DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is set to visit three flood-damaged towns in western Iowa. Branstad and Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Administrator Brig. Gen. Derek Hill are set to visit with local officials in Blencoe, Missouri Valley and Pacific Junction today (Wednesday).

Branstad’s office also says that the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration and county officials will start conduct assessments in six counties beginning today.

Branstad asked U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack last week for a Secretarial Disaster Designation for Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Pottawattamie and Woodbury counties.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The Red Cross has opened a 24-hour shelter in Council Bluffs to help people affected by the flooding along the Missouri River.

Red Cross officials say the clinic opened Tuesday evening at First Assembly of God Church in Council Bluffs. The shelter will provide meals, minor first aid, referrals and a safe place to stay.

Officials say other shelters remain on standby in counties along the river in both Iowa and Nebraska.

Firefighters from Adair, Anita and Wiota were called to a reported structure fire early this morning, about 3-miles south/southwest of Adair, in Adair County. Adair Deputy Fire Chief Scott Harkins told KJAN News the call from the Oliver residence at 1407 Cedar Avenue, came in at around 3:19-a.m.

Firefighters from Anita and Wiota were paged-out to assist Adair Fire about 25-minutes later.

Harkins says the fire appears to have started in the attic, and was electrical in nature. The flames then spread to the insulation and woodwork. No injuries were reported. Harkins said there was minimal fire damage, but the house did sustained smoke and water damage. No dollar amount of the damage was immediately available.

Officials with the Iowa Department on Aging says several community conversations will take place across the state this summer, to give people an opportunity to understand the aging network, and the IDA an opportunity to understand the concerns you might have with regard to aging. The meetings, appropriately entitled “A Conversation on Aging Issues,“ will also offer an opportunity to discuss H-F 45, a legislative mandate to reduce the number of Area Agencies on Aging.

Everyone is welcomed to partake in the conversation at meetings scheduled to take place locally, in Atlantic, Creston and Carroll.

The meeting in: Atlantic, will be held on July 28^th, from 12:30-to 2-pm, at Iowa Western Community College, and later that same day in Creston, from 5-to 6:30-p.m. The session in Carroll will be held August 4^th, from 12:30-to 2-p.m., at the Carroll Chamber of Commerce.

For more information, call 1-800-532-3213, or e-mail aging.conversations@iowa.gov.

Police in Atlantic, Tuesday, reported three people were arrested over the Fourth of July Holiday weekend. 23-year old Joseph Fredericksen, of Atlantic, was arrested Saturday on charges which included Interference with Official Acts, Public Intoxication, and Assault on a Peace Officer. That same day, 24-year old Jeffrey Knight, of Atlantic, was arrested for 5^th degree theft.

And, on Monday, 21-year old Darnell Coleman, of Atlantic, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault.

All three men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

A Clarinda man was listed in critical condition following a crash between a van and semi tractor trailer Tuesday afternoon, in Clarinda. The Iowa State Patrol says 79-year old Charles Bashor was flown by LifeNet Helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha following the crash at the intersection of 8th Street and the Highway 2/71 bypass at around 12:23-p.m.

Officials say a 2004 Chrysler van driven by Bashor was traveling north on 8th Street and came to the intersection with Highway 2/71. The van left the stop sign and was struck by a 2007 Peterbilt semi, driven by 62-year old Richard Schaefer, of Carroll, and registered to Crouse Transportation Services, LLC, in Carroll.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced an Iowa man to serve 15 years in prison for production of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson on Tuesday sentenced 30-year-old Gabriel Simmons of Onawa, Iowa. Simmons pleaded guilty in April in exchange for prosecutors dropping three other related charges against him.

Simmons posed as an employee of a modeling agency and persuaded a Wyoming teenager to send him sexually explicit images of herself over the Internet.

Prosecutors say Simmons had threatened to send photos to the girl’s family and school if she didn’t continue to send him more. The then 14-year-old girl contacted law enforcement last July.

Simmons apologized in court, saying he was sorry for the pain, confusion and embarrassment he caused the girl.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is naming the daughter of 2008 Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee to help lift his own effort ahead of a key test of strength in Iowa. Pawlenty’s campaign says Sarah Huckabee Sanders begins today as the former Minnesota governor’s senior adviser for the state’s Republican straw poll.

The August 13 event at Iowa State University is seen as a test of strength for Republican presidential candidates ahead of the leadoff caucuses, set for February. Pawlenty has spent a year and a half meeting Iowa Republicans and building a circle of top Iowa consultants, but registered only 6 percent in a recent Iowa poll.

Sanders was Huckabee’s 2008 national political director. Huckabee finished second in the August straw poll and surged to win

the caucuses.

Congressman Steve King, of Kiron (R-IA)

Western Iowa 5^th District Republican Congressman Steve King toured the area affected by Missouri River flooding last week, along with Governor Terry Branstad and Homeland Security/Emergency Management Director, General Derek Hill. King told KJAN News he’s proud of the effort Iowans have put forth to try and protect homes, businesses and farm land from the “Mighty Mo.” He says the amount of water coming down the river is unprecedented, and it’s going to be a very long Summer.

He credit’s the residents and officials in Hamburg in particular, with putting forth a valiant effort to protect the community. King says during his aerial tour of the flooded area, the extent of the flooding became clear. He says the water is a minimum of 1.5-miles wide in some locations, while in other areas, it’s about 11-miles wide.

And, while some have criticized the Army Corps of Engineers for not acting quickly enough to relieve pressure on the Gavins Point Dam this past Spring, King says they appear to have done everything “by-the-book,” but their actions will be scrutinized during a Congressional hearing.

On the topic of Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachman’s announcement last week she intends to run for President, King was asked if he will endorse her bid. He says she’s been a good friend of his since she came to Congress, and, while she’s near the top of the polls, he’s not willing to step forth and back her because she has to earn her place in the political arena by convincing voters at the straw poll and the state’s first in the nation caucuses she’s the best candidate for the job.

King says he wasn’t in Waterloo for her announcement because it would have come across as an endorsement of her candidacy. He says if Sarah Palin were to enter the race, he doubts the two women would ever team-up as the first female President-Vice Presidential candidates in the nominating process.