A Clarinda teen had a bad driving day, Tuesday. Officials says 17-year old Tianna Martin, of Clarinda, suffered minor, possible injuries, after the car she was driving rear-ended a mini-van north of College Springs, and later hit a bridge guard rail head-on.

The first accident happened at around 3:25-p.m., near the intersection of 280^th Street and Nutmeg Avenue. Authorities say Martin told investigators her brakes acted “funny” as she approached a van stopped at the intersection. Despite swerving to try and avoid the collision, the 1999 Pontiac Bonneville Martin was driving, collided with the rear of a 2003 Chrysler Town & Country van, driven by 44-year old Janette Macvenn, of College Springs, causing a total of $2,000 damage. Macvenn was not injured during the accident. Martin suffered possible, minor injuries during the mishap. She was also cited for following too close.

About 35-minutes later, Tianna Martin was involved in another accident. Officials say she was traveling north on 280^th Street in the same car involved in the earlier crash, when the vehicle ran off the road. The car was totaled when it hit a bridge car rail head-on. Martin was transported by Clarinda EMS to the Clarinda Regional Hospital for possible injuries. The teen received another citation for failure to maintain control.

Red Cross workers from chapters across Iowa are stationed along the East Coast, helping residents recover from the weekend hit by Hurricane Irene. Danelle Schlegelmilch, with the Heartland Chapter in Omaha/Council Bluffs, is deployed in Washington D-C where thousands of residents have been overnighting in Red Cross shelters. She says the damage ranges from North Carolina to Maine. “It is kind of mind-boggling to think about the number of people who were impacted,” Schlegelmilch says. “I heard a statistic there are close to 50 or 60-million people, and that would be about 15 to 18-percent of our population in the United States, all lived in that affected area.” Schlegelmilch says most people have no choice but to head to a shelter for the basics of life.

She says, “Here on the East Coast, there is literally nowhere else for people to go when things like this happen so they really depend on the Red Cross and our partner agencies to be there to be able to provide the essentials of comfort, care, food.” Schlegelmilch was sent to Washington D-C last week to prepare for Hurricane Irene but she got a bonus, of sorts.  “Actually, I was deployed for the hurricane but ended up in an earthquake by accident,” she says. “It’s been one of those summers I couldn’t have ever predicted. I’ve worked three tornados, a flood, a hurricane and was in an earthquake, so it’s one for the books for sure.” Many people remain stranded at airports with hundreds of fights cancelled. It could be weeks before electricity is restored in some areas as four-million homes lost power in the storm. At least 40 people died in Irene in 14 states and territories. Flooding is now a big problem in Vermont, New York and elsewhere. Schlegelmilch expects the Red Cross shelters will be open for some time as the region recovers. Damage may reach seven-billion dollars.

(Radio Iowa)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — For the first time in more than two months, Council Bluffs is no longer under a flood alert from the Missouri River. Public Information Officer Don Gross says the city on Tuesday canceled the Alert Level 1 status, which had been in place since June 22. The alert warned people to have an evacuation plan in case of a breach or other emergency. The city’s flood call center is also closing on Tuesday, and it’s the last day the Iowa National Guard will patrol the levees.

With river levels dropping, the city plans to reopen its side of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge that spans the river to Omaha, Neb., on Saturday. Other bike trails may reopen this weekend, but no specifics have been released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials say they don’t expect the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision to  freeze disaster aid in the wake of Hurricane Irene to affect the state’s recovery from flooding along the Missouri River. FEMA has announced it will freeze disaster aid to parts of the country recovering from tornadoes, drought, flooding and wildfires.

FEMA has enacted similar restrictions when disaster relief funds dipped below $1 billion. The fund currently stands at $800 million. John Benson of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management says he doesn’t expect the decision to affect the state’s recovery from disasters, including flooding along the Missouri River.

FEMA says the restrictions will not affect individual aid to disaster survivors but will apply to longer-term repairs, rebuilding and mitigation projects.

