Morning Newscast for August 14, 2026

From the KBIA Newsroom in Columbia, I'm Trevor Grandin. Researchers say purple corn could offer a natural alternative to artificial food dyes as well as new opportunities for farmers. Harvest Public Media's Rachel Kramer reports. One of the challenges food manufacturers face when trying to use plant-derived food dyes is that they tend to lose their color during processing or while sitting on a shelf. But researchers at the University of Missouri have found potential with a variety of purple corn from South America. They're collaborating with Sherry Flint Garcia, a USDA research geneticist who's developing purple corn hybrids that can grow in the U.S. She uses dog breeding to help explain the process. If you have a pug and a beagle, those are different breeds and, you know, peer breeds. If you cross them together, then you make a crossbreed, like a puggle. And so we have the same thing in corn. The researchers say purple corn hybrids could open new markets for farmers. I'm Rachel Kramer, Harvest Public Media. And a handful of progressive groups in Missouri have banded together and launched a million-dollar campaign to flip Republican state legislative seats this election season. The Missouri Independent reports the coalition is called Will of the People. Some of its members led the 2024 initiative petition process to raise Missouri's minimum wage and require paid sick leave. The group is focusing campaign efforts on Republican lawmakers who helped repeal that paid leave requirement in 2025. No Democrats supported the bill and only two Republicans. Republicans opposed it. New research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows nutrient pollution increased in many streams and rivers across the country between 2000 and 2020. The dominant source was the release of nitrogen and phosphorus stored in soil and groundwater. Researcher Olivia Miller is the lead author of the study. She says much of this stems from agricultural practices, including fertilizer and manure, spread on fields months or even years before. One of the key... Findings is that a lot of the nutrients that are in rivers today comes from past activities. So, you know, even when improvements are made in terms of reducing nutrient sources, water quality can take time to recover. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways can feed algal blooms which harm aquatic life and release toxins. High nutrient concentration can also pollute sources of drinking water downstream. And the Columbia City Council on Monday will consider a proposal for an urban camping ordinance submitted by a group representing downtown Columbia's business interests. The Columbia, Missouri reports the district is proposing a system of two warnings and then a ticket or legal consequences on the third instance of urban camping. The district's executive director claims the proposed ordinance is intended to clarify where people downtown are allowed to sleep outdoors. Missouri implemented a ban on long-term camps or sleeping on state-owned land in 2023, and the Supreme Court upheld such bans a year later. I'm Trevor Grand in KBIA News, Columbia.