News

A coalition of Kansas City-area leaders is working to reduce the impact of climate change amid reports that the region could be among the hardest hit in the nation.

After an international group of scientists issued a climate report in October, Lindsey Constance, a councilwoman in the suburb of Shawnee, Kansas, teamed up with officials in Roeland Park, Kansas, for a December workshop, The Kansas City Star reported Monday. The workshop evolved into the Metro KC Climate Action Coalition.

The Weather Channel has ranked Kansas City fifth among 25 U.S. cities most likely to be affected by climate change, potentially facing higher temperatures as well as both extreme drought and heavier rains.

Stephens College’s Citizen Jane Film Festival has been canceled.

Hundreds of homes flooded in several Midwestern states after rivers breached at least a dozen levees following heavy rain and snowmelt in the region, authorities said Monday while warning that the flooding was expected to linger.

Many homes in a mostly rural area of Missouri's Holt County were inundated with 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 meters) of water from the swollen Missouri River, said the county's emergency management director, Tom Bullock. He said his own home was on an island surrounded by floodwater.

Fixing Missouri's deteriorating bridges is a high priority for Gov. Mike Parson, and the state is getting help from an unexpected source — robots.

St. Louis Public Radio reports that the state is working with Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla to use robots to help inspect and repair bridges.

The program will use drones to inspect bridges from the air, and robots that can cling to the sides of bridges and crawl along the surfaces.

Nonprofit organizations and state bodies are already planning a celebration of 200 years of Missouri history and culture when the state reaches its bicentennial in 2021.

Michael Sweeney of the State Historical Society of Missouri is leading the planning for the bicentennial. He tells the Columbia Missourian that the celebrations won't just look to the past but will also consider the future and why Missouri is a good place to call home.

Missouri became the 24th state on Aug. 10, 1821.

The University of Missouri School of Medicine dean is stepping down, the university announced today.

Patrice Delafontaine took the role of dean in 2014. He resigned a first time in 2015 and was reinstated the following year. MU spokesperson Christian Basi says this resignation marks the end of Delafontaine’s relationship with the university.

“It’s my understanding this will be a permanent separation," Basi said.

Williamsburg Elementary School reopened its doors this week after a carbon monoxide leak was discovered.

The school shut down for two days last week after some front office workers complained of watery eyes and headaches.

The school had just installed a new Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning unit on Jan. 29. It had a propane leak, which was causing the production of carbon monoxide.

A Missouri branch of the NAACP is backing legislation to change how colleges and universities handle sexual assault and harassment complaints.

St. Louis County NAACP President John Gaskin III in a Friday statement said black men are disproportionately impacted by "denial of due process." He says the bill would "protect students on every college campus."

Supporters say the goal of the legislation is to make procedures for handling Title IX complaints more fair for the accused.

Title IX is a federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education.

Missouri Revenue Department Director Joel Walters will resign next week following blistering criticism because he said the state's tax withholding tables had been wrong for years, issued a revision that he said fixed the problem and then reversed himself and said there had been no error in the first place.

Gov. Mike Parson on Friday announced the agency's chief operating officer, Ken Zellers, will take over as acting director when Walters steps down March 22.