(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he supports President Trump’s visit today (Wednesday) to El Paso, Texas, following one of last weekend’s two mass shootings that left 31 people dead. Some residents and elected leaders in El Paso object to the president’s visit, claiming Trump’s anti-immigrant comments likely sparked or contributed to the gunman’s actions. Grassley disagrees. “I think every president has visited those areas,” Grassley says. “I think it’s necessary for the leader of the country to express the sympathy of the American people to these violent crimes and things that happen that are abhorrent and evil.”

Grassley, a Republican, says if the president did -not- go to Texas to pay his respects, he’d be “roundly criticized.” During a political fundraiser at a Crawford County shooting range on Monday night, Grassley renewed his call for so-called red flag laws, which would make it harder for people who are a threat to buy guns. “There’s been several states that have passed red flag laws and they kind of set an example for Congress,” Grassley says. “Congress can actually learn from some state experiments, like we did with criminal justice reform.”

Reports say 17 states have now passed red flag laws allowing a family member or law officer to petition a judge to rule on whether to remove guns from someone who is a threat to themselves or someone else. After the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that claimed the lives of 17 students and teachers in February of 2018, Grassley told Radio Iowa he would hold hearings on a variety of bills designed to prevent gun violence. There’s been little progress on any red flag legislation in a year and a half. “We need to concentrate on what can get 60 votes,” Grassley says. “A lot of people would like to waste their time on other bills that can’t get 60 votes, but if we could assume getting done what can get done, then it has a chance of passing.”

Republican Senator Joni Ernst, Iowa’s other U-S senator, released this statement: “I agree with the president that we must strongly condemn hate in all forms and stand united in the wake of these acts of violence. While there’s no quick fix guaranteed to prevent future tragedies, there are bipartisan efforts we can build upon, and I am open to reviewing proposals that will have a real and positive impact while ensuring we defend the rights of Americans, including that of due process.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Iowa and Nebraska school officials in areas hard hit by flooding earlier this year expect that, as school starts, they’ll have to deal with displaced students — some still traumatized by their ordeals. A massive March storm dumped inches of rain runoff and snowmelt into several rivers, pushing some to record levels in Nebraska, Iowa and other states, breaching levees and dikes.

In Hamburg, school superintendent Mike Wells told the Omaha World-Herald that he expects about 20% fewer students when classes begin Aug. 23. He says the community lost about 200 homes in the flooding, and “there’s just nowhere for families to come back to.”

Across the Missouri River in Nebraska, Fremont superintendent Mark Shepard worries about the trauma. He says the first rainstorm after the flooding caused some elementary students to weep, worried that more flooding was imminent.

The August session of “Healthy U” in Atlantic, will be held Monday, August 26, 2019, at the Cass County Health System. The program, “Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery,” will be presented by Keith Lodhia, MD, MS.

Dr. Keith Lodhia (CCHS photo)

Dr. Lodhia offers neurological care at the CCHS Specialty Clinic and is affiliated with MD West ONE. He practices general neurosurgery encompassing the brain, spine, and peripheral nerves with an emphasis in spinal surgery, having particular expertise in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. Dr. Lodhia is board certified by The American Board of Neurological Surgery, and his areas of research include spinal surgery, tumors of the spine, and brain hemorrhages.

Healthy U will be offered at noon on Monday, August 26th. Healthy U is a free educational series at Cass County Health System held monthly in Conference Room 2. The public is invited and welcome to attend, but reservations are required as a meal is provided for all attendees. Call 712-243-7479 to reserve your seat.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report a traffic stop on a pickup truck at the Wings Truck Stop in Avoca, resulted in the arrest of a man on drug charges. A passenger in the truck, 22-year old Brandon William Henderson, of Audubon, was arrested at around 10:20-p.m. Tuesday, for Possession of Marijuana/1st offense and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,300.

A traffic stop in Shelby at around 9-a.m. Tuesday, resulted in the arrest of 37-year old Jacob Aaron Carden, of Ames. Carden was arrested after the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office took a call from the Casey’s Store in Minden, with regard to a man attempting to pass a fake $50 bill. The man left the store prior to deputies’ arrival. Deputies located the suspect vehicle at the Corn Stalk Gas Station off the Shelby Exit. An investigation resulted in Carden being charged with Carrying a weapon in a vehicle, Forgery by altering, Theft in the 5th Degree, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense. His bond was set at $8,300 altogether. A passenger in the vehicle, 45-year old Everardo Capetillo, was charged with Theft in the 5th, Forgery, Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense, and transport of a weapon in a vehicle. There no listing of him on the jail roster this (Wednesday) morning.

And, 44-year old Mari Lynn Boner, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 6:45-p.m. Tuesday, after she allegedly stole items from the West Broadway Hy-Vee Store, in Council Bluffs. Boner was charged with Possession of drug paraphernalia, Possession of a controlled substance/marijuana – 1st offense, Theft in the 5th Degree, and Unlawful Possession of a Prescription Drug. Her bond was set at $1,600 altogether.

There were also nine prisoners transferred from other correctional facilities to the Pott. County Jail, in response to various warrants for their arrests.

Police in Red Oak this (Wednesday) morning, arrested 56-year old James Scott Malmquist, of Red Oak. He was taken into custody at around 6-a.m. in the 200 block of 3rd Street, for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree. Malmquist was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former Winnebago Tribal Council member has been given probation for his role in the theft of funds from the Nebraska-based tribe’s casino in Iowa. The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal reports that Travis Mallory was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Omaha to three years of probation. He’d pleaded guilty in March to one count of theft of funds belonging to an Indian gaming establishment.

Mallory is one of nine former council members who were accused of a conspiracy to siphon more than $327,000 from the WinnaVegas Casino Resort in Sloan, Iowa. Charges against two of them were dismissed. An FBI investigation determined that while on the tribal council, the members had given themselves raises and bonuses totaling $327,500 directly from the casino without approving them at council meetings.