Post-Dispatch photos: Monday, December 12, 2011
Date: 12/12/2011 Album ID: 1377638
Photos by David Carson/
Photographs by staff photographers
Becky Jones wipes a tear from her eyes as she stands in the living room her home  in Mississippi County that was flooded on Thursday December 8, 2011.  Jones and her husband McIvan Jones had lived in the house for 35 years.  The home was flooded when the US Army Corps of Engineers activated the Birds Point floodway by using explosives to blow a hole in the levee in May 2011 to relieve pressure from the rising river levels on the levee walls in Cairo, Ill.  The couple plan to tear down the home in the spring as they can not rebuild the home without raising the home up 10 feet. 
Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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Eddie Spralls, a deckhand with the US Army Corps of Engineers, climbs into a hesco barrier to compact the soil that was dumped into it help form a temporary levee at Birds Point in Mississippi County on Thursday December 8, 2011. The barriers are part of the second phase of the reconstruction of 9,000 feet of the upper part of the Birds Point levee.  The temporary levee is designed to provide flood protection to 55 feet on the gage at Cairo, Ill.   Jim Pogue, Public Affairs Office Chief for the US Army Corps of Engineers says the Corps is committed to permanently restoring the levee to 62.5 feet, it's hight before the floodway was activated, but that currently the restoration project is only funded permanently restore the levee to 55 feet.  
Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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An abandoned home in the town of Pinhook that was damaged by flood water when the Birds Point floodway was activated in May, 2011. The small, historically african american town had a population, according to a sign outside of town, of 30 people before the flood.
Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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A doll sits in a pile of debris in a trailer that was damaged by flood water when the Birds Point floodway was activated in May, 2011 flooding the small town of Pinhook.  According to a sign on the side of the road leading into town the historically african american community had a population of 30 people before the flood.  Pinhook is now largely abandoned.
Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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Retired engineers (L-R) Larry Perlmutter, Dick Place, Norris Roessler, and Gustav Fred Goetsch kept a secret for decades for their part in the construction and operation of the Hexagon spy satellite, shown projected on a wall in a portrait Wednesday, December 7, 2011, at the Post-Dispatch studio in St. Louis. Photo by Erik M. Lunsford elunsford@post-dispatch.com
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Blues goaltender Brian Elliott (center) tries to cover up the puck while being pressured by San Jose left wing Brad Winchester in third period action during a game between the St. Louis Blues and the San Jose Sharks Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.  Also defending on the play are defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk (left) and Barret Jackman (right).
Photo by Chris Lee, clee@post-dispatch.com
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Peabody eMINTS Academy pre-k teacher Marcieta Reed, left, talks with Gov. Jay Nixon, center, as he tours her pre-k classroom in St. Louis on Monday, December, 12, 2011. Gov. Nixon visited the school to applaud the St. Louis Public Schools for a $23.1 million investment in expanding access to early childhood education programs in the city.

Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle, scordle@post-dispatch.com
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Gov. Jay Nixon, center, laughs with pre-k teacher Shauna Hall, right, and teacher's assistant Samone Smith on December, 12, 2011 in St. Louis. Gov. Nixon visited the school to applaud the St. Louis Public Schools for a $23.1 million investment in expanding access to early childhood education programs in the city.

Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle, scordle@post-dispatch.com
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Gov. Jay Nixon, right, talks with Peabody eMINTS Academy principal Carey Cunningham in St. Louis on Monday, December, 12, 2011, as they tour the school's pre-k classrooms. Gov. Nixon visited the school to applaud the St. Louis Public Schools for a $23.1 million investment in expanding access to early childhood education programs in the city.

Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle, scordle@post-dispatch.com
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Peabody eMINTS Academy principal Carey Cunningham, right, shows Gov. Jay Nixon, center, around Shauna Hall's pre-k classroom in St. Louis on Monday, December, 12, 2011, as volunteer Sebrina Johnson, left, tells a story to the students. Gov. Nixon visited the school to applaud the St. Louis Public Schools for a $23.1 million investment in expanding access to early childhood education programs in the city.

Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle, scordle@post-dispatch.com
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