Two roads in western Buchanan County will be closed as road crews install new tubes.
Buchanan County Emergency Management Director Bill Brinton says Southeast 45th Road from Southeast H Highway to Southeast Babcock Road will be closed from 8am to 3pm Thursday.
Southeast 40th Road from Southeast H Highway to Southeast Pigeon Hill Road will be closed from 8am to 3pm Friday.
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Emergency contracts have been let by the Missouri Department of Transportation in an effort to get traffic moving from northwest Missouri into Nebraska once again.
MoDOT Area Engineer Adam Watson says three contracts are being issued to repair flood damage which closed the Rulo bridge to traffic at Route 159 and the Brownville bridge at Route 136.
Watson emphasizes these contracts will make emergency, not permanent repairs.
“We’re not making it perfect by any means,” Watson tells St. Joseph Post. “The shoulders will still need more work. There will be more ditching and drainage work that’s going to be required. There’s going to be paving work that is going to be required. None of that is involved in these contracts. These contracts are, what do I have to do to make the road safe for cars to travel over it?”
Missouri River flooding overflowed homes, communities, and farmland in northwest Missouri. It also did great damage to roads and bridges, forcing MoDOT to close Interstate 29 to traffic just north of St. Joseph. Flooding destroyed I-29 pavement just across the state line in Iowa, disrupting the traffic flow north to Omaha, forcing 12,000 cars and trucks to find alternative routes north.
Re-opening the routes to Nebraska could allow I-29 to re-open farther north if repairs in Iowa drag on.
The flood did not damage either the Rulo or the Brownville bridge. It did, however, tear up pavement on the Missouri side, leading to the bridges.
MoDOT hopes to re-open the Rulo bridge by the first of June and the Brownville bridge by July first.
Phillips Hardy was awarded a $3 ½ million contract to remove debris and make emergency repairs to the pavement on US Route 159 in Holt County from a mile east of Route P near Fortescue to the Missouri River Bridge. The projected completion date is on or before June 1st.
Phillips Hardy also won another $3 ½ million emergency contract to repair damaged pavement on US Route 136 in Atchison County from I-29 to the Missouri River Bridge at Brownville, Nebraska.
Repairs on 136 will take longer.
Floodwaters destroyed a bridge between I-29 and the Brownville bridge. Watson says there will have to be a detour around that smaller bridge over the Little Tarkio Creek.
“Right now, I think we’re looking at (Routes) 111 and 118 to get cars around that damaged bridge,” Watson says. “I think 111 still has water over parts of it today. So, that’s going to be a process for us.”
A third contract let to Phillips Hardy for approximately $1.2 million will repair the Little Tarkio Creek bridge with a completion date around the middle of July.
Watson describes the damage to that bridge as severe.
“The pictures show it sagging and concrete shouldn’t sag,” Watson says. “So, it was pretty telling.”
For more on the flood damage to northwest Missouri roads and bridges, click here for the special MoDOT web page.
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A deadline looms as negotiators from the Missouri Senate and House sit down to iron out differences in the two chambers’ approaches to the $30 billion state budget.
Sen. Dan Hegeman of Cosby chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and says a rebound in state revenue should help negotiations.
State revenues are 2% ahead of last year, a huge turnaround from when money flowing into the state coffers plummeted 18% below the previous year.
Hegeman says his committee recommends fully funding the formula for public schools, providing an increase to the core higher education budget, and even spending money on early childhood education.
“One of the bigger things, though, is the governor’s recommendation that we invest in infrastructure needs as well as workforce development,” Hegeman tells St. Joseph Post. “And we are really pleased we were able to go with much of the governor’s recommendation on that.”
Gov. Mike Parson recommended issuing $351 million in bonds to repair 250 deteriorating bridges throughout Missouri. It has met with resistance in the legislature.
The governor’s bonding proposal will likely be the main sticking point between Senate and House budget negotiators. The House has resisted the governor’s call to issue infrastructure bonds. The Senate proposes spending $50 million in General Funds upfront, then borrowing $301 million to be paid back over seven years. The governor had proposed 15-year bonds.
Hegeman is hopeful the $50 million upfront and the shorter payoff period, which should save $75 million in interest, will entice the House to agree to the infrastructure package.
“Still do the bulk of the 250 bridges with both of those efforts and that will free up money on the state transportation plan for new projects to come on,” Hegeman says.
Hegeman expects disagreement as negotiators from the two chambers sit down for talks this week at the Capitol.
“We’ve certainly got some areas for consideration and discussion,” according to Hegeman. “Now, the transportation package will be one of them. The package for higher education will be another. Ours is vastly different than what the governor and the House came up with as well. So, those will be a couple of areas that we’ll have discussions on.”
Negotiators meet under a strict deadline. They must agree to a compromise, which will go to both the Senate and the House for passage. The General Assembly must pass a budget and send it to Gov. Parson by adjournment Friday.
