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Maysville, Missouri nearing two months under a boil order due to unclear water [Video]
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Maysville, Missouri nearing two months under a boil order due to unclear water [Video]

Residents, businesses, and city leaders in this northwestern Missouri town of more than 1,000 still have no firm date on when theyll be able to safely drink tap water without boiling it.The citys water customers including schools, businesses, and homes have been under a boil order from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for nearly two months due to high turbidity levels.Turbidity is a measure of water clarity. State leaders declared Maysvilles water turbidity too high after an inspection in August.City leaders have tried to fix the problem, believing they had a solution for about a week until the turbidity levels climbed again.We just need help, Maysville resident Angy Dowell told KMBC 9 Investigates on Wednesday. I mean, seriously. It has just gone on way too long.Dowell is one of 465 water customers asking city officials for answers since the boil order went into effect on Aug. 28.She wants more frequent information and updates from city officials, home bottled water deliveries, and a way to receive credits on her account until the issue is resolved. City officials have said credits on bills are hard to implement due to U.S. Department of Agriculture funding the city has in place for its water supply system.What should we be doing as a community? Dowell said. If I need to hold your hand and walk you down the line, I dont know enough about the water system or what the remedy is to fix it.KMBC 9 Investigates asked Maysville water and wastewater manager Michele Allwood about a completion date. She couldnt predict one.Allwood has worked with the Maysville City Council, administrator, and mayor to find solutions.City East Ward Alderman Clint Sollars said all city leaders should be held accountable until a fix is in place.We’re doing our best to fix it, and it ultimately falls back on us to tap into every resource we can to have it fixed as soon as we can, Sollars said.Allwood has brought in multiple resources to the citys aging water plant, including Missouri American Water, the Missouri Rural Water Association, and utility services to clean the water plants clear well.Turbidity levels are acceptable after water comes out of filters at the plant, Allwood said.However, turbidity levels are still too high when water encounters chlorine at the clear well underneath the plant, she said.Allwood noted that there may be high levels of manganese or iron in the water coming from Willowbrook Lake that react with the chlorine at the citys clear well.She is open to anyone who can help find solutions.If they have an idea, call me and give me the idea, because I’ve tried to reach out to everybody, Allwood said. We are trying, and people are coming in, and we do have people that are working with us to try to improve this situation.Allwood also encouraged Maysville water customers to call City Hall to speak with city leaders about next steps.Scott Honig, environmental section chief for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in the Kansas City region, said the boil order will remain in effect until turbidity levels drop in Maysville.Honig said MoDNR officials have worked with Maysville to find solutions and provide resources. He added that the department has elevated the situation to MoDNRs enforcement group to ensure Maysville is following prescribed guidelines and schedules for a fix.We’ll be in contact with them every week to see where they’re at and what’s going on, Honig said.He also noted that the department has funding available, including grants and loans, for small rural water supplies in need of assistance.The city is hoping for a more permanent water supply, connecting to a supply line from St. Joseph to Cameron by next year. However, the issue is currently tied up in the courts.If you have a tip about this situation, KMBC 9 Investigates needs to know. Email investigates@kmbc.com.

Gov. Roy Cooper visits community care center in Western North Carolina [Video]
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Small Business Funding

Gov. Roy Cooper visits community care center in Western North Carolina [Video]