The Shelby County DevelopSource is looking to invest in entrepreneurs in a new program. The Shelby County DevelopSource has released a program entitled the “Shelby County New Enterprises competition.”  Entrepreneurs with business ideas to implement within the borders of Shelby County could be the winners of up to $30,000.

Shelby County New Enterprises is a program to cultivate local economic development by both inspiring and financially supporting local entrepreneurs. The program is open to all start-up and expansion businesses located in, or are willing to locate to, Shelby County. The funds from the program can go towards studies or research, equipment, property or marketing for the winning business.

Shelby County DevelopSource Board Chairman, Rick Burchett says, “Encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship is a key to maintaining business momentum in our business county.” You can access an application form by logging on to www.developsource.com or by contacting M.J. Broomfield at 712-755-3569. The deadline to submit an application to the Shelby County New Enterprises is Friday, October 28^th.

A panel of judges will select the finalists and all finalists have the opportunity to present their business plan on Friday, November 18^th.

AMES, Iowa–As waters recede from farmland that has been covered for several months by Missouri River flooding, Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Extension are jointly planning a workshop for Monday, Sept. 12 to address cropland issues. The workshop will be conducted via webinar at several viewing sites in both states from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Extension agriculture staff will host the workshop sites and facilitate questions to the panel.

Topics to be covered during the webinar and extension presenters include: sedimentation and debris removal, Shawn Shouse, ISU Extension ag engineer; managing post flooding soils: flooded soil syndrome, Mahdi Al-Kaisi, ISU Extension soil specialist; cover crops for soil health, Paul Jasa, UNL Extension engineer; and leases and crop insurance on flooded land, William Edwards, ISU Extension farm management specialist. Rick Koeslsch, UNL associate dean of extension, will moderate the panel.

“It is important for us to share information with those tasked with caring for farmland post flooding, but it is also important for Extension to hear the concerns and specific issues these folks have on their land,” said Shawn Shouse, extension ag engineer and planning committee member. “There is science that we can apply to this situation, but there is much that comes from farmer experience.”

Physical damage to farm ground may include obvious things like erosion and sand deposition. But some effects are invisible, having to do with the loss of soil microbes and soil structure. Land managers need to start planning and acting as the waters recede so that the soil can be productive again for next year.

“Using webinar technology helps us reach the most people on both sides of the river without having them travel great distances,” said John Wilson, UNL Extension educator and event co-chair. “It also allows for informal discussion at each site among those who have been most affected by the flood and with extension staff.”

In Iowa, the workshop will be held at the following ISU Extension offices: Fremont County in Sidney, Harrison County in Logan, Mills County in Malvern and Monona County in Onawa. ISU Extension in West Pottawattamie County is hosting the session at the Lied Multipurpose Center, 3501 Harry Langdon Blvd, Council Bluffs and Woodbury County Extension is hosting at a site to be determined. Nebraska viewing sites will be in Auburn at a site to be announced, in Blair at the Blair City Hall Council Chambers, in Dakota City at the USDA Service Center, in Falls City at the Courthouse, in Omaha at the Douglas/Sarpy Extension Office and in Tekamah at the City Auditorium. The Extension agriculture educator hosting the workshop at each location will be available after the webinar to address additional questions and concerns, if needed.

The webinar will also be available in South Dakota at the Davison County Extension Complex in Mitchell and in Kennebec at the Lyman County Courthouse. Further information on the Flood Recovery for Cropland Workshop, including additional sites and information as it becomes available, is available on ISU and UNL extension websites: www.extension.iastate.edu/topic/recovering-disasters and flood.unl.edu .

(Press Release from Cass Co. Extension)

Officials in the state’s Workforce Development agency today (Tuesday) are touting their work to set up an “access point system” to replace the 37 Workforce Development offices that are closing. On Monday Governor Branstad told reporters he’s confident he’ll beat a lawsuit challenging his decision to close those offices. The agency at the center of the controversy issued a news release today touting the convenience of having “Virtual Access Points,” or, “VAPS.” Spokesperson Kerry Koonce says the access points are set up in places like libraries, schools and National Guard Armories, and offer more than you can get by just logging in on your own computer.

