Picture courtesy James Kramper, National Weather Service.
Missourians are urged to participate in this year’s Severe Weather Awareness Week coming up March 6 -10, and the statewide tornado drill on Tues., March 7, at 10 a.m., to be prepared for the deadly hazards posed by tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flooding and lightning.
Big Loss: Senate Kills Stream Protection Act;
Local Win: Beyond Coal Battles Utility Hikes
Don Corrigan serves up his weekly opinion about who deserves a dagger for being a foe to the environment and who deserves a daisy for being a friend of the environment.
This week: Congress and the Sierra Club
Great opportunity for industrial business owners! Small and medium-sized industrial facilities can apply for free energy, productivity, and waste assessments through the Midwest Industrial Assessment Center (Midwest IAC) at the University of Missouri – Columbia.
Below is more from a notice from the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
Photo: Webster-Kirkwood Times.
Consumers and environmentalists were “loaded for bear” for a public hearing at the Holiday Inn Southwest in late January before the state Public Service Commission (PSC) on planned electric rate hikes by Ameren Missouri.
Environmentalists like Andy Knott of the Beyond Coal Campaign were ready with news of a Jan. 23 court decision finding Ameren in violation of the Clean Air Act at its Rush Island coal plant in Jefferson County. That plant, and the nearby Meramec Plant in Oakville, have been sources of health concerns in South County.
All photos provided by Dr. Meredith Spiekerman Byers.
In 2013, Kirkwood School District’s Keysor Elementary opened the PROJECT IDEA outdoor natural learning space. The nearly one acre of space offers a natural play area and an outdoor lab for enhanced STEM learning. The area is an all-inclusive area for students, families, and the entire community.
Dr. Meredith Spiekerman Byers and husband Derek, kids Wyatt (12), Shiloh (8), and Ryder (7).
Dr. Meredith Spiekerman Byers, co-chair of Kirkwood School’s PROJECT IDEA, is the guest on Behind the Editor’s Curtain with Don Corrigan.
Byers shares the story behind PROJECT IDEA outdoor space, the community and professional partners of the project, the learning opportunities for students and the community, the STEM emphasis, and the future goals of the project.
Click “continue reading” to hear the podcast with Byers below.
Queen of Hearts, located along the Meramec River at 731 Larkin Williams Road in Fenton. All photos by Diana Linsley, South County Times.
Queen of Hearts is one of the many casualties of the Great Flood Events of early 2016. Many folk in the Meramec River Valley credit it to extreme weather that may be caused by climate change, along with an overbuilt levee at Valley Park and too much construction in a flood plain. Here is the story on Fenton’s Queen of Hearts.
Continue reading
Radon gas is a health hazard and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants people to learn more about the dangers of radon. The month of January has been designated as “National Radon Action Month.”
According to the EPA: “Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in America, and claims the lives of about 21,000 Americans each year.”
Pixabay
That reindeer Rudolph’s red nose is blinking on and off up at the North Pole this season. It’s blinking out a danger; it’s blinking out a warning; it’s blinking all over the Arctic – as Peter, Paul and Mary might have sung.
Santa is stuck singing the blues. That’s because Rudolph is refusing to pull the jolly fat man’s sleigh. The defiant deer’s red nose is now on the blink – literally. What’s the problem?
Interested in learning more about starting a community garden?
Check out Gateway Greening’s “Garden Project Orientation.” Learn more about building an inclusive space where a community can come together and grow their own healthy fruit and veggies.
Upcoming Orientation Dates:
– Saturday, January 14, 10-11 a.m., at Main Office, 2211 Washington Ave, 63103
– Saturday, February 25, 10-11 a.m., at Carriage House, 3815 Bell Avenue, 63108
Find more information about attending the upcoming orientations and the online interest form from Gateway Greening HERE.
Photo by Diana Linsley, Webster-Kirkwood Times.
Found in Carl’s Climate Letters …
Here is an interesting tidbit from Carl that he found in his daily environmental information search about what scientists have learned from a preserved 45 million-year-old fly – which just might lead to more efficient “energy harvesting” in solar cells.
Carl Campbell, who is a retired petroleum investment advisor, spends every morning searching for climate and environmental information. By early afternoon, he releases an analysis of his most important finds of the day in a newsletter named Carl’s Climate Letters.
Environmental Echo 