Small Earthquake Felt in St. Louis
A light earthquake shook parts of Missouri and souther Illinois early this morning. The United States Geological Servicesays the 4.2 magnitude earthquake was centered about 14 miles east of Sullivan in Franklin County. Sullivan is about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis.
The earthquake, which was 3.2 miles deep hit about 3:10 a.m. The USGS says the temblor was felt as far west as Columbia, Mo., and as far east as Carbondale, Ill.
Northwest Mo. Residents Prepare for Missouri River Flooding
This morning, about 65 state prison inmates from Maryville are in Rockport, Mo. to help residents fill more sandbags.
Earth dams are being built around a grand elevator two miles from the river, but the focus is the 10 feet of dirt around Rockport's water treatment plant, located four miles from the river.
Atchison County Presiding Commissioner Kurt Livengood says while Rockport area residents are packing belongings, around 120 citizens have already moved out, based on the flooding in 1993 and again in 2007.
"The good part about this is most people in this county have been through this before," said Livengood. "Those people that are moving out, have been through this before. They understand it, they know it way better than I do. And so, it's not hard for them to understand where we're coming from."
The county's emergency manager says 40,000 sandbags have been filled in the past four days in Rockport, with 20,000 of those protecting the water treatment plan.
University City Drops Fine Proposal
University City has dropped a proposal to levy fines of up to $1,000 for loitering.
The bill would have penalized people for "obstructing or interfering with (the) use of sidewalks and streets." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reportsthat the City Council for University City unanimously rejected the plan. Critics said it could have discriminated against young people. The proposal had been aimed at crowds that congregate in the Loop, which bridges St. Louis and University City. Some business owners feared the crowds of young people scared off potential customers.
