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“JUST HEARTBREAKING”
AT LEAST 65 DEAD AFTER QUAKE STRIKES ONE OF NEW ZEALAND’S LARGEST CITIES

COLUMBIA DAILY

22 pages — 50 cents ■ Columbia, Missouri ■ www.columbiatribune.com TUESDAY, February 22, 2011

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI Council

OKs plan
for hotel
Tax money would go
toward development.
BY WILL GULDIN
wguldin@columbiatribune.com | 815-1733
The Regency Hotel redevelopment plan
received the Columbia City Council’s unani-
mous approval last night. The project would
use tax increment financing to help pay for its
costs.
This form of taxpayer support would use
some of the new tax revenue the project gen-
erates to pay back the developer, David Parm-
ley, for some of his costs. This project would
receive about $3.2 million in TIF funding over
23 years. Overall, the project’s cost is around
$17.5 million.
Parmley’s plan for the Regency would
replace the downtown hotel with a seven-sto-
ry boutique hotel with more than 100 rooms.
It would create about 30 jobs and drastically
increase sales tax revenue, according to a pre-
sentation from attorney Robert Hollis.
Much like other steps in the approval pro-
cess, the TIF application received wide sup-
port from the council.
“I think we’re very fortunate to have some-
Parker Eshelman/Tribune
one with some roots in town here,” First Ward
Councilman Paul Sturtz said, noting Parmley’s
MU engineering Professor Randy Curry leads a tour of the Center for Physical and Power Electronics today before a groundbreaking ceremony for
a second lab. Curry’s projects have included devising a way for military troops to disarm improvised explosive devices from a safe distance.
Hampton Inn project at Stadium Boulevard
and College Avenue. “It looks like he has a
commitment to do an excellent project.”

A JOLT FOR RESEARCH

Power projects get
additional space.
BY JANESE SILVEY
jsilvey@columbiatribune.com | 815-1705
University of Missouri administra-
tors today broke ground on a second
facility where a computer engineering
professor plans to expand research
aimed to help U.S. troops and improve
life on the home front.
It’s the second roughly 6,000-square-
foot lab College of Engineering Profes-
sor Randy Curry has helped fund in the
past three years. In 2008, the existing
Center for Physical and Power Elec-
tronics lab was built off Carrie Francke
Drive, but Curry said he quickly ran out
of space there.
Before the noon groundbreaking
ceremony, Curry took reporters on a
brief tour of the lab space he has out-
grown. Although the building is not
much more than a warehouse, it lets his
team of 28 faculty and staff members
and students work with some of the
most sophisticated equipment in the
country. That gives students a chance
to work with technology on par with or
even better than what they’ll find in the
industry.
There are a number of projects going
on at the center. Over the past several
years, Curry has developed a way to use
short bursts of electricity, or pulse
power, to allow troops to disarm impro-
vised explosive devices from a safe dis-
tance. He also has found a way to lessen
the impact of shock waves from explo-
sions, and he has been developing
high-voltage switches “that can be very
compact and fit onboard mobile plat-
forms,” he said.
Inside one chamber in the lab, Curry
and his team are developing a new type
of antenna that could someday replace
large-scale cell phone towers.
The existing lab simply isn’t large
enough to house other projects Curry
has in mind. He won’t delve too deeply
into details of his work, citing both
classified and proprietary information,
but in general he said the new facility
will house projects relating to alterna-
tive energies and lasers. He expects MU
to lead the way when it comes to find-
ing new compact ways to store energy,
which could lead to more practical use
of wind turbines and electric cars.
“We’ve got some new, exciting proj-
ects on the horizon,” Curry said. “Some
I can’t go into.”
The new building, which will extend
off the east side of the existing center, is
expected to be built in about three
months. The roughly $600,000 project
will be paid for by the College of Engi-
neering and Curry’s research money,
said Jan Wiese-Fales, a spokeswoman
for the department.
Curry is one of the most well-funded
researchers on the MU campus. Since
early 2008, he has snagged more than
$9 million from federal agencies, main-
ly through the Department of Defense
and the Department of Energy. He has
contracts with all branches of the mili-
tary and also is securing patents that
have civilian applications.
Ultimately, the expansion of Curry’s
work should mean more spinoff com-
panies and high-tech jobs in Missouri,
said Marty Walker, director of adminis-
trative services for the College of Engi-
neering. “The main question is, ‘Will all
of these projects make society better?’ ”
Walker said. “The answer is ‘yes.’ ”
Other members of the council also voiced
their support.
“As a community, we should feel fortunate,”
Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nauser said.
“We are in an economy that is seeing many
communities dwindling. We have people that
are wanting to invest in our downtown.”
No one from the public spoke against the
project.
Also on the agenda was an agreement for a
new parking garage along Short Street. This
would be next to the new Regency Hotel.
Assistant City Manager Tony St. Romaine
said the new garage would cost around $7 mil-
lion. The city also would pay Parmley slightly
more than a million dollars for the land itself.
Of the 300 spaces, Parmley would lease a third
from the city. Another 100, according to city
documents, are expected to be leased by the
time the garage would be finished. The coun-
cil could vote on the garage proposal during
its March 7 meeting.
Hollis said the next step is for Parmley to
secure private financing for the project. He
has until December to do that, according to
the plan, and then demolition would begin.
“It’s his intention to move much more
quickly than that,” Hollis said of the timeline.

