Iowa’s largest utility says it is -not- switching off the lights in one of the state’s smallest towns, left nearly vacant after many residents fled approaching flood waters. Tina Potthoff, spokeswoman for MidAmerican Energy, says she wants to separate fact from fiction as the Missouri River rises and swallows up more acres in southwest Iowa.

“There’s been a lot of rumors circulating that we are shutting off power,” Potthoff says. “That is not the case. We are monitoring the situation on an hourly and daily basis. At this time, we do not have plans to shut off the power in Hamburg.” Potthoff says MidAmerican will only cut off the electricity in certain cases — at the request of the customer, if the utility determines the situation is hazardous or if city or emergency officials make the request.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

BLAIR, Neb. (AP) – The Missouri River is now expected to rise 2-feet higher at Blair, Neb., than experts predicted previously. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it revised its prediction for the river near Blair because of new information it received about how fast the water is moving at that point.

The Corps now says the river will rise to between 32 and 34 feet next week after releases from Gavins Point Dam increase to 150,000 cubic feet per second. The river at Blair was already at 30.16 feet Friday. That’s well above the flood stage of 26.5 feet.

The Corps says the gauge at Blair doesn’t collect data on the flow rate, so a team was sent out to collect that. This adjustment doesn’t affect other locations on the river.

A district court judge in Pottawattamie County Thursday, sentenced a Council Bluffs woman to 50-years in prison for her role in the stabbing death of another woman. Fourth District Court Judge James Heckerman handed down the sentence against 22-year old Lisa Reeves, who pled guilty to second-degree murder for the January 14^th death of 39-year old Tammy Rocha. Reeves’ attorney, public defender Greg Jones, said his client pleaded guilty because of the possibility of spending the rest of her life in prison if convicted of first degree murder.

Reeves was originally charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery and conspiracy. She will be eligible for parole after 35 years. Prosecutors alleged that it was Lisa Reeves who stabbed Rocha seven times with a knife in front of the Reeves residence in Council Bluffs, after Rocha stole four rings and a cellphone from her the night before.

Reeves; her father, Brian Reeves; and two other men were arrested in the hours and days following Rocha’s death. Brian Reeves pleaded guilty to three lesser charges in the case and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in May. He’ll have to serve seven years before he’s eligible for parole.

A jury found Clarence Woolsoncroft guilty earlier this month of second-degree murder and two lesser crimes for his involvement in the fatal stabbing. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 20^th.

Eric Long — who is Lisa Reeves’ boyfriend — pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and was sentenced to two years in prison.