(Updated) DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Bring out your dead. That’s what an Iowa funeral home is calling on families to do with the unclaimed cremated remains of nearly 100 people that it has been keeping in a locked closet for years, some since the mid-1990s. Lanae Strovers, of Hamilton’s Funeral Home in Des Moines, told TV station KCCI that she has been trying to reach the families for two years and has had some success, making arrangements for 200 sets of the ashes. But the funeral home is still trying to make arrangements for 91 others.

She says in the immediate aftermath of a death, some families aren’t emotionally ready to take home a loved one’s remains and eventually forget to pick them up. Others mistakenly think another family member picked them up. Remains that aren’t claimed in the coming weeks will be buried during a mass service on Sept. 26 at Avon Lake Cemetery.

Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber reports diagrams and plans for the next phase of the Athletic Facilities Project are set to go out to contractors, today (Thursday).

(A bid opening for the Atlantic Facilities Improvement project will be held 2-p.m. September 26^th, at the High School Media Center. The process is open to the public.)

Dave Sturm of Snyder and Associates provided the School Board with an update on the plans during their special meeting on Wednesday evening. On a related note, Barber said the Atlantic School Board approved a Construction Invoice from Allender-Butzke Engineers, Inc., of Urbandale, with regard to Geotechnical Exploration of the District ballfields and Trojan Bowl Improvements. The invoice amounts to $23,600.

The Board, Wednesday evening, discussed the district’s Strategic Plan.

They also approved the resignation of Food Service Worker Lisa Andersen, and Contract Recommendations for Ernie Hawthorne, Mark Vavricek, and Dale Retallic – Special Education drivers.

Following their regular meeting, the Board entered into a Closed Session to conduct Superintendent Steve Barber’s annual evaluation.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to keep its commitment to repair a key levee near Hamburg. The Corps ordered that the levee be lowered eight feet following flooding in 2011 and residents say that’s one reason this year’s Missouri River flooding was so devastating. Ernst says there are indications the Corps is retreating from its earlier promise to rebuild what’s called the Ditch 6 levee. “They made a commitment to bring that levee up to 919 feet and then they backed off of it,” Ernst says, “so we’ve got to do something about that and we’ll continue to push them.”

Ernst held a town hall meeting yesterday (Wednesday) in the small town of Riverton, which is in the far southwest corner of the state and fielded complaints about the Army Corps’ management of the river. Linda White of Hamburg says her family lost their farm to this spring’s flooding. “Who does the Corps actually have to…answer to?” White asked. “It seems like to us common people that they don’t answer to anybody except for themselves.”

Ernst and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley are co-sponsoring a bill calling for the Corps to make flood control of the Missouri River its highest priority.”The Corps will answer to whatever the congress directs, but understand even those of us along the MIssouri River corridor have different ideas on what those priorities should be,” Ernst said, “so if we can’t all agree up and down the river system that flood control should be the priority, it’s not going to go anywhere.”

And Ernst warns that other representatives want protection for hydroelectricity and recreational projects along the river to be priorities.

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

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NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. (AP) — An official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says a study is needed to consider changes to flood-control measures along the Missouri River south of Sioux City, Iowa. Speaking after a U.S. Senate field hearing Wednesday in North Sioux City, South Dakota, Brig. Gen. Peter Helmlinger noted such a study could call for actions such as changing the Missouri River channel in the Sioux City area to let the river spread out and carry more water.

The Sioux City Journal reports that levees also could be rebuilt farther from the river to give the waterway more room. Helmlinger, commander of the corps’ Northwestern Division, says such a study would take three years and be delivered to Congress. He spoke after answering questions at a hearing headed by Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota.

Officials say no injuries were reported following a house fire early this morning, in Shelby. According to a social media post by Minden Fire and Rescue, their crews were dispatched at around 4:30-a.m., to assist the Shelby and Avoca Fire and Rescue Departments. No other details are currently available.

The Creston Police Department reports 68-year old Rosalie Jackson, of Creston, was arrested at the Creston Wal-Mart, Wednesday afternoon. She was taken into custody on a 5th Degree Theft charge, cited and released from the scene, on a Promise to Appear in court.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — Officials in suburban Des Moines are seeking answers on what has caused a creek there to turn bright green. The Des Moines Register reports that city officials reached out to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday morning after a Clive resident posted a photo online of a vivid green Walnut Creek.

Department officials have since taken samples of the water, but Clive Assistant City Manager Pete DeKock says the department has not shared the results with city officials. DNR senior environmental specialist Janet Gastineau says the agency has traced the green water back to a lake in the Country Club development, but did not say caused the bright green color.

(Radio Iowa) — One person was killed, another injured, when two cars collided on Highway 30 near Ames last night (Wednesday). Reportedly, a westbound 2018 Chevrolet Equinox driven by 83-year-old Nancy Dean of Boone was slowing down to a near stop in the traveled lane for an unknown reason. Another westbound vehicle, a 2018 Nissan Rogue driven by 22-year-old Taylor McIntire of Boone was unable to avoid striking the Dean vehicle.

The McIntire vehicle came to a stop in the north ditch with the Dean vehicle landing in the median of the highway. Dean was transported to Mary Greeley Medical Center where she died of her injuries. McIntire was also transported to Mary Greeley for treatment of minor injuries. The accident remains under investigation.