JoCo: You Can Drink The Water Again

According to The Observer and other news sources- Johnson County KS' water is again safe to drink and cook with- terrorist raccoons notwithstanding.


There are also some thunderstorms within a 50-mile radius of Downtown KC-MO as illustrated by the latest NWS Doppler radar image.

Nothing immediately threatening any of the Metro at this time....

Johnson County Kansas Water Still Tainted

The "boil order" is still on- and will be until at least 5 p.m. today (Saturday)- for all Johnson County KS customers of Water One or the Johnson County Water District No. 1.


This covers virtually all of JoCo except most of Olathe.


The graphic shows a telephone number you call call to check if the boil order has been lifted- or you can log onto the Water One Website HERE. 

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings for July 02



The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Saturday morning- July 2.

The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

CSW BREAKING: Male Pedestrian Critically-Injured in Grain Valley MO

A "20-something year-old male" is in critical condition at an eastern Metro K.C. medical trauma center after being struck by a car in Grain Valley Saturday morning.


The incident was reported at 2:22 a.m. "on the south Outer road" of Interstate 70 "in front of Whiskey Tango's" nightclub.

The victim reportedly had been inside the club and left- a short time later was then struck by a car "going an unknown speed" on the roadway.


The driver of the car that struck the man stopped- unknown if any ticket(s) issued.

CSW BREAKING: Man Badly Burned in KC-KS

A man in KC-KS suffered critical burns early Saturday morning and it reportedly wasn't from fireworks...


The "51-year-old male" suffered "100% coverage" of "2nd & 3rd-degree burns" all over his body according to KC-KS FD-EMS Unit 3- when he "tried to light a fire with gasoline" around 2:30 a.m.. 


He was transported to the K.U. Medical Center Burn unit.

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings for July 01

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Friday morning- July 1.

 The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

Some Missouri River Images From West of Randolph MO

Finally made it to the river this morning and got a few stills and vids from the riverbank behind the old Sam's Town Casino building on Birmingham Road.

In the Flood of 1993- the spot from where today's pictures were taken would have been possibly a half-foot under water (Sam's Town wasn't there in '93).

Hope to get to Parkville/Riverside sometime in the next few days and get some river shots from those locations.




Wishing you and yours a GREAT July 4th holiday!

CSW BREAKING: Water Boil Order Issued For Most of Johnson County Kansas

If you're a customer of JoCo's "WaterOne-" you'll need to boil ALL water used for drinking and cooking until further notice.

The break of a 54-inch main in KC-KS has caused that considerable inconvenience for around 400000 JoCountians- according to CSW news partner KSHB-41 NBC Action News.

Not affected by this boil order are most residents of the City of Olathe who are NOT WaterOne customers.

Central States News: Omaha Spending Millions To Keep Flood From Airport

Omaha NE officials continue to monitor- and take action to keep Eppley airfield dry- and those efforts could cost as much as $15-million once the flood subsides in August.

Sinkholes have also appeared on airport property- one reportedly "30-feet deep-"and several Omaha corporations have moved their company aircraft to other locations just in case groundwater pumping or the levees fail- says the OMAHA (NE) WORLD-HERALD.

Central States News: Worker Badly Burned at Fort Calhoun NE Nuclear Plant

A worker at the floodwater-surrounded Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant north of Omaha NE was burned Thursday.


The man was filling a gas tank for a portable pump when the pump caught fire and the worker was burned on the arms and face while trying to extinguish the fire- according to the LINCOLN (NE) JOURNAL STAR.

The worker was taken to a burn center in Lincoln by medical helicopter.


There was no damage reported at the nuclear plant itself.

Captain to Lawrence KS Businessmen: Use Your OWN Money On Masonic Temple Renovation

In 2011- it seems that corporate and real estate interests refuse to drive a nail unless they get some sort of taxpayer-provided welfare.

Case in point the earlier CSW post on corporate welfare issued to build a store for corporate mega-machine Walmart in Metro St. Louis.

Case in point too from the LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD: A group of businesspeople/developers/speculators want to do something with Lawrence's empty Masonic Temple- but their business plan is apparently too shaky to invest all their OWN monies.


The group wants certain taxpayer-provided "incentives" to carry through on the plan.

Nancy Reagan told potential drug-users back in the 1980's to "just say no."

Politicians who appear to be in the wealthy people's pocket REALLY need to learn to say no as well and/or Americans need to smarten-up and quit putting the monied folks' puppets (Republicrats-Demublicans) in office!

Central States News: Walmart Developer Gets Corporate Welfare in Metro St. Louis

In yet another chapter of American taxpayers getting the shaft- politicians in the tiny St. Louis suburb of Shrewsbury has awarded more than $15-million in tax breaks to Corporate America.


The developer- with taxpayer-provided welfare- is to build a Walmart and other stores on vacant land in that city of around 7000 people- according to this story in today's ST. LOUIS (MO) POST-DISPATCH.

Branson Benefit Concert Raises Nearly a Quarter-Million Dollars for Joplin Tornado Relief

A benefit concert held Sunday at the Mansion Theater in Branson raised around $221000 for the victims of the Joplin Tornado of May 22- according to the BRANSON (MO) TRI-LAKES NEWS.

An auction of celebrity items was also held- big bidding on items by Garth Brooks and Rascal Flatts.


