Thursday morning, here’s what’s worth knowing around Rocheport, New Franklin, and the counties.
**Around the Counties**
Boone County’s 911 system went dark for a few hours Wednesday. A disruption on carrier Brightspeed’s network knocked out 911 phone service starting around 11:20 a.m., forcing Boone County Joint Communications to tell residents to dial 311 for emergencies instead. The outage rippled into Cole County and Jefferson City too, but crews had it fixed by late afternoon — [ABC 17 News](https://abc17news.com/news/boone/2026/09/16/boone-cole-911-phone-services-down/) reported service was fully restored before 5 p.m. Worth remembering: if 911 ever goes quiet again locally, 311 is the county’s backup line.
**Happening Soon**
Boone County’s Ready Festival is on today, 3 to 7 p.m. at the Lamb Shelter in Cosmo Park — free, family-friendly, with over 60 emergency-preparedness vendors and an emergency-kit giveaway for the first 150 households. We’ve got the full rundown [here](https://rocheporttimes.com/2026/09/14/boone-countys-ready-festival-returns-to-cosmo-park-thursday/).
Locals Night is back tonight at [Katy’s Fork in the Trail](https://rocheporttimes.com/directory/katys-fork-in-the-trail/) starting at 4 p.m. — a good excuse to grab dinner downtown.
**Outdoors & River**
The gauge at Boonville read 7.33 feet this morning, flow around 43.6 kcfs — still well under flood stage, but ticking upward. Nothing to worry about, just worth knowing if you’re putting a boat in this week.
**Roads & I-70**
New this week per MoDOT’s Sept. 14–20 maintenance schedule ([KOMU](https://www.komu.com/news/traffic/construction-and-maintenance-continues-on-mid-missouri-roadways-from-sept-14—20/article_eb49fa9d-1f17-4062-9ade-43c4532e818f.html)): Cooper County Route EE gets pavement repairs Monday through Thursday with one lane open; a bridge over Petite Saline Creek on Missouri 87, just south of Boonville, starts maintenance Monday and runs into October; and in Howard County, roadside work continues on Missouri 5 in New Franklin (Stage Coach Road to Broadway) and on county routes A, H, JJ, O, U and V, Monday through Thursday, one lane open on each.
Still closed as of this morning: the I-70/Providence Road (MO-163) interchange ramps and adjoining outer road segments near Boonville — the same closures [we noted yesterday](https://rocheporttimes.com/2026/09/16/the-daily-rundown-wednesday-september-16-2026/), tied to the ongoing Boonville-to-Rocheport widening project. No new timeline change to report.
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