UPDATE: OSAGE VALLEY HAS ABOUT 150 PEOPLE STILL WITHOUT POWER

We have about 150 people still without power. Approximately 120 of those will be restored soon, as crews finish up the repairs near Butler. Crews are also working on an outage in southeastern Bates County. There is another chance of thunderstorms for tonight so be prepared and stay safe!

Four state park beaches temporarily closed for water quality issues‏

Four state park swimming beaches have been temporarily closed for water quality issues, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

 The state park beaches at Finger Lakes located in Columbia, Harry S Truman located in Warsaw and Wakonda located in La Grange are closed following results of water samples taken Tuesday that indicated bacteria levels higher than those recommended for waters used for swimming. Earlier this week, the state park beach at Thousand Hills located in Kirksville closed due to flooding. The beach remains closed due to flooding as well as high bacteria levels.

 The campground beach at Harry S Truman State Park remains open. Visitors to Harry S Truman State Park may stop by the office or fee booth to obtain a pass free of charge to swim at the campground beach. Once tests from the four state park beaches indicate the bacteria levels are within the standard suitable for swimming, the beaches will reopen.

 The department collects water samples from all designated beaches in the state park system weekly during the recreational season to determine suitability for swimming. Beaches will be closed for high bacteria when a single E. coli sample exceeds 235 cfu/100ml or when the geometric mean – a 30-day rolling average – exceeds 126 cfu/100 ml. The sample test results indicate a snap shot of the water quality taken at the beaches at a specific time; however, a single sample does not provide an overall sense of the water quality in the lake where the beach is located.

 The department will post the information about the beach status on the website at dnr.mo.gov as well asmostateparks.com. Visitors to Missouri State Parks are able to sign up to receive free electronic notices about the status of state park beaches while visiting the department’s beach status website.

 Missouri's state parks and historic sites offer something to suit everyone's taste - outdoor adventure, great scenery and a bit of history. With Missouri's 87 state parks and historic sites, the possibilities are boundless. For more information about Missouri state parks and historic sites and swimming beaches, visit mostateparks.com.

Butler Ladies Volleyball

Monday Morning June 3 High School Volleyball Girls Open Gym 8am. The Community DDPYoga Fitness Program will start with an 8pm workout at the Butler Elementary Old Gym. Look for the signs to come through the back gym door. This way we don't disturb the janitors doing their summer cleaning. See You Monday.

Thank You Osage Valley Electric

This pole survived but still the lines were pulled from the pole.

The truck didn't make it far past the gate. With a liitle help from the tractor, they made it back to the broken pole.

Now that the truck is where they need it, they can set the new pole.

Cutting up the tree to untangle it from the lines.

Removing the old broken pole and getting ready to set a new pole.

The photos are from Osage Valley Electrics Facebook Page. Bates County Live would like to thank all the men and women from Osage Valley Electric  for the job they do. When the weather is bad they are the first ones out to fix the problem. Much appreciated and keep up the good work.

Baseball Cancelled for Tonight

Butler Youth Baseball has been cancelled for tonight Thursday May 30,2013 due to the weather. Bates County Live will update all weather cancellations as they become available.

High Street Clinic to be closed on Fridays Now

Beginning June 7^th the Bates County Memorial Hospital High Street Family Care Clinic will be closed on Fridays.  Only the medical clinic will be closed.  Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Jerry Morris’s Clinic will be open on Fridays.

Tornado Watch for Bates County

The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill has put Bates County in a Tornado Watch unil 9:00pm this evening. Please be cautious and keep a eye to the sky. Bates County Live will update any new weather updates.

Osage Valley UPDATE

We are experiencing outages in several areas due to the storm. The line near Butler that was damaged last night has been damaged again about a half mile further down the road. We also have an outage at the Piper substation. Please call 800-889-6832 to report your outage.