Koonce says you can do a lot of things by accessing the website, but you can’t do the assessment testing on the website as it can’t be programmed that way. She says they have a live chat setup with staff available from eight a-m until eight p-m Monday through Friday and 10 a-m to two p-m on Saturday on the access points, while the regular offices close at 4:30. Koonce says the access points have more resources available.

She says there are pieces within the labor market information that she says are difficult to pull up in the web, while it is broken down better in the resource room. And she says you can call the 800 number to get access to a workforce professional. Koonce says the access points don’t take any special equipment.

Koonce says they can put the information onto a computer that is already open to the public at a location, or bring in a Workforce office computer. She says they will use computers from the offices that’re being closed, so there won’t be any cost involved. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says she and the governor recently visited Denison and saw the value of the new system first-hand. “The (Denison) superintendent was there and he just opened up the high school with some evening hours,” Reynolds says.

Koonce says you can still apply for a job, or file for unemployment on the Workforce Development website, but the 135 access points will offer the expanded services. In southwest Iowa, VAPS will be located at libraries in Harlan, Atlantic, Sidney, Tabor, and Red Oak. Other locations include Southwestern Community College in Red Oak, the Taylor County Neighborhood Center, and Taylor County Veteran’s Affairs office, both in Bedford, and at the Montgomery County Veteran’s Affairs Office in Red Oak. Iowa Workforce Development Offices in Atlantic, Glenwood, Red Oak, Shenandoah and Clarinda are set to close tomorrow (Wednesday). The IWD office in Harlan closed last Friday.

The Board of Supervisors in Adair County will discuss a redistricting & representing plan during their meeting Wednesday morning, in Greenfield. The meeting begins at 9-a.m. with discussion about redistricting set for 9:15. The Adair County Supervisors will also set the date for a Public Hearing and first reading of an ordinance on the matter.

In other business, the Board will receive and discuss correspondence with regard to Taylor Site number one, which pertains to a proposed large hog confinement facility. On August 20^th, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources denied a request to build a 5,000 head hog confinement in Adair County. The DNR said an evaluation of the proposal indicated it failed to meet the requirements necessary for approval. The Adair County Board of Supervisors recommended the DNR deny the construction permit because of problems with the application and community opposition. The operator, Twin Lakes Environmental Services LLC, a manure management company based in Rockwell City, had 14 days to appeal the decision.

The Adair County Supervisors will also discuss a petition for waiver or variance pertaining to the sanitary landfill, and set the date for a public hearing on the 1^st reading of an ordinance on the Local Option Sales Tax, as it pertains to the City of Stuart. Other topics for discussion, include a Cass County Hospital Involuntary, and West Central Mental Health, contracts.

A five-year old Atlantic boy suffered minor injuries when the bicycle he was riding was hit by a car Monday evening, at 9^th and Mulberry Streets. According to the Atlantic Police Department, a vehicle driven by Burton Conn, of Lewis, was traveling west on 9^th Street and approaching Pine, when Curtis Meurer, of Atlantic, drove his bike out of a driveway at 904 East 9^th, and attempted to cross the street. Officials say the boy failed to yield the right of way, and was struck by the car. The accident happened at around 5:45-p.m. Meurer was taken to the Cass County Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

And, no injuries were reported following an accident Monday morning at 8^th and Maple Streets in Atlantic. Officials say Heidi Smith, of Griswold, was cited for Failure to Yield upon entering a roadway, and for no proof of financial liability. According to the police department, a vehicle driven by Rosemarie Jones, of Atlantic, was traveling south in the 700 block of Maple Street and approaching the intersection, when Smith pulled away from the stop sign as she was headed west, and the vehicles collided. The accident happened at around 8:30-a.m. Damage from the crash amounted to $16,000.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an accident which took place Monday. Officials say a 1997 Ford Taurus driven by 26-year old Robert Krisinger, of Atlantic, was traveling west on the Marne Road, when it went out of control. The car entered the north ditch and hit a farm drive.

No injuries were reported, but the car was totaled in the crash.