COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The leaders of several Midwest states hit recently by flooding along the Missouri River say they’ve received assurances from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the states will “have a seat at the table” when it comes to river management decisions.

The Republican governors of Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri and Kansas’ Democratic lieutenant governor all met with Corps officials in the western Iowa city of Council Bluffs on Friday, the second such meeting since last month’s devastating floods.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said the states are considering pushing for formation of a Missouri River management commission — similar to the Mississippi River Commission — that would include representatives from the states.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds also said repair contracts for three of the river’s larges breaches have already been awarded and that some of the repairs could be finished as early as July.

(Radio Iowa) — The deadline is approaching for you to appeal if you got a new assessment on your home that you think is too high. Iowa Association of Realtors president John Goede says there’s a place you can get help. He says call your agent to get help with your assessment. He says the real estate agent can help you research comparables.

“They’re the professional, they’re the pro, they’re the expert in your area. And they would be glad to help to get some compables to help you with your presentation to the board of adjustment,” Goede says. The appeals have to be into the county by April 30th.

ELDORA, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman convicted on charges related to confining her boyfriend’s 8-year-old son under basement stairs has been sentenced to jail and a small fine.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Traci Lynn Tyler was sentenced Friday to up to a year in jail, following her April 10 conviction of misdemeanor false imprisonment. She had been charged with kidnapping but a judge convicted her of the lesser charge.

Prosecutors say Tyler and the boy’s father, Alex Shadlow, locked the child in a space beneath the basement stairs of their Ackley home for at least nine hours a day in summer 2017. The boy told authorities he slept on concrete.

Because Tyler served 266 days in jail before her conviction, she may only serve another three months. That time could be reduced for good behavior. She was fined $315. Shadlow is awaiting trial.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Efforts to end the Iowa legislative session have been delayed by a last-minute amendment from conservative Republicans who are seeking to prohibit the use of Medicaid funding to pay for sex-reassignment surgery.

Backers of the Friday afternoon amendment to a Health and Human Services funding bill say the prohibition on using federal or state money for sex reassignment surgery is a response to an Iowa Supreme Court decision. The ruling last month said the state cannot deny two transgender women Medicaid coverage for such a surgery.

Republican Sen. Jake Chapman says his constituents believe “this is an elective surgery that if Iowans want to do, that’s fine but not with our taxpayer dollars.”

Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen called the amendment a mean-spirited attempt at discrimination. By raising the issue so late, she says Republicans prevented Democrats from amending the proposal.

The measure also would prohibit government money from paying for sex education programs by Planned Parenthood.

The Senate passed the bill 31-19. The bill was to be heard in the House later.