The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday the hiring of four people to assess the Corps’ operation of the Missouri River main stem dams up to and during this year’s flood event.

Specifically, the team will review and assess a number of questions including whether water management decisions made during the Flood of 2011 were appropriate and in alignment with the Missouri River Master Manual, the water control plan that guides the operation of the Missouri River.

The team will also look at whether the Corps could have prevented or reduced the impact of flooding by taking other management actions leading up to the flood, whether long-term regulation forecasts properly accounted for the runoff into the, whether climate change played a role, and the role flood plain development played in the operation of the reservoir system prior to and during this year’s flood event.

The team will begin its independent review Oct. 4. The review is expected to be complete by Dec. 2.

The review panel members are:
Bill Lawrence, Hydrologist In Charge (HIC), National Weather Service
Darwin Ockerman, Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey
Cara McCarthy, Senior Forecast Hydrologist, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Neil Grigg, PhD, Professor, Colorado State University

“We have several post-flood assessment efforts underway to help us determine whether changes are warranted in any aspect of our water management and flood response operations,” said Witt Anderson, Director of Programs for the Northwestern Division.

“This team will help shed light on whether there is anything we could have done differently to prevent this year’s flood and provide us with recommendations for improving future operations.”

“Best case scenario, we’ll have it open by Thanksgiving; realistically it’ll probably be by the end of the year.”

A much-used but long-closed Northwest Missouri highway is getting some much-needed attention. MoDOT announced Wednesday that repairs were underway on US-136, which has been closed for several months. Floodwaters washed away four large gaps in the road, and Wednesday contractors began a three-week, round-the-clock effort to fill those gaps.   We spoke with MoDOT District Engineer Don Wichern, who took reporters on a tour of the flood damage and the repairs.

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Transportation officials place a top priority on getting flooded-out Northwest Missouri highways reopened by the end of the year. Work began Wednesday on a major lifeline, a stretch of US-136 that includes the bridge into Brownville, Nebraska, one of several Missouri River bridges closed by high water this year.

In Atchison County floodwaters washed away four large sections of the road, ranging from 75-feet long, to over 600-feet long.

Missouri Department of Transportation District Engineer Don Wichern described the damage for reporters during a tour of the area Wednesday.

Contractors will fill three of the four gaps with large rocks, working 24-hours a day, seven days a week for the next three weeks or so.

At that point officials hope to get a better look at their final challenge: the 600-foot-long gap nicknamed “the beast.” Wichern says much of their planning is contingent on repairs to the breach in a nearby levee (L-550).

Wichern says if the Corps of Engineers is not able to repair levee L-550 soon, they might be required to build a bridge over that last gap, but only as a last resort. He says reopening the road to traffic is their priority.

The Saint Joseph Health Department holds a free flu clinic for Buchanan County adults Friday. All other department services will be suspended for the day and will resume Monday.

From 9 to 11:30 am Friday free flu shots will be given to Buchanan County residents age 65 and older. Then from 1:30 until 4 the vaccine will be available for residents 19 and older.

Drive-up curbside service will be available for anyone with mobility issues. Enter the drive-up clinic from 10^th Street onto Lafayette. 

One man was killed early this morning when his SUV rolled over at 19^th and Mulberry in Saint Joseph. Police say the driver was headed north on Mulberry at a high rate of speed at 2:02 am when he lost control.

The Ford Explorer rolled one complete time, ejecting the driver. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity is still being determined. A witness reported that a female passenger fled the scene on foot. The accident is still under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Tips Hotline at 238.TIPS. 

 

Voters will get another chance to approve extending Buchanan County’s capital improvement tax, this time with a sunset clause. Presiding Commissioner RT Turner says the county will put it on the ballot in February or March, along with the Missouri Presidential Primary.

The legislature will decide whether to leave the primary in February or move it to March. The national political parties want a March primary because many states have tried to get attention by holding their primaries early.

Buchanan County’s quarter-cent capital improvement sales tax raises about $2.8-million a year. The Commissioners ran it without a sunset clause August 2nd and voters rejected it 60 percent to 40 percent.  

I have a few Shakespeare roles under my belt, and I’ve portrayed Shakespeare for a celebration of his birthday. I’ve enjoyed the sonnets for decades. But I am by no means an authority.

Just such an authority is Dr. Phil Speary, who has directed and/or performed in dozens of Shakespeare productions. He has directed me several times, and that fact alone qualifies him for the hall of fame.

One of the delights of Shakespeare plays, and one of the downsides,  is that there is a LOT of text, pure poetry, so even if you cut the script “dramatically,” there is still a LOT of poetry to work with.

In three different plays, I have asked Dr. Speary if I could “have my monologue back.”

I think it pleased Phil that I had actually read the entire play, and noticed when my lines were cut. To his credit, Phil gave me back my monologues in two of the three plays, and in hindsight, I think he made the right choice all three times.

I think Phil would like the following story.

I am deep into the rote-memory process,learning my lines as Friar Laurence in the upcoming production of “Romeo and Juliet” at Missouri Western State University’s Potter Hall Theater, October 6-9.  In researching the role, I discovered that our script attributes several lines to my character Friar Laurence that properly belong to the Nurse.

I called Director Tee Quillin and asked if the Nurse “could have her monologue back.”

He said yes.   I’d like to apologize to Erin Williams, the actress playing the Nurse. She’s also in the middle of the rote-memory work required of her role, and I just made that chore bigger.

For her.

For earlier blog entries, click here.

A search is getting underway to replace Wathena, Kansas Police Chief Brian Walker, who resigned Monday night.

City Clerk Jim Richardson confirms that Walker submitted his resignation during the City Council meeting Monday night. Richardson says the council will begin the search for his replacement with a formal advertisement expected soon.

“They’re still putting that together,” Richardson said.

Meanwhile, Raymond Hall continues his duties as acting chief.

Walker was suspended as chief in June, after 13 years in the post, for what was described as a “personnel issue.” The Kansas Attorney General’s Office conducted an investigation but concluded there was not enough evidence to charge Walker with any crime.

Officials have not commented in detail on the nature of the “personnel issue” involved.

 

State Senator Jane Cunningham says the Nixon Administration is still trying to implement ObamaCare in Missouri. Cunningham was able to delay implementation of healthcare exchanges by the Department of Insurance last week.

But she remains concerned about $21-million federal funding for that purpose. She says Insurance Department Director Jon Huff told her not to worry, the federal funding did not have to be returned. Cunningham says that means hard-earned taxpayer money will be “thrown down a rathole.”

Cunningham, who led the anti-ObamaCare Proposition C that 71-percent of Missourians approved, says the Governor is continuing to circumvent the Legislature and the will of the people to implement federally mandated healthcare. 

 

Repairs have started on the bridge between Buchanan County and Atchison, Kansas. The Amelia Earhart Bridge was closed by flooding June 27th.

MODOT says a $1.2-million contract has been awarded to Herzog Contracting Corp to make the repairs. The contract includes a cash incentive for finishing quickly.

 

The bridge closing forced hundreds of drivers to make long detours.