KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — After a year that has seen some of the worst flooding ever in parts of the Midwest, concern is already rising that the spring of 2020 may bring more high water to places that still haven’t fully recovered.

Flooding ravaged much of the Missouri and Mississippi River basins earlier this year, reaching record levels in many places. Eight months later, parts of the Missouri River are above flood stage at a time of the year when river levels traditionally run low. Conditions are only slightly better on the Mississippi River.

High river levels aren’t the only worry. National Weather Service hydrologist Mark Fuchs cites two other factors: Soil is extremely saturated in several upper Midwestern states, and the long-range forecast offers a strong possibility of a wetter-than-normal winter.

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Two people are dead and one person is badly injured after an accident in central Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that the accident happened about 7 a.m. Friday in Jasper County when a Chevrolet Impala went off the roadway and rolled. Authorities are investigating to determine what caused the accident.

The driver, 23-year-old Dallis Harrison of Newton, and a 16-year-old passenger, Isaiah Eliander of Garwin, were both ejected and killed. A 15-year-old passenger, Kylie Eliander, was not ejected and was seriously hurt.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reported a pair of incidents Friday.

Just after 7:00 am, deputies received a call from an individual stating that he had located a small child sitting inside a storage tote located outside of 907 Adams Street in Corning.  Deputies took the child into protective custody until a family member was located.  The child was later identified and a safety plan was put in place as she was turned over to a designated family member.  After investigating, at about 3:00 pm, deputies arrested both James Coleman and Kaitlyn DeYoung for child endangerment.  The incident remains under investigation by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and the DHS.

Shortly after 10:00 Friday night deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle owned and operated by Gabrielle Hunke of Mount Ayr.  The county K-9 gave a positive alert to the odor of narcotics.  After investigating further, Hunke and a passenger, Jawanza Curtis, Jr. of Iowa City were both placed under arrest for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Deliver and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  Curtis was also charged with Interference with Official Acts.  Hunke was also charged with Minor in Possession of Alcohol.

Red Oak police arrested 35 year old Jeremy Ray Dilocker at about 10:30 Friday night in the 300 block of Coolbaugh Street.  Police report Dilocker was charged with 3rd or subsequent offense Public Intoxication, an aggravated misdemeanor.  Dilocker was held at the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Two people accused in the shooting death of a man suspected of stealing a friend’s car are scheduled for trial next year in western Iowa. Pottawattamie County District Court records say 25-year-old Jonathan Echtinaw and 23-year-old Carissa Kendall, have pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. They’re scheduled to go on trial Jan. 7 in Council Bluffs. Nebraska court records say they live in Omaha.

Echtinaw is accused of shooting 18-year-old Ethan Edgar, of Hutchinson, Kansas, on May 6. Authorities say Echtinaw, Kendall and other friends of a woman who’d reported the car’s theft to Omaha police went looking for it. They spotted at a Council Bluffs gas station. Authorities say Kendall stopped her vehicle behind the stolen car to help block it, and Echtinaw opened fire when Edgar put the car into reverse and rammed Kendall’s vehicle.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Clarinda man on Thursday. At 5:00pm Deputies arrested 62-year-old Robert Wade Harbin of Clarinda for Aggravated Assault and Simple Assault following an incident in the 200 block of Central Avenue in Villisca. Harbin was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania court has rejected the appeal of a man convicted of killing two sisters who lived next door to him in Pittsburgh and were sisters of an Iowa state lawmaker. Forty-nine-year-old Allen Wade was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the February 2014 deaths of Sarah and Susan Wolfe, who were found shot to death in the basement of their East Liberty home.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that a Superior Court panel rejected his appeal arguments, including a challenge to prosecutors’ use of a hat containing his DNA found in the victims’ home five weeks before their deaths. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but a jury deadlock led to a life without parole sentence. The victims were sisters of Democratic Iowa state Rep. Mary Wolfe.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A woman who stole thousands of dollars from the Open Bibles Churches organization in the Des Moines area has been given a suspended prison sentence and forgiveness by the organization’s leaders. Polk County District Court records say 55-year-old Michelene Kinning was sentenced Nov. 21 to two years’ probation and a suspended 10-year prison term. She also paid more than $154,000 in restitution. The records say she’d pleaded guilty to theft.

The Des Moines Register reports that Randall Bach is president of Open Bible Churches, and he said last week that church representatives thought probation and the suspended prison time were appropriate punishments. Bach says church representatives were shocked to learn what Kinning had done while working at the organization headquarters, “but we forgive her.”

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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