Your five-minute catch-up for Friday, July 17. Here’s what matters on our stretch of the river today.
Around the Counties
Boone County and the City of Columbia just won a national award for how they’re tackling housing. The Boone County/Columbia Housing Study earned a National Association of Counties 2026 Achievement Award, the county announced July 6 — recognition for the data-driven work behind the county’s Affordable Housing Coalition, which is digging into workforce housing, starter homes, and accessibility for residents with disabilities.
The Aug. 4 primary is closer than it feels. No-excuse absentee voting opens Tuesday, July 21, and runs through Aug. 3; polls on Election Day run 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Boone County ballots carry U.S. House races, the state auditor’s race, several statewide constitutional amendments, a circuit judge seat, county auditor, a Columbia City Council ward, and Columbia’s Prop 1 public-safety sales tax. Bring photo ID — KOMU’s voters guide has the polling-place lookup and what counts as valid ID.
Roads & I-70
Heads up if you cut through Columbia on I-70. MoDOT’s live road feed shows closures active right now at the Providence Road/Route 163 interchange, ahead of the bigger westbound on-ramp closure set to begin July 27 for new Providence Road bridge work. See our July 14 report for the Route 763 (Range Line) detour.
Outdoors & River
Local fire crews are training harder for water rescues, and there’s a hard reason why. Columbia Fire and the Boone County Fire Protection District have stepped up joint water-rescue training since a 2024 tragedy: Boone County Assistant Chief Matt Tobben drowned when his boat lost power during a rescue on a flooded Bear Creek. Missouri has seen flash-flood warnings almost every week since April, and Columbia firefighters have already run about five water rescues this year. KBIA has the full story. For today, our own stretch is calm: the Missouri River at Boonville reads 9.4 feet, no flood stage.
Happening Soon
Tonight, 6 p.m.: the A-Frame Winegarden at Les Bourgeois hosts the Summer Music Series with the A-Frame Trio featuring vocalist Liz Cordray — bring a chair for one of the last Friday nights of the series.
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