PITTSBURG, Kan. —
Stephen Harmon, an associate professor of history at Pittsburg State University, returned earlier this month from Mali, where he spent the fall semester conducting research.
On Monday, as French troops joined the fight against Islamic insurgents who are in control of the northern half of the country, Harmon described the landlocked African nation as “front and center for terrorism and insurgency in northwest Africa.”
Harmon said the terrorist group operating in northern Mali is an affiliate of al-Qaida.
“That’s reason enough for us to be concerned,” he said. “It’s potentially pretty scary, and it’s very scary for Mali.”
Yet Harmon said he never felt like he was in danger while in Mali. Prior to the events of the past week, life for the average Malian continued as it always had, he said.
“It would be hard to know from daily life in the capital that there’s a war going on,” he said. “People are going about their business. It affects them, and people talk about it, but it’s not like there was an active danger on the street. Life was going forward in a pretty normal fashion.”
Local News
Pittsburg State professor offers insight on situation in Mali
- Local News
-
-
Neosho Board of Education approves 10 percent raise in effort to keep custodians
School custodians are receiving the biggest percentage raise among salaries approved Monday by the Neosho Board of Education.
-
Jasper County to start enforcing newly-adopted nuisance ordinance
Jasper County has received 15 complaints based on a nuisance ordinance adopted earlier this year, members of the Jasper County Commission said Tuesday.
-
Woman admits role in prearranged funeral fraud
A St. Louis County woman has admitted to a role in a pre-arranged funeral scam that allegedly bilked customers out of as much as $600 million.
-
Carthage School Board OKs $45 million budget
A proposed budget that sets Carthage School District spending at $45.7 million for the fiscal year starting July 1 was approved by the Carthage School Board on Monday night. The budget represents an increase of almost 3.5 percent over spending in the current year’s budget. It also includes additional teaching positions and increases in staff pay, said Superintendent Blaine Henningson.
-
Missouri moves to lift ban on foreign farm owners
Weeks before a Chinese conglomerate agreed to buy Smithfield Foods Inc. in the largest such takeover of a U.S. business, Missouri lawmakers quietly approved legislation removing a ban on foreign ownership of agricultural land.
-
Missouri season to open for bullfrogs and green frogs
Missouri’s frogging season is about to begin.
-
Joplin City Council to move forward on $130 million recovery proposal; curbside recycling election resurrected
Residents kept the house packed to the end of a 2 1/2-hour meeting of the Joplin City Council on Monday night to encourage the panel to resurrect some kind of curbside recycling proposal and to hear the details or support a $130 million recovery plan.
-
Board chairwoman: Bruce Speck out as MSSU president
Bruce Speck is “no longer president” of Missouri Southern State University, the Board of Governors disclosed Monday. The announcement was made late Monday afternoon following a unanimous vote taken during a closed board meeting Friday.
-
Mike Pound: It’s OK to leave dad alone on Father’s Day
My wife was worried that I would mind being alone for a couple of hours on Sunday.
Sunday was Father’s Day, and my wife had the crazy notion that I wanted to be surrounded by kith and kin all day. -
New Mexico man draws prison term in Joplin child-rape case
A 59-year-old man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to sexual abuse of a developmentally disabled 8-year-old girl in Joplin. Robert L. Newton pleaded guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to first-degree statutory rape, first-degree statutory sodomy and felony failure to appear in court in a plea agreement with the prosecutor’s office.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Neosho Board of Education approves 10 percent raise in effort to keep custodians
