SPRINGFIELD, MO — This is an interesting take on the Tide Pod challenge.  Springfield Missouri’s Hurts Donut shop is selling doughnut decorated to look like the capsules filled with laundry detergent. The move is in response to the incomprehensible viral movement that has people posting pictures and videos of them eating the poisonous combination.

The caption posted to the Hurts Donut shop’s Facebook page says, “I thought this might clear up any confusion there might have been but now adults are throwing donuts in the washer.”  A second post to the page says, “We will even fill them for you. With FOOD. Not laundry detergent. In the case at both locations today and tomorrow.”

YouTube and Facebook are trying to stop the spread of the Tide Pod Challenge, a bizarre and dangerous phenomenon in which social media users eat laundry detergent packets on camera.

When Pam Zaring booked a professional photographer to take photos of her family, she was hoping for some simple, smiling pictures of her loved ones. 400,000 likes later, she and her family got a good laugh as did the internet with viral photo sharers.

But when Pam received the finished product from the photographer, she found that all of her family's faces had been bizarrely edited to look like cartoon characters.

"OK. This is NOT a joke. We paid a photographer, who claimed to be a professional, for a family photo shoot. Please see these FOR REAL photos she delivered to us," Pam wrote on Facebook.

The photographer was paid between $US200 and $US250 (between $250 and $315) and insisted the strange editing was intentional.

"She said the shadows were really bad on the beautiful, clear, sunny day and that her professor never taught her to retouch photos," Pam wrote.

"I literally have not laughed this hard in YEARS!!!!! You can't make this stuff up.....again, this is NOT a joke."

Fort Leonard Wood's valuable and historical African-American artwork is back home following nearly six months of restoration and conservation work. The mural, valued at more than $370,000 and the work of Army Staff Sgt. Samuel Countee, was sent to Chicago last year for conservation and may be viewed at the museum 0800 - 1600 Monday - Fridays, and 1000 - 1600 on Saturdays.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis County family says their dog is a hero for waking them up during a house fire before the smoke detector alarmed.

It happened in South County early Sunday morning, around 2 a.m., when the Beaudreau family's black lab, River, wouldn't stop barking and nudging her owners.

LAKE OF THE OZARKS - Hundreds came out to learn about and interact with different species of eagles and owls as part of the eighteenth annual Lake of the Ozarks Eagle Days on Saturday.

The annual event was started after the Missouri Department of Conservation was forced to reduce the number of Eagle Day programs it does across the state due to budget cuts. Michelle Cook, one of the members of the Eagle Days planning committee said the community came to bring the event back.

Snowy owls have been making somewhat unusual appearances in Missouri, delighting bird lovers and wildlife enthusiasts.

A sighting in West Alton, north of St. Louis, caused a stir last week. The Missouri Department of Conservation says online reporting by birders shows that several snowy owls have been seen across northern Missouri and a few farther south.

“But the visit from this owl species from the Arctic is not good news for the birds,” the department said, “as likely a food shortage in their natural habitat has pushed them farther south than usual, experts say.”

In the Arctic, snowy owls prey on lemmings. If the owl population is too large for the lemming population, some females and young birds are forced afield. It is called an irruption.

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Zoo gained eight new members in November.

A cheetah named Bingwa gave birth to eight cubs at the zoo. The three males and five females were born on Nov. 26.

According to a press release from the zoo, in over 430 litters documented by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, this is the first time a cheetah has produced and reared on her own a litter of eight cubs at a zoo. The average litter size is three to four cubs.

The 4-year-old Bingwa, has been an exemplary mother, the cheetah care team says.

“She has quickly become adept at caring for her very large litter of cubs — grooming, nursing and caring for them attentively,” Steve Bircher, the zoo’s curator of mammals/carnivores, said in a news release.

Bingwa means “champion” in Swahili.

Shop Rolla? The range of storefronts is becoming more dazzling. From Kohl's and Lowe's to Menard's and Academy Sporting Goods the I-44 Corridor is stacking up from the unusual to the sublime; clothing to knickknacks; name brands to local crafts-you can find almost anything you are looking for or perhaps something you aren’t! You’ll be tempted by countless opportunities to bring a piece of Rolla home with you in the near future.  TJ Maxx and Petsmart are also businesses to occupy the new Westside site.