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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Monday, August 13, 2007
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Compton Avenue Viaduct to Close for Repairs
ST. LOUIS, MO (SLFP.com), August 13, 2007 - The City of St. Louis Board of Public Service announced today that at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, August 15, 2007, the City of St. Louis will close the Compton Avenue Viaduct over Mill Creek (between Chouteau Avenue and Spruce Street) for repair of an expansion joint.
All repairs will be completed and the viaduct reopened by the end of the work day on Friday, August 24, 2007.
Available detour routes are Grand Boulevard to the west or Jefferson Avenue to the east.
Severe Storms Knock Out Power to More than 63,000 Customers; Heat Alert Remains
ST. LOUIS, MO (SLFP.com), August 13, 2007 - More than half of the 63,000 AmerenUE customers who lost power as a result of a severe storm that hit the Metro St. Louis area have been restored.
In a statement, AmerenUE said that most of the affected customers in Jefferson County, Wentzville and St. Charles are expected to be restored by late afternoon or early evening Monday. South County customers can expect to be restored by Tuesday morning. Given the nature of the damage in areas north of Highway 40 and in North County communities, AmerenUE cannot offer customers anticipated restoration times yet but expects to make those available Monday afternoon.
AmerenUE is bringing in 1,000 outside line workers, tree trimmers and other field personnel from throughout Missouri and Illinois to restore power knocked out by a storm that carried multiple lightning strikes and winds that clocked up to 67 miles per hour. The storm hit the area after midnight today causing scattered outages across the area. Hardest hit are customers in North St. Louis County and St. Charles County. The storm caused the loss of 47 distribution feeder circuits-each supplying power to between 500 and 1,500 customers. At this point, AmerenUE crews have restored 30 of those feeders.
Customers should watch out for downed wires. Customers who see a fallen or sagging wire, should assume that it is still energized and dangerous. Electric power lines can carry power even after being knocked to the ground. Stay away and warn others to do the same.
"We have called out all Ameren company crews and available contractor crews throughout the region. We do appreciate our customers' patience during this critical time," said Richard Mark, senior vice president, AmerenUE Missouri Energy Delivery. "We are working closely with city and state officials and emergency response personnel to coordinate restoration efforts and ensure customer safety. Work will be continuing around the clock. Today is expected to be one of the hottest this year, making it critically important that customers stay safe and remain alert to signs of heat exhaustion."
Customers should take cool baths or showers, stay out of direct sunlight, wear lightweight loose-fitting clothes and avoid hot foods and heavy meals. They should drink water frequently-whether they feel thirsty or not. Anyone experiencing dizziness, dry skin (with no sweating) great weakness, nausea, diarrhea or vomiting should seek medical help. Anyone feeling disoriented, experiencing a throbbing headache or rapid heartbeat, breathing problems, chest pains or cramps should seek medical help. Customers without electricity should find a cool place-open stores, libraries or other locations--rather than stay at home.
Call 1-800-427-4626, the United Way of Greater St. Louis Information & Referral Services, to locate a cooling site, for air conditioners, & assistance with heat-related problems in the greater St. Louis area.
Governor Calls Special Session to Fast Track Bridge Improvement Plan, Economic Development Package
JEFFERSON CITY, MO (SLFP.com), August 12, 2007 - Gov. Matt Blunt, Senate President Pro Tem Michael R. Gibbons and House Speaker Rod Jetton have announced a special session of the Missouri General Assembly to begin August 20th to fast track the Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement Program to repair or replace more than 800 Missouri bridges and enact an economic development package which includes an expansion of the governor's successful Quality Jobs Act.
In a statement, Gov. Blunt said, "We have been working with transportation officials since last year to make Missouri bridges safer and sounder and the tragedy in Minnesota certainly illustrates the importance of our work. Now we need to clear this final hurdle in a special session to implement the Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement Program to make Missouri's transportation infrastructure even stronger. Missourians have responded to the pro-jobs, pro-growth initiatives we have enacted by creating nearly 90,000 jobs since January 2005. The Quality Jobs Act is the most important economic development tool we have had to help create family-supporting jobs with good wages and health care benefits. I am asking the legislature to expand the Quality Jobs Act and other pro-jobs, pro-growth initiatives with a responsible economic development bill."
Senate President Pro Tem Michael R. Gibbons said the Senate will work efficiently to pass the governor's calls to improve the lives of Missourians. "The Quality Jobs Act has been extremely successful in providing more than 14,000 good-paying jobs with benefits to Missourians. This special session will allow us to expand the program's cap to allow businesses to hire more Missourians," Sen. Gibbons said. "I am also glad to see we will have an opportunity to move forward with the design and build project of more than 800 bridges that has been in the works since last fall. This step will generate much needed repairs and construction making Missouri's bridges safer for our drivers."
Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement Program
Gov. Blunt is asking the legislature to address the need to improve and replace hundreds of Missouri bridges with a legislative change to allow contractors to access the bonds needed for the projects. The bonds for the Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement Program will help protect the taxpayer by ensuring the work is completed by the contractors who fix and replace the bridges. Without this change, no contractors would be able to obtain the required bonds which would prevent the program from moving forward.
Economic Development Package
Lawmakers are also expected to address the need for an economic development package that includes an expansion of the Quality Jobs Act. The package would allow the Quality Jobs initiative to create even more family-supporting jobs by increasing its capacity from $12 million to $40 million. The package would also increase the Enhanced Enterprise Zone capacity from $7 million to $14 million and create a state match for the federal New Markets tax credit which brings investment to economically distressed areas.
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