There were at least 60 state highways across northern Missouri closed because of flooding Thursday morning, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation Traveler Information Map.

That’s more than double the number posted on the map Wednesday morning. Marty Liles of MODOT told reporters they continue to monitor the state’s roads, deploying flagging operations or barricades depending on conditions.

 

“As we continue to get some more rainfall, and as those floodwaters that were in the northern part of the state start heading south, we might see other routes that are affected as well,” Liles said.

Liles said each time big rain events happen there’s a certain amount of flooding that’s going to occur.

“Every day we go out there, after a rainfall event, and check those roadways, and close those down so we make sure we don’t have the travelling public going through those routes and into the flood routes.”

Sergeant Jacob Angle of Troop-H says the Missouri State Highway Patrol discourages anyone from proceeding if you see water over the roadway.

“Even if you think it’s just inches of water, it only takes inches of water to float a vehicle,” Angle said. “So if you see water over the roadway, don’t attempt to cross it.”

“You don’t think it’s very deep, and you get in it, the vehicle starts floating, you’re swept away, and it can be very rapid.”

That’s precisely what happened to several motorists near Mound City during the severe weather event Tuesday night. Squaw Creek flowed over its banks very quickly after the area received eight to ten inches of rainfall. Angle says the water on the highway was at least three feet deep. Three vehicles were swept into the median where the water was about twice that deep.

When rescue workers arrived, some of the occupants were perched on top of their vehicles. That’s when crews from Troop-H, MoDOT, the Conservation Department, St Joe Fire, and the Holt and Andrew County Sheriff’s offices took extreme measures. They used heavy construction equipment, and a boat, to navigate the fast-moving waters and pull eight victims to safety.

“Considering the area we were dealing with, and we had to get vehicles around the floodwater and navigate to get people there, traffic was backing up, you know we had a lot of variables to deal with,” Angle said.

“If you take all that into account, I would consider our response spot on, about as quick as it could have been,” he said.

“With that collaborative effort, we saved eight lives last night, in rapidly-rising flash-flood waters.”

Officials with four of the agencies gathered for a news conference Wednesday to lay out details of their efforts the night before.

(Pictured left to right, are George Albert of the St Joseph Fire Department, Sgt. Jacob Angle of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Marty Liles of MoDot, and Robert Wolken of the Missouri Department of Conservation.)

U.S. Highway 36 Now Open

All lanes of U.S. Hwy 36, both east and west bound, are now open near New Cambria, west of Macon, according to the Missouri Department of   Transportation.  Westbound lanes were closed initially due to flash flooding and a barrage of chemical tanks washed down Puzzle Creek into the bridge on the highway.  Soon after, a trailer initially holding some of these tanks washed into the eastbound lanes, which led law enforcement and MoDOT to close all lanes of highway until it was determined there was no chemical issues with the tanks. Other routes throughout northern Missouri remain closed due to flooding. MoDOT MoDOT encourages all motorists to check the Traveler Information Map athttp://www.modot.org/.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission will hold its monthly meeting at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, in St. Joseph.

The meeting will be held in the Kemper Room of the Fulkerson Center at Missouri Western State University. The public is invited to attend.

“We are happy to be returning to St. Joseph and Northwest Missouri,” said Commission Chairman Stephen Miller. “We are interested in learning more about the area’s transportation needs and issues and we invite anyone who is interested to attend this meeting.”

The full agenda is available here.

First on the agenda, the commission will go into closed session to discuss competitive bidding specs, sealed bids or contract terms, personnel administration about particular employees, and legal action or attorney-client privileged communications.

When they return, the commission is expected to vote on bids for transportation impvoements, possible changes to MoDOT’s medical plan funding calendar, and a fiscal appropriations request from MoDOT.

A public comment period will close the meeting. To speak, you must sign in at the registration desk by 1:30 p.m. Comments will be limited to five minutes per person, and ten minutes per topic.

 

(Update) The tornado warning in Atchison County has been extended until 6:30pm. Fire personnel in Atchison County reported a possible tornado, with flying debris and at least 70 mile per hour winds.

