DNR to keep Mo. park beach closed

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state park beach in northeast Missouri will remain closed because of high water and high levels of bacteria.

The beach at Mark Twain State Park in Monroe County was already closed because of the high water level. On Wednesday, the Department of Natural Resources said recent tests for E. coli also showed high levels of the bacteria.

DNR also said Wednesday that a different testing program did not turn up high levels of bacteria at any of 51 sites at the Lake of the Ozarks. Those tests are part of a five-year water quality monitoring program funded by utility Ameren Corp.

The samples were taken Monday from the Gravois and Osage arms of the Lake of the Ozarks.