(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Army Corps of Engineers is agreeing to consider changes to levees along the Missouri River in an effort to avoid a repeat of recent major floods. State officials in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska worked together to suggest changes to reduce the risks following the 2019 flood. Colonel Travis Rayfield, commander of the Corps’ Kansas City District, says federal law restricts what they can do when rebuilding levees that were broken by floodwaters.

“When you do a study, that will allow us to, in our verbiage, we do a study, which is really an informal plan, will give us a chance to relook how we’ve aligned levees and structural solutions,” Rayfield says. “So what does that mean? It gives us our first chance to maybe move levees or other physical structures to let the water go through in a better manner.” Two southwestern Iowa towns, Hamburg and Pacific Junction, were heavily damaged in the 2019 flood, with Hamburg alone losing more than 70 homes. Rayfield says the new agreement comes in two parts, and the first will study the river’s flow from South Dakota all the way to St. Louis.

“We’re looking systematically at the lower 730 miles of the Missouri River,” he says. “That’s to see how much water is moving through, where it comes from and how it goes. That’s the system plan.” Rayfield says the Corps will also work to find spots where the water is not moving adequately downstream, like in Holt County in northwest Missouri. Rayfield says floods start and end locally, but this new arrangement is about coming up with solutions all the way up to the federal level.

“We need solutions for how we want that water to move through in a flood that the local government can support, the state government can support and the federal government can support,” Rayfield says. “Really, that’s what this partnership is about, is understanding what will work in this specific footprint informed by the new data and science we got from the most recent floods.” The Corps of Engineers will factor major floods in 1993, 2011 and 2019 into the study. Under current federal law, the Corps is only allowed to rebuild levees.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Market Manager Brigham Hoegh reports the upcoming Christmas Market 2022 (Thurs., Dec. 22) has a fantastic vendor lineup, and offers both in-person shopping as well as pre-ordering. Christmas Market 2022 will be held from 3-until 7-p.m. Dec. 22nd, at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, and, thanks to the hosts, the Christmas Market will offer activities for kids. Plus, you can grab pizza from food truck Zipp’s Pizzaria!

This holiday farmers market is held just days before Christmas. You’ll find lots of local produce and meats, farm-fresh eggs, delicious baked goods, seasonal candles, bath and body products, jewelry, art, decorations, and gifts.

Christmas Market 2022 offers both in-person shopping and pre-ordering. Pre-ordering will be available through www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com from Dec. 10-20. Some vendors, such as Miss NiNi’s Fine Desserts, will only be offering pre-ordered products.

Christmas Market accepts SNAP/EBT/Food Stamps and Double Up Food Bucks.

Christmas Market: Delicious. Cozy. Fresh. Local.

(Radio Iowa) – A group of national Democrats may soon recommend that another state vote first as Democrats select their presidential nominee in 2024. Former Iowa Democratic Party chairman Scott Brennan is the only Iowan on the panel that starts meeting Thursday to recommend a schedule of state primaries and caucuses for 2024.  “There’s been a real move away from Caucuses by the Democratic National Committee. They view them as inherently undemocratic…and they complain that Iowa is just not as diverse as our Democratic Party writ large,” Brennan says, “so those things combined put us in a bit of a pickle.”

The Iowa Democratic Party’s CAUCUSES have been the first presidential voting event since 1972. The first PRIMARY has been held in New Hampshire. Ray Buckley, chairman of New Hampshire’s Democratic Party, has taken a shot at another strike against Iowa — the days long delay in results from the 2020 Caucuses.  “We have held presidential primaries for over 100 years and not once have we had any reporting issues,” Buckley says.

Party leaders have said voting should begin in states that reflect the diversity of the Democratic Party and be key toss up states for winning the presidency. Judith Whitmer, chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party, says Nevada fits those goals. “As a diverse, accessible and union strong battleground state, Nevada represents the bright future of the Democratic Party,” she said. Minnesota is another state applying to take over Iowa’s lead-off spot. Ken Martin, chairman of Democratic-Farmer-Laborer Party, dismisses the idea his state’s weather in January would be too harsh for campaigning.

