Illinois, Missouri assess damage, clean up flooding
KINCAID, Ill. – The Mississippi River and many of its tributaries continued their retreat Sunday from historic and deadly winter flooding, leaving amid the silt a massive cleanup and recovery effort likely to take weeks if not months.
The flood, fueled by more than 10 inches of rain over a three-day period that began Christmas Day, is blamed for 25 deaths in Illinois and Missouri, reflecting Sunday’s discovery of the body of a second teenager who drowned in central Illinois’ Christian County.
The Mississippi River was receding except in the far southern tip of both states. But worries surfaced anew Sunday along the still-rising Illinois River north of St. Louis, where crests near the west-central Illinois towns of Valley City, Meredosia, Beardstown and Havana were to approach records before receding in coming days.
John Kasich’s TV ad debut: ‘Never give up’ message
WASHINGTON - Ohio Gov. John Kasich is airing his first television advertisement in New Hampshire this week, hoping to break through in the chaotic Republican presidential race with a debut spot that highlights his rough upbringing, personal resilience and governing achievements.
The intended takeaway from the 30-second ad, which uses arresting imagery and is heavy on biography: “John Kasich never gives up.”
The ad, titled “America: Never Give Up,” is the beginning of a statewide advertising blitz that the Kasich campaign has budgeted to extend until the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 9.
U.S. repeals meat labeling law after trade rulings
WASHINGTON – It’s now harder to find out where your beef or pork was born, raised and slaughtered.
After more than a decade of wrangling, Congress repealed a labeling law last month that required retailers to include the animal’s country of origin on packages of red meat. It’s a major victory for the meat industry, which had fought the law in Congress and the courts since the early 2000s.
Lawmakers said they had no choice but to get rid of the labels after the World Trade Organization repeatedly ruled against them. The WTO recently authorized Canada and Mexico, which had challenged the law, to begin more than $1 billion in economic retaliation against the United States.
Hands-on training about natural disaster dangers
TOKYO - After large-scale natural disasters across the country, including earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions and floods, disaster management study programs are getting more attention from the Japanese public.
The Tokyo Fire Department’s Life Safety Learning Center gives visitors an opportunity to experience mock disasters, using simulators and other facilities. The center offers a hands-on program to help them learn how to act in the event of a disaster and utilize what they learn there for self-help and mutual assistance.
Under the guidance of former department officials and others, the program usually attracts groups of about 30 people who can select from two to four experiences from a list of six: earthquake simulation, firefighting training, rainstorm simulation, a smoke maze, urban flooding and first aid. The center offers the program six times a day free of charge. It is very popular, with reservations for weekends booked almost a month ahead.
Associated Press & Washington Post
