Maria Altman

Updated 3:23 p.m. with statement from McCaskill

Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri says if the Army Corps of Engineers doesn’t increase water flow from the upper Missouri River the next move may be to ask the president to step in.

The Corps began reducing the outflow from a dam in South Dakota on Friday.

That means less water for the already-low Mississippi River, which could lead to restrictions or even a halt on barge traffic by mid-December.

Senator Blunt says transportation down the river could be severely impacted if nothing is done.

The U.S. Senate race in Missouri was sewed up by Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill by 10 p.m. last night.

McCaskill got nearly 58 percent of Missouri ‘s vote compared to Republican Congressman Todd Akin’s 39 percent.

Early in the campaign, pundits predicted McCaskill would not be able to hold onto her seat.

But as St. Louis Public Radio’s Maria Altman reports, it was a race filled with strange turns.

Starting with an upward battle

St. Louis is one of the few cities in the U.S. that does not control its own police department.

On Tuesday, Missouri voters will decide whether the city should regain oversight of its police force for the first time in 151 years.

But as St. Louis Public Radio’s Maria Altman reports there’s disagreement over Proposition A within the city.

Anything but simple

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is right across the street from City Hall.

Several Metro East communities want to negotiate electricity supply costs for their residents and businesses.

A 2009 law allows Illinois cities and counties to contract with suppliers in order to negotiate prices with electric utilities.

It’s called "municipal aggregation" and referendums are on the ballot in Belleville, Collinsville, and Edwardsville. Click here for a complete list.

Nearly 250 Illinois municipalities already have done so, including Alton and Glen Carbon.

In the upcoming election, Missouri voters will decide whether to change how judges are chosen in the Show Me State.

More than 70 years ago Missourians voted for a nominating system that strove to take political influence out of the judiciary.

But as St. Louis Public Radio's Maria Altman reports, Constitutional Amendment 3 made it to November's ballot after increased criticism of that plan in recent years.

How it all works - now