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Washington has recognized Northwest Missouri State University for winning the NCAA Division II men’s national basketball championship.
The United States Senate unanimously approved a resolution honoring the Bearcats for winning their second national basketball championship and posting a perfect 38-0 season.
“The Bearcats were unstoppable this season, earning another national championship and finishing the year with a perfect record,” U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt said in a written statement released by his office. “Congratulations to the players, coaches, and fans on another great season. I look forward to seeing what this team can accomplish next year.”
“Missouri is proud of the Bearcats’ fantastic season, and we congratulate them on everything they were able to accomplish as a team,” U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said in a written statement. “The effort and determination by these young men does not go unnoticed. Keep up the great work and good luck next year!”
Northwest defeated Point Loma Nazarene University in March 64-58 to cap the undefeated season. Northwest was only the 5th Division II program to finish a perfect season as national champions. Northwest won its first men’s basketball championship in 2017.
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Repair of the broken Missouri River basin levee system is underway, but an Army Corps of Engineers’ official says it will be years before levees return to pre-flood condition.
Deputy District Engineer Ted Streckfuss in the Corps Omaha office says contracts have been let for preliminary repairs of three levee breaches near Hamburg, Iowa with a fourth set to be let next week. Streckfuss says it’s important to make the repairs, because the Missouri River is out of its banks and is cutting a different channel.
“It’s very important that the Corps of Engineers focuses attention on filling those breaches to retrain the river and then from there begin the process of rehabilitating the levees in order to get them to back to a state where they can provide some level of protection to the communities and the ag interests behind those levee systems,” Streckfuss tells St. Joseph Post.
Flooding this year broke 16 federal levees and damaged nine others in the Corps’ Omaha district. Floodwaters overtopped and breached four non-federal levees.
The Corps is concentrating on Hamburg for a number of reasons, but one in particular is the effect of the flood on Interstate 29. Breached levees allowed floodwaters not only to flow over I-29, but to heavily damage the interstate.
“I-29 has been impacted by the flood,” Streckfuss says. “We’re looking to, again, fill those breaches, begin the process of preventing water from flowing behind the levees and trying to get the system operational again.”
Flooding just across the state line in Iowa prompted the Missouri Department of Transportation to close I-29 just north of St. Joseph. It remains closed at the 57-mile marker with only local traffic allowed on the interstate in northwest Missouri. I-29 handles as many as 12,000 travelers each day. MoDOT advises travelers in Kansas City to take I-35 north to I-80 and back over the I-29. St. Joseph area traffic is advised to use U.S. Route 71 north into Iowa.
Flooding damaged pavement leading to Missouri River bridges at Rulo and Brownville, Nebraska. MoDOT is working to repair U.S. 159 and 136 so that I-29 can be partially re-opened in northwest Missouri with a means to cross the Missouri River into Nebraska.
Streckfuss says the flood did extensive damage to the system.
“The scope and extent of the damages, very likely in the billions of dollars, will take time in order to completely effect repair,” Streckfuss says. “All we can do is triage the damages, begin the process of rehabilitating those levee systems back into a position where they’re providing levels of protection.”
Streckfuss says the Corps will take immediate steps to shore up the system, then look to make permanent repairs, but the cost of repairing the levee system will be so high Streckfuss says it is likely Congress will need to approve an emergency appropriation to pay for the repairs.
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt says Americans have more opportunity to secure the jobs they like in the growing economy.
Blunt tells reporters during a Republican leadership news conference in Washington, D.C. many companies are hiring those willing to train or are looking for people who might have a different workforce experience.
“In our state we’re also talking about ways, in Missouri, to look at how we can get people to work in our state that have already been at work somewhere else,” Blunt tells reporters. “Particularly as it relates to military spouses, we had the first military spouse sworn into the Missouri Bar in January, who went immediately to work as a lawyer, who had been a lawyer in another state, we haven’t done that kind of thing in the past.”
Blunt says veterans are in demand with companies using the experience they had in the military in new civilian positions.
“If you’ve been driving a truck in the military you ought to be able to get that commercial driver’s license pretty quickly; if you’ve been an electrician, or a medical technician,” according to Blunt. “This is an economy where people are looking at ways to get people to work and to honor the skills that they bring with them, as well as to help them get the skills they don’t already have.”
Blunt says Congress needs to remove the barriers that have kept some from finding jobs. He says those released from prison with certain skill sets have a greater opportunity than in the past to get a job upon release.
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A levee system built to hold back Missouri River floodwater has been destroyed by this year’s flooding and a levee association official says levees don’t just need to be repaired, but improved.
Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association chair Tom Waters of Orrick says the task ahead is a costly one.
“These are multi-million dollar repairs that are going to take place,” Waters tells St. Joseph Post. “In 2011, in Holt County, there was a $50 million repair and a $60 million repair. These levee districts don’t have that kind of money to do this so that’s where the federal government has to step in.”