Perception of public unions takes a hit

Wisconsin clash
ignites debates.
BY ANDREW DENNEY
adenney@columbiatribune.com | 815-1719
In Wisconsin, a proposal to end
collective-bargaining rights for
public employees has driven thou-
sands to the streets in protest, and
similar clashes between labor and
Republican governors have ignited
in other Midwestern states.
While there is no similar pro-
posal in Missouri now, the contro-
versy in Wisconsin comes at a time
when most states — Missouri
included — are facing budget defi-
cits, and opponents of public-sec-
tor unions are arguing such groups
are bleeding state governments since 1985. According to a survey
dry. released last year by the Pew
“In a sense you could argue that
they were too successful,” Gely
workers are the lowest paid of any
U.S. state.
and instead maintain a meet-and-
confer policy with regard to labor
According to figures released in Research Center, favorability for
January by the U.S. Department of labor unions was at 42 percent in
said.
In Missouri, lawmakers in the
And, in the past, Missouri lead-
ers have shown their willingness to
disputes.
As a result of the 2007 Supreme
Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010. Republican-controlled General restrain the power of public-sector Court decision, governments do
total union membership — includ- Rafael Gely, a University of Mis- Assembly have shown their dis- unions. not have to take part in collective
ing private- and public-sec- INSIDE: souri law professor who taste for unions in general, and In 2005, then-Gov. Matt Blunt, a bargaining with employees, but
tor employees — declined Wisconsin specializes in labor law, legislative panels have heard pro- Republican, rescinded an execu- agreements reached in meet-and-
nationwide from 2009 to governor said resentment toward posals to make Missouri a right-to- tive order that permitted state confer proceedings are legally
2010. However, during that warns of unionized workers is work state. workers to take part in collective binding.
period, unions in Missouri layoffs. fueled by the comparative- In addition, state leaders have bargaining. Kevin Boyer, president of the
bucked the trend and added PAGE 10A ly lucrative pension and shown their willingness to attempt But in 2007, the Missouri Missouri chapter of the National
about 10,000 more workers. health insurance plans to remedy the state’s budget deficit Supreme Court ruled teachers and Association of Letter Carriers, a
More than 36 percent of public- they receive. through hiring freezes, layoffs and public employees have the consti- public-sector union for postal
sector employees were union In addition, unions have been mandatory payments into pension tutional right to bargain collec- workers, said collective bargaining
members. successful in the past with advo- funds by employees. tively with their employers. protects government workers’ right
The controversy over public- cating for legislation protecting According to a 2010 report from The city of Columbia and Boone to a fair wage.
sector unions also is erupting at a workers’ rights, thus eroding their the Missouri Budget Project, a County, like most local entities in “If you don’t have collective bar-
time when public favorability for image as the defender of those think-tank that advocates for low- Missouri, do not take part in col- gaining, the best you can hope for
unions has reached its lowest point rights. income residents, Missouri state lective bargaining with employees is collective begging,” Boyer said.

WEATHER INDEX DEATHS

City picks temporary leader for tourism bureau Tonight Annie’s Mailbox 9A Lydia Dowdell
Eddie Lewis
City Manager Bill Watkins has chosen the welcome mat out.” ment Council in Flor- Business 7B
an acting director for the Columbia Although the announcement about ida. Steiner’s salary in Suzanne Ferris
Convention and Visitors Bureau, tempo- the appointment was made yesterday, the final year of her Classified 9B Ellen McCubbin
John Grider
rarily filling the vacancy left when Lorah
Steiner departed last week.
Amy Schneider joined the CVB staff in
Schneider’s employment will be consid-
ered effective as of last Wednesday, and
her annual salary will increase from
tenure was $100,408.
Steiner’s position
was one of several top
LOW 29 Comics
Contract Bridge
6B
9A
DAILY
July 2007 as sales manager, and Watkins around $46,300 to $76,000 during the city posts to come Amy Schneider Tomorrow Editorial 4A
said her experience there will make for appointment. She has more than 16 open in recent months. Those departing Horoscope 9A
an easier transition. years of experience in the hospitality include Watkins and Columbia Fire Lottery numbers 11A
“I will depend on Amy’s steady hand business, mostly with hotels. She has a Chief Bill Markgraf, both retiring soon.
in this key position as we continue to bachelor’s degree in hotel and restau- The application deadline for a perma- Movies 9A

51 36 5A
recruit and select a permanent bureau rant management from the University of nent director of the CVB was Feb. 8, and Opinion
director,” Watkins said in a prepared Missouri. an advisory committee will have its first HIGH LOW Scoreboard 2B 6 31045 24001 6
statement. “CVB is a gateway to the Steiner left the CVB for a position with meeting Feb. 28.
community, and I know she will keep the Charlotte County Tourist Develop- — Andrew Denney More weather on Page 11A VOL. CX, NO. 161