(Radio Iowa) – The National Weather Service predicts a wet spring in eastern Iowa and a rising Mississippi River, so the city of Davenport is preparing for the possibility of major flooding. In the Quad Cities, flood walls and levees hold the river back from Bettendorf, Rock Island and East Moline, but not Davenport. The city’s choice to live with the river means flooding and that requires preparation. Nicole Gleason is Davenport’s public works director. “Really, if you look at it on a large scale, we’re really flooding a minimal amount of time in the big picture,” Gleason says, “so, kind of balancing that long-term interaction with the short-term needs of flooding.”

The weather service says there’s a 50-percent chance of major flooding, which for Davenport is 18 feet. Gleason says that would require closing River Drive, diverting many commuters driving between Muscatine and Bettendorf. Gleason says the flooding is part of the balancing act for a town that chooses to live with the river, rather than walling it off.  “Any time you’re setting up a temporary measure as opposed to a permanent measure, the goal is to maintain the river views,” she says, “to make sure that when we’re not flooding — which is the majority of the time — people can see the river, interact with the river, as opposed to putting up a permanent flood structure.”

City staff are practicing the deployment of flood barriers and pump stations and the city is urging residents to visit the city’s website to sign up for alerts and get more information. Gleason says as waters rise, the city uses a combination of HESCO flood barriers and pump stations to limit damage.

(by Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

[7-a.m. News] (Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report two arrests. At around 12:26-a.m. today (Wednesday), 49-year old Allison Loy Dunphy, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. She later posted at $1,000 cash bond and was released. And, at around 3:20-p.m. Tuesday, 40-year-old Michael David Brandt, of Creston, was arrested at his residence. Brandt was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault 3rd. Brandt was taken to Union County Jail. He was being held without bond until seen by the magistrate.

(Radio Iowa) – If you’ve hit some rough stretches on state highways, you are not alone. The Iowa Transportation Commission has approved amending its budget to spend 15 million dollars on weather repairs. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson says there’s been an above normal number of freeze-thaw cycles this winter that are causing issues. “We are seeing some significant impacts on some pavements,” he says. Anderson says they checked with maintenance districts across the state and believe this money will help take care of some of the issues. “It certainly won’t address all the damage we’re seeing — but it’ll get the worst of it,” Anderson says. “The last time, we had something like this was about four years ago, March 2019, we came out of a pretty unique winter season and saw the same kind of damage.”

U-S Highway 218 (IA DOT Photo)

Anderson says the Transportation Commission took the same action and spent 12 million in winter repairs in 2019. He says there are issues across the state and the money will be spread evenly among the maintenance districts. He says each district will get two-and-a-half million dollars to do the repairs. The D-O-T’s chief engineer, Mitch Dillavou says the conditions have been the worst you can get for pavement. “It’s the uniqueness of this winter where you get those fluctuations in temperatures, plus we’ve had a lot of moisture,” Dillavou says. He says his perfect winter conditions for pavement are when the temperature drops and stays the same and there’s not a lot of melting water or rain that gets into pavement cracks. Dillavou says the older pavement has more problems.

“Our newer roads have a good drainable base and better infrastructure. So, it’s our older pavements that you’ve heard just talked about quite a bit,” he says. “it gets down in there, and then it freezes, and then it just starts cracking. and things move.” Anderson says the 15 million dollars will be moved out of the next fiscal year budget to allow them to handle the repairs as soon as they can.

(Radio Iowa) – The board that governs the three state supported universities is launching a comprehensive review of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs at the schools. The president of the Board of Regents has also directed the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa to pause implementing any new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. Representative Taylor Collins, a Republican from Mediapolis, says he appreciates the Regents response to concerns, but it’s time to pass a bill that dismantles the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion bureaucracies on the campuses.

“They’re being used to drive a certain political agenda and it’s unacceptable,” Collins says. “And Iowa taxpayers agree it’s unacceptable.” A bill that’s eligible for debate in the Iowa House would prohibit the state universities from spending any money on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion staff or training that discusses things like racial privilege or pronouns which do not represent a gender. Collins says it’s a woke agenda and he says he’s been shocked to hear from a lot of the faculty at the three universities.

“Faculty feel like this stuff is being pushed on them so much that it’s exhausting them,” Collins says. It’s unclear how the House bill would impact the recent legal settlement with former Hawkeye football players. The university has agreed to hire a black studies professor from the University of Texas professor to oversee a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion action plan for Hawkeye athletes and coaches. Collins is a member of the panel that drafts the budgets for the state universities.