Waters worries, though, that other pressing issues will siphon money away from levee repairs. He points out that money was secured to repair levees after the 2011 flood, until Hurricane Sandy hit the next year and disaster funding was shifted to help recovery in New Jersey.
Waters expects that for now the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers will simply try to prop up the levee system.
“What will happen is they’ll get some temporary protection put in there. A levee that was maybe a 100-year levee might get a 25-year protection temporarily to try to hold some of those rises in the river,” Waters says. “But, no, totally repaired and back to where they were pre-flood, it’s going to be a long time.”
The destruction of the Missouri River basin levee system is evident.
The Omaha district of the Corps of Engineers reports 54 broken levees along 350 miles of the Missouri River. That doesn’t even count non-federal levees breached in the Kansas City district.
“So, I think that’s 10 or 11 levees in that reach between St. Joe and Kansas City that are sitting wide open,” according to Waters. “So, all these areas where the levees are sitting wide open, it doesn’t take much of a rise in the river to start flooding again.”
Federal levees protecting St. Joseph and Elwood held.
Waters says the levees don’t just need to be repaired, the entire system needs to be strengthened.
“We’re operating the system in a manner it wasn’t designed to be operated in and so we’re going to have to make some improvements to the flood control infrastructure or we’re going to continue to see this.”
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Two long-time St. Joseph AM radio stations now have companion signals on FM.
Eagle Communications announces 680 KFEQ and KESJ AM have added FM translators.
KFEQ, 680 on the AM dial, can now be heard at 107.9 FM. KESJ AM, which is better known as ESPN 1550, can now be heard at 107.5 FM.
Eagle St. Joseph General Manager Gary Exline stated the new signals will have a range of about 20 to 25 miles each.
“We’re excited to add these low power FM’s so that we can better serve the greater St. Joseph area, especially with our local sports coverage,” Exline said in a written statement.
FM signals have some advantage over AM signals, primarily because they are not subject to atmospheric interference. Sometime lightning strikes can cause static on the AM band.
“Whether it’s ag news and weather on KFEQ or all the sports available on ESPN 1550….it all sounds smoother on the FM dial,” according to Exline.
The Federal Communications Commission began allocating translator signals several years ago in an attempt to assist AM stations that had either interference or power reduction requirements that handicapped station coverage in primary signal areas. Both KFEQ and KESJ have sunset power changes that affect their signal coverage area at night.
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A 17-year-old Lafayette High School student has been charged with making terroristic threats, after posting on social media he intended to commit a mass shooting at an area school.
The threat caused several area schools to go into lock down and post extra security guards Monday.
The Andrew County Prosecutor’s Office formally filed charges against Andrew W. Lemon of Country Club Village this afternoon.
The office accuses Lemon of using racial slurs against black students and threatening on Snapchat that he would commit a mass shooting at either Savannah, Lafayette, Benton High Schools, or Truman Middle School. The threat, deemed credible by police, caused those schools to go into a soft lock down and add security. Central High School, Bode Middle School, and Truman Middle School also went into a soft lock down Monday as a precaution.
Officers with the Country Club Village Police Department took Lemon into custody after St. Joseph police officers detained him in the Lafayette High School Vice Principal’s office.
In the statement of probable cause, Andrew County prosecutors state Lemon reluctantly confessed to sending the message and stated he did not intend to carry out the threat.
No one was injured at any of the schools. The soft lock down at area school was lifted Monday afternoon.
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Money could be coming from the state to help northwest Missouri recover from devastating flooding this year.
A proposed state budget, approved by the Missouri Senate, has set aside $8 million to help with recovery from the flood.
Senate Appropriations Committee chair, Sen. Dan Hegeman of Cosby, says the $8-million allocation is in anticipation of Congress passing disaster aid, which would require a local match. Hegeman says the money could be used not only for the state’s needs, but for local needs, either by counties, levee districts, or even special road districts.
Money would be set aside not just for northwest Missouri, but for central Missouri, which suffered damage from Missouri River flooding in March. Southeast Missouri would be included in the state relief, according to Hegeman.
“The Mississippi has also had some flooding problems in the past few years,” Hegeman says. “So, they’ve got some communities over there that are looking at some mitigation efforts they would certainly like to look at as well as we do with our levees that need to be replaced.”
Hegeman says the allocation in the Senate version of the state budget is meant to be flexible.
“This $8 million is meant to be fairly broad in its scope and appeal, meant for SEMA (State Emergency Management Agency) to be able to shift and use it wherever they see the need, both for restoration and mitigation,” Hegeman says.
At present, the $8 million set aside for flood relief and mitigation is only included in the $30 billion state budget approved by the Senate. Hegeman says he cannot imagine the House not going along with the allocation. Budget negotiations between the two chambers should begin soon. The House has voted to send the budget bills to conference to iron out differences between the two versions.
