- Parts of Missouri are cleaning up after strong storms swept across the state overnight. The storms may have resulted in a few tornadoes late last night and early this morning. High winds knocked down power lines and trees in parts of the St. Louis area. There were no reports of injuries. Wind gusts of up to 70 mph were common in the St. Louis area.
- Crews with Ameren Missouri are working to restore power to thousands of customers throughout Missouri. Storms and high winds caused widespread outages that numbered 43,000 at the peak. Ameren is still assessing damage and can't say for sure when power will be restored to all customers. As of 9 a.m., Ameren Illinois was reporting that nearly 12,000 customers are without electric service. The hardest hit Illinois counties are Madison and St. Clair.
- The Missouri Attorney General says problems with debt collectors were the most common complaint registered with his office in 2010. Attorney General Chris Koster says more than 2,000 people called his office to complain of being harassed or threatened by debt collectors. Some said they even received calls from companies to which they didn't owe money. Koster says the state can investigate if it receives a complaint.
Morning headlines: Monday, Feb. 28, 2011
