SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Missouri River has received a special blessing from an Iowa church that hopes the ceremony will make the river holy and reduce flooding and drought.  The Sioux City Journal reports Father Lucas Rice led a group of congregants from St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Sioux City in the ceremony on Sunday.

In 2012, communities all along the river in Iowa and Nebraska experienced severe drought. The year before, flooding along the Missouri caused widespread damage.  Rice says he hopes the blessing will make the river healthy. The ceremony held at the foot of a boat ramp is also part of the Orthodox tradition of celebrating Jesus Christ’s baptism.  But Sunday’s ceremony marked the first time the Sioux City church that was formed in 1916 blessed the Missouri River.

(9-a.m. News)

There were Iowa connections to the weekend standoff in Aurora, Colorado, that claimed the lives of four people, including the gunman. One of the victims in the incident has been identified as Stacie Philbrook and an individual who escaped the shooting was Stephanie Philbrook Archuleta. They are the daughters of Greg Philbrook of Kamrar in Hamilton County.

Relatives say Philbrook Archuleta is okay after the ordeal that happened at about 3:00 Saturday morning. Aurora police have not yet released the name of the gunman. A SWAT team stormed the town home five hours later. As they entered the home, the team discovered the bodies of Stacie Philbrook and the three other individuals. The incident remains under investigation.

(Pat Powers/Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Public Safety is asking for the public’s help in finding two Council Bluffs women. Nineteen-year-old Sakadee Donyen and 25-year-old Amra Dupanovic were reported to the agency as missing persons on Sunday. Authorities have not released any other details about the circumstances of their disappearance or if the two cases are even related. No photos of the women are immediately available. Donyen is described as a black woman five foot three inches tall, weighing 165 pounds. Dupanovic is described as a black woman five feet nine inches tall, weighing 190 pounds. Authorities advise anyone who might see either individual to not take any action, other than taking note of relevant information and immediately contacting the Iowa Department of Public Safety at 800-346-5507.

(Chuck Morris/Radio Iowa)

The Guthrie Center Police Department is asking for your help in catching the person or persons responsible for the theft and use of two vehicles and damage to nine other vehicles. The incidents occurred within the Guthrie Center city limits early Saturday morning. Two vehicles, which were taken and used without the owners’ consent, were later located. Officials say most of the property taken from the other vehicles was also later recovered. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information about the crimes should contact the Guthrie Center Police Department.