A community is overwhelmed from impact caused by a lot of rain in a short period of time.

A flash flood occurred between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Thursday, May 7, creating a tremendous impact on the community. There are currently 7 motorist missing, 420 people displaced and more than 700 homes and businesses inundated. 

The flood was caused by the Meramec river overflowing due to the 9 inches of rain that fell this morning. The water reached the eastbound and westbound I-44 roads, which are now currently closed because they have become impassable due to flooding. Before these roads were closed, a driver, Daniel Flow, of Pacific, MO described the scene when the flood hit, “the rain was so heavy, it was a blinding rain. I was just about to get on the bridge. One second there were tail lights in front of me, the next second, they were gone. It just disappeared, the car disappeared. I threw on the brakes and just prayed I wouldn’t get washed away.” The flood has also impacted the soccer park which is currently under an estimated 15 feet of water. A spokesperson for Missouri Management Agency says this is the worst flash flooding to hit the area since 1993.

Though this flooding has had a huge impact on the community, many efforts are being made to limit the damages. Governor Parson has declared St. Louis County a disaster area and is asking for federal help. The Red Cross has set up a shelter at the site of the former Chrysler plant in Fenton, for those who are displaced. The Missouri Management called in mutual aid to help in the rescue, including the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Missouri National Guard.  Updates will continue to come with the impact of these efforts.  

Residents of the Players Creek community voice their opinions on golfing and following social distancing guidelines.

• 

Golfers in the Omaha, Nebraska community are struggling to find a balance between their love of golf, and practicing safe social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. The official rules of social distancing have been changing for every state. States such as Georgia are working on reopening, while New York is still receiving a heavy amount of cases each day. The midwest is facing some in-between in these differing regulations. The city of Omaha, Nebraska, has gradually gotten stricter on its stay-at-home orders. Offices are still open, but no more than ten people are allowed to be inside at a time. Restaurants are still serving food, but no one is allowed to dine inside. Despite all city parks being closed, many members of the community are still seen out on the golf courses. 

When Omaha released stay-at-home guidelines on March 19, members of the community went racing to the golf courses. Troy Jerkins, Champions Run golf course manager, sent out in a statement to the members that their golf course was booked two weeks in advance, something “unheard of’’ for their normal spring business. At the beginning of this golf craze, there were no specific instructions on how to practice safe social distancing on the golf courses. Jean Stolen, a community member living on Players Creek golf course, said, “I was angry at first when I saw people out on the course, they were packing their golf carts with friends while I was watching them out the window self-quarantining.”

 After two weeks of golfing with no guidelines, Players Creek manager Robert Pakins realized there was a need to place restrictions on the manner of golfing they were allowing. Pakins said, “When case numbers in our state started to rise, we realized to protect the safety of our members we should enforce more social distancing rules.” On April 15, about four weeks after city officials in Omaha had released their social distancing guidelines, the golf courses did as well. Pakins explained some of the changes that took place in their facility to enforce social distancing. Each individual is required to take their own cart when they begin the course, the cup that the golf ball goes into has been filled to prevent the golfer from touching the flag to retrieve the ball, and golf clubs are sanitized after every use. Mike Hepin, a frequent golfer on the Player’s Creek course responded to the changes happily. Hepin said, “Golfing is keeping me out of the house, and with these guidelines I can do it salfey.”

 There is still some fear among community members that these guidelines are not enough. Stolen said, “I see the golfers leave the club house all in separate carts, but when they are out on the courses they are not practicing social distancing,” Hepin added, “it seems pretty safe when everyone is out on the course, but I get concerned when I head back to the club house and see groups sitting down and having drinks.”

In response to these statements, the Pakins said, “We are definitely doing our best to enforce our guidelines, we can not watch everyone, but our number one priority is the safety of our members.” 

With states looking to start reopening their businesses, Pakins says they do not have an official date set for when they will loosen their guidelines, but they are thinking the beginning of June. Until then, members of the community must continue practicing the new guidelines the golf course has set in place. 

To read city official’s social distancing guidelines for Omaha, Nebraska click here:

https://www.cityofomaha.org/latest-news/618-new-covid-19-directed-health-measures-begin-may-4

To read more about civil official’s social distancing guidelines related to golf regulations click here:

https://parks.cityofomaha.org/golf

There is truly some good coming out of the global pandemic we are currently in such as a cleaner earth, quality family time, and getting to foster fluffy pets. Roommates and Saint Louis University students Lauren Beduhn and Lauryn Steid discovered these benefits when they saw an advertisement from the local Humane Society in St. Louis offering a new relaxed protocol for fostering pets during the  COVID-19 pandemic. 

The human society found itself in a complication  when the city of St. Louis went on a lock down. They were worried that with less employees coming to work the animals would have no one to play with them or look after them. This is when their new relaxed protocol was established. They allowed anyone in a stable home who was willing to take in pets to come into the humane society for a one-on-one interview, and if interested they could leave with an animal. Beduhn described the process, “It was just Lauryn Steid and I and one worker from the society, we did not interact with any other people so I felt pretty safe in measures of the virus.” Beduhn also said that it only took about an hour to talk to the worker and pick out their pets. 