ALLOW PETS AND STAYING IN THAT AREA. NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR ROY COOPER STOPPED THROUGHOUT THE WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA REGION, SURVEYING DAMAGE AND ALSO SPEAKING WITH SURVIVORS. THE GOVERNOR VISITED A COMMUNITY CARE CENTER IN SWANNANOA TODAY. IN ADDITION TO A STOP IN THE CITY OF ASHEVILLE. OUR NATE STANLEY HAS MORE. FOR NOON, BUT HIGHLIGHTED THE IMPORTANCE OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND MAKING SURE THAT THIS TRAGEDY IS NOT FORGOTTEN. THE GOVERNOR WAS GIVEN A TOUR AT THE BUNCOMBE COUNTY COMMUNITY CARE CENTER ON TUESDAY. HE SPOKE WITH VOLUNTEERS, FEMA WORKERS AND PEOPLE FROM THE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD. HE WAS JOINED BY STATE LEADERS AND FEMA ADMINISTRATOR DEANNE CRISWELL, WHO SAYS FEMA IS IN THE EARLY STAGES OF HOME INSPECTIONS. WE BRING THESE TEAMS INTO THE PLACES WHERE WE KNOW PEOPLE ARE COMING AND THAT WAY WE CAN HELP GET THEM REGISTERED, GET THEM INTO THE SYSTEM AND HELP GET THAT FINANCIAL RESOURCES MOVING. WITH COLD WEATHER MOVING INTO THE AREA, COOPER SAYS HES WORKING TO PROVIDE RESOURCES TO THE COMMUNITY. THE SUPPLIES ARE CONTINUING TO COME IN TO TO PEOPLE WHO NEED HELP WITH BLANKETS. THIS STARTED A WHILE BACK. SOME GENERATORS ARE BEING PROVIDED, PORTABLE HEATERS ARE BEING PROVIDED. OIL IS BEING OR FUEL IS BEING PROVIDED. COOPER SAYS THERE IS A TASK FORCE NOW FOCUSED ON MISSING PERSONS, PEOPLE WHO ARE REVIEWING THE 211 LIST. WORKING WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, CALLING PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE REPORTS TO TWO, ONE, ONE TO DETERMINE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE UNACCOUNTED FOR. GOVERNOR COOPER ALSO SAID HES HEARD CONCERNS ABOUT WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA BEING FORGOTTEN. RECOVERY OFTEN IN THESE SITUATIONS AND HERE WILL BE LONG TERM. THERES GOING TO REQUIRE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO REBUILD ROADS AND BRIDGES AND WATER INFRASTRUCTURE. THAT IS MORE RESILIENT FOR FUTURE STORMS. AND GOVERNOR COOPER SAID PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THE STATE CAN STILL DONATE. HE SUGGESTED GOING TO THE WEBSITE NC.GOV. THERE YOULL FIND DISASTER RELIEF FUNDS AND GRANTS DESIGNED FOR RECOVERY AS WELL AS SMALL BUSINESSES. REPORTIN

Betty Rae’s in River Market hit by second burglary [Video]
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Small Business Funding

Betty Rae’s in River Market hit by second burglary [Video]

ECKERMAN IN FOR LAURA. WE HAVE TEAM COVERAGE TONIGHT. WE BEGIN AT BETTY RAYS IN THE RIVER MARKET, WHERE KMBC NINE S KRISTA TATCHELL SPOKE WITH THE OWNER ABOUT HIS FRUSTRATION AT THE LACK OF POLICE PRESENCE AND BROKE THE WINDOW. CAME IN, WENT BEHIND THE COUNTER, WALKED DOWN TO THE BACK OF OUR KITCHEN AREA AND HE NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A SAFE DOWN WHERE WE HAD IT. ITS NEVER NORMAL TO WAKE UP AND KNOW THAT SOMEBODY HAS BROKEN INTO YOUR SHOP. THIS ROCK THROWN THROUGH A DOOR SUNDAY MORNING AND BETTY RAYS ICE CREAM STAFF SCOOPS UP THE PIECES YET AGAIN. YOU TAKE IT PERSONALLY. BETTY RAYS IN THE RIVER MARKET HAS BEEN UNKINDLY HIT TWICE. WITHIN THREE WEEKS, THE CROOK GOT THE SAFE WITH THREE GRAND IN IT. THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED. OWNER MATT SHATTO SAYS CUSTOMER FOOT TRAFFIC IS GREAT, BUT HE SAYS HE WANTS MORE BADGES BY BUILDINGS. I NEED MORE PATROL IN THE RIVER MARKET AREA. SHATTO SAYS MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS IS BACK TO BUSINESS PLAN, WHICH GIVES FINANCIAL AID TO BUSINESS OWNERS. HIT BY CRIME IS A BAND-AID, NOT A SOLUTION. SO ITS BACK TO BUSINESS TODAY WITH UNCERTAINTY FOR TOMORROW. THE FRUSTRATING PART IS NOT KNOWING WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS. SHATTO SAYS HE HOPES TO HAVE A ONE ON ONE SIT DOWN MEETING WITH MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS IN THE COMING WEEKS TO DISCUSS HOW TO PREVENT CRIME IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. KRISTA TATCHELL, KMBC NINE NEWS. NO ARRESTS HAVE BEEN MADE, BUT MAYOR LUCAS ISSUED A STATEMENT ABOUT THE BREAK-IN, CALLING SMALL BUSINESS THE HEARTBEAT OF OUR CITY. HE SAYS HELL BE WORKING WITH THE STATE APPOINTED POLICE BOARD TO FIND WAYS T

