Arne Duncan and Janet Napolitano visit Joplin high school

JOPLIN, MO (KSMU) - High school students in Joplin, Missouri, told US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Thursday that they are passionate about school, despite losing their high school building to a tornado in May.

Business students served Duncan up a cup of joe from their new coffee bar in the makeshift school, which used to be a mall. Each 11th and 12th grader now has a personal laptop, a gift from the United Arab Emirates after the tornado. While touring the facility, Duncan said Joplin’s recovery efforts are stunning.

"I think as Joplin reinvents itself, post the disaster, Joplin can actually help to lead the country to where we need to go educationally," Duncan said.

Duncan called the makeshift school "stunning" and said it reminded him of "a mini-college campus."

Joining Duncan in Joplin was Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.

The May 22 storm that killed 162 people also destroyed or damaged 10 schools in the area.

Jennifer Moore, KSMU

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Danforth unveils "Joplin Tomorrow"

JOPLIN, MO (KSMU) - Joplin business leaders have found a friend in former US Senator John Danforth as they try to rebuild their city after the May 22 tornado left nearly 5,000 people without jobs.

Danforth is spearheading a new non-profit organization called “Joplin Tomorrow.” It will provide low or no-interest loans to businesses that want to call Joplin home. The offer is also good for businesses hoping to expand in Joplin.

The former politicians said he will travel the state raising money for the fund.

“A lot of this is business helping business to create business for the future. That’s going to have a lot of appeal to people, I think, throughout our state, who want to do something for Joplin,” he said.

Danforth said other business recovery loans and programs are helpful—but they only seek to maintain the status quo a business held before the tornado. In contrast, he said, the “Joplin Tomorrow” loans will help businesses expand, even beyond what they previously were.

Five members of the Joplin business community will volunteer their time to administer the loans. Contributions will be tax-deductible.

The fund already has one million dollars: half a million from the Danforth Foundation, which ceased operating last month, and another half million from Joplin business owners.

For more information on the fund, you can visit www.joplintomorrow.org.

Jennifer Moore, KSMU

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FEMA practices major catastrophe in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, MO (KSMU) - What would you do if a catastrophic event occurred? FEMA is asking itself that exact question this week, and the federal agency is using Springfield as one of its locations to find out. The feds have teamed up with local hospitals, shelters and morgues to see just how prepared the region is for a major disaster.

Part of the old terminal at the Springfield-Branson national airport was turned into a gigantic triage room this week as military personnel from across the country practiced evacuating patients.

The 140 fake patients - in this case mannequins on stretchers  - arrived by local ambulances. They were whisked into the medical room before soldiers and FEMA personnel loaded them onto massive C-130 military airplanes.

Beth Freeman is the regional administrator for FEMA Region 7 in Kansas City. She says this simulation was based on how FEMA would respond to an earthquake out of the New Madrid Fault Zone.

“Springfield hospitals and airports will be, if this scenario would indeed happen, would be probably the first large hospital center that patients can get to. Those hospitals here will quickly be filled. They will need to move patients out to other hospitals. That’s what we are practicing.”

The C-130s took off, loaded with the mannequins and medical staff, and headed for hospitals in Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines, and Shreveport, Louisiana. For KSMU News, I’m Jennifer Moore.

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Washington U. finds collection of Jefferson's books

Washington University has discovered a collection of Thomas Jefferson’s private books. The university didn’t realize it had been sitting on the rare collection for 131 years.

Washington University officials learned from two scholars at Monticello that the 74 volumes may already be in its library system. When the books were donated to the university way back in 1880, the donor did not indicate that they had belonged to the third president.

Anne Posega is the head of Special Collections at "Wash U."

"They had been able to track down that these books, which had been purchased by Jefferson’s granddaughter, Ellen Coolidge, had been donated by her son-in-law to Washington University," Posega said.

Posega says some of the books are on history and architecture, and some include Jefferson’s handwritten notes on the pages.

"A lot of them are classics, and many of them in Greek," Poseda notes. "There’s a number of French books as well; there are books in Italian, Latin and English."

The collection becomes the third largest of Jefferson’s books, after the Library of Congress and the University of Virginia.

Jennifer Moore, KWMU

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