Briefly 10/19/18

Hyperloop study touts I-70 route

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A new study says the approximately 250-mile (400 kilometer) trip from Kansas City to St. Louis could be slashed to a half-hour's time, but an ultra-high-speed Hyperloop system across Missouri wouldn't come cheap.

KMBC-TV reported Kansas City-based Black and Veatch found in its analysis the Hyperloop could run in the median or along the side of Interstate 70. The study was accepted Wednesday by Virgin Hyperloop One, a company working to develop the world's first Hyperloop system.

Hyperloop technology involves a tubular track through which a train-like pod carries passengers at speeds up to 640 mph. It's not cheap. Some estimates have put the cost at $25 million to $27 million per mile, excluding land acquisition.

Missouri man killed in helicopter crash

FULTON, Mo. -- Authorities say a man has been killed in a helicopter crash in central Missouri.

The Callaway County Sheriff's Office says in a Facebook post the crash was reported at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Deputies began talking to witnesses who reported the helicopter appeared to be in distress before it went down. A Missouri State Highway Patrol helicopter and several agencies helped search for the wreckage before it was found around 3:15 p.m. in a remote area east of the Fulton city limits.

The post says 47-year-old Charles Prather, of St. Peters, Missouri, was killed. He was the aircraft's sole occupant. It also says the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate, which is standard for aviation crashes.

Driver suspected of drinking before crash

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- A northwest Missouri man has been arrested for allegedly driving drunk and 110 mph on the wrong side of a Missouri highway before a head-on crash that injured two people.

The St. Joseph News-Press reported the crash happened Wednesday night on Interstate 29 about 5 miles north of St. Joseph. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the wrong-way driver wasn't hurt. But the driver of a Jeep Patriot he hit suffered minor injuries and the passenger was flown to a St. Joseph hospital with serious injuries.

The wrong-way driver was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, second-degree assault, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving 110 mph in a 70 mph zone.

-- From wire reports