March 30, 1867: Alaska was purchased from Russia

Alaska (i/əˈlæskə/) is a state in the United States, situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with the international boundary with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area, the 4th least populous and the least densely populated of the 50 United States. Approximately half of Alaska's 731,449[4] residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the oil, natural gas, and fishing industries; it has these resources in abundance.

Alaska was purchased from Russia on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million ($120 million adjusted for inflation) at approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km²). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized (or incorporated) territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.[6]
The name "Alaska" (Аляска was already introduced in the Russian colonial period, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or, more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[7] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska

The University of Southern Mississippi Founded: March 30, 1910

The University of Southern Mississippi, known informally as Southern Miss, is a large public research university located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. It is situated 70 miles (110 km) north of Gulfport, Mississippi and 105 miles (169 km) northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana.[2] Southern Miss is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's, specialist, and doctoral degrees. The university is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a "Research University" with "High Research Activity" (designation "RU/H&quot .

Founded on March 30, 1910, the university is a dual campus institution, with the main campus located in Hattiesburg and the Gulf Coast campus located in Long Beach.[3] Other teaching sites include the Stennis Space Center, Keesler Air Force Base, and the Gulf Coast Research Lab.

The university has a particularly extensive "study abroad" program through its Center for International Education, and is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in the nation for the number of students studying abroad each year. It is especially noted for its flagship British Studies program, which regularly sends more than 200 students each summer to live and study in the heart of London. The university is also home to a major polymer science research center,[4] and one of the strongest fine arts programs in the southeastern United States.

Originally called the Mississippi Southerners, the Southern Miss athletic teams became the Golden Eagles in 1972. The school’s colors, black and gold, were selected by a student body vote shortly after the school was founded, and while mascots, names, customs, and the campus have changed, the black and gold colors have remained constant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_University_of_Southern_Mississippi

March 30th is Pencil Day

Inside The World's Only Corn Cob Pipe Factory, Missouri Meerschaum

Our Rachel Lippmann had a story about corn cob pipes on NPR's Morning Edition today - yes, corn cob pipes of the Mark Twain, Frosty the Snowman, Popeye, General MacArthur variety. It turns out, these pipes have a big Missouri connection.

As NPR says:

The Missouri Meerschaum factory in Washington, Mo., is the only place in the world that manufactures corn cob pipes made famous by such historical figures as Mark Twain and General Douglas MacArthur. Sales at the company have grown over the last two years, but that number could have been higher if not for last year's drought.

We wanted to give you even more about this fun and interesting story, so, we present the photo gallery above. We hope the images give an even clearer picture of this unique part of Missouri past and present.

http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org/post/inside-worlds-only-corn-cob-pipe-factory-missouri-meerschaum

NPR 'Talk Of The Nation' To End 21-Year Run In June

The afternoon call-in show "Talk of the Nation" will end its 21-year run on NPR June 30.

The network made the programming announcement on Friday. It's encouraging stations to replace the show with "Here and Now," a news magazine produced at WBUR in Boston.

"NPR has concluded that it can best serve public radio by concentrating its resources on produced news programming with reported stories and hosted interviews that appeal to listeners on radio and emerging digital platforms," NPR programming executives said in an email. The network will continue to produce "Science Friday."

"Here and Now" is currently an hour long. NPR will be partnering with WBUR to expand it to two hours, and will bring on Jeremy Hobson, currently with the Marketplace Morning Report, as a co-host for Robin Young. The New York Times says it's the first time the network and a member station have partnered in this fashion.

http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org/post/talk-nation-end-21-year-run-june

County Clerk urges people to vote Tuesday

County Clerk Mark Hedrick is hoping voters will prove him wrong on his turnout prediction for the election Tuesday. He's predicting a 10 percent turnout, which compared to municipal elections in other years, is actually on the high side. Previous April turnout has been 7 to 9 percent, but a couple of heavily contested races could bring more voters to the polls.

"We have a very large race in North County, there are a number of candidates there, and we have the two ambulance districts, both of which have competition. I do hope voter turnout is at a higher level than what it has been in the past," Hedrick said.

Hedrick doesn't know why the April municipal election is always so low. "It's one of the hardest elections to get people to vote at," Hedrick said. "When I make presentations, I always say the April election is our lowest turnout, and their vote really, really counts because they are electing local people. I have also seen races decided with just one vote. Because of the low turnout you get that a lot."

Hedrick recalled a race in which a candidate had lost by one vote. The county clerk was told by the candidate that his own brother hadn't even gone to the polls to vote.

http://dailyjournalonline.com/news/local/88946876-986e-11e2-b06c-001a4bcf887a.html

Snapshots of the American Civil War

This year marks 150 years since the Battle of Gettysburg, perhaps the most important - and certainly the bloodiest - battle of the American Civil War.

Coinciding with that anniversary the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is staging a landmark exhibition of what are being described as ''the finest and most poignant'' photographs from these cataclysmic four years in which an estimated 750,000 Americans lost their lives.

The Met's chief curator of photography, Jeff Rosenheim, has also written a book - Photography and the American Civil War - to accompany the show.

He's been speaking to Michael Maher.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21948857

It's about 4 minutes or so and I thought it interesting....

Cutting-edge approach needed to revamp flood insurance, flood risk analysis

WASHINGTON – With the price of flood insurance on the rise and climate change likely to worsen Midwest flooding, a scientific panel wants federal emergency officials to modernize the outmoded tools used to analyze the probability and impact of floods.

Such a change, if adopted by FEMA, could have major consequences in Missouri and Illinois, where debates over flood insurance, FEMA flood mapping, and flood damage from the Mississippi and Missouri rivers have dominated much of the discussion in the Metro East and other low-lying regions.

And the report by the National Research Council is timely because FEMA’s head, Craig Fugate, warned at a conference this week in New Orleans that major rate hikes will be phased in over three or four years for many people who have flood insurance.

Those rate increases are coming because in reauthorizing the debt-ridden National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) last summer, Congress phased out subsidies for many properties (such as second homes, business properties and “repetitive loss” properties) and required that premiums for newly insured properties meet the full actuarial costs.

https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/30090/fema_flood_insurance?coverpage=2990

Jones promises House action if Koster fails to appeal ruling on conscience law

Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, is trying to step up the pressure on state Attorney General Chris Koster, when it comes to protecting a state law -- now in limbo -- that allows employers to avoid providing insurance coverage for certain procedures.

Jones announced Thursday that the state House will consider and pass a resolution next week urging Koster to appeal a St. Louis-based federal judge’s ruling that tossed out a 2012 law allowing employers to exclude insurance coverage for abortions, contraception or sterilization.

''Jones, also a lawyer, held a news conference at a pregnancy care center in Springfield, Mo., to lay out his concerns that Koster, a Democrat, might opt not to appeal the ruling.

Koster, a former Republican, has not stated a public position on the law in question -- but he has said that he backs abortion rights in general.

https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/30108/jones_koster_contraception_032813?coverpage=2990

March 29: National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day