(Continued from page 29)

the Mississippi where the rivers converge near St. Louis.
• The National Weather Service revised its forecast for the river Wednesday, showing the water level isn't dropping as quickly as feared. The Coast Guard has said further restrictions on barge traffic -- most notably in a 180-mile stretch between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill. -- are likely if the river at St. Louis drops by another four feet -- a level the weather service believes may come about Dec. 29.
• Thursday's drought update wasn't encouraging, noting that forecasts for the rest of this week call for a storm system to bring at least an inch of rain to a broad area from parts of Mississippi and Arkansas near the Mississippi River -- south of the river stretch were the rainfall is most needed.
• Rainfall measuring two to four inches is possible near where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers converge at Cairo, Rich Tinker of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center wrote in Thursday's update.
• "Mississippi River flow continued to decline, and it may be necessary to close parts of the river to barge and shipping traffic at some point," Tinker wrote, noting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' scramble to dredge in a bid to keep as much of the river navigable for as long as possible.
• For much of next week, Tinker said, below-normal precipitation is expected across roughly the southwestern quarter of the continental U.S. and in the central Great Plains, with warmer-than-normal conditions holding sway across the northeastern quarter of the contiguous 48 states and the south-central Plains.
•
• Dakotas rank high in funding of tobacco programs
• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- North Dakota ranks second in the nation and South Dakota eleventh in the funding of programs to prevent youth smoking and to help smokers quit.
• The annual rankings were released Thursday by a coalition of public health groups including the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids and the American Cancer Society. North Dakota's rank did not change over the year. South Dakota's rank fell from eighth in fiscal 2012.
• The report says North Dakota spent $8.2 million on tobacco prevention and cessation in fiscal 2013, about 88 percent of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.
• South Dakota spent $4 million, about 35 percent of the CDC recommendation.
•