DES MOINES – As a result of President Trump’s Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for public and individual assistance for residents of Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona and Woodbury counties in Iowa, disaster unemployment assistance (DUA) is now available in those counties. DUA expands eligibility for unemployment benefits and provides assistance to the self-employed including business owners and farmers.

Iowa Workforce Development will hold public events to assist individuals in filing the claims and those dates and locations will be announced shortly.  More information is available at  https://www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/, or contact us at 1-866-239-0843 for assistance.  The website will be updated as new information becomes available.

BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — Officials say the swollen Missouri River’s water level has dropped far enough that a Nebraska nuclear power plant no longer is reporting a low-level flood situation.
The Nebraska Public Power District declared a “notification of unusual event” March 15 at its Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, about 59 miles south of Omaha. The notification is the lowest and least serious of four emergency classifications established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for nuclear power plants. The district says it means simply that: Conditions are not ordinary.

The district’s Mark Becker said Monday that the plant never stopped generating power, because the rising river water stopped 4 inches (10 centimeters) short of the level at which the reactor had to be shut down as a safety precaution. The river’s rapid rise was fueled by snowmelt and storm runoff from a late-winter weather system.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa says it will appeal a ruling that could limit the public’s access to information about officer-involved shootings and other investigations. The ACLU announced Monday that it is appealing a ruling by the Iowa Public Information Board, which gave its blessing to police departments who withhold videos, 911 calls and other records from the public.

The board ruled in February that all records gathered and analyzed as part of a criminal investigation can be considered part of a “peace officers’ investigative report” and therefore exempt from open records requests. According to the transparency board, police and prosecutors can withhold body camera videos and other records even after an investigation has concluded. The board says authorities are only required to release the basic facts and circumstances of an incident.

The ruling found that the Burlington Police Department and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation acted lawfully when denying access to records detailing an officer’s accidental shooting of a mother in 2015.

MONTROSE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 15-year-old girl accidentally shot herself to death at a gun club in southeast Iowa. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office says deputies and medics were called around 10:40 a.m. Sunday to the Tri-State Gun Club, which sits about 2 miles northwest of Montrose. They found Haley McManus suffering from a single gunshot wound. The sheriff’s office says Haley died later at a hospital. Sheriff Stacy Weber says she lived in Fort Madison.

The sheriff’s office says the incident is being treated as an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound. No crime or negligence is suspected. Investigators are awaiting autopsy reports.

(Radio Iowa) — A nonprofit group that rehabilitates homes plans to repair one-hundred houses that were devastated in the Marshalltown tornado last summer. Habitat for Humanity of Iowa will work to replace roofs, siding and front porches on homes in the Marshall County town that were devastated in the July 19th twister. Habitat’s Cassie Nemmers says they want to help the city get back to what it used to be. “I think Marshalltown won’t truly be the same for the next 20 to 30 years,” Nemmers says, “but our goal is to keep chugging along, doing as many homes as we can, helping as many families as we can.”

The city estimates the tornado damaged or destroyed close to 330 homes. A federal program helped them make temporary emergency repairs. Michelle Spohnheimer, with the city of Marshalltown, says from what she’s heard from other cities, it could take five years to recover. “It’s not an overnight effort and we fully expect that, especially due to the scale that we were looking at of damage,” Spohnheimer says. “We’ve seen a lot of housing repairs. We have a lot of wonderful organizations and agencies already operating in the community.”

Spohnheimer says Habitat for Humanity’s effort will play a huge role in helping the community rebuild. Habitat plans to make repairs on up to 40 homes during the latter part of April and repair 100 houses by the end of the year. The blitz build is planned for April 23rd through 27th.

(Thanks to Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) — A Sioux City man is jailed on charges he tried to abduct a teenage girl. Twenty-two-year-old Michael Marshall-Limoges is charged with third-degree kidnapping and felon in possession of a firearm. Sioux City police were called just after 8 PM Friday to investigate a report of an attempted kidnapping. Police say Marshall-Limoges allegedly was driving in his vehicle following two juveniles who were walking home. They say Marshall-Limoges exited his vehicle and grabbed the 14-year-old female and put her into his car. The girl physically resisted and was able to escape. The suspect then hastily fled the area in the vehicle.

A witness provided a partial license plate number and description of the vehicle which led police to determine the identity of the suspect. Marshall-Limoges was arrested early Saturday at a Morningside residence and taken in for questioning.He is also facing possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia charges. Marshall-Limoges is being held in the Woodbury County jail on $50,000 bond.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a Norwalk man has claimed a Can-Am 4 Wheeler that was located on an old railroad right of way on March 23rd. He also reported several items were taken from his property on Wolf Creek Drive, including: A Bostitch air nailer; Mr. Buddy heaters; Bostitch air compressor; Husqvarna chainsaw; Honda 3000 generator; a hunting chair, and Porter cable air nailers. The estimated value of the items taken is $4,900.