Wednesday morning, here’s what’s worth knowing around Rocheport, New Franklin, and the counties.
Around the Counties
Deer season rules are changing this fall. The Missouri Department of Conservation has adjusted the 2026 season: nonresident hunters get a lower buck limit, the youth hunting weekend moves earlier, and there are new chronic wasting disease (CWD) management rules to know before you head into Howard, Boone, or Cooper County timber. Missourinet has the details — worth a read before opening day if you hunt locally.
SNAP recipients: mark October 1 on the calendar. Starting next month, anyone on Missouri’s food assistance program will need to provide documentation of housing, childcare, and financial resources to keep benefits current, KBIA reports. If that’s you or someone you know, it’s worth pulling paperwork together now rather than scrambling in three weeks.
The school wastewater drug-testing story we told you about last week is now official statewide. Lawmakers made participation mandatory, and sampling begins at districts across Missouri in mid-September, Missourinet confirms — see our full story on how Hallsville and Boonville already caught it coming.
Happening Soon
Locals Night is back Thursday, September 3, 4-7 p.m. at Katy’s Fork in the Trail — dinner, and the cafe announces the week’s menu at the door.
The Daniel Boone Library Bookmobile makes its Rocheport stop September 10 at 3 p.m., 205 Central Street.
Outdoors & River
The Missouri River gauge at Boonville reads 6.66 feet and falling — no flood concern, but it tracks with a bigger dry spell: the Climate Prediction Center says drought could develop quickly across the state in early September, KBIA reports, and Missourinet says the heat isn’t quitting either — highs in the upper 90s, even low 100s, lingering well past Labor Day. Good week to keep an eye on garden beds and livestock water.
Roads & I-70
Several ramps and outer roads around the Route 163/I-70 interchange in Columbia are closed as of this morning — that’s east of us, near Providence Road, not the Rocheport-Boonville stretch.
Speaking of that stretch: the $104 million I-70 widening project between Boonville and the Rocheport bridge is moving through its next phase, adding a third lane each direction over 13 miles, with work continuing through late 2027, per MoDOT’s project page. Expect nighttime lane closures as work continues — nothing new on timing to report today, but worth watching if you drive that stretch daily.
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