“It’s frustrating that theoretically this DEI spending didn’t work,” Collins says. and then we’re going to spend money on DEI to solve the problem.” Senator Ken Rozenboom, a Republican from Oskaloosa, is chairman of the Senate Education Committee. He hasn’t seen the House bill on this subject. “If the Regents are taking a hard look at this on their own, that’s probably a better approach to this,” Rozenboom says, “or at least that’s a good starting place.” Rozenboom does have concerns about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs on the campuses in Ames, Cedar Falls and Iowa City.

“Earlier this year I asked the Board of Regents how many DEI employees there were and found out there were 110,” Rozenboom says, “which I think translates into quite a few dollars.” Rozenboom says his approach has been to gather facts and figures and start investigating this year. “I don’t like to be impulsive,” Rozenboom says. “If the House sends something over, I’ll have to take a hard look at it, consider what the Regents are doing and we’ll go from there.”

Advocates of the Regents’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs say they are intended to ensure people from different backgrounds and experiences feel welcome on campus.

(Radio Iowa)- The state Transportation Commission has approved a grant to build a roadway into proposed plant at a site in Plymouth County south of Le Mars. Deb Arp of the D-O-T presented the proposal for what’s called a RISE grant. “The proposed roadway provides improved access to the bio energy facility — a digester plant — and assists in the creation of five full time jobs,” she says. “The facility will take waste from three dairies and process it to generate renewable natural gas. The development is anticipated to start construction later this year and to start production in spring or summer of 2024.” She says this is a local development grant, and the county will help fund the project.

She says the project will cost more than one-point-five million dollars $1,585,556). The county requested a grant of 792-thousand-778 dollars, and will provide the other 50 percent cost of the project in a local match. The Transportation Commission also approved a settlement of a rise grant for Burlington. “The city received a grant of one-million-536-thousand for roadway improvements contingent on the creation of 128 new jobs by General Electric within three years of project completion,” Arp says. She says the company was only able to create around half the jobs.

“In May of 2019 the roadway was open to traffic — however the company associated with this project was only able to create an average of 61 jobs within the allowable timeframe,” she says. Arp says the city has agreed to repay 323-thousand-123 dollars from the grant.

(Sidney, Iowa) – A southwest Iowa man was arrested Tuesday in Fremont County on sexual assault and other charges, out of Missouri. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports, 44-year-old Dewight Eugene Binau was arrested at a residence in Sidney, on a warrant out of Newton County, Missouri.

On February 3, 2023, the Fremont County County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a possible sexual assault that occurred in Missouri in December, 2022, and forwarded the information to the Neosho, Missouri Police Department.

Following an investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for Binau, charging him with two counts of statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy-deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 12 years of age and one count of 2nd degree molestation of a child less than 12 years of age.

Dewight Binau

Binau was taken to the Fremont County Jail pending extradition to Missouri.

(Hamburg, Iowa) – A traffic stop late Tuesday night near Hamburg resulted in the arrest of a woman from Nebraska, on OWI and other charges. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports the Fremont County K9 Unit conducted a traffic stop on a 2015 Chevy Camaro for speeding, at around 9:30-p.m. on Interstate 29 southbound, about the 7.5 mile marker.

As Deputies were speaking with the driver, 31-year-old Toriann Michelle Russ, of Omaha, they detected the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle, and saw an unrestrained child in the vehicle. Russ was driving impaired, according to the report.

31-year-old Toriann Michelle Russ, of Omaha

She was arrested for: OWI/2nd offense; Child Endangerment; Driving While Revoked; Poss. of Marijuana, & Failure to use a child restraint device. Russ was being held in the Fremont County Jail  and a $6,300 cash bond, pending an initial appearance before the County magistrate.

(Radio Iowa) – With the recent collapse of two U.S. banks, one based in California, the other in New York, some Iowans may be concerned about the stability of their local financial institutions.

Ron Sorensen, president and CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association, says there’s nothing to worry about, as the banks that failed were run much differently from how banks operate in Iowa. “Not only were these banks that we’re talking about, on the East and West coasts, using very unique business models, primarily tech companies who were funded through venture capital and crypto, they had issues in regards to liquidity,” Sorensen says. “The venture funding fell off from some of their local small business customers.”

That led to a critical drop in deposits, plus, Sorensen says the banks also had issues with their securities portfolios. “None of that exists in our banks here in Iowa, frankly, we have record capital levels in Iowa banks,” he says. “We still have strong liquidity. Our banks are based on a very safe and sound business model. They know their customers. They’re on Main Street every day.”

