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CLARKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — People in the eastern Missouri hamlet of Clarksville are getting a boost from the Missouri National Guard and even from prison inmates as they battle the surging Mississippi River.

The river is expected to crest nearly 11 feet above flood stage on Sunday at Clarksville, an unprotected town of 442 residents about 60 miles north of St. Louis. Residents and volunteers have built a makeshift levee made of gravel, plastic overlay and sandbags. On Saturday, attention turned to making sure the sandbag levee is sturdy enough to hold back the water.

Governor Jay Nixon visited Clarksville on Saturday.

KINLOCH, Mo. (AP) — The owner of a salvage yard in the impoverished St. Louis County town of Kinloch — a man who also owns Kinloch City Hall — is accused of receiving stolen property.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 37-year-old Robert Hill Junior has been the subject of a lengthy investigation. Police say his business, Complete Auto Recycling Services, knowingly purchased six stolen vehicles in 2011.

Hill declined comment.

Hill purchased the City Hall building and several other properties in Kinloch over a seven-month period in 2011 and 2012. He allowed city officials to use City Hall for about a year. But later, he was accused by the city of failing to pay the money he had promised for the properties.

The city now operates at Kinloch Learning Center.

WEST, Texas (AP) — Residents of a Central Texas town are itching to get back into neighborhoods the crater-making explosion at a fertilizer plant.

Recovery and investigation of the blast's cause have begun in earnest in West, Texas.

Many of the 2,800 residents feel stuck, unable to direct their full energies to recovery while the investigation begins into what caused Wednesday's explosion at West Fertilizer Co. The displaced and those mourning the 14 dead are making do with what remained in their control.

Bill Killough paced the lobby of a local hotel Friday, planning how to make the most of whatever time authorities grant him to visit his house 2 ½ blocks from the site. The 76-year-old planned to use what little time authorities grant to grab guns and important documents.