Saturday, December 14, 2013 COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE www.columbiatribune.com 3
La Terraza’s original location on Nifong closes
A
fter almost three years, La Terraza’s original location at 128 E. Nifong Blvd. has closed. Buried in the Peachtree Center, the location was a bit hard to find, but La Terraza managed to build a name for itself as some of the better Mexican food in town. In October 2012, it opened a second location at 1412 Forum Blvd. next to the packed offices of Veterans United Home Loans. The two restaurants ran simultaneously for about a year until the original La Terraza shut down several weeks ago. Christian Ramirez started La Terraza in April 2010, four years after he launched Taqueria El Rodeo at 805 Nifong. He eventually sold his stake in that restaurant. When Ramirez was gearing up to launch the second La Terraza, he said employees Cesar Garcia, Pedro Guillan and Andreas Garcia would be running it. An employee at the Forum Boulevard La Terraza said some of the former owners’ family members took over the restaurants over the summer. They were not immediately available to talk to Street Talk. The employee said the new owners have made some changes, such as offering breakfast,
and they might soon reopen a restaurant on Nifong near the old spot. Street Talk will keep you posted.
greyhound to midway
The Greyhound bus station, which previously was at 611 Big Bear Blvd., has moved out of the city limits. Now, the Columbia Greyhound station is in the Midway Truck Stop Travel Plaza at 6401 Highway 40 W. Joe Bechtold, general manager of the Midway Truck Stop and Travel Plaza, said the intercity bus transportation company approached him about the move and started operations in Midway on Nov. 1. The new location is outside the city limits, so it’s not serviced by Columbia Transit buses. That’s a lot different than what the company originally planned. In January 2012, the Columbia City Council authorized the Public Works
Department to negotiate a contract with the bus line so it could operate out of the downtown Wabash Station at Tenth and Ash streets. The Public Works Department, which runs the city transit system, had been talking about moving the Greyhound station as far back as 2007. While it got approval to try and come up with an agreement to get Greyhound to Wabash nearly two years ago, nothing ever came of it.
doppler dave retirES
Longtime Mid-Missouri weather forecaster Dave Schmidt will retire next week after more than 20 years at local NBC affiliate KOMU 8, the station announced this week. Known locally as “Doppler Dave,” Schmidt joined KOMU in 1989 as a copywriter and voice talent after a stint in radio. He started weather forecasting in 1991 and became the station’s chief weathercaster in 1996. His retirement is effective Tuesday. “Dave has been the top dog delivering Mid-Missouri’s weather for more than two decades,” KOMU 8 News Director Stacey Woelfel said in a statement. “No one comes close to his status in bringing people important
weather information. People will long remember watching Doppler Dave deliver the weather to them.” Weathercaster Rosie Newberry will take over on the evening newscasts at 5, 6 and 10 as well as a 9 p.m. newscast on Mid-Missouri’s CW. Kenton Gewecke has been added as weathercaster for KOMU 8 News at Noon.
Abc interns
Local contract research company ABC Labs has set up an internship program with the University of Missouri Department of Biochemistry. The internships are paid and the students will receive MU credit for the program, ABC Labs said in a statement. “Hopefully this experience provides the technical training along with the theoretical background in science to make our students competitive hires at ABC or related biotech companies,” said Chris Lee, an assistant teaching professor in MU’s biochemistry department. ABC Labs, which does tests and research for the pharmaceutical, biotech, agricultural and chemical industries, recently consolidated its operations in Columbia. In October, the
company said it was moving its Sacramento, Calif., subsidiary, Morse Laboratories, to Columbia. Morse had 28 employees and some were expected to move to Columbia, the company said at the time.
top town
Columbia has found itself atop another list commending the nation’s cities based on job and wage criteria. The Milken Institute’s Best-Performing Cities Index, which ranks metropolitan areas based on job and economic growth, put Columbia at the No. 1 spot in its most recent list of smaller metro areas. Most of it was because of solid job and salary growth relative to the country as a whole, which is how the Milken Institute ranks the country’s cities. It also credits municipalities for GDP growth due to “high-tech” industries, job growth at those companies and how many are located there. Columbia was a top performer in those areas, which appeared to push it to the top. Jacob Barker is the Tribune’s business reporter. Reach him at 573-815-1722 or jbarker@columbiatribune.com.
You can Help.
life network OF CENTRAL MISSOURI
www.mylifeclinic.org A Higher Level Member FDIC of Banking
Member FDIC
Providing complimentary professional pregnancy help services to women in Central Missouri.
573.874.4700 / www.bankofmissouri.com 3610 Buttonwood Drive / Columbia 7071