The U-S Army Corps of Engineers continues to cut water releases from Gavins Point Dam into the Missouri River. Jody Farhat, chief of the Water Management Bureau for the Corps in Omaha, says releases were taken down to 14-thousand cubic feet per second (CFS) over the weekend. “Our inital plan was to hold that just for three days before stepping down to 12 but we’re getting down to the level where some of the water intakes are coming into concern,” Farhat says. “We’ll probably hold the 14-thousand for five or six days, let that decrease get down past those water intakes and see if we are able to make any further reductions after that.”

By comparison, the average flow has been around 38-thousand CFS but during last year’s record flooding, flow rates hit a record of 160-thousand CFS. The current 14-thousand is almost a trickle by comparison. Farhat says low water is causing transportation issues on the Mississippi River, but they can’t really help with that. Several governors, businesses and farm groups are asking Congress and the Corps to boost water levels on the Missouri to help keep barges moving on the Mississippi. “There is a lot of concern about the impacts of this reduction on navigation on the Mississippi River and we’re getting a lot of calls and monitoring that situation,” Farhat says. “In reality, Congress has not authorized us to operate this reservoir system for the Mississippi River, so, we intend to get down to our winter release rate and hold it there, unless something changes.”

Levels of the upstream reservoirs continue to fall. Farhat says that will be a balancing act all winter long. “Most of the reservoir storage is in the upper three, and those are currently between five and 14 feet below normal right now,” Farhat says. “We’ll be moving water between the reservoirs over the winter period and by the start of next year’s runoff season, each of those upper three reservoirs will be between 10 and 12 feet below the desired operating level at the start of a run-up year.” The Missouri River level at Yankton is now 16 feet lower than it was during the record flooding in the summer of 2011.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad says Iowa has some “ancient” mental health institutions that need review. The Gazette reported Wednesday that Branstad says the state should revamp those institutions to deliver services more efficiently. He noted specifically facilities at Cherokee, Clarinda, Independence and Mount Pleasant. Branstad says any review of those facilities would need to be in coordination with affected communities. The governor made the comments during a discussion with state health officials about the 2014 budget.

Lawmakers overhauled the state’s mental health system last session. New legislation creates a regionalized system that coordinates services statewide.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa says 33-year old Everett David Moles, a resident of Mills County, was sentenced to 86 months imprisonment on Wednesday, for possession of child pornography. United States District Judge John Jarvey  also ordered Moles to serve a twenty year term of supervised release following incarceration.

On August 31st, 2012, Moles pled guilty to a charge of possession of child pornography after an extensive investigation into his receiving images and videos of child pornography on his cellular phone. At the time of his guilty plea, Moles admitted that from September of 2009 and continuing through May of 2011, he had images on his cellular telephone that depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The investigation was conducted by the Mills County, Iowa, Sheriff’s Office, Mills County Attorney’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Starting next year, graduates of Iowa’s teacher preparation programs will have to pass exams with a minimum score to get a license to teach. The requirement is part of the education reform package that passed the 2012 Iowa legislature. Prospective teachers will take one exam on the subject they hope to teach and another to see if they have the skills to teach a classroom of kids.

Jason Glass, director of the Iowa Department of Education, says students will only have to score better than at least 25 percent of those who take the test. “Clearly this is a minimum standard and one that all teachers in Iowa can and should be able to pass before they are entrusted with educating our children,” Glass says.

Iowa is one of the last states to require testing of new teachers, but the move has critics, like current college students who say the exams are being sprung on them. Senator Wally Horn, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says he’s received over 200 emails on the topic. “They’re seniors in college and haven’t prepared for that and that’s a problem,” Horn says. Horn says they’re also concerned about the cost of the exams, which is in the range of two-hundred dollars.

Glass says a delay is not the right option. “Every year that we would delay enforcement or enactment of the law would be another year that we potentially put unqualified people into teaching roles in the state,” Glass says. “Our priority has to lie with the students, the children in our schools.”

This new requirement for prospective teachers got the go-ahead yesterday from a legislative committee that reviews state agency rules and procedures. It means this spring’s college graduates in Iowa will have to take the exams to get a teaching license.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors Wednesday morning approved the first of two readings of an Amended Ordinance that pertains to the Amaizing Energy TIF District. The action followed the first of two public hearings on the matter, with the second hearing and second reading to take place during the Supervisor’s meeting on Dec. 19^th.

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman points out the parcels in the Amaizing Energy Urban Renewal/TIF District.

Prior to the public hearing, Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman said the Board, on May 23^rd 2007, enacted Ordinance 28, which provides for the Division of Taxes levied on taxable property in the Amaizing Energy Urban Renewal Area. He said the amendment proposes that certain property included in the definition of an “Urban Renewal Area” in the ordinance, be deleted from that definition. (A full description of the parcels and sections are available at the Auditor’s office)

After the public hearing was closed and the matter discussed that the Board, upon hearing no objections to the amendment after first reading, voted to approve it.

Lenox Police Chief Jon Huggins reports a Lenox man was sentenced to six-months in prison after entering a plea of guilty last week, to an aggravated misdemeanor charge of Assault with the Intent to Commit Sexual Abuse.  As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, a charge of Indecent Contact with a child, was dismissed against 39-year old Fredy Ramirez. The charge was filed August 30th by the Lenox Police Department as a result of a complaint stating Ramirez had lured a 12-year old female into his home with the intent to sexually abuse her.

Ramirez had been sentenced to pay a fine of $650 plus surcharges, but the fine was suspended. He was also sentenced to 360 days in the Taylor County Jail, but 181 days of that was suspended. In addition Ramirez: Was placed on probation with the Iowa Department of Probation for 2 years; Must pay $25 per day jail fees; Enroll in and complete a sex offender treatment program;  Must register as a sexual offender, and he must not have contact with the victim or her family. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim, as well as attorney’s costs.

w/ Chris Parks

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