Lorry Myers spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. Myers is a fourth-generation resident and a columnist for the Centralia Fireside Guard. While she loves the community aspect of the town, she says she’s worried about how specific tax boundaries are affecting public infrastructure, like the Centralia Public Library.

Centralia Mayor Chris Cox spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. He’s got deep family roots in the community, and is approaching six years in the mayor’s office. He believes Americans should focus more on what we’ve got in common.

Paul Million spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. He's a life-long Centralia resident and family man who just welcomed his second grandchild into the world. He’s also a man of faith, and lover of small town life.

Carol Maher spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. She’s newly retired after a long career in education, including 20 years as a school superintendent. Now, she’s enjoying small-town life in her farmhouse between Hallsville and Centralia.

A roundup of regional headlines from the KBIA newsroom.

Charlotte Wolpers Craig spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum in Poplar Bluff in July. She spoke about growing up in the area, and one of her lifelong passions – helping animals. She helped found the Animal Welfare Alliance of Southeast Missouri, which opened a no kill shelter earlier this year.

Mike Shane spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum in Poplar Bluff in July. He's a writer and spoke about some of the stories from his book, “Tall Tales: Stories from the Poplar Bluff Museum.”

Sue Crites Szostak spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library in July. She's the director there and spoke about how books have shaped her life.

John Stanard spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum in Poplar Bluff in July. He spoke about his family’s long history with the newspaper industry in the area.

Diana Moxon lives in Columbia and spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Unbound Book Festival last April, she hosts a weekly radio program called “Speaking of the Arts.” She spoke about how she ended up in Columbia, and about some of her lesser-known passions.