COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Officials are preparing for the third round of Missouri River flooding in Western Pottawattamie County. Current river forecasts call for a nearly four and a half foot rise in the river over the next week. At these levels, many of the areas that have recently seen some relief could once again find themselves inundated with floodwaters. There is also a very real potential that the Interstates 680 and 29 could once again be impacted by encroaching waters.

Increased risk flood area (Pott. Co. EMA image) – click to enlarge

In a statement late Friday evening, Doug Reed, emergency management director for Pottawattamie County, said “The time to prepare is now.” Residents in areas that still have ponding water, recently receded water, damaged levees, or damaged drainage ditches should take proactive measures to protect their property and themselves. Reed said, “With the heavy rains experienced north of us, there’s no doubt we will see a significant rise on the river.”

Reed also commented that the Corps of Engineers announced reductions for Gavin’s Point over this weekend in attempt to help reduce the overall crest to try and keep the interstate system open.

Officials urge residents and travelers to remain aware of conditions over the next week, especially the northwest portion of the county. If your house flooded previously then you should assume that it may do so once again. There are many variables that make predicting the flood extent of this event very difficult when you consider that some temporary repairs have been made to levees and drainage ditches, some have not, fluctuating flows from the dam system, and any future rainfalls in the basin.

Residents should pay close attention to local media outlets, the National Weather Service, the Emergency Management 2019 Flood website and emergency management social media platforms to stay aware of updated conditions. Reed said “We urge residents to use the information we provide to make the best decision for their safety and protection of their property.”

Those living in the northwest portion of the county should remain on high alert over the next week and be prepared to leave their homes should it become necessary. If the river forecast is accurate we can expect to lose access to some of our roads which means residents may not be able to leave the area when needed and emergency services will have difficulty and delays getting to them.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The opioid crisis has hit virtually every pocket of the U.S., from rural towns in deeply conservative states to big cities in liberal-leaning ones. But a curious divide has opened up. The nation’s Republican state attorneys general have, for the most part, lined up in support of a tentative multibillion-dollar settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, while their Democratic counterparts have mostly come out against it, decrying it as woefully inadequate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say an officer shot a homeless man who tried to evade police and then threatening one of them with a knife. The shooting happened early Friday afternoon near the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway Bridge over the Raccoon River. Police Sgt. Paul Parizek says officers responding to complaints about the homeless camp encountered a 26-year-old man who jumped into the river and later armed himself with a knife. Police say he was threatening an officer with the knife when he was shot.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The amount of water to be released into the lower Missouri River will change in the coming days to accommodate recent heavy rains in the Upper Plains. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a news release Friday that water releases from Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will be reduced to 65,000 cubic feet per second on Saturday and down to 60,000 cubic feet per second on Sunday. Soon thereafter, releases will be incrementally increased to up to 80,000 cfs.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — A man has testified that he saw a woman burn bloody clothes at her eastern Iowa home a day or two after prosecutors allege that she beat her ex-boyfriend to death with a baseball bat in 1992. Scott Payne told a jury Thursday that Annette Cahill said the clothes were covered with red paint, but that he knew it was blood because of his days slaughtering pigs. Cahill was charged last year with first-degree murder in the beating death Corey Wieneke.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Missouri was arrested Thursday night on numerous charges following an incident in Tabor. 25-year old Brandon Yost, of Tarkio, MO., faces charges that include Possession of a Controlled Substance, Methamphetamine, Violation of a Protection Order, False Imprisonment, Domestic Abuse with intent to inflict serious injury, and Criminal mischief. Yost is being held on a $6,000 10% cash/surety bond after his initial appearance with a Magistrate.

Brandon Yost

Yost was also arrested on a valid Fremont County warrant for Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and on a valid Page County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. His bond on those charges amounts to $2,100.

Authorities say that at around 8:17-p.m., Thursday, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office took several reports of a female in a vehicle yelling that someone was trying to kill her, in Tabor. Callers followed the vehicle to the 2800 block of Waubonsie Avenue in rural Tabor. During the altercation, the male, identified as Brandon Yost, exited the vehicle, climbed onto the hood and began breaking the windshield. Upon law enforcement arrival, Yost fled a short distance and was apprehended quickly.

Yost was also arrested after a search warrant involving a Fremont County K9, was conducted on a vehicle belonging him, and not connected with the other cases. He was arrested in that matter at the Fremont County Jail and is being held on $1,000 cash bond in that case for Possession of Marijuana. Yost is awaiting his initial appearance with a Magistrate in this case. Yost was also out of jail on bond, in connection to a previous burglary arrest in Page County.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Tabor Police Department investigated separate incidents in this case. They were assisted by the Mills County Sheriff’s Office and Tabor Rescue.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The opioid crisis has hit virtually every pocket of the U.S., from rural towns in deeply conservative states to big cities in liberal-leaning ones. But a curious divide has opened up. The nation’s Republican state attorneys general have, for the most part, lined up in support of a tentative multibillion-dollar settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, while their Democratic counterparts have mostly come out against it, decrying it as woefully inadequate.

Exactly why this is so is unclear, and some of those involved suggested it can’t necessarily be explained by the way the Republican Party is considered more friendly to big business. Some of the attention has focused on the role played by Luther Strange, a Republican former Alabama attorney general who has been working for members of the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma.

People familiar with the negotiations say he was at a meeting of the Republican Attorneys General Association over the summer, sounding out members about a settlement months before a tentative deal was struck this week. Purdue has been generous in recent years to RAGA, contributing more than $680,000 to its campaign operation from 2014 through 2018. The company also gave to the organization’s Democratic counterpart, the Democratic Attorneys General Association, over the same five-year period, but far less: about $210,000.

Nearly half the states and lawyers representing some 2,000 local governments have tentatively accepted the settlement deal, according to people familiar with the talks. Under the deal, the company would declare bankruptcy and remake itself as “public benefit trust,” with its profits going toward the settlement. An Associated Press survey of attorney general offices shows 25 states and the District of Columbia have rejected the current offer.

The only states with Democratic attorneys general to sign on are Mississippi and Michigan, which is one of the few states that haven’t actually sued Purdue. “I don’t think you should read a whole lot into it,” Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, said of the partisan divide. “My view is it’s a pretty close call to join or not. There are good arguments on both sides. All my colleagues who have made their decisions have made them in good faith.”

Miller said he expects a bipartisan group of states to keep working together on possible settlements with other defendants in the opioid cases. Paul Nolette, a Marquette University political scientist, said in an email that the GOP attorneys general and local governments “don’t see this as a bad deal under the circumstances.” But he said Democrats have been stung by a backlash over settlements over foreclosures years ago, and they “see political risks for not pushing for more.”