Your five-minute catch-up for Tuesday, July 14. Here’s what matters on our stretch of the river today.
Roads & I-70
A new ramp closure is coming to the Providence Road interchange. MoDOT says the westbound on-ramp from Route 163 (Providence Road) to I-70 in Columbia closes the morning of July 27 and stays closed for several months while crews build the new Providence Road bridge over the interstate. If that’s your on-ramp, the detour is Route 763 (Range Line Street) — the off-ramp there has been closed since May 29 for the same project and isn’t reopening until construction wraps. It’s the latest piece of the Improve I-70 program, the same effort already widening the 14 miles between Rocheport and Columbia to a third lane each direction.
Around the Counties
Columbia’s council is weighing budget cuts ahead of an August vote. The draft fiscal-year budget was built without a proposed public safety tax, which goes before voters next month, and that’s forcing some tight choices. First Ward’s Valerie Carroll flagged utility-assistance funding as one area to watch, telling KBIA that “when those needs aren’t met those costs are likely to appear somewhere else in other programs,” while Sixth Ward’s Betsy Peters called the belt-tightening a routine part of balancing the books. Two more work sessions are scheduled before the council finalizes the budget in August.
Columbia has a new group working the other side of that conversation. A homelessness steering committee formed July 1 — co-chaired by Conrad Hake of Love Columbia and pulling in law enforcement, faith groups, and healthcare workers — is looking at long-term housing and support strategies. It’s met three times so far and is seeking input from people with lived experience of homelessness through surveys and focus groups.
If your power bill comes from Ameren Missouri, this one’s worth a look. The utility has asked state regulators for $343 million more a year, which works out to roughly $13 more a month for the average home — about a 10% increase. Ameren says the money covers aging infrastructure, smart-grid upgrades, and a new gas plant in Audrain County, with new generation capacity also aimed at rising demand from AI data centers (which fall under a separate rate track under state law). The Public Service Commission still has to hold hearings and rule on the request; if approved, new rates wouldn’t take effect until 2027.
On the August ballot statewide: Amendment 1 renews the Missouri Parks, Soil, and Water sales tax — a tenth of a cent on purchases that’s funded state parks operations and soil/water conservation since 1984, up for its once-a-decade renewal vote. It raised $69.9 million last year, about three-quarters of the state parks department’s budget, and it’s a big part of why Missouri is one of only eight states offering free entry to every state park — including the Katy Trail State Park running right through town.
Happening Soon
Live music at the A-Frame this Friday. The Blufftop’s Summer Music Series brings a trio fronted by vocalist Liz Cordray to Les Bourgeois Vineyards A-Frame on July 17, 6-9 p.m., with a few guest sit-ins planned through the evening.
And if you or a neighbor need a hand, Columbia’s Voluntary Action Center Opportunity Campus is now fully open, with shelter beds, medical care, and other services under one roof.
Outdoors & River
The river’s easing back down. The Missouri River gauge at Boonville read 11.01 feet Tuesday and falling, well under flood stage. Expect a hot, sunny stretch — mid-90s and dry — good trail weather if you get out early.
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