Missouri

U.S. House may consider extending nuclear weapons damages program without Missouri • Missouri Independent

Published

4 months ago

May 29, 2024

U.S. House may consider extending nuclear weapons damages program without Missouri • Missouri Independent

A proposal to renew compensation for cancer victims who were exposed to radioactive material from the nation’s weapons development without expanding the program to Missouri and several other states amounted to a betrayal, Missouri advocates and lawmakers said Tuesday.

Members of Congress from Missouri learned late Tuesday that U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to extend the federal program for two years despite pressure from communities harmed by nuclear bomb testing and waste to expand the program.

The announcement dealt a huge blow to advocates from St. Louis, the Navajo Nation and other communities that have been left out of the program, originally created in the 1990s. The existing program covers civilians in parts of Arizona, Utah and Nevada and uranium miners.

“I cannot believe how emotionally manipulated we feel that Speaker Johnson would sit back and allow sick and dying community members to beg him for a meeting for months — then to spend (an) hour and a half with staff only to have the door slammed in our faces!” Dawn Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms STL, said in a social media post.

Chapman was reacting to a post from U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, who said Johnson told Hawley’s office he’ll seek a bill that doesn’t cover either state. Hawley said he’ll put up roadblocks to keep any such bill from passing the Senate without a fight.

“Total dereliction,” Hawley said. “No member from Missouri can possibly vote for this.”

Since last summer, Hawley has been pushing for an expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which was initially passed in 1990 and offered compensation to uranium miners and residents who lived downwind of nuclear bomb testing sites in certain states.

Hawley’s legislation, which has twice passed the U.S. Senate, would expand the program to “downwinders” in the remaining parts of Arizona, Utah and Nevada and bring coverage to downwinders in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Guam. It would also expand coverage to those exposed to radioactive waste in Missouri, Tennessee, Alaska and Kentucky.

The existing RECA program expires June 10, and advocates and lawmakers from states hoping to be brought into the program have been urging Congress to renew and expand it.

U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, a Republican from the St. Louis suburbs, said on social media that a RECA bill without Missouri “is dead on arrival.”

“I will continue to fight for the expansion of RECA so Missourians are given the justice they deserve,” she said. “The House can and must take up the Senate-passed version.”

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a Democrat from St. Louis, also wrote on social media that “failing to expand RECA is not a viable option.”

“Next week, Speaker Johnson plans to rip off Missourians and thousands of others who are suffering from radioactive waste dumped in our backyards by the federal government,” Bush said.

Parts of the St. Louis area have been contaminated for 75 years with radioactive waste left over from the effort to build the world’s first atomic bomb during World War II. Uranium refined in downtown St. Louis was used in the first sustained nuclear chain reaction in Chicago, a breakthrough in the Manhattan Project, the name given to the effort to develop the bomb.

After the war, waste from uranium refining efforts was trucked from St. Louis to surrounding counties and dumped near Coldwater Creek and in a quarry in Weldon Spring, polluting surface and groundwater. Remaining waste was dumped at the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, where it remains today.

Generations of St. Louis-area families lived in homes near contaminated sites without warning from the federal government. A study by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found exposure to the creek elevated residents’ risk of cancer. Residents of nearby communities suffer higher-than-normal rates of breast, colon, prostate, kidney and bladder cancers and leukemia. Childhood brain and nervous system cancers are also higher.

Johnson’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

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Missouri

Missouri State Highway Patrol and construction workers urging for more caution from drivers

Published

4 hours ago

September 28, 2024

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Missouri State Highway Patrol and construction workers urging for more caution from drivers

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Authorities are strongly urging drivers to use more caution after the death of a MoDOT worker who was hit by a semi-truck near Sedalia this week.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and construction workers want drivers to pay attention and give them space to work.

”Don’t just look at the signs and see that there are signs. They’re there to keep the construction worker safe,” said Jeremy Willcock with Hartman and Company Construction.

Willcock didn’t start working in the industry yesterday. He’s been on the job for years. So, he knows the dangers that come with the work.

“If you don’t know what it’s like, walk up next to a highway at some point, and you can actually feel the vibration from the vehicles, especially the 18 wheelers,” he says.

The new plea for caution comes after the recent death of 60-year-old Jay Bone. The MoDOT worker hit and killed. The driver, however, is just 18 years old.

“It’s concerning to us that we talk about this every year. We offer training, but we do not see the trends moving in the right direction, in a safer direction,” said Willcock.

Missouri’s Move Over Law requires drivers to change lanes when approaching any emergency vehicles or MoDOT vehicles when it’s safe.

”Its intent is to provide, you know, safety and security,” said Sgt. Mike McClure with Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Troop D.

State troopers say whether you see workers on site or not, reduced speed limits are still in effect.

“Speed Limit through that zone is active, 24/7. But it becomes crucial when we have those construction workers present on site, then the fines go up if you are in violation of particularly the speed limit,” said Sgt. McClure.

The construction worker says the solution isn’t as simple as wearing high-visibility gear. Willcock says the solution is for drivers to pay attention while out on the road.

“There are a lot of signs out there through work zones, and a lot of them are repetitive, but they’re there and repetitive for a reason.”

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com. Please include the article info in the subject line of the email.

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Missouri

Olathe man seriously injured in rollover crash in southeastern Missouri

Published

13 hours ago

September 27, 2024

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Olathe man seriously injured in rollover crash in southeastern Missouri

JASPER COUNTY, Mo. (KCTV) – An Olathe man was seriously injured in an early Friday morning crash in Jasper County, Missouri.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said 24-year-old Jake Monaco was the driver of a 2009 Infiniti G37 that went off the left side of Interstate 44 and hit an embankment just after midnight Friday morning.

MSHP said Monaco’s vehicle overturned, ejecting him from the vehicle. He was not wearing a seatbelt according to the crash report.

The 24-year-old from Olathe crashed 6.5 miles west of Sarcoxie, Missouri. He was taken by emergency medical staff to a hospital.

The crash happened at 12:15 a.m. Friday, MSHP said.

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Kidnapped child from Missouri, subject of Amber Alert, rescued Thursday in Wabaunsee County

Published

21 hours ago

September 27, 2024

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Kidnapped child from Missouri, subject of Amber Alert, rescued Thursday in Wabaunsee County

ALMA, Kan. (WIBW) – A woman was taken into custody Thursday after a kidnapped child from Missouri who was the subject of an Amber Alert was rescued in Wabaunsee County, authorities said.

The rescue was reported to have occurred at 8:17 p.m. Thursday at the E. Spring Creek Road on-ramp to westbound Interstate 70 near Paxico in Wabaunsee County.

Authorities said an Amber Alert had been issued by the Missouri State Highway Patrol after a 12-year-old child was reported to have been kidnapped from Warsaw, Mo.

The child was reported to have been taken without permission by the non-custodial biological mother, officials said.

Wabaunsee County sheriff’s units, were joined by Alma City Marshal Mike Baker as they located the suspect vehicle.

The child was located unharmed. Authorities then took the child into police protective custody.

A woman identified as Anna Savard, 36, of Boise, Idaho, was taken into custody by Wabaunsee County sheriff’s deputies without further incident. Officials on Friday said Savard was being held in the Wabaunsee County Jail in Alma pending extradition warrants from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri.

Also assisting were the Kansas Highway Patrol; Missouri Highway Patrol; Kansas Juvenile Intake; Warsaw, Mo., Police Department; and the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri, officials said.

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