Mississippi River

Mississippi River Oil Spill: Fourteen Barges Break Away, 300 Gallons Unloaded

Last week, 114 barges in St. Louis broke free into the Mississippi River -- 11 of which sank. At about the same time, local officials were also dealing with a treatment plant failure that resulted in untreated sewage flowing into the river at a high rate. Now, there has been an oil spill. Late l ... More >>

Ten Best Food Events This Weekend: Jan. 11-13

Friday (Jan. 11): Nursery Crimes @ Bissell Mansion Restaurant & Dinner Theatre Catch dinner and a show with a spooky murder mystery based on nursery rhymes. The dinner menu includes appetizers of crab rangoon and toasted ravioli as well as entree options such as an 8-ounce New York strip and chick ... More >>

[PHOTO] Wild Bobcat Prowls Near Missississippi River. How Common are These Big Felines?

A reader up in Pike County, Illinois just sent us a photo of a bobcat. It was taken automatically by a wildlife camera on their property near the Mississippi River -- and in broad daylight. It's a totally sweet picture -- and as loyal readers know, Daily RFT lurves blogging about animals (albino hum ... More >>

RiverDance

And the Name of the St. Louis Lingerie Football League Team Is...

After weeks of fan voting, the Lingerie Football League this morning revealed the name and colors of St. Louis' expansion franchise, which you've no doubt been awaiting with bated, er, breath. The colors? Remarkably similar (to my tint-blind eyes, at any rate) to those of the St. Louis Rams. The nam ... More >>

Kyle Hardman Dies Attempting to Rescue Family of Boaters from Mississippi

[UPDATE 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, June 13: The Coast Guard has identified Kyle Hardman, 55, as the barge worker who perished after the rescue attempt. The post has been re-written to reflect that information.]A bass boat with three adults and two children aboard ran out of gas about 7 p.m. last night on ... More >>

Panorama of the Monumental Grandeur of the Mississippi Valley

Till the Levee Tokes: Pot Plants Growing on New Madrid Levee

The New Madrid County Sheriff's Office uncovered a marijuana growing operation in an unusual place -- atop a levee on the Mississippi River. The eighteen-inch-tall plants were found on Saturday by deputies according to KFVS-TV, and were transplanted to the location after sprouting somewhere else.

Take Wing

Doggone Cold

Before Computers, Giant Model of Mississippi River Determined Flood Risks

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via PlacesThe Mississippi River model during its last days of use in the early 1970s.​This spring, computer models helped the Army Corps of Engineers determine the exact outcome of flooding when the agency made the controversial decision to blast the Birds Point Levee ... More >>

Mississippi River Flooding Could Create Dead Zone in Gulf the Size of New Hampshire

This year's dead zone from Mississippi River flooding could exceed the 2002 record shown here.​We know it's just a coincidence that the motto for New Hampshire is "Live Free or Die." Still, we couldn't help but see some gallows humor in that slogan when the U.S. Geological Survey announced today t ... More >>

Google Photos Show Midwest Flooding at Caruthersville, Missouri

Sarah FenskeFlooded farmland near New Madrid, Missouri, taken last weekend after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers detonated the Birds Point Levee.​ We've got more astonishing photos of Mississippi River flooding to share this morning, thanks to the nice people over at Google. This latest set s ... More >>

Mississippi River Flooding Pictures from Cairo, IL

The big worry may be about the Mississippi River flooding Memphis right now, but the area outside of Cairo, Illinois, was pretty wet Saturday.​It's high drama along the Mississippi River these days -- as the river reached near record levels last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made the diff ... More >>

Corps Blasts Levee South of Cairo; Ohio River Begins Receding Immediately

Army Corp of Engineers via KFVSExplosives detonate the Birds Point levee last night.​The final decision to breach the Birds Point levee along the Mississippi River came at 5 p.m. yesterday. Five hours later, explosives lit up the night sky and shook the earth as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers de ... More >>

Eads Bridge Closed for 40 Days Beginning Monday

​The oldest (and first) major bridge to span the Mississippi River will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning Monday so workers can provide "preventative maintenance" to the structure's deck.The bridge -- which was built in 1874 -- was reopen to cars just seven years ago after undergoing a $35- ... More >>

Human Remains Found in River South of Downtown St. Louis

Authorities are still attempting to identify the skeletal human remains found early Sunday morning in the Mississippi River between the Coast Guard Dock and river bank (below). ​The police department tells Daily RFT that the remains discovered around 7 a.m. by a Coast Guard employee appear to be t ... More >>

More Sewage Flows into Mississippi River South of St. Louis

Don't worry, St. Louis. The shit flows downstream.​They're baaack! Thousands of gallons of raw sewage flowing into the Mississippi River near Jefferson Barracks. The first overflow occurred back in June when flood waters from the Mississippi caused a lift station to fail releasing 4.6 milllion gal ... More >>

MSD Blames Barge, Flood Debris For Misssissippi River Craptastrophe

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Sewer District says the potentially massive leak of human urine and feces from a waste water treatment plant into the Mississippi River that started last Thursday was caused by a barge that struck a fence near the lift station by Jefferson Barracks in south St. Louis ... More >>

Celebrate St. Louis Summer Concerts Moving Location, But Fair St. Louis Shows Not Affected

Due to the Mississippi River's high levels, the Celebrate St. Louis Summer Concert series, which starts on July 9 with a show by Common, will be moving locations. This weekend's Fair St. Louis shows with John Legend and the B-52s are not affected. The press release we just received: Following exten ... More >>

Oh Crap: Millions of Gallons of Raw Sewage Leaking Into Mississippi River South of St. Louis?

