Missouri

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signs bill to kill south Kansas City landfill • Kansas Reflector

Published

2 weeks ago

May 6, 2024

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signs bill to kill south Kansas City landfill • Kansas Reflector

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday signed legislation designed to keep a landfill from moving into south Kansas City, ending a more than year-long effort by nearby communities to stymie the project.

In a news release, Parson called the legislation “a win for property rights across the state of Missouri.”

“This commonsense measure will ensure homeowners have more of a say in what developments are allowed in their communities,” Parson said.

The legislation targets a plan by KC Recycle & Waste Solutions to build a landfill at Kansas City’s southern border with Raymore. For more than a year, Raymore and other suburban Kansas City municipalities have pushed legislation designed to prohibit the proposed landfill, arguing it would hurt the environment, property values and residents’ health.

Raymore Mayor Kris Turnbow said in a statement Monday that the governor’s signature brought “relief.”

“That’s the only way to describe how our community feels,” Turnbow said. “The governor’s signature lifts the veil that has hung over our city for nearly two years since we first learned of this proposed development.”

KC Recycle & Waste Solutions, owned by Jennifer and Aden Monheiser, planned to build the landfill at a site just south of Missouri Highway 150 near Kansas City’s border with Raymore. The 270-acre facility would have been less than a mile from Creekmoor, a golf course community in Raymore with homes priced up to $1 million.

Under existing Missouri law, a landfill can’t be built in Kansas City within half a mile of an adjacent city unless that community approves the project. The city of Raymore and fellow critics of the project wanted that buffer zone increased to one mile.

Rep. Mike Haffner, a Pleasant Hill Republican, took up their cause and sponsored legislation to increase the buffer zone in the Missouri House. In a statement on Monday, he said Parson’s signature on the legislation was a “testament to our commitment to fighting for the rights of all Missourians.”

“This legislation is a victory for the people of Missouri, who have spoken loud and clear about the need to defend their property rights and preserve the well-being of their communities,” Haffner said. “I support economic development, but not at the expense of our families, small business owners and their livelihoods.”

Jennifer Monheiser initially pushed back against the legislation, arguing increasing the buffer zone would change the rules on a local business that had already begun purchasing land and making plans for the facility.

The legislation was first introduced last year and cleared the Missouri House, but couldn’t get past a filibuster in the Senate. The same thing happened earlier this legislative session.

But last month, Raymore city officials revealed they had struck a deal wherein the Monheisers would scrap their project, provided that the buffer zone legislation passed and received Parson’s signature.

In an interview with The Independent, Monheiser said she was “glad there’s a resolution that we can all live with.”

“It’s not the outcome that we were hoping for, but we (are) happy that we can now maybe work with those communities to find a solution for the waste problem that we have here in Kansas City,” Monheiser said.

As part of the agreement, which the Raymore City Council approved unanimously, the city will pay more than $3.7 million to the Moheisers, including $440,000 for the city to acquire one of the land parcels currently owned by the developers. KC Recycle & Waste Solutions also agreed to adopt restrictive covenants that would keep the land from being used for a landfill in the future.

Monheiser said the $3.7 million payment was not enough that her business would profit from scrapping the proposed landfill and it “did not make us whole.” She did not detail how she and the city arrived at the figure for the payment, but she said her business had incurred costs for engineering and legal services and purchased land. She and her husband, she said, also invested considerable time into the project.

“I’m not exactly sure…why we landed on that exact number, but it was a number that was thrown out there and that ultimately we all agreed to, and so we just moved forward with that,” she said.

Aside from the parcel that will be sold to the city of Raymore as part of the agreement, Monheiser said she wasn’t sure yet what she would do with the land purchased to build the landfill. She said she would look at options to develop it, but it would not become any sort of waste management facility.

Monheiser said she’s still committed to finding a solution to garbage disposal in the metropolitan area, but the south Kansas City site was the only one she had found that appeared feasible.

This story was produced by Missouri Independent, a States Newsroom affiliate.

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Missouri State Highway Patrol shares safety tips for National Safe Boating Week

Published

7 mins ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

Missouri State Highway Patrol shares safety tips for National Safe Boating Week

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – It’s National Safe Boating Week, and it’s important to make sure your boat is functional, and you’re aware of safety tips before you hit the water for the summer.

With the holiday weekend quickly approaching, many will want to take their boat out on the lake. Still, it’s important to check and make sure you have everything on board you need, starting with life jackets.

“You want to check your life jackets to make sure that they’re still operable, they’re still in good condition, they’ve not decayed over the year, and it’s a good time to get those replaced with new ones. Also, make sure that the sizes of the life jackets that you have are also adequate for the persons that you’re going to have on the boat,” said Sergeant Michael McClure with Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop D.

Fire extinguishers are another important thing to check. You want to make sure those are up-to-date and functional.

“You’ve had a lot of time for during the fall and winter for dirt dobbers and other insects to build nests inside the nozzle of fire extinguishers. So, just double-check those out. While you’re checking for proper charging and the date of expiration on your fire extinguishers, if you have a boat that’s gas-operated,” said Sgt. McClure.

You also want to make sure your boat is in operable condition before taking it out for the holiday.

“Make sure that everything from the hole doesn’t leak, bringing water in causing maybe swamping or submerging, to making sure that the motor is operable, and the equipment that’s inside the engine compartment itself, because it is a motor vehicle engine adapted for marine use. So there’s some things in there that need to be looked at before you take it out on the water,” said Sgt. McClure.

