COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — President Barack Obama has declared an emergency exists in Missouri because of flooding. Obama signed the declaration on Saturday. It allows federal aid to be used to help state and local response efforts to storms that began Dec. 22 and flooding that continues. It also authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency…
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Amid concerns of a looming teacher shortage, public officials in San Francisco and other cities are looking at housing as a tool to prevent the exodus of young educators. School districts in high cost-of-living areas and rural communities that have long struggled to staff classrooms are considering buying or building rent-subsidized…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Interstate 44 is now open again in Missouri. A 24-mile stretch of the interstate southwest of St. Louis closed Wednesday due to flooding along the Meramec River. The Missouri Department of Transportation reopened the east-west interstate late Friday morning. Hours earlier, southbound lanes of Interstate 55 reopened south of St. Louis.…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger has lifted a state of emergency that had been in place for nearly a week due to widespread flooding. Stenger surveyed damage Friday and said he decided to lift the order after consulting with emergency officials. The Meramec River has dropped significantly, easing tensions in…
New laws taking effect Friday will reduce how long the unemployed can receive benefits and shorten the amount of time that low-income families can get welfare payments. The limit for jobless benefits will be cut from 20 weeks to 13. The lifetime limit on cash welfare payments will be reduced from 60 months to 45.…
St. Louis, MO (KTRS) The American Red Cross continues to provide relief across major portions of Missouri and adjoining states following region-wide flooding in recent days. Red Cross volunteers have opened shelters to provide a place to sleep, food, and medical needs for anyone displaced by the floods. Today, shelters in Arnold, Ballwin, Pacific, Carthage, and Cape…
St. Louis, MO (KTRS) The charge of the Ferguson Commission is coming to an end. The Commission is set to disband on Thursday December 31st. The work will continue through the partnership of Focus St. Louis and former Ferguson Commission members and staff. This transition is entitled “Forward Through Ferguson Design.” Back in November of 2014,…
St. Louis County, MO (KTRS) The EPA is ordering the installation of an isolation barrier to ensure an underground fire does not reach buried nuclear waste at a north county landfill site. The EPA announced the decision Thursday to help mitigate concerns at West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton. EPA spokeswoman Angela Brees says the isolation barrier…