“March 1st, which is when our primary is now, there’s still a lot of snow on the ground and it’s still cold,” he says. “It’s not much different if you move it up a month or two.” Michigan Democrats say the Democratic sweep in this year’s elections in Michigan shows their state should kick-off the presidential campaign.

(Radio Iowa) – Thousand of homes and businesses are without power today (Tuesday) as the winter storm moves across the state. Council Bluffs and Des Moines are the hardest hit by the outages. Out on the roadways, Sergeant Alex Dinkla, of the Iowa State Patrol says driving conditions have been getting worse. “Much of the roads over western, northern, and northwestern Iowa, we’re starting to see those road conditions deteriorate very rapidly,” Dinkla says. He says conditions change as the temperature drops.

“The roads that you’re going to think are clear and wet, are actually turning to ice very quickly. So, we can’t stress enough to slow down have patience — and just allow a little extra time for your commute home or to the office, whichever it may be this afternoon,” he says. Dinkla says the changing conditions can fool drivers.

Sgt. Alex Dinkla

“Many people may think that they can drive what the posted speed limits are for whatever roadway they may be on, when they do not see the active white snow piling up in front of them. But they are very serious road conditions as it traverses from the dry pavement into wet — and then what we call the black ice,” according to Dinkla. He says the black ice can suddenly put you in a spin.

“That is very dangerous as you’re probably not going to be able to stop in time to avoid a collision or going down in the ditch,” he says. Dinka says much of what they’ve been seeing already is a lot of vehicles that are just sliding right off into the median or down into the ditch.

(Radio Iowa) – An E-R doctor at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is appealing to all gun owners in the state to lock up their weapons, especially if there are ever children in the house. Pediatric emergency medicine physician Dr. Chuck Jennissen says he’s repeatedly witnessed the tragedies that happen when people leave loaded guns in the home within reach.

“You see parents who are crying and upset with the death of their child and as bad as that is, losing a child, it’s really the family that goes on with having to live with that loss, which is a real terrible thing,” Jennissen says. “So it’s really important to try to prevent these things from happening to begin with.” Jennissen, who’s a clinical professor of emergency medicine at the U-I, says there are more guns in the U-S than any other country, and he says that’s directly related to the number of children’s deaths from firearms.

“If you look at unintentional and suicide death rates on kids five to 14 years of age, we’re about 12 times that of any other industrial country,” Jennissen says. “For kids that are zero to four years of age, our firearm-related deaths are 33 times that of most other industrialized countries.” The nation is seeing increasing rates of child and teen suicides, he says, mostly through firearms. For 10- to 19-year-olds, suicide is the number-two cause of death, only behind motor vehicle crashes. One of the biggest risk factors is access to a firearm and Jennissen recalls one case that involved an 11-year-old boy who was brought into the E-R.

“No one knew of him having any problems with mental health or suffering suicidal ideation, and he apparently must have had a bad day at school or something,” Jennissen says. “He came home, was able to get access to the handgun that was kept in the home and shot himself and died.” A survey was taken of F-F-A members at the Iowa State Leadership Conference in 2019. Of those surveyed, 58-percent said they had a handgun in their home, and 84-percent had a rifle or shotgun. They were also asked about how the guns are stored.

“A lot of the homes, the rifles were stored unlocked, over half of them were stored unlocked, 51%, and 29% of the FFAers said that the rifles, shotguns in their home were stored loaded,” Jennissen says, “and 17%, almost a fifth of them, said that they had firearms that were stored, both unlocked and loaded at least some of the time.” Studies find access to a firearm triples one’s risk of death by suicide if it’s someone who has suicidal ideations, which is why he says it’s crucial to make certain they don’t have access.