NW Mo. levee districts get grants

Sunday, February 12, 2012

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Six levee, drainage and road districts in northwest Missouri will receive a total of about $1.2 million in community development block grants to help repair damage from flooding along the Missouri River

Gov. Jay Nixon’s office said in a release that the six districts are located in Atchison and Holt counties.

Levee districts applied for the grants to cover either the 20 percent local cost share required under the Army Corps of Engineers’ maintenance program, or for the entire cost if the levee district is not part of the Corps’ system.

Northwest Missouri suffered extensive spring and summer flooding along the river after releases from upstream reservoirs.

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kentheco 1 year, 4 months ago

Oh boy!, Governor Nixon approves $20,000,000 (20 million dollars) for the largest railroad in the United States and then shows where his allegiance is by authorizing a measly $1,200,000 (1.2 million dollars) to protect the land that provides income for the farmers in Northwest Missouri and grain and livestock for us to eat. What is wrong with this picture? The Union Pacific achieved $3,300,000,000 (3.3 billion dollars) profit for 2011 and Governor Nixon thinks we, the taxpayers, need to build them a bridge. Take the $20 million back and give it to those who paid it, in the form of taxes, and pay the money due to education or health care for those that truly need it and not the multi-billion industry that, if they really needed the bridge, would pay for it out of their profits?

kentheco 1 year, 4 months ago

On January 20 2012, Jim Young, the CEO of the Union Pacific Railroad, announced that the Union Pacific intends to spend $1,000,000,000 (1 billion dollars) for improvements in Nebraska. These funds, which the railroad plans to send over about seven years, could be spent faster if the economy improves quicker than expected. The article continued by stating that the Union Pacific has the means to invest that much in the state partly because the railroad just completed its best year ever. The railroad said that it generated $3.29 billion net income in 2011, which was 18 percent higher than the previous year's (2010) $2.78 billion net income. For this spending, they, the railroad, can receive up to 10% percent in state tax breaks (possibly 100 million dollars). Under Governor Nixon’s plan, taxpayers spend $20 million dollars, how much will the railroad spend? A News Tribune article dated August 1, 2011, showed that the Union Pacific had spent less than $500 million dollars for improvements in Missouri since 1999 (12 years), less than half of what Nebraska will see in seven years.

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