Missouri
Omaha metro residents weather flood as Missouri crests
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The National Weather Service said the Missouri River crested at just under 33 feet Saturday morning.
So far, the Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency reported no updates in flood-related efforts since then.
They told 6 News their overnight crews encouraged several people to get out of the floodwater near the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.
They weren’t alone.
Council Bluffs Police said they received a report of three people paddling upstream in a canoe beneath the pedestrian bridge.
Elsewhere, after this week’s high winds, the Omaha and Lincoln affiliates of the nonprofit group Rapid Response cut down and cleared out tree limbs for residents in the Florence neighborhood.
“They were a true blessing,” Lita Craddick said. “I was so amazed. I was so uplifted and I was overwhelmed almost.”
Craddick said she was faced with having to get estimates and not knowing what homeowner’s insurance would cover.
That was before Rapid Response swooped in.
“Such a blessing,” Craddick said. “I was just totally in shock. I’m like, ‘No way.’”
Rapid Response teams are still helping clean up debris from April’s tornadoes, and they’re planning to help out with flood cleanup after the waters go down.
But it was important for them to help Florence homeowners Saturday.
“We talk to so many people, have so much work to do, so many jobs to do,” said Beth Sorensen, director of the Lincoln affiliate. “So we have to kind of prioritize which ones we’re going to do first. And in this neighborhood, with all these limbs on roofs and things, this was the priority today.”
Rapid Response said it’s badly in need of volunteers, including experienced chainsaw and skid-steer loader operators.
If you would like to help out, click here.
Copyright 2024 WOWT. All rights reserved.
Six months after Missouri voters approved an abortion-rights amendment, Republican state lawmakers on Wednesday approved a new referendum that would seek the amendment’s repeal and instead ban most abortions with exceptions for rape and incest.
The newly proposed constitutional amendment would go back to voters in November 2026, or sooner, if Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe calls a special election before then.
Republican senators used a series of rare procedural moves to cut off discussion by opposing Democrats before passing the proposed abortion-rights revision by a 21-11 vote. The measure passed the Republican-led House last month.
Immediately after vote, protesters erupted with chants of “Stop the ban!” and were ushered out of the Senate chamber.
David A. Lieb / AP
Missouri’s abortion policies have swung dramatically in recent years.
When the U.S. Supreme Court ended a nationwide right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, it triggered a Missouri law to take effect banning most abortions. But abortion-rights activists gathered initiative petition signatures in an attempt to reverse that.
Last November, Missouri voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to abortion until fetal viability, generally considered sometime past 21 weeks of pregnancy. The amendment also allows later abortions to protect the life or health of pregnant women.
The new measure would seek the repeal the abortion-rights amendment and instead allow abortions only for a medical emergency or fetal anomaly, or in cases of rape or incest up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. It also would prohibit gender transition surgeries, hormone treatments and puberty blockers for minors, which already are barred under state law.
Missouri
Senate slams brakes on House’s fast-tracked plan to keep Chiefs, Royals in Missouri – Missourinet
The state House passed a last-minute attempt to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in Missouri. The incentive package would pay up to half the cost of new and improved stadiums for the teams.
Rep. Chris Brown, R-Kansas City, is sponsoring the provisions added to a Senate Bill about NIL endorsements for high school athletes. He said the plan would help to create roughly 12,000 jobs.
“You’d have to do some pretty good math to try to figure out the negative economic impact,” said Brown. “If those two franchises left our state, it would be devastating.”
Rep. Jim Murphy, R-St. Louis County, said the decision comes down to two things.
We’re talking about two teams that generate about $50 million in economic impact in taxes every year,” said Murphy. “But then there’s a whole second question, what’s the political right thing to do? Because we’ve got constituents that we’ve got to explain this to.”
The House fast tracked the bill in this last week of session. Then the Senate slammed on the brakes.
It’s the second time in two working days that the House threw the Senate a last-minute curve ball.
Last Friday, House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton unexpectedly canceled a negotiated $513 million bill to fund construction projects around the state – citing a need to save money.
The Senate’s frustration with Deaton’s move boiled over into the Chiefs and Royals package on Tuesday.
Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said he was not necessarily opposed to the Chiefs and Royals plan. He was venting about Deaton’s spending priorities.
“I’m going to point out the hypocrisy of individuals who say they stand on principle and say they are concerned about the financial implications that are made this year and just obligated potentially $900 million worth of financing,” said Hough.
Sen. Karla May, D-St. Louis, shared in Hough’s frustration.
“After all of this hypocrisy that has happened, we should just adjourn sine die,” said May. “These people making these decisions, the line is so crooked. I’ve been saying this since I’ve been here, but nobody’s listening. You want to kill our $500 million projects around the state, and then you do this bill?”
The Senate eventually adjourned Tuesday without voting on Senate Bill 80.
The legislative session ends Friday. The Chiefs plan to decide next month where their future home will be.
Copyright © 2025 · Missourinet
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