All your "News Captain" can say to the good people of Branson and the celebrities/musicians involved is "Bless You!"

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings for June 30

Thursday morning- another levee break occurred on the Missouri River near Percival Iowa according to the OMAHA (NE) WORLD-HERALD.

Percival is north of Hamburg.

Interstate 29 remains closed from Rock Port MO north to Exit 24 near Bartlett Iowa.

The five-day rainfall forecast from the NWS indicates the heaviest rain should fall in the Dakotas over that time period- amounts not forecasted to be extreme.

 The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Thursday morning- June 30.

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings for June 29

The middle to lower reaches of the Missouri River should see dry conditions at least into early weekend- possibly as long as later into next week...



The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Wednesday morning- June 29.

The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

CSW Weather: Coming Attraction - Summer 2011

Actually- the NWS has issued an "Excessive Heat Watch" for Metro Kansas City and a large part of the MetroRegion.

Forecast is for air temperatures to reach the mid to upper 90's tomorrow (Thursday) and with an increase in humidities- the so-called "heat index" will reach temperatures of 100-110 into the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

A weak cool front is forecast to drop down into Nebraska and Iowa Friday- and could make it as far south as northern Kansas and Missouri Saturday.


Longer-range weather forecast models show precipitation possible in the MetroRegion as soon as July 7- if this weekend's front don't trigger at least isolated showers and thunderstorms.

MetroRegion Kansas City News: Mars Coming to Kansas

No- not the planet but the chocolate confection maker...

According to this morning's TOPEKA (KS) CAPITAL-JOURNAL- the Mars Chocolate Company is building a $250-million plant in Topeka that will employ around 200 people.


That plant is slated to open in 2013- and will employ "green" or environmentally-friendly technology in the building of the new facility.

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings for June 28

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Tuesday morning- June 28.

The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

CSW Weather: NWS' National Weather Outlook For July 2011

The average high temperature on a July day in Kansas City is around 89 degrees and the average low temperature is 68.

In an average K.C. July- slightly less than 4.5-inches of rain falls.



According to the 30-Day U.S. weather outlook issued by the NWS' Climate Prediction Center (CPC)- the Kansas City Metro- and MetroRegion- should experience average conditions on both temperature and rainfall. 

Motorcycle Vs. Car in Independence MO- Cycle Driver Okay

It was just before noon and the CSW news mobile unit was on 23rd Street just a block west of Lee's Summit Road when the call came in over the radio: "Motorcycle crash- 23rd & Lee's Summit Road."


Not seeing any action at the intersection- I guessed right and turned the same on LS Road to in front of the Quik Trip just south of the intersection.


There we found a male motorcycle driver lying in the street with his bike on his legs.


He had apparently struck the maroon car you see in the photos in the back passenger side quarter panel. 

The biker- a male about 55-60 years-old- looks seriously injured- but as I was packing up to leave the scene- another biker and a firefighter helped the man to his feet.

The woman driving the car was not hurt. 

Missouri River Flood of 2011- MetroRegion Storm-Rain Update - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings for June 27

Strong to severe thunderstorms raked a good part of Nebraska- Iowa and the northern halves of Kansas and Missouri into early this Monday morning- dropping radar-indicated rains of up to 6-inches in spots.

The image shown here is the Kansas City/Pleasant Hill NWS Doppler radar storm-total precipitation that fell in the period from just before midnight Saturday morning to this morning.

The white-colored areas shown- in northern DeKalb county MO- indicate that up to 11-inches fell over that time period (likely some of that as hail). 


There SHOULD be an at least 2 day break from any storm activity in the Kansas City Metro and MetroRegion.

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Monday morning- June 27.

The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

CSW WEATHER: Severe Storm Watch Until 9 A.M.- Severe Storms In- Near and Approaching Metro Kansas City

Tornado Watch No. 560- that included north to eastern parts of Metro and MetroRegion Kansas City- has been replaced by a new storm watch that continues until 9 a.m..

Severe Thunderstorm (tstm) Watch No. 565 covers all of Metro Kansas City- according to the NWS' Storm Prediction Center.

At 1:30 a.m.- strong to severe storms continue north to east of K.C. (a recent severe tstm warning in northern Clay county MO)- and new- strong to severe storms have developed southwest to northwest of the Metro.

Greatest concerns- aside from the nearly continuous lightning- will be possible severe-sized hail (1-inch or greater) and damaging storm winds of 60 m.p.h or greater.

Also of a concern will be torrential rains- some falling over saturated areas north to northeast of Kansas City- producing deadly and damaging flash flooding.

Two to 3-inches of rain has already fallen in and around Metro St. Joseph- as well as Maryville MO..

CSW WEATHER: Tornado Watch No. 560 Until 2 A.M. Monday For KS-MO

Northern to eastern parts of the Kansas City MetroRegion are included in Tornado Watch No 560 (TW-560) until 2 a.m. Monday morning.

Only 1 far northeastern Kansas county- Doniphan- is included.

Missouri locations include St. Joseph- Chillicothe- Bethany- Maryville (under a Tornado Warning at this posting)- Columbia and St. Louis.

Closest county to Metro K.C. included is Lafayette- Lexington- Higginsville- Odessa are some cities in TW-560.

Other watches cover the northern Central States as well- and there remains the threat for "excessive" rainfalls over all areas under severe storm/tornado watches.

CSW is keeping our weather eye on the situation....