Your five-minute catch-up for Friday, July 24. Here’s what matters on our stretch of the river today.
Roads & I-70
Westbound I-70 traffic shifted overnight at the Route J exit (mile marker 117) — a night earlier than planned. Crews moved the shift up to Thursday night ahead of forecast weather, rerouting westbound traffic onto the rebuilt ramps at Exit 117 so they can start rebuilding the westbound bridge over Route J. Two lanes stay open through the work zone, but speeds drop to 35 mph, and you can’t get to or from westbound I-70 at Routes O or J until the new bridge is done, expected by the end of November — U.S. 40 and Route 240 to County Route UU is the detour. It’s part of the Rocheport-to-Columbia Improve I-70 project, the $441 million widening that starts right at our end of the bridge and runs to Route 63.
Around the Counties
The Cooper County Fair lost its carnival with a week’s notice — and the community filled the gap. Amusement Associates, the contractor the fair paid a $5,000 deposit to, shut down abruptly last week over rising insurance costs and never returned the money. Rather than cancel, fair organizers leaned on neighbors: a Gravois Mills man brought a pony carousel and train rides for free, and the fair filled out the midway with mini golf, a dunk tank, and games instead. The board says it’s tightening up contract terms before booking a carnival again.
Boone Health opened a bigger, better-located clinic in Glasgow. The new 3,600-square-foot primary care building on Commerce Street — funded by a $1.1 million Boone Health Foundation gift — replaces a decades-old clinic that sat on a steep hill, hard to reach for a lot of patients. It now has an on-site X-ray suite for the first time, a lab, and three nurse practitioners with physician backup from the Boonville clinic, serving Glasgow and surrounding Howard County communities.
Boone County Animal Control has paused taking in stray dogs. The shelter is down to five open kennels after reaching capacity, and those are being held for emergencies only. If you find a stray, animal control is asking people to hold off bringing it in and instead post a photo and general location to the Columbia, Missouri Lost & Found Pets Facebook group so an owner can find it.
Health Watch
Cyclosporiasis cases in Boone County jumped to 53 this week. The county’s public health department confirmed eight new cases Wednesday, up from 45 the day before — a fast climb from nine cases just a week and a half ago. Statewide, Missouri has counted 216 cases. If you’ve had unexplained, lingering diarrhea, fatigue, or nausea in the past couple weeks, it’s worth a call to your doctor; the parasite is spread mainly through contaminated produce.
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