A nine-member committee studying proposals for the possible renewal of a sales tax for capital projects will rank a list of needs for street and road projects as part of its work. The Capital Improvements Sales Tax Renewal Committee held its second meeting on Tuesday to talk about the steps for its work and discuss potential projects that could be done if the tax were renewed.

Residents in two Ottawa County school districts voted in opposite directions Tuesday on similar bond issues for construction projects.

The Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Network has launched its campaign to promote curbside recycling, which is subject to voter approval next month in Joplin. Its members say the service would make recycling more convenient, as residents would be able to set their recyclable materials out with their trash instead of taking it themselves to the city’s recycling center.

Drew Cox has already passed four Advanced Placement exams, and if he succeeds in the five that he will take later this spring — as he hopes — he will have netted a significant amount of college credit before he even sets foot on a college campus.

Wanted: about 120 tables and 1,600 volunteers. The organizers of the second meals for Haiti project in Joplin would like to borrow a few tables from local churches and other organizations to set up the work stations where volunteers will assemble the meals — approximately 280,000 of them.

An interim superintendent has been named to lead the Diamond School District for the rest of the school year, after the Board of Education voted to place Superintendent Trish Wilson on paid leave.

At a special meeting of the Board of Education held on March 3, Ruth I. Kolpin Rubison was awarded naming rights to a portion of the Carthage R-9 School District’s new early childhood center to be built later this year on East Fairview Avenue. Mrs. Rubison responded to the District’s fundraising campaign by donating $100,000 to acquire naming rights to part of the building which will be called the “Ruth I. Kolpin Rubison Early Childhood Center.”

Lauren Bohannon, Storm Schnake and Blake Swaggerty will compete on March 23 in the American Concrete Institute’s Concrete Bowling Ball competition. The students advanced to nationals after finishing first overall in regional competition in Kansas City last month.

Pittsburg State University is observing Apple Day, its oldest tradition, this week. Apple Day or “Commemoration Day” is Thursday, March 6, but a number of related events are taking place Tuesday through Thursday in honor of one of the most significant events in the university’s 111-year history.

“With the recent coverage of ‘marijuana tourism’ since our neighbors in Colorado legalized marijuana under their state law, we wish to remind Kansans that the possession, sale or use of marijuana is still a crime in Kansas.”