The roommates chose two fluffy black cats named Kesha and Kasey to keep them company during this stay-at-home order. The humane society provided them with food and supplies to keep the cats entertained. The fostering program provides flexibility on how long the animals stay with each family. The girls are allowed to give the cats back at any time and can keep them for the extent of quarantine. 

Since the change to online classes, Beduhn and Steid are at their apartment and get to spend a lot of quality time with the cats. Lauren descibes the cats as “pretty low maintenance, and super fun to cuddle.” They both are enjoying the extra company during this overwise lonely time. This serves as a great option for anyone in the St. Louis area who wants to find a way to lend a hand to their community.  

There is truly some good coming out of the global pandemic we are currently in such as a cleaner earth, quality family time, and getting to foster fluffy pets. Roommates and Saint Louis University students Lauren Beduhn and Lauryn Steid discovered these benefits when they saw an advertisement from the local Humane Society in St. Louis offering a new relaxed protocol for fostering pets during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The human society found itself in a complication when the city of St. Louis had a stay-at-home order. They were worried that with less employees coming to work the animals would have no one to play with them or look after them. This is when their new relaxed protocol was established. They allowed anyone in a stable home who was willing to take in pets to come into the humane society for a one-on-one interview, and if interested they could leave with an animal. Beduhn described the process, “It was just Lauryn Steid and I and one worker from the society, we did not interact with any other people so I felt pretty safe in measures of the virus.” Beduhn also said that it only took about an hour to talk to the worker and pick out their pets. 

The roommates chose two fluffy black cats named Kesha and Kasey to keep them company during this stay-at-home order. The humane society provided them with food and supplies to keep the cats entertained. The fostering program provides flexibility on how long the animals stay with each family. The girls are allowed to give the cats back at any time and can keep them for the extent of quarantine. 

Since the change to online classes, Beduhn and Steid are at their apartment and get to spend a lot of quality time with the cats. Lauren descibes the cats as “pretty low maintenance, and super fun to cuddle.” They both are enjoying the extra company during this overwise lonely time. This serves as a great option for anyone in the St. Louis area who wants to find a way to lend a hand to their community. 

Lillian Robertson has always had a special relationship with her Grandmother, who she calls “Nana”. She would’ve never guessed that this relationship would lead her to choosing to go to school ten hours away from home and finding her passion in studying Communications. Robertson is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She went to visit her Grandma living in St.Louis, Missouri her Junior year of highschool, and they decided for a fun activity to take a tour of Saint Louis University’s campus. She described that during the tour she found, “their values were values that I wanted to have going into adulthood.” These values include valuing the greater good of all over individual success.

Robertson’s Grandma was extremely excited when she chose to go to SLU because she now had family in the city. Robertson began her path at SLU studying for a degree in the business school and participating on SLU’s club rowing team. She said that her freshman year left her with, “a bad taste in my mouth,” and she was not studying what she really loved. Inspired by her Grandma, who was a third grade English teacher, she switched her major to communications. In these new classes she met a classmate who was editor at SLU for the blog site “Her Campus” who encouraged Robertson to join their staff. Roberston said Her Campus is a, “fun and relatively easy way to become a published writer.”. 

Robertson is planning to continue studying communications and is thinking about going on to Law School. While in St. Louis, Robertson still sees her Grandma on the weekends where she sometimes goes to her Grandma’s house or her Grandma comes into the city  for the weekend. She is enjoying her new major and is excited to continue this study.

Robertson practicing with her rowing team at Saint Louis University her freshman year.

Journalists Sarah Fentem and Lauren Trager spoke to a Journalism class on Thursday, February 13, about their careers in broadcasting. Lauren Trager is an investigative journalist for KMOV and Sarah Fentem is a healthcare radio host who works for KWMU Radio. 

Fentem and Trager both spoke about how the broadcasting industry has changed since they began their careers. Trager spoke about the faster pace of news due to new outlets. She said, “the digital world is moving faster than ever before.” Trager added that there are a lot more women in Journalism than there used to be. Fentem and Trager both talked about the changes in the way society views the media. They explained how they have been ethically challenged more than they ever have been before. During times that they do not receive support from the viewers Fentem said there is a new importance of “having a good editor and a good news room that supports you.” Both women shared advice with the students, Sarah spoke about how in journalism you need to realize that you have a huge responsibility and what you say impacts real people. Lauren shared that there is no story worth “selling your soul, what you put out into the world will stay there forever.” 

At the end of their talk both women discussed journalism is a fun job, but it is also extremely challenging at times. They shared that if you have a passion for journalism you should definitely pursue it, but you should be aware of the challenges such as time commitment and stress.

•