(Radio Iowa) — City and state road crews are working to re-open an Interstate 29 exit into downtown Sioux City that’s been closed by Missouri River flooding. Mark Aesoph is the fire marshal in Sioux City. “They plugged a couple more drains, They’re starting to remove some of the water.” The area is still closed to traffic, but there’s been significant progress over the past few hours.

The National Weather Service has SLIGHTLY lowered its predicted crest for the Missouri River this weekend in Sioux City.  “Which is a good thing,” Aesoph says. The reduced crest prediction comes DESPITE the increased release of water into the river from the Gavins Point Dam in Yankton.

(Radio Iowa) — Ten members of Sioux City’s Urban Search and Rescue team were deployed to southwest Iowa early this (Friday) morning. The crew took its rescue equipment and an amphibious vehicle. Captain Ryan Collins of Sioux City Fire Rescue says the team will help FEMA make damage assessments in the Sidney area.

“It is not a rescue operation,” he says. “It’s just a support function.” The unit was activated by Iowa Homeland Security. The National Weather Service warns flooding will continue in southwest Iowa along the Missouri River for several more weeks.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation today for seven counties in response to severe weather beginning May 17 and continuing. The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather and activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program, for: Appanoose, Cedar, Davis, Johnson, Lucas, Monroe, and Pottawattamie counties.

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level or a maximum annual income of $41,560 for a family of three. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Human Services website. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.

Disaster Case Management is a program to address serious needs to overcome a disaster-related hardship, injury or adverse condition. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation. For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit www.iowacommunityaction.org.

Iowa residents of counties impacted by the recent severe weather are asked to report damage to help local and state officials better understand the damage sustained. Damage to property, roads, utilities and other storm-related information may be reported. This information will be collected by the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and shared with local emergency management agencies.

For more information on Iowa flooding, visit floods2019.iowa.gov or contact 2-1-1.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa has filed a lawsuit challenging a new state law that prohibits the use of Medicaid funding for gender reassignment surgery.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill on May 3 that included language amending the state’s Civil Rights Act so that government officials are not required to pay for gender reassignment surgery.

The ACLU has sued in state court to block enforcement of the law on behalf of One Iowa, a group that advocates for transgender rights, and two transgender Iowans who qualify for Medicaid and whose doctors say they need the surgery.

ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen says the measure is discriminatory and “has no basis in medicine or science.” Conservative Republicans passed the measure after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in March that the state cannot block Medicaid from paying for gender reassignment surgery for two transgender women.

A man from Adair County and a woman from Union County were injured during a collision this (Friday) morning, in Madison County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2019 Nissan driven by 27-year old Amber Dawn Clements, of Lorimor, was traveling north on Highway 169 at around 6:45-a.m., when a 2005 Chevy Tahoe driven by 50-year old Neena Marie Honnold, of Lorimor, pulled out of her residential driveway. As the SUV was getting up to highway speed, Clements’ vehicle struck the rear bumper of the Tahoe, causing the SUV to veer into the southbound lanes of Highway 169. The Tahoe ending up on the east shoulder of the road.

A 2017 Ford Explorer, driven by 41-year old Ryan Michael Devault, of Greenfield, was traveling south on 169. Devault tried to avoid the Tahoe when it swerved into his lane by driving onto the west shoulder and ditch, but his SUV collided head-on with the Nissan. Clements and Devault, who wear wearing their seat belts, were injured and transported by Madison County Ambulance to the Madison County Hospital in Winterset. Authorities say Honnold was not injured during the collision.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Sioux City man was sentenced Wednesday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, to nearly 16 years in prison on drug charges. 35-year old Jose Valentin Carrillo was sentenced to prison terms of 190 months each on counts of Conspiracy, and Possession with Intent to Distribute, Methamphetamine. The  twp sentences will run concurrently. The prison term will be followed by a term of supervised release of five years on each count, also to run concurrently.

According to court documents, Valentin Carrillo organized and arranged the transportation of approximately eight kilograms of methamphetamine from Kansas City, Missouri to Nebraska City, Nebraska. On August 13, 2017, the vehicle transporting the methamphetamine was stopped by law enforcement in Fremont County, Iowa. The case was investigated by Fremont County Sheriff’s Department, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.