Johanna Mayer

Mo. Gov. Jay Nixon is asking President Barack Obama to issue a major disaster declaration for 23 northern counties hit by severe storms and flooding along the Missouri River. He announced the request Monday.

The disaster request would cover events since June 1. If approved, it would allow government aid to flow to families and public agencies that have suffered losses. The counties included in the request are:

The FBI is warning that aiming laser pointers at flying aircraft is a serious offense punishable by years in jail and thousands of dollars in fines.

At a press conference Monday, St. Louis officials said that pilots typically report several laser strikes per day.

Doug Reinholz is a helicopter pilot with the St. Louis Police Department.  He says the light from laser pointers can be blinding to pilots, particularly at night.

"It's equivalent to like a flash of a camera if you were in a pitch black car at night," Reinholz said.

Lambert -St. Louis International Airport is seeing an increase in passengers for the third straight month.

In June, the airport experienced a 4.4 percent increase in the number of departing passengers, which matches the numbers from a year ago.

Airport spokesman Jeff Lea says the airport is recovering from tough economic times in 2009 and 2010.

Several construction projects will impact traffic on metro area interstates this weekend, mainly around downtown St. Louis and I-270 near I-44.

Joplin tornado contributes to unemployment

Missouri officials say the May 22 tornado in Joplin contributed to the net loss of 13,000 jobs in the state. Joplin alone lost 9,400 jobs in June. The State Department of Economic Development says Missouri’s jobless rate fell from 8.9 percent in May to 8.8 percent in June. In recovery efforts, Gov. Jay Nixon will make a speech Tuesday in Joplin to announce what he calls a “major initiative to address both the near-term and long-term housing needs.”