MORE NOTABLE LOUISIANA PEOPLE:

Based on preparations for the big bicentennial, you should add MO statesman John B. Henderson. “World-renowned local artist John Stoeckly is creating a bronze bust of Henderson.” I’ve loitered in his shop as he’s carved the wax bust which has gone to a shop in Chesterfield for the traditional casting and pouring process of the final bust.

As a US Senator, John Brooks Henderson co-authored the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution which prohibited slavery.

The bust will be dedicated on July 4th and permanently placed in Riverview Park overlooking the Mississippi River.

Built in 1927, the Champ Clark Bridge connecting Missouri and Illinois via US highway 54 is being replaced. Scheduled to open fall 2019, the bridge was built to honor the congressional representative and speaker of the house. Construction pictures and video can be seen at http://www.champclarkbridge.com the website of the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Built in 1873, at the southern end of town is the third oldest bridge across the Mississippi River. The railroad bridge was fully rebuilt in 1898 using the original concrete piers with several trestle spans replaced in 1945. The 444-foot turnstile railroad bridge rotates ninety degrees allowing barges to pass in two 195 foot wide channels upstream to Hannibal and Quincy and downstream to St. Louis and Memphis. Today the Kansas City Southern Railway operates daily east and westbound freight trains.

Sightings of North Korean submarines remain unfounded.