Missouri

Andy Williams, whose languid crooning style and disarming presence propelled him to recording and television stardom in the 1960s, with hits including “Moon River” and the inescapable holiday jingle “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” died Sept. 25 at his home in Branson, Mo. He was 84.

He died after a year-long battle with bladder cancer, his publicist, Paul Shefrin, said.

Williams’ entertainment career spanned eight decades, starting when he was an 8-year-old singer performing at church socials in his native Iowa. With his radiant smile, chiseled dimples and earnest personality, he conveyed an unfailingly wholesome image throughout his career - sometimes to his dismay. All too often, he wrote in his memoir, he was perceived as a “farm boy in a tuxedo.”

LAMPE, Mo. - For 20 years I’d remembered it as one of the most beautiful and pristine places I’d seen in the Ozarks.

When I returned this summer after the two-decade absence, things had changed at Dogwood Canyon.

ST. LOUIS — Rep. Todd Akin vowed to fight on in his embattled Senate campaign, but a significant deadline loomed Tuesday that was bound to intensify pressure on the Missouri congressman to abandon the race over his comments that women’s bodies can prevent pregnancies in cases of “legitimate rape.”

Akin has been frantically trying to salvage his once-promising bid against incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill in a race long targeted by the GOP as crucial to regaining control of the Senate. But ominous signs were mounting against the six-term legislator from suburban St. Louis, most notably the apparent loss of millions of dollars in campaign advertising money.

ST. LOUIS — Tiny Lindenwood University has tackled the challenge of making its stadium unforgettable in its first year of college football.

KANSAS CITY, MO. - Tyler Nelson is 15 years old and wears silver braces and Super Mario high-tops. He is 5 feet 2 and weighs 105 pounds even though he eats like a garbage disposal. Maybe that means a growth spurt is coming. Maybe that means he'll start shaving soon.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett took to Twitter early Wednesday to find his beloved dog Charlie, who went missing during a storm that rolled through the Kansas City area.