Mo. House approves Voter ID bill

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - Missouri's representatives voted and approved the bill that's trying to require Missouri voters to have photo identification when voting.

Representative Stanley Cox sponsors the bill.

Cox says if people try to cheat, they water down others' votes and deny the right to vote.

St. Louis County Representative Stacey Newman spoke against the bill.

She says there's no reason to require Missourians to present photo identification, saying that there has not been "one instance of documented voter fraud in Missouri. Not one instance."

Newman says voter impersonation is similar to the issue of voter fraud.

She says she doesn't know how a cartoon, dead person, or a pet can actually show up to vote because it doesn't happen and it never will.

Kyle Tons, Missouri Digital News

Read More

Cape Chamber names Educators of the Year

The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce Education Committee has named Janet Brase, Kristin Gill, Julia Unnerstall, Dennis Wilson and Dr. Steven Hoffman the 2011 Educators of the Year.

The five outstanding educators will be honored at the Educator of the Year Awards Banquet this evening.

Read More

Red Cross lends flood victims a helping hand

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - The Southeast Chapter of the Missouri Red Cross has been providing food and shelter for families that have been displaced due the flooding in Southeast Missouri and Illinois.

The Red Cross has partnered with other local shelters in order to meet as many people’s immediate needs as possible. This has kept the Red Cross from completely tapping out all their disaster funds.

Sara Gerau handles public affairs for the Southeast Chapter and she remarked at how much help these other shelters have been.

"With Southeast Missouri I think it shows what a tight knit community we have down in this area because a lot of people are with family and friends, church family members that type of thing," Gerau said. "Also, there’s been some other agencies that have stepped up and provided hotel stays for individuals so they’ve been able to stay in hotels for a few nights so that’s helped as well."

As of Sunday, May 1, the Southeast Chapter had a total of 853 people registered with them, had served 9,636 meals and over 10,400 snacks.

The Red Cross will continue to help those in need even after the flood waters recede. They will send out their Disaster Action Teams in order to assess damages and start helping on a case by case basis.

Katie Long, KRCU

Read More

People in three states hear levee detonation

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, MO (KRCU) - Three states shook as the Army Corps of Engineers blew up a two-mile section of levee on the Mississippi River. The Army Corps of Engineers blew up the levee to lower river levels in the heavily flooded region.

The levee was packed with liquid explosives and set off by C-4. Water cascaded into the floodway, inundating 130,000 acres of farmland and as many as 100 homes.

All residents of the spillway were safely evacuated in the days preceding the breach.

The Army Corps of Engineers chose to blow up this Mississippi River levee in rural Missouri to ease stress on a river system that has produced some of the worst flooding ever seen in southern Illinois, southeast Missouri, and western Kentucky.

The explosion was an attempt to save numerous small river communities, including the evacuated town of Cairo, Illinois which sits at the point where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers meet.

The breach will drop water levels, but Major General Michael Walsh cautions that the relief may only be temporary.

"As we bring the crest down it will be brought down for a few days. Then the crest will come back and we’ll see where we go from there," Walsh said.

General Walsh indicated that he is in discussions to open similar floodways in Louisiana.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

Read More

Corps to blow up Birds Point

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, MO (KRCU) - The Army Corps of Engineers decided to detonate the Birds Point levee in rural Missouri. The man-made breach is designed to battle rising water levels on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

Major General Michael Walsh concluded that the record high water level at Cairo, Illinois necessitated immediate action. Much of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky remains submerged.

Announcing his decision on the levee, General Walsh reiterated that his decision extends far beyond the point where the Ohio and Mississippi meet.

“It’s larger than Cairo. It’s the entire system in the watershed,” Walsh said.

All air and river transport is prohibited in the blasting area.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

Read More

Evacuation order lifted in Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF, MO (KRCU) - Based on the current river stage and the forecasted precipitation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that the Black River in Poplar Bluff will crest at 19.5 feet — half a foot lower than on Thursday, April 28 when evacuation orders were lifted and residents of south Poplar Bluff were allowed to go home.

When the Black River peaked on April 26 at 8 AM, it about three-quarters of a foot lower than the flood of 2008. Authorities lifted all evacuation orders in Poplar Bluff on the morning of April 28, and the evacuation center at the Black River Coliseum was vacated the next day.

Flood relief efforts continue as residents return home and discover the damage to their homes.

Lake Wappapello poses the worst threat for future flooding. Army Corps of Engineers leadership have expressed concern that Wappapello and the St. Francis River pose one of the greatest flood challenges moving forward.

Matthew Clanahan, KRCU

Read More

Gen. Walsh gives go ahead to pump explosives into Birds Point

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, MO (KRCU) - The Army Corps of Engineers should make a decision soon about the fate of the Birds Point levee in southeast Missouri. The Corps is only one step away from detonation.

Major General Michael Walsh has a difficult decision to make: if he blow ups the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County, the river will flood 130,000 acres of farmland and displace about 200 people. But he will also ease pressure on flood walls and levees that are already pushed to the brink.

The Corps is pumping an explosive mixture into a two-mile section of the levee, located just south of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The river gauge at the evacuated town of Cairo, Illinois has already set a record, and is expected to crest at sixty-two-and-a-half feet on Tuesday.

The Cairo river gauge was at 60.8 feet as of 4 o’clock this morning.

General Walsh indicated that Tuesday’s crest will surpass the river level that triggers detonation of the levee.

"The operations order says 61 and rising. But again, it’s also tied to the system and making sure that the system is working tight," Walsh said.

The explosives should be in place by eleven o’clock this morning. General Walsh will then decide whether or not to proceed with the plan.

The Army of Corps of Engineers has been able to control some flooding on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers by reducing the outflow of water from several reservoirs, including Barkley and Kentucky Lakes.

However, General Walsh warns that the lakes are nearing capacity.

"At this point most of those reservoirs have reached the full amount of pool that they can handle and they will start releasing more flows in the next couple of days," he said.

This will add additional water to a Mississippi River system that is already at full capacity.

Governor Nixon toured the Birds Point levee with General Walsh yesterday, promising a quick return to agricultural production for the region.

"This is a dramatic, one-in-a-two-or-three-lifetime occurrence in which the greatest time in history ever measured more water is here than has ever been here," Nixon said.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster asked the U-S Supreme Court to review decisions by the 8th District Court of Appeals and the Federal District Court that sought to block the levee breach. Justice Supreme Alito denied the request.

Nixon said his focus is no longer on litigation, but rather making sure that Mississippi County residents are safely removed from the affected area and the operation continues safely.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

Read More