AMES, Iowa – Nov. 16, 2011 – Over the Veterans Day holiday weekend, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) restored traffic on Iowa 333 into Hamburg.

Hwy 333 flooding in Sep. 2011

This marked a significant milestone in Iowa’s fast-track flood recovery effort, as this was the last section of state highway to remain closed as a result of the Missouri River flooding.

Iowa 333 was closed in June when a temporary levee was constructed around Hamburg and across the highway to protect the town. Flooding eventually inundated the highway with several feet of water, damaging the roadway and bridge approach.

Fremont County and the city of Hamburg were hard hit as a result of the Missouri River flooding. Flooding took an economic toll on businesses that lost access to the interstate, as well as to the many regional business and recreational travelers the highway brought to the area. Flooding closures significantly impacted local residents by adding miles to their daily commutes.

The Iowa DOT joins the residents of Fremont County in welcoming visitors back to Iowa, and encourages travelers to make a stop in Hamburg (I-29, exit 1) or any one of the other communities easily accessed from Interstate 29.

(DOT Press Release)

SIDNEY, Iowa (AP) – Officials say the levee near Percival that failed in last summer’s Missouri River flooding will undergo temporary repairs but will remain vulnerable to severe flooding next year. According to reports, damage to the levee is about $120 million but only $10 million has been received to fix it. Pat Sheldon of the local levee district says it’s going to take time to clear legal hurdles and ensure the work is done right. Kim Thomas of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the Percival levee is a top priority but money is limited. The agency says the levee will be repaired to handle a 25-year flood by March 1, but it will take a year or more to restore it to the way it was before the flooding.

The Union County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a reported armed robbery. The incident was said to have occurred at around 1:30-p.m., Sunday, at 120th and Beechwood Ave., or about 5-miles southwest of Orient.  Authorities say Ronnie Gilbert, of Corning, said  he was robbed an gunpoint by an unknown male suspect in a tan Chevrolet or GMC pick-up. An undisclosed amount of money was taken. Anyone with information relating to the incident is aksed to contact the Union County Law Enforcement Center, at 641-782-8402.

The Iowa Department of Revenue won’t be mailing out income tax forms and instruction books to taxpayers this year. Department spokesperson, Kay Arvidson, says it’s a move that many states and the I-R-S have already made. Arvidson says you can still call or e-mail the department if you want the paper forms. She says they wanted to be sure that people can still have access to the information, they are just not mailing them to homes any more. Iowa is one of the leading states for electronic tax filing and Arvidson says fewer people actually need to have the paper forms.

Arvidson says they have cut back on the number of paper books over the last several years and she says they are like the rest of state goverment and watching every dollar that is spent. She says they can save over 50-thousand dollars by only sending the documents to the people that want them rather and mailing them to everyone’s home. Libraries have been one of the main places people could pick up the tax forms but that is changing too.

Arvidson says they’ve provided information to the libraries on how to direct people to their website for the forms, but she says the paper forms will no longer be given to the libraries to be handed out to the public. Arvidson says it is part of the evolving use of on-line tax filing. Arvidson says it’s a big change, but an important change for efficiency as people move into the electronic realm. She says they don’t want to leave anyone out, so the paper forms will still be available.

If you still want paper tax forms you can get them online at: www.iowa.gov/tax. You can call the state forms order line at 1-800-532-1531 or request a form by e-mail at: IowaTaxForms@Iowa.gov. You can also request forms via mail from the department of stop by their office on the 4th floor of the Hoover State Office Building at 1305 East Walnut street in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa)