A review of the U-S Army Corps of Engineers’ management of the Missouri River begins this week, in the wake of this summer’s record flooding. Witt Anderson, director of programs for the Corps’ Northwestern Division, is overseeing the process and says the Corps will provide information but will also allow the review panel free reign. “A very high, important principle for us is that is does have independence and the integrity is maintained,” Anderson says. “They have to be able to do the work as they see fit and do it unfettered by influence from the Corps or anyone else.”

Anderson says the Corps is also analyzing what would have happened under different management scenarios. For example, if the Corps had released water from upstream reservoirs earlier this year to free up storage space for flood waters, would the region have been as devastated? “That information, coupled with this review by this independent panel, will help us have a dialogue in the basin about…future operations,” Anderson says. “That then leads to questions like, is it time to go back to Congress to seek new authority or do we need resources to do something else?”

The four-member panel includes scientists from the National Weather Service, U-S Geological Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Colorado State University. Critics have accused the Corps of failing to work aggressively enough to prevent flooding. Anderson says information gleaned from the review may be used to ask Congress for new direction on managing the Missouri River. The review officially begins tomorrow (Tuesday) and results are expected in early December.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum says moving the opening voting contests in the presidential campaign earlier puts lesser-known candidates like him at a disadvantage. A panel in Florida has decided to hold that state’s primary on January 31st, a move which means Iowa’s Caucuses won’t be held as scheduled on February 6th, but will be moved much earlier.

“I can’t say that I was pleased that Florida did what they did. I think it was no question about it, it was to the benefit of the leading candidates,” Santorum said Sunday. “You know, it takes a game that was 60 minutes and turns it into 45 minutes and, of course, if you’re ahead, you’d like the game to be played tomorrow.” Santorum’s campaign strategy was already heavily weighted toward a better-than-expected finish in an early state like Iowa, and Santorum says Florida’s decision makes a good finish in the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary an even bigger prize.

“You’re only going to have a couple of candidates that are going to have the ability to compete in Florida. The rest of the candidates are going to have to focus even more so on these early primary states because of the compressed time frame,” Santorum said. “…I think it’s going to end up Florida getting less attention, not more attention.” Santorum participated in an old-fashioned baseball game at Living History Farms in Urbandale on Sunday afternoon. He’s campaigning in Clarion, Grundy Center, Toledo and Vinton later today (Monday). Rival candidate Michele Bachmann will campaign in western Iowa this afternoon, with stops in Sioux City and Council Bluffs.

(Radio Iowa)

Congressman Steve King has just returned from a trip to Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. King was part of a congressional delegation. “To look at the friction that’s emerging there between Turkey and Greece — two of our NATO allies that seem to be lining up a little bit against one another,” King says. “And the friction exists in Cyprus because of the Turk and the Greek influence in divided Cyprus, so all of those things were extraordinarily interesting.” King says it’s important to know what’s happening in that part of the world right now.

“If Greece’s economy should collapse, then that indicates that there’s a high-risk of a domino or chain-reaction effect which could go through Italy and Spain and Portugal,” King says, “perhaps Ireland and Belgium and other countries.” King was returning to the United States when news broke that key al Qaida operatives in Yemen had been assassinated.

“I’m glad to add my voice to the entire Iowa delegation in encouragement of the administration and our military and our CIA and all of the people out there with their lives on the line,” King says. “They have landed a severe blow to the al Qaida network.” Others, like Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, have said the slain al Qaida leaders had rights, because they were American citizens, and the Obama administration violated the constitution with the assassinations. King disagrees with that assertion.

“If they are attacking and killing us, of course we have to strike back,” King says. “That’s what the president’s done and I support his move.” On Friday, the four other congressmen from Iowa made statements of support for the action in Yemen.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Sioux City mail processing center has closed despite attempts to save it. The final pieces of mail went through the center on Saturday morning. Operations are being transferred to a processing center in Sioux Falls, S.D. The postal service announced the consolidation decision in June as part of its plan to cut its staggering losses. Iowa’s congressional delegation and others tried to fight the closure. Postal officials have said local mail delivery will not be affected by the move. However, Sioux City will lose about 70 jobs.