Ready for some crappy news? The Missouri Department of Natural Resources just sent out a news release informing the public that raw sewage has been flowing into the Mississippi River at a rate of up to 4.6 million gallons per day since June 24. The spill is reportedly the result of a mechanical fail ... More >>

Grafton Towboat Festival Canceled -- Adjust Your Plans Accordingly

Towboats: So much to celebrate -- next year.​This just in...The Great Rivers Towboat Festival scheduled for this weekend, June 19 and 20, in Grafton has been canceled due to high waters. The Alton Regional Convention and Visitor's Bureau reports that recent rains have raised the Mississippi Rive ... More >>

Map: The Mississippi River is a Meandering Stream, Indeed

Here's a cool map of the course of the Mississippi River over the past 10,000 years as it has flowed from Cape Girardeau to Donaldsonville, Louisiana. ​Howard N. Fisk, a U.S. Army Corp of Engineers consultant, rendered the illustration above back in 1944. You can view (and download) more of his ma ... More >>

Teen Found Hanging From Cahokia Bridge

​Cahokia police discovered the body of a nineteen-year-old man hanging from a bridge early Sunday morning. The victim's body was discovered around 8 a.m. April 25 dangling below a bridge on Levin Drive -- just across the Mississippi River from south St. Louis. Authorities believe the teen was a su ... More >>

Effort to Convert Jefferson City Prison to Office, Retail Space Gets Boost from EPA

Image Via​The Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday that it is awarding $234,221 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to to conduct a brownfield assessment of the former Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. The prison closed in 2004 as the oldest continuously ... More >>

Government Will Pay People to Get Out of Tiny Missouri Area Called Monkey Run

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfriver/ / CC BY 2.0​A couple years ago, about eight households in Monkey Run -- a tiny unincorporated hamlet on the Mississippi River, just southeast of Hannibal -- got flooded out. Residents largely abandoned their homes. Now, they'll be getting a collective $500,0 ... More >>

Midwest Lawmakers Carp All Over Each Other In Invasive Species Fight

Anyone who's ever cruised the Mississippi River in an metal-hulled boat is familiar with asian carp. They are the big smelly silver fish that leap from the water, sometimes landing in the boat or slapping the occasional angler (or worse, water skier) in the face. Like so:Image ViaA slimy asian carp, ... More >>

Spanish Lake Casino Opponents Set to Picket County Planning Commission Meeting Tonight

www.knitwareblog.com​Remember the late-July proposal from a North St. Louis County developer for a massive casino and resort next to the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area? The one that would turn 376 acres of wetlands into 8,000 parking spots, an 18-hole golf course, and another Casino in the St. ... More >>

Park in Overdrive

Thursday, March 19: Morning's Newz

An Alton man lives 96 years and this is how he dies -- burning leaves in his backyard!?Fishermen on the Mississippi River are still talking about the monstrous, 90-pound Asian carp they pulled from the water last month. The Post-Dispatch has an interesting article on the scoundrels behind the Northe ... More >>

Trash to Treasure

An incredible transformation

Last Night: Civic Progress, Bad Blood along Mississippi River

Stop the Flooding: Eat a Muskrat!

Stop the Flooding: Eat a Muskrat!

Winging It

Pearls on Film

Daily Web Crawl

B-Sides gets our oontz-oontz-oontz on with Canadian DJs MSTRKRFT.

Then we check out a book about Edwardsville's legendary Mississippi River Festival.

Meshuggah

Sunday, November 6; Pop's (1403 Mississippi Avenue, Sauget, Illinois)

Week of October 26, 2005

Betrayed Restlessness

(MacArthur Bridge over the Mississippi River, south of downtown)

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Week of October 13, 2004

Best Place to Bird-Watch

Riverland Environmental Demonstration Area

What’s the Zaniest Thing You’ve Done on a Dare?

Week of June 9, 2004

Irish Invasion

Tionól comes back for more

Best Weekend Excursion

Great River Road

Gone Fishin'

The St. Louis Fish Market is sure to hook diners

Best Place to Bird-Watch

John F. Kennedy Forest, Forest Park

Of Wetlands and Wal-Marts

One development at a time, Missouri has lost 87 percent of its wetlands. And that means more floods, more damage, more levees, more bucks. The story of one Supercenter and how progress comes at a price.