CDT. The Coast Guard is backing off its earlier report that an oil sheen about a mile long was spreading following a platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

Saturday, May 08, 2010  Story updated with video from ITN News.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010  The best short-term solution for bottling up the oil spill threatening sealife and livelihoods along the Gulf Coast should be arriving today.

Tuesday, May 04, 2010  Anxiety is high among residents and business owners along the Gulf Coast as oil from an exploded BP oil rig inches toward shore. Meanwhile, engineers are using a range of tactics to stop the leak. Read on for more about the Gulf Coast oil spill.

Tuesday, May 04, 2010  People along the Gulf Coast have spent weeks living with uncertainty, wondering where and when a huge slick of oil might come ashore, ruining their beaches — and their livelihoods.

Tuesday, May 04, 2010  Engineers are racing to stem the disastrous oil leak a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico, relying on a series of highly technical — and in some cases unprecedented — maneuvers.

Friday, April 30, 2010  Oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico was starting to ooze ashore, threatening migrating birds, nesting pelicans and even river otters and mink along Louisiana's fragile islands and barrier marshes.

Thursday, April 29, 2010  Story updated with complete transcript of White House briefing

Thursday, April 29, 2010  Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency and the federal government sent in skimmers and booms Thursday as oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico oozed toward the fragile coastline.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010  Crews geared up to set fire to oil leaking from the site of an exploded drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, a last-ditch effort to get rid of it before it reaches environmentally sensitive marshlands on the coast.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010  Crews may set fires to burn off oil being spewed into the Gulf of Mexico by a blown-out well, the Coast Guard said Tuesday.

Friday, April 23, 2010  Coast Guard calls off search for 11 workers missing since oil rig blast off Louisiana coast

Friday, April 23, 2010  No oil appeared to be leaking after a drilling rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard said Friday.