Combatting misinformation in North Carolina [Video]
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Small Business Funding

Combatting misinformation in North Carolina [Video]

Misinformation about Federal Emergency Management Agency resources has taken over social media, worrying many residents in North Carolina who are still looking for aid. FEMA spokespeople said there is still plenty of money and agents to go around, even with Milton approaching Florida as a major hurricane.La-Tanga Hopes, a FEMA spokesperson for Western North Carolina, said rumors online make it difficult for FEMA to get families the help they need. She said misinformation isn’t helping with building trust in the community.”Funding has been made available for North Carolina, and they need not worry about Milton,” Hopes said. “There are some people that are going to take care of everything that’s happening with that new disaster.”FEMA does have a deadline of Nov. 27, 2024, for North Carolina Hurricane Helene applications, but as with other storms in the past, it could be extended. The agency announced the Boone recovery center will close on Oct. 12.One expert from the University of North Carolina says it is the shared responsibility of social media users, platforms and government agencies to squash misconceptions. “In the same way that there are those who are out intentionally trying to mislead people for political purposes, we have an opportunity and really an obligation to one another to make sure that our affected friends and neighbors do have reliable information,” said Meredith D. Clark, associate professor of race and political communication at UNC Hussman. Claim: FEMA will reallocate resources away from North Carolina to Florida or foreign efforts.Fact: FEMA said resources are not moving from Western North Carolina until claims are closed. Floridians impacted by Hurricane Milton will have their own FEMA agents to address their claims and allocate funding to them. Claim: FEMA will take away your home or property if you file a claim.Fact: “FEMA is not interested in your property other than helping you restore and rebuild it,” Hopes said. “FEMA is not an income driven agency, and what I mean by that is this: there is money being made available to you in the form of a cash grant.”FEMA said getting denied after submitting a claim may be the result of not providing enough documentation, and field agents may be able to connect families to resources to track the status of their report.Claim: FEMA is not helping on the ground.Fact: FEMA said they have crews across Western North Carolina. Tracey said FEMA, along with military operations, were authorized by the federal government to assist in search-and-rescue operations units and disaster survivor response teams. Temporary centers for assistance are being implemented in each county so residents can follow up on the status of their claims. Calling their hotline 1-800-621-3362 will get you connected to an agent and allow you to start your application for assistance if you haven’t already. Jann Tracey, a FEMA spokesperson in Avery County, said that, for those without internet, calling over the phone or speaking with an agent face-to-face is the best option.”Talking to somebody one-on-one is really helpful,” she said. “Rather than just talking to your neighbors and getting rumors and not getting after the information, that’s the ideal way.”Claim: FEMA is taking away food and donations from distribution sites.Fact: They said food and water resources delivered to distribution sites in many counties have been dropped off by FEMA resources. Just because someone working at distribution sites or fire stations is not wearing a FEMA polo shirt does not mean the work was not authorized by FEMA, Tracey said.Claim: FEMA is only giving residents $750 in aid and withholding funding from North Carolina.Fact: The initial funding you can request from FEMA is $750 for necessities, food and water, but that does not exclude you from getting more funding and submitting an application for aid. There is a cap on funding that FEMA can provide, but Hopes told us the agency will defer to state and other resources to provide aid until claims are closed, and that is not expected to happen soon. “They need to reassure people that withholding aid, especially on the basis of partisanship, isn’t a practice of the federal government,” said Clark. “And then, they need to provide people with a way to check honestly, verify, that what they are saying is true.”FEMA said it will never ask for money from disaster survivors and that you should report anyone trying to get you to pay for aid.

