Malden Archives - Missourinet

Parson: Distributing COVID vaccines to as many Missouri pharmacies as possible will expand accessibility

March 5, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor announced on Thursday that pharmacies across the state will soon be receiving prioritized shipments of the COVID vaccine. Governor Mike Parson tells Capitol reporters in Jefferson City that it’s part of a new partnership with the Missouri Pharmacy Association.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson visits a vaccination clinic at Christian Hospital Northeast near Florissant on March 4, 2021 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

“Starting next week, 15 percent of our weekly state allocation will be distributed to selected pharmacies across the state,” Parson says.

The governor describes local pharmacies as a trusted health care resource for many Missourians.

“161 pharmacies have been identified in 84 counties and were selected based on ability, location and population,” says Parson.

Missouri has 114 counties, as well as St. Louis City. Pharmacy locations include St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia and Jefferson City, as well as numerous rural Missouri towns. They include Sedalia, Clinton, Warrensburg, Warrenton, Sullivan, Moberly, Mexico, Sikeston, Portageville, Malden, Kennett, Chillicothe, St. Joseph, Nevada and Joplin. You can find the entire nine-page pharmacy list here.

Governor Parson says the pharmacies have the ability to administer 200 initial doses of COVID vaccines per week.

Meantime, the governor says mass vaccination teams will soon start transitioning operations to include a larger presence in both St. Louis and Kansas City.

“Vaccine interest is often highest in the urban populations,” Parson says. “So starting next week, we will begin transitioning mass vaccination teams to accommodate more events in Region A, which is the Kansas City region, and Region C, in the St. Louis region.”

The governor envisions having the Missouri National Guard in the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas for future two-day vaccination events, where the Guard would administer about 6,000 doses per day and 12,000 doses in two days.

Governor Parson says the St. Louis and Kansas City regions have been receiving the same share of the COVID vaccine as rural areas have. He also continues to praise the work of the Missouri National Guard at targeted vaccination clinics in the two metro areas.

The governor visited a targeted vaccination clinic Thursday at Cambridge Senior Living in St. Louis. The targeted vaccination teams serve vulnerable populations in communities with limited access to health care. He also visited a vaccination clinic held at Christian Hospital Northeast, near the St. Louis suburb of Florissant.

Governor Parson says COVID activity in the state has declined for the seventh straight week, adding that the Show-Me State is second in the nation for average daily cases. Missouri vaccinators have now administered about 1.4 million COVID vaccinations, which includes the first and second shot.

15 percent of Missouri’s population has now received at least one shot, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) COVID-19 dashboard.

Missouri Senate cancels session all week due to snow and ice; winter storm warning continues in Bootheel

February 15, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

The statewide winter storm hitting the Show-Me State has caused the Missouri Senate to cancel session for this week in Jefferson City.

The Senate and House had already canceled session for Monday, due to the snowstorm and the dangerously cold temperatures.

Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) speaks before Governor Parson’s State of the State Address on January 27, 2021 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, tweeted an update today that the Missouri Senate will not be in session this week.

“With additional snow and ice in the forecast for much of the state, we want to be sensitive to the safety of our staff and members. Next week’s forecast looks great – excited to get back to JC (Jefferson City) and get back to work,” Leader Rowden tweeted.

House Majority Leader Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, tells Missourinet the House will not be in session on Tuesday, due to the winter weather. All Missouri House committee hearings scheduled for Tuesday are now canceled.

For now, the Missouri House has hearings scheduled for Wednesday.

A winter storm warning remains in effect for southeast Missouri until tonight. That’s a region where residents are still trying to recover from last week’s two-day ice storm.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Paducah office says the highest snow totals are in rural Ripley County’s Oxly, which has already seen six inches of snow. Poplar Bluff and the Bootheel towns of Kennett and Malden have seen four to six inches of snow.

The winter storm warning across the southern Missouri Ozarks has expired, but travel remains difficult.

The NWS Springfield office says southwest Missouri’s Joplin has seen five inches of snow. Springfield has received four inches, while three to four have fallen in Lebanon.

In southern Missouri’s Salem, there’s been five inches of snow. Missourinet Salem affiliate KSMO reports snow drifts of about a foot are blowing against buildings. KSMO reports ice has refrozen under the snow.

The NWS Springfield office also notes more snow is expected across the Ozarks from Tuesday night through Thursday. The heaviest snow will be near the Missouri-Arkansas border, where Branson and West Plains should see four to six inches of additional snowfall.

Snow forces Missouri House and Senate to cancel Monday session; Rowden emphasizes safety

February 14, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A winter storm in Missouri that began Sunday and will continue into Monday has caused state legislative leaders in both chambers to cancel session for Monday in Jefferson City.

Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, presides over the Senate in Jefferson City on March 4, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Senate Communications)

Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, announced Sunday on Twitter that because of brutal cold weather and potential for snow accumulation, the Missouri Senate will not be in session on Monday. Rowden also says the Senate will take the rest of the week one day at a time, to keep people safe.

Snow is expected in much of Missouri, including Jefferson City, throughout the week.

Leader Rowden tells Missourinet that Senate committees will not meet on Monday either.