John Sorenson. (IBA photo)

Sorensen says Iowa banks are typically relationship-based, and their biggest depositors are in areas like agriculture, small businesses, and local companies and manufacturers. “These are strong businesses that have shown the same things that our banks are showing, right?” he says. “They’re consistently strong. They’ve been in the community for a long time, so as a result, it’s just a very different environment in Iowa.”

Iowa banks are well capitalized and highly liquid, Sorensen says, and they’re backed by FDIC insurance. Sorensen recommends customers talk with their local banking officials about the institution’s security. There are over 280 members of the Iowa Bankers Association.

(Radio Iowa) – The legislature is sending Governor Kim Reynolds a bill setting up a state process so small Iowa hospitals may be licensed as a Rural Emergency Hospital.

Under federal rules, Rural Emergency Hospitals may discontinue in-patient care, while keeping out-patient services and an emergency room open. Rural Emergency Hospitals get five percent extra in federal reimbursement for treating Medicare patients. Senator Jeff Reichman is a Republican from Montrose, which is a 15 minute drive from the Keokuk hospital that closed last fall.

“Access to health care services is a critical issue in our state,” Reichman said. “…Rural Emergency Hospitals will help rural communities that need health care services, stabilize hospitals that may be struggling in rural areas and help ensure that essential needs for Iowans and specifically for us in Lee County are met.”

Bill backers say it’s likely a Rural Emergency Hospital will reopen in Keokuk. “Both of my grandparents’ lives were saved at Keokuk Area Hospital in the last five, six years, so having access at least to emergency care is very, very important,” Representative Amy Nielsen, a Democrat from North Liberty, said.

Republican Representative Martin Graber of Fort Madison said a constituent in Keokuk recently had to decide whether a relative who’d suffered a stroke should be taken to a hospital in Fort Madison or Carthage, Illinois because Keokuk’s hospital is closed. “There very aren’t many times that you and I get to vote on a bill that means life and death to people,” Graber said. “This one does that. When it’s fully implemented, it’ll make a difference.”

Republican Representative Tom Moore of Griswold said only hospitals in rural areas that can keep an emergency room open 24 hours a day, seven days a week will be able to get this new designation. “This bill will only affect a few rural hospitals, but it is critical in giving them the option to stay a viable, financially stable hospital or, in the case of the Keokuk hospital, the ability to reopen as an REH,” Moore said.

The Rural Emergency Hospital designation will also be available to rural surgical centers that provide outpatient services if the bill becomes law. Senator Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, voted for the bill, but warned without higher reimbursement rates for the care provided to Medicaid patients, more Iowa hospitals will have to downgrade to Rural Emergency Hospital status. “I think the bigger question Iowans are asking is what can we do to prevent Iowa hospitals from failing in the first place,” Petersen said.

Representative Dave Jacoby, a Democrat from Coralville, was the only legislator to vote against the bill. Jacoby said the bill did nothing to help urban hospitals, which are also struggling with low reimbursement rates while providing care to rural as well as urban residents.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Utilities Board heard from the attorneys representing two companies which hope to build carbon dioxide pipelines today (Tuesday) as they try to work out scheduling issues for their permit requests. I-U-B chair, Geri Huser asked Wolf Carbon Solutions attorney, Amanda James, if they still plan to request a hearing on the project in the second quarter of 2024. “At this time it’s too early to be able to tell when we would like to schedule our hearing. They’re just getting out in the field now, and so they’re working with landowners, property owners,” she says. “To be able to say when we want a hearing, we just don’t have that information yet for a defined route.” Huser told James the Board does not believe there needs to be oral arguments on the location of the hearing — which is required to be near the middle of the area where the pipeline will be built.

“We agree and we thought that maybe just written comments if there’s any ideas on how to determine the location or midpoint,” James says. Navigator Ventures attorney, Samantha Norris was also asked about the timeline for the hearing. “We are requesting a hearing in the first quarter — we’ll plan on requesting a hearing in the first quarter of 2024. We would ideally like to finish that hearing before spring planting commences,” Norris says. Norris says they would like to start construction in the first half of 2024 if approved. She was also asked about taking oral arguments on the proposed site for the hearing on the pipeline.

“At this point, we don’t know that oral arguments are necessary. But because we have a number of interested stakeholders. And because our the layout of our line differs somewhat from Summit’s and from Wolf’s we think that it should be briefed at least so that all parties have a chance to say what location they think or multiple locations may be compliant with the statutory requirements,” Norris says. Summit Carbon Solutions is the third company proposing a pipeline — with a public hearing on the project set for October.