The City of Tarkio was without power after a 5-to-7 minute period of very high winds. Nickel to golf-ball sized hail was also reported.

At 5:30 Emergency Management officials reported strong rotation in a storm between Rock Port and Watson. Radar images also appear to show rotation. The storm system was moving southeast at 10 miles per hour. (Update)

Earlier reports indicated winds ranging from 50-60 mph north of Watson. Emergency management officials report quarter sized hail along Route-AA north of Rock Port.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled next month for a local homeless man accused of trying to rob a US bank branch in St Joe. Mark Pieron made his first court appearance on the charge of 2nd Degree Attempted Robbery, a class-C felony.

According to court documents, Pieron presented a note stating “robbery” to a teller at the US bank at 800 North Belt on September 3. Investigators say Pieron is homeless and has no ties to the city of St Joseph. A police detective says Pieron said he thought he was facing life in prison.

Officials say the defendant has prior convictions for 1st Degree Robbery, 1st and 2nd Degree Burglary, drug violations, and Stealing.

In court Tuesday, Judge Ronald Taylor scheduled a prelminary hearing October 2. Pieron will apply for a court-appointed lawyer.

Circuit Court arraignment is scheduled next month for a former Caldwell County evidence officer accused of stealing evidence.

Brett O’Dell is free on $25,000 bond awaiting arraignment October 6 before Judge R. Brent Elliott. He faces two counts of stealing and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

O’Dell is accused of stealing pills and cash from the Caldwell County Sheriff’s evidence vault. He appeared in court on Tuesday to waive his preliminary hearing.

Douglas Roberts is the special prosecutor in the case.

A Riverside man will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for molesting an eight-year-old girl. Fentress Maurice Wilson, 50, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of statutory sodomy by a Platte County jury in June.

Wilson was sentenced to life because prosecutors proved that he had previously molested three other girls. Judge James Van Amburg ordered that the Defendant will not be eligible for parole until 2052.

Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said, “The eight-year-old victim in this case showed unbelievable courage by telling the jury what the defendant did to her.

 

“But if we were allowed to tell the full truth about his decades of abusing other children, the defendant almost certainly would not have tried his luck with a jury.”

The trial was held in two stages. In the first, prosecutors proved Wilson had sexually abused the eight-year old girl. In the second, prosecutors proved the defendant was a predatory sexual offender because he had abused the child more than once and had abused more than one child. A little-used provision of Missouri law mandates a life sentence for predatory sexual offenders.

During the second stage of the trial, three more of the defendant’s victims testified and described sexual abuse dating back decades.

Although prosecutors knew about Wilson’s abuse of other victims, the jury was not allowed to know that Wilson had abused them until after he was found guilty. Under current Missouri law, prior acts of abuse can only be used to increase punishment after a defendant has been found guilty.

Zahnd chairs the committee pushing an amendment to Missouri’s Constitution that would allow juries to know that a defendant has committed offenses in the past. Constitutional Amendment 2 is on the ballot in November.

Missouri has some of the most restrictive laws on the admissibility of prior sex acts. The federal rules of evidence and most other states allow the evidence to be admitted subject to a judge’s review.

“It is vitally important to modernize Missouri law, and I hope voters will vote ‘yes’ for Amendment 2,” Zahnd said. “It’s not right to make children like this little girl go it alone against abusers like Fentress Wilson. Had he known the jury would have known from the beginning what he had done to other children, we might have spared her the trauma of testifying.”

The Saint Joseph Board of Education has voted to oppose constitutional amendment 3 on the November ballot. Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka says if approved by voters, Amendment 3 would impose more standardized testing on students and link teacher pay to student performance, resulting in a loss of local control.

The resolution approved by the School Board says Amendment 3 is deeply flawed and would prevent the district from hiring, promoting, compensating, or dismissing teachers in accordance with board policy. It also says taxpayers should not be forced to pay for costly government-mandated standardized tests, when school funding is already a challenge.

Amendment 3 is one of four proposed constitutional amendments that Missouri voters will decide November 4.