By Jo Schaper
With the 8th Congressional District’s seat officially vacant, Missouri’s two senators, Roy Blunt (R) and Claire McCaskill (D) have been meeting in February with federal officials as they seek to make a final determination on the 58-year-old New Madrid Floodway/St. John’s Bayou project along the east side of Mississippi County
They continue to [...]

(News release from the governor’s office.)
JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Jay Nixon today committed $2 million in public infrastructure assistance funds to continue work in several places in Mississippi County impacted by the intentional breach of the Birds Point levee by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in May. The funding fulfills a pledge the Governor [...]

According to the Associated Press in this story from BSD.com, the Army Corps of Engineers said that the Mississippi had finally quit flowing into the breached levee at Birds Point, Missouri.
Earlier in the week, Governor Jay Nixon told the Corps that Missouri was willing to assist financially with the rebuild of the levee. A decision [...]

Did the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers make a good decision to breach the Birds Point levee, flooding thousands of acres of farmland, to spare property damage in Cairo, IL?
NO (70%, 37 Votes)
YES (30%, 16 Votes)

Total Voters: 53

Thanks for participating. Watch for our new poll: Are the Current and Jacks Fork in danger?

Full story: http://www.semissourian.com/story/1725425.html
Southeast Missouri farmers and property owners whose land is now underwater because of the activation of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway will get their first up-close glimpse of the damage Monday.
Mississippi County Sheriff Keith Moore announced to about 60 residents at a special meeting Friday that he would allow them access to the [...]

General Michael G. Walsh of the Corps of Engineers, and president of the Mississippi River Commission announced at a news conference this evening that the New Madrid Floodway would be ready for operation at 9 p.m. tonight.
By Jo Schaper
Opening the floodway will take place between 9 p.m. and midnight. Operations will then [...]

Rumors run rampant during disasters as people sometimes worry if the solution might be worse than the problem.
By Jo Schaper
One major concern to many Southeast Missouri residents over the potential opening of the New Madrid Floodway using explosives is the potential for an activation of the New Madrid Fault due to the blasting overhead.
Major [...]

This morning Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. of federal district court ruled in Cape Girardeau that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is within its rights to blow the Birds Point levee if they deem that conditions warrant doing so. Limbaugh heard 5 hours of testimony yesterday, and issued his ruling early April 29.
The [...]

Senior legal officials of Governor Nixon’s administration will be in federal court in Cape Girardeau tomorrow attempting to get a restraining order to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from breaching the Bird’s Point levee.
by Jo Schaper
River stage at Cairo, Ill., as of 9 p.m. April 27 was 58.52 feetAccording to the NOAA [...]