If you want your boat inspected by a highway patrolman, Sgt. McClure says you can wave one down at the lake. They’ll do a courtesy inspection for you.

Aside from being safe before hitting the water, you also want to be safe on the lake. Lakes and waterways are bound to be busy with the warm weather, so show common courtesy and go slow and pay attention.

“Just be patient, take your time. Always be on the lookout when you’re approaching docked areas or marinas that may or may not have buoys out there that tell you how far that you are from that. Just watch your wake. In other words, slow down, as slow as possible and still having forward momentum on the boat, you’re not going to leave a damaging wake, particularly those that have larger ski boats or larger boats in general can leave a wake that can damage structure and it can also toss people off,” said Sgt. McClure.

If you’re towing someone or something behind your boat, like a tube or water skis, make sure you have a flag on board to let people know when someone’s fallen off. If you’re boating, make sure you’re watching for people in the water.

“Just be cognizant of that possibility that somebody has fallen from an inner tube or other waterborne device and you’re looking out for that. So keeping your head on a swivel is always a good thing, and looking for those flags, even though a flag may not be in place, be looking for those persons outside the vessel,” said Sgt. McClure.

Remember, operate sober as well. Always have a plan and a sober driver in place.

“We may minimize the effects of drinking and driving a vessel compared to driving a vehicle but it’s it’s just as dangerous, if not more so, because there’s no lanes of traffic on the waterway. So it’s just important to include safety in your plans for the weekend. And designate that sober operator before we ever get on the water,” said Sgt. McClure.

If you run into any issues on the water, you can dial *55 to get to the Highway Patrol non-emergency line and ask for help.

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com

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Missouri

Missouri Softball Knocks Off Washington, Gets Rematch With Omaha

Published

7 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

Missouri Softball Knocks Off Washington, Gets Rematch With Omaha

The last time Missouri and Washington softball met in the postseason (2013), the Huskies ended the Tigers’ season in Super Regionals.

11 years later, it was Missouri doing the season ending, as MU emerged victorious 4-1, ending Washington’s season and moving on to the regional final, where they’ll have to beat Omaha twice to go to Super Regionals.

Offensively, the Tigers were powered by three players: Abby Hay, Maddie Gallagher and Jenna Laird.

Hay continued her hot hitting, as she sparked Missouri in the bottom of the second with a solo home run that barely cleared the wall in center field. She also registered an RBI single to pad Missouri’s lead in the fifth inning.

Gallagher preceded Hay’s contributions in the fifth inning with an RBI single of her own; although she got jammed on an inside pitch, she hit it straight up the middle where no Husky could get to it.

However, the most unexpected run of the evening came from Laird in the bottom of the third. Facing a 2-2 count, Laird took a pitch right over the plate way over the wall in right field. It was her first home run in 750 days (Apr. 29, 2022) and electrified the home crowd who also seemed aware of Laird’s streak.

Krings was also masterful on the mound once again. Making her second start of the day, she allowed just one earned run in four and two-thirds innings pitched with four strikeouts. Along with the changeup, Krings was working her riseball the entire evening. Marissa McCann relieved her and performed exceptionally as well, throwing two and one-thirds innings of shutout ball while picking up her third save of the year.

Similarly to Missouri’s previous game against Indiana, the top of the lineup did the bulk of the work on offense, as Laird, Honnold, Gallagher and Hay accounted for six of MU’s seven hits.

Now, the Tigers will have to avenge their opening game loss to Omaha on Sunday if they want to make Super Regionals…twice. If they accomplish that, it’ll be their first Super Regional appearance since 2021, when they fell to James Madison.

On the other side, the Mavericks will look to become the second four-seed in a region since 2005 (when the modern tournament format was first used) to make Supers. The only other one was DePaul in 2005.

First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CST.

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Missouri

Missouri softball live score updates vs. Indiana in NCAA Columbia Regional

Published

15 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Press Room

Missouri softball live score updates vs. Indiana in NCAA Columbia Regional

The rest of Missouri softball’s regional games have a simple picture: Win or hang up the bats for the season.

Missouri, which is the No. 7 national seed and host of the NCAA Columbia Regional, will face Indiana in an elimination game Saturday afternoon at Mizzou Softball Stadium. The Tigers lost against Omaha in their opener, and now must win four straight games to make a super regional.

More: Missouri softball stunned by Omaha in NCAA Columbia Regional opener

Regional 2-seed Washington and No. 4-seed Omaha were facing off in the winner’s bracket for a direct berth in Sunday’s championship. Missouri, in order to extend its season by another day, must eliminate Indiana and then defeat the loser of the Huskies-Washington matchup later Saturday.

Missouri, coached by Larissa Anderson since 2019, reached the championship in the 2024 SEC Softball Tournament, knocking off Ole Miss, Arkansas and LSU before falling to Florida in the title game. The Tigers, who are 43-16 this season, have more wins than in any other season under Anderson.

Mizzou last advanced to an NCAA Super Regional in 2021, when the Tigers fell to James Madison. MU has fallen in the regional round every other season in Anderson’s tenure.

Mizzou’s bats went cold in a 3-1, extra-inning loss to Omaha on Friday evening, which means the Tigers are now on the brink of another season ending at the regional stage.

The NCAA Columbia Regional started Friday and will run through Sunday, when the championship will be played. You can find live score updates from Missouri’s elimination game against the Hoosiers here:

More: Missouri softball coach explains what went wrong in shocking loss to Omaha in NCAA Regional