OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant has been shut down for repairs roughly a month after a planned outage for maintenance and refueling.
The Omaha Public Power District shut down the nuclear plant Monday after a water leak was discovered after a seal failed in one of Fort Calhoun’s four reactor coolant pumps .
The utility says the coolant water that leaked was contained inside the plant and treated.
A spokeswoman says Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors are monitoring the repairs. Fort Calhoun sits along the Missouri River about 20 miles north of Omaha. OPPD says the length of this outage will be determined by the repairs.
If needed, the utility will buy electricity from other sources to maintain service. OPPD has more than 360,000 customers in 13 counties in southeast Nebraska.
Red Wolf Photo courtesy National Wildlife Federation
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Wolf experts from around the nation will gather this week in suburban St. Louis to consider how to help the critically endangered red wolf.
Center officials said Tuesday that the red wolf population in the wild, all in eastern North Carolina, has dropped to about 50 from 100 in the past five years.
The matter took on more urgency in June when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service suspended reintroduction of captive wolves until it could study the value of the release program.
The national summit will take place Wednesday through Friday. Experts will make breeding and relocation recommendations, discuss population viability and hear from government officials involved with the reintroduction program.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A committee appointed by the Missouri Department of Education is recommending that two- and four-year public colleges give students the option of taking math classes more relevant in their fields than algebra.
Math professors say roughly half of the students who take college algebra fail it at least once, causing many of them to just give up and drop out. Education officials say allowing students to take alternative math courses could speed their time to graduation.
The Kansas City Star reports the change would add Missouri to a growing list of states giving students options beyond algebra. All six Kansas universities governed by that state’s Board of Regents allow students to take other math courses to satisfy degree requirements.
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A St. Louis County man who has the virus that causes AIDS is facing a charge of attempting to expose another person to HIV infection.
Charges were filed Tuesday against 43-year-old Robert Smith of St. Ann. He is jailed on $50,000 cash-only bond and does not yet have an attorney.
St. Louis County police say Smith used Craigslist and other social media to contact potential victims. Police say that on Monday, Smith met with an undercover detective and sought to have sex, denying that he was HIV-positive.
Police say there are no known victims, but they urge anyone with concerns to come forward.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas faces a court-imposed deadline to make its arguments as a judge considers whether to explicitly strike down the state’s ban on same-sex marriages.
The state has asked the court to dismiss as moot the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the ban. Kansas contends it has recognized such unions since a U.S. Supreme Court decision last month legalizing them.
But the ACLU has argued that in other states facing similar lawsuits, courts have been entering final judgments getting rid of gay marriage bans, not simply dismissing cases as moot. ACLU contends neither the governor nor attorney general has issued any clear directives acknowledging the decision’s binding effect in Kansas.
A federal court has given Kansas until this Tuesday to respond before it makes its ruling.
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A former southwest Missouri high school teacher has been sentenced to four years in prison for having sex with one boy and sending nude photographs to another.
The Joplin Globe reports 33-year-old Jessica Low was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty in May to second-degree statutory rape and sexual contact with a student.
Low taught communication arts in the ninth- and 10th-grade campus of Joplin High School for two years. She had submitted her resignation in March 2014 and was finishing the school year when she committed the acts with two 16-year-old boys in May 2014.
Prosecutors say Low twice had sex with one of the boys off school property on consecutive days and sent the second boy text messages with nude photos of herself five days later.
Buchanan County Road issues from flooding. Photos courtesy Emergency Management Dir. Bill Brinton
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is asking the federal government to declare a major disaster for 70 counties due to spring and summer storms that caused tornadoes, torrential rains and flooding across much of the state.
Nixon made the request Tuesday, citing damage to roads, bridges and other public infrastructure, along with homes and businesses. At least 10 deaths are blamed on the storms and flooding.
Nixon says that since mid-May, more than half of the state has been damaged, and many places face extensive response and rebuilding expenses.
The disaster declaration request is for public assistance in the following 68 counties: Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Audrain, Barry, Bates, Benton, Buchanan, Caldwell, Chariton, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Cole, Crawford, Dade, Dallas, Daviess, DeKalb, Douglas, Gentry, Harrison, Henry, Hickory, Holt, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Laclede, Lafayette, Lewis, Lincoln, Linn, Livingston, McDonald, Macon, Maries, Marion, Miller, Moniteau, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Osage, Ozark, Perry, Pettis, Pike, Platte, Polk, Putnam, Ralls, Ray, Ste. Genevieve, Saline, Schuyler, Scotland, Shannon, Shelby, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Texas, Washington, Webster, Worth and Wright.
In addition, the Governor is seeking individual assistance for these 15 counties: Barry, Clay, Christian, Greene, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Lewis, Lincoln, Marion, Osage, Ray, Ste. Genevieve, Stone and Webster. Each of those counties, except for Greene, also is included in the request for public assistance.
Individual assistance means that eligible individuals and households can seek federal assistance for uninsured losses from severe weather and flooding; public assistance allows local governments and eligible nonprofit agencies to seek assistance for response and recovery expenses associated with the severe weather and flooding.
Nixon first declared a state of emergency on June 18, an order that activated the State Emergency Operations Center and enabled the state to mobile resources to assist local authorities. Last week, he extended the state of emergency until Aug. 14.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Attorney General Chris Koster will investigate Missouri’s only abortion center after the release of an undercover video showing Planned Parenthood’s national medical director discussing the disposition of parts from aborted fetuses.
The Democrat on Tuesday announced the investigation, which follows national outcry mainly from Republicans.
At issue is an undercover video released by anti-abortion activists showing Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services discussing procedures for providing fetal body parts to researchers.
Planned Parenthood says it legally helps women who want to make not-for-profit donations of their fetus’ organs for scientific research.
Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. But a spokeswoman has said the center doesn’t participate in the fetal program.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal appeals panel has reversed a lower court’s rejection of a challenge to the Affordable Care Act brought by a Missouri lawmaker fighting required birth control coverage in his state-sponsored insurance plan.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday reversed a U.S. District Court’s 2013 ruling dismissing the complaint brought by Republican state Rep. Paul Wieland against the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies.
Wieland’s lawyers cited the Supreme Court’s earlier decision that private companies such as Hobby Lobby with religious objections can opt out of the federal insurance plan’s contraceptive requirement.
The appeals decision sends the case back to district court.
The Health and Human Services Department didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Three people were sickened by carbon monoxide at a Kansas City office building.
Firefighters responded to a call about noon Monday regarding shortness of breath at an office building in the Crossroads Art District. Firefighters found high levels of carbon monoxide at the site. Firefighters measured the concentration of carbon monoxide at about 1,300 parts per million, about 26 times higher than the danger threshold.
Kansas City Fire Department Battalion Chief James Garrett says one person was critical, a second person was non-critical and a third person got their own medical treatment.
Garrett says firefighters determined that power equipment being used in the building’s basement created the carbon monoxide. Firefighters shut off the equipment and ordered an evacuation.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant has been shut down for repairs roughly a month after a planned outage for maintenance and refueling.