As for the 163-member Missouri House, Majority Floor Leader Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, tells Missourinet the House will not be in session on Monday.

All Missouri House committee hearings originally scheduled for Monday are now canceled, and will be rescheduled for sometime this week.

The National Weather Service in Paducah has issued a winter storm warning for southeast Missouri (February 14, 2021 graphic courtesy of NWS Paducah Twitter)

A winter storm warning is in effect for much of eastern and southeast Missouri.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Paducah says towns like Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Kennett and Malden could see a total of six to 12 inches of snow, by Monday.
That region is still trying to recover from last week’s two-day ice storm, which closed schools and shut down heavily-traveled I-57 near Sikeston for a time.

The NWS in St. Louis says road conditions are still poor across a majority of the state, adding that roads have been deteriorating in Missouri from west to east.

Monday is Washington’s Birthday, which is a federal, Missouri and county holiday. While it’s a state holiday, the Legislature planned to be in session, until the snowstorm.

Most state employees will be off on Monday, which will keep several thousand cars off the road. More than 14,000 state employees work in Cole County, making state government Jefferson City’s largest employer.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol will be working on Monday, and crews from the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) will continue to treat and plow roads.

Half-inch of ice is possible in southeast Missouri; MoDOT urges residents to stay home (AUDIO)

February 10, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Freezing rain has been causing numerous crashes across southeast Missouri on Wednesday. Much of the region remains under an ice storm warning. Poplar Bluff, Kennett, Malden and Caruthersville are just some of the towns in the warning area.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Paducah is receiving numerous reports of crashes along I-55 in southeast Missouri and in the Poplar Bluff area (February 10, 2021 graphic courtesy of NWS Paducah Twitter)

Up to a half-inch of ice is possible in parts of southeast Missouri, through tomorrow morning. National Weather Service (NWS) Paducah meteorologist Derrick Snyder is urging southeast Missourians to stay home.

“Now we’ve had another round of moderate to heavy sleet that has fallen on top of that freezing rain that’s really caused a mess on the roads, especially the untreated side roads and parking lots, sidewalks,” Snyder says.

State Department of Transportation (MoDOT) crews are working continuous 12-hour shifts throughout southeast Missouri. MoDOT emphasizes that chemicals used to treat the roads start to lose their effectiveness below 25 degrees. They’re urging you to have a full tank of gas.

“As we go through tonight with the freezing rain continuing, there is the potential for some scattered power outages, especially in the Missouri Bootheel area and then further north to around Poplar Bluff,” says Snyder.

Snyder also says there have been numerous reports of crashes in the Poplar Bluff area and along I-55, and motorists are also reporting black ice on bridges and overpasses.

Missourinet Cape Girardeau television partner KFVS reports that Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E in Sikeston has received 137 calls for service, which includes 68 crashes and 49 stranded motorists due to ice.

Missourinet Farmington affiliate KREI reports almost all schools in their southeast Missouri listening area have canceled classes. Our Kennett affiliate KBOA reports the same, throughout the Bootheel.

Much of the ice storm warning area was also hit by the deadly January 2009 ice storm, which brought three days of ice, sleet and snow to the region.

The Delta Center in Portageville notes the 2009 storm left about 100,000 people without power from Poplar Bluff to the Bootheel to southern Illinois. More than 100 shelters were opened across southeast Missouri, because of that ice storm.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Paducah meteorologist Derrick Snyder, which was recorded on February 10, 2021:

Power outages are likely in southeast Missouri, where ice storm warning takes effect at midnight

February 9, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Far southeast Missouri will be under an ice storm warning starting at midnight Wednesday. That warning goes through 6 on Thursday evening.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Paducah has issued an ice storm warning for far southeast Missouri (February 9, 2021 graphic courtesy of NWS Paducah Twitter)

Poplar Bluff, Dexter, Kennett, Caruthersville and Malden are all in the ice storm warning area. That includes heavily-traveled I-55. The Bootheel could receive more than one-third of an inch of ice. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Paducah describes this as a significant ice storm, adding that ice accumulations will likely cause scattered power outages in far southeast Missouri.

Much of the ice storm warning area was also hit by the deadly January 2009 ice storm, which brought three days of ice, sleet and snow to the region.

As for Wednesday’s storm, Perryville and Marble Hill will see some ice. Those two towns are not in the warning area.

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is urging motorists across Missouri to get a full tank of gas tonight, noting that light snow and freezing precipitation will impact much of the state on Wednesday and Thursday. The winter storm will impact both the morning and evening commute on both days, for a number of areas.

MoDOT is urging you to prepare to double or triple your average commute time, once the precipitation starts falling. They also urge you to have extra blankets and gloves in your vehicle, as well as water and snacks. Your cellphone should also be fully charged.

In mid-Missouri, Columbia and Jefferson City will see snow again on Wednesday. Columbia could see up to three inches, while the Capital City is expected to see one to two inches.

The weather will get even colder this week. High temperatures across northern and central Missouri on Saturday and Sunday will be between zero and ten degrees. NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Emily Klaus tells Missourinet Columbia, Jefferson City, Moberly, Kansas City and Marshall will be impacted by the frigid temperatures.