Dozens of suspected white supremacist gang members arrested in domestic terrorism investigation [Video]
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Dozens of suspected white supremacist gang members arrested in domestic terrorism investigation [Video]

Swastika was projected onto the AT&T building. Jewish Stoneham family targeted in November with Swastikas and hate speech on the front lawn. They toss it out the window as they drive through *** community. What is sometimes called the world’s oldest hate still persists today, Jewish people make up 2.4% of the US population but are the victims of 55% of religious based hate crimes. So why is anti Semitism on the rise? *** recent report by the anti defamation league show *** sharp rise in anti Semitism, anti Semitic incidents rose by 36% in 2022. Marking the highest level ever recorded since the group began tracking in 1979 assaults increased by 26%. Vandalism increased by 51% and harassment increased by 29%. The highest amount of incidents occurred in states with the highest populations of Jews, New York, California, New Jersey, Florida and Texas. Emily Snyder AD L S anti Semitic incident specialist says *** small amount of extremists are also causing disproportionately large amounts of activity in smaller cities. Jacksonville had the largest number of anti Semitic incidents about any of the cities. And that’s in part due to *** small group of individuals who are part of an extremist group who have really ramped up their activity. You start to see *** spike happen in 2016 2017, in particular. And ever since then, it’s been gradually climbing. *** study by AD L points to three main factors in the rise, intensified social and cultural tensions, the rise of radicalism and the increase of echo chambers on social media which call *** breeding ground for conspiracy theories. The extremists continue to organize in these spaces, communicate in these spaces, find each other um and recruit others who might be susceptible to this type of thinking. The AD L also points to the normalization of anti Semitic conspiracies. The spreading of anti Semitic propaganda by white supremacists, more than doubled with 852 in 2022 from 422 in 2021. Specifically, the go Defense League was responsible for over half of the propaganda incident. When you look at anti Semitism over the last 2000 plus years, you tend to see spikes when there is civil and political uh unrest. When people are afraid are, you know, looking for reasons why life is hard or why life isn’t happening the way you envisioned your life to be. Um it’s easy to start to blame. The other anti Semitic incidents can vary from harassment. We see incidents in schools all the time. Where Jewish Children are bullied, you know, coins thrown at them or anti Semitic tropes like power and greed to vandalism and even assault. The shooting took the lives of 11 people. Synagogues were the most targeted institution in 2022 *** majority of the victims of anti Semitic assaults were orthodox Jews anti bias education and all K through 12 spaces and in workplaces. Um, it’s really, really important, we do find holocaust and genocide education to be *** really effective tool in combating not just anti Semitism, but all forms of hate tools like AD L S heat map help pinpoint where incidents are happening to further raise awareness and advocate for resources at resources like increased fundings for nonprofit security grants. So that way religious institutions including synagogues, mosques, churches have access to funds to harden targets. That way we can all stay safe. In addition to tracking incidents. Ad L also advocates for change the stop paper profit um campaign from *** couple of years ago, which was really powerful and, and helped limit the amount of holocaust denial on Facebook’s platform. While there’s *** rise in anti Semitism, Snyder says there’s also an increase in support for the Jewish community. There are tons of resources, tons of people out there who are standing up against this and are very vocal about it through creating allies across all lines of race religion, identity. The Jewish community in some ways has never been in *** stronger place than it is today to fight these forces.

Despite no grants, Pueblo and Colorado Springs communities come together to help homeless veterans [Video]
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Despite no grants, Pueblo and Colorado Springs communities come together to help homeless veterans [Video]

Pueblos annual Stand Down for homeless veterans is serving free meals, clothing, cold weather gear, along with health screenings and counseling before the cold winter months make way. The Stand Down on Tuesday, Sept. 27th takes place at the American Legion Post, starting at 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.Located in Colorado Springs, but attending the event in Pueblo… Next Chapters, Project Manager told 11 News, that the Stand Down in Pueblo was originally going to be scrapped this year… due to zero funding.