NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. (AP) – A swollen river that threatened homes where Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota meet already has crested. The National Weather Service had predicted that the Big Sioux River would hit a record high around midday Friday. But the agency said early Friday that the river crested at Sioux City, Iowa, around midnight a couple of feet below the previous record. The reason for the change wasn’t immediately clear.

Todd Heitkamp with the weather service in Sioux Falls says the river level should hold steady and eventually recede. Crews built a temporary levee across Interstate 29, which should protect much of the city but closed off the interstate and forced motorists onto detours.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Jerry Hayes of Atlantic was one of the veterans on the Cass County Honor Flight to Washington DC June 16-17, 2014.  Jerry shot lots of video from the trip.  Click these links to see them!

Laying of the Wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns

Send off from Atlantic

Flight and Washington Welcome including Water Cannon Salute

Washington and Home again with mail call

THANK YOU VETERANS & THANK YOU JERRY!!!

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Omaha Public Power District officials say it will reduce power as it prepares for rising water on the Missouri River. The district’s Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant sits on the west bank of the river about 20 miles north of Omaha and was surrounded by water during the flooding three years ago. OPPD says the plant isn’t required to shut down until the river reaches the level of 1,004 feet above mean sea level. The U.S. Weather Service expects the river to hit that level on Saturday.

The district says sand-filled temporary berms have been erected around critical equipment. Flood doors and mobile pumps are ready to be employed. OPPD says its preparations for the possible flooding are guided by lessons learned three years ago.

Omaha Television station WOWT reports two people were taken into custody early this (Friday) morning, following a chase involving a stolen vehicle that ended in Pottawattamie County with a crash. The vehicle was taken from Bellevue, NE. During the pursuit, which ended in the 2200 block of Veterans Memorial Highway in Council Bluffs, the suspect vehicle traveled the wrong way for a time before it left the road and flipped over

The chase ended at around 1:20 a.m. No further details are currently available.

Two complaints against the Red Oak Community School District were filed Thursday with the Iowa Public Information Board. The Omaha World-Herald reports the Board accepted the complaints from Red Oak High School Principal Jedd Sherman and Red Oak resident Don Rogerson, both of whom allege the Red Oak School District violated state law when the Red Oak School Board held discussions in closed session about Sherman’s contract.

The Red Oak School Board voted on May 5th to consider the termination of Sherman’s contract. He appealed that decision, and his case is set to go before an administrative law judge on July 2nd. The Iowa Public Information Board is a separate entity, which seeks to resolve disputes about open-meeting and public record law.

That Board will have to consider whether the School Board had the right to exclude the public from discussions on April 14th and May 5th, when Sherman did not request a closed hearing.

Police in Red Oak report three residents were arrested on separate charges early this (Friday) morning or late Thursday night. Officials say 53-year old Gary Lee Ruckman, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 2:40-a.m. Friday at a location on 1st Avenue, on a warrant out of Atchison County, Kansas, for Criminal Threat, Stalking and Harrassment by Telecommunication Device. Ruckman was being held in the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center (LEC) on $25,000 bond.

Just before 11-p.m. Thursday, police in Red Oak arrested 34-year old Jolene Mardell Cain, of Red Oak, for Breach of Peace. The woman was taken into custody in the 400 block of north 3rd Street and held in the Montgomery County LEC on $300 cash bond.

And, at around 10:10-p.m. Thursday, Red Oak Police arrested 52-year old David Lawrence Howe, of Red Oak, on a charge of Public Intoxication. Howe was being held in the Montgomery County LEC on $300 cash bond.

AREA COUNTIES: CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-ADAMS-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT-PAGE-

344 AM CDT FRI JUN 20 2014

…DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM CDT THIS MORNING…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A DENSE FOG ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM CDT THIS MORNING.

* VISIBILITY…VISIBILITIES BELOW ONE QUARTER OF A MILE CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH SUNRISE…ESPECIALLY IN FAVORED LOCATIONS AND LOW LYING AREAS. IMPROVEMENT WILL BEGIN AFTER SUNRISE AS TEMPERATURES WARM AND WINDS SLOWLY INCREASE.

* IMPACTS…TRAVEL WILL BE HAZARDOUS DUE TO THE LIMITED VISIBILITIES. SLOW DOWN AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A DENSE FOG ADVISORY MEANS VISIBILITIES WILL FREQUENTLY BE REDUCED TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER MILE. IF DRIVING…SLOW DOWN…USE YOUR HEADLIGHTS…AND LEAVE PLENTY OF DISTANCE AHEAD OF YOU.

A Harrison County man who had just had a dialysis treatment apparently had a bad reaction, which caused him to crash Wednesday morning, in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol says 57-year old Martin Gillespie, of Missouri Valley, was traveling north on Interstate 29 at around 11-a.m., when he lost control of his car due to medical conditions.

His 1999 Oldsmobile Cutless crossed the median and the southbound lanes of I-29 before entering a ditch and vaulting over the I-29 southbound exit ramp to I-680 eastbound. The car rolled up an embankment before stopping and rolling backward and came to rest in the south ditch at the 61.8 mile marker.

Gillespie told authorities he was feeling ill after his dialysis and had intended to pull over at Crescent, but his vision became affected. The man was transported by Crescent Rescue to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs. His car sustained about $2,500 damage during the accident.

Like many Iowans, officials in Council Bluffs are watching the water levels rise and begin to swallow landmarks. John Batt, the city’s assistant director of Park and Recreation, says water from the Missouri River is already flowing into Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park. “We basically have closed the road going into it to try to not have vehicle traffic in there,” Batt says. “We’re kind of watching it right now, but we haven’t officially closed the park.” He says they’re taking other precautions, too, as the flooding worsens.

“Some of the things that we’re doing is shutting off the road, we’ll be shutting off the power and all the water service in there,” Batt says. “Most of the park will be underwater by Sunday, I believe.” Batt says they are also keeping a close eye on the city’s Big Lake Park where flooding has been a concern before.

(Radio Iowa)