There is still no confirmation from authorities, but it is believed that a body found Tuesday afternoon in west central Iowa’s Crawford County is that of 44-year old Jonathan Elwell. The Shillington, Pennsylvania man went missing on April 17 and his rented car was found abandoned in rural Westside, Iowa three days later. The body, which was badly decomposed, was found by railroad workers about a mile from where the car was located. Crawford County Sheriff Jim Steinkuehler says his office is working with Elwell’s family to obtain his dental records. The records would allow the state medical examiner’s office to confirm if the body is that of Elwell. Steinkuehler says the Elwell family was uncertain if they’d be able to locate his records because they didn’t know his dentist. If the records can’t be found, it could take weeks for the family to learn more. “They’ll do DNA testing…that could take up to four to six weeks,” Steinkuehler said. The medical examiner’s office is also working to determine the cause of death. Elwell’s family said it was “out of character” for him to disappear without telling anyone. Elwell’s brother is a magistrate judge in Pennsylvania.

The Elwell family says they’ve been informed by the Crawford County Sheriff that they are “99% sure” the remains are Jonathan’s, which is why he allowed the family to release the final statement KJAN and other media. The family of Jonathan Elwell said “although we still – and probably always will – have unanswered questions about how he came to this place and this end, we are grateful that we will be able to bring him home to rest.”  They went on to thank members of law enforcement, U-S Representative Charles W. Dent and Iowa Congressman Steve King, along with the many volunteers, who assisted in the search efforts. The family closed by saying “Although this is not the outcome we had hoped for, it is, at any rate, an ending, and we will strive for a new beginning.”

(Radio Iowa/Elwell family statement)

For the price of a latte, you can save a town. That’s the message being touted in Hamburg. The southwest Iowa town is launching a major fundraiser to keep the levee built last year just outside of the city at its current height. Hamburg-area residents are preparing to record a “Flash Mob”-type dance which they’ll post on the internet to raise awareness of their need for funding. Hamburg Mayor Cathy Crain says the current levee did the job.

Hamburg Levee (IA State Patrol photo)

Mayor Crain says, “We had an 11-foot levee to protect us from the west ditch and the Corps (of Engineers) and our people added eight feet to that levee, so combined, the levee is 19 feet and has held as much as 17 feet of water for 120 days.” But now, she says, there’s a problem that puts the levee at risk.  “After the Missouri River levees are completed this September, Hamburg will be forced by federal regulations to either remove that eight feet of dirt for $1.3-million or raise $5.6-million to make (the levee) permanent,” she says.

Crain says the levee project requires money the town simply doesn’t have. “We’ve aggressively sought funding and the state of Iowa has contributed $1-million and we need $4.6-million more,” she says. “Our city and the businesses have already exhausted their funds fighting the flood.” She says they’ve tried to get grants for eight months and there’s just not a lot of money out there for secondary levees. “There’s money out there for the Missouri levees,” she says, “and we want them to get those levees fixed, but we haven’t found any money for us.” After a series of rehearsals today and through the weekend, Hamburg’s Main Street will be closed Monday morning at 11:30 for shooting the video. She says the dance steps and movements will be very simple but they’ll make people take notice.

Hamburg Levee (IA Dept. of Public Safety photo)

“The words are very clever and it will be very charming,” she says. “We’re going to have people of all ages doing this and the volunteers involved in this are really good at what they do. It’s gonna put a smile on your face and you’re going to walk away and say, ‘They’re a small town but they sure are resourceful and they have a lot of talent.'” Crain says the video will be posted to Youtube, Google+, Facebook and another video site. They’re also requesting that everyone forward it on whenever they can. A Paypal link to donate will be listed with the video or a check can be made to the City of Hamburg Iowa Flood Recovery. “Our business strategy is to use email addresses from businesses, citizens and friends and get the message out,” the mayor says. “We need 1.5-million people to donate $3.00 each.”

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two men face felony charges for allegedly vandalizing a memorial to the 1989 crash of United Airlines Flight 232 in Sioux City. Scott Coleson of Lehigh, and Felipe Sebastian of South Sioux City, Nebraska are suspected of pushing over a boulder at the memorial at a park early Wednesday. Both are charged with criminal mischief. The city says it will cost $3,000 to replace the cracked boulder. It’s one of eight leading up to a statue commemorating the accident. United Flight 232 was en route from Denver, Colorado to Chicago, Illinois when it crashed at the Sioux City airport, killing 112 people. Online court records show the state public defender’s office is appointed to the men’s cases, but lists no specific attorneys.

A sizable, appreciative crowd showed up in the Atlantic City Park Thursday evening, for the first of three, free,  “Third Thursday” Summer Concert events, sponsored by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

Dirt Road Acoustic Rehab performs in the Atlantic City Park (Ric Hanson photo)

Taking to the stage was “Dirt Road Acoustic Rehab,” with their renditions of some popular Country, Blues and Rock songs.

One of the Dirt Road Acoustic Rehab band members

(For more information about the band, surf to http://dirtroadacousticrehab.com/index.html).

The next Third Thursday event will take place July 19th, from 5:30-7:30pm, also in the Atlantic City Park.  The concert will feature the Travelin’ Light Band, with 60’s & 70’s music, along with a little variety.

For more information about the concert series, check out the Chamber’s website at http://www.atlanticiowa.com/

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Kansas City, KS, Thursday, announced Iowa Western Community College (IWCC) has been selected to receive $200,000 in workforce development and brownfields job training funds from the EPA, to train unemployed and underemployed residents in Council Bluffs and Omaha. IWCC is one of only 15 workforce development organizations in the nation to receive the funding this year. Its project will specifically serve residents of the environmentally impacted neighborhoods of the South Main Brownfields Site in Council Bluffs and northeast Omaha. 

Targeted populations include Trade Adjustment Assistance individuals displaced from their jobs due to the competition of foreign imports or due to work activity moving out of the U.S.; unemployed and underemployed individuals, with priority given to veterans, long-term unemployed, residents of the identified contaminated communities; and populations underrepresented in the green and environmental fields, including minorities and women. 

IWCC plans to train 100 students, place 80 graduates in jobs, and track graduates for one year.  The core training program includes 152 hours of instruction on hazardous materials, lead and asbestos abatement, storm water management, underground storage tank leak prevention, construction debris recycling, green remediation, and environmental health and safety.  Participants will also be offered additional training in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) construction and mold contractor remediation. 

EPA’s Annual Environmental Workforce Development and Brownfields Job Training Grants allow nonprofit and other organizations to recruit, train, and place predominantly low-income and minority, unemployed and under-employed people living in areas affected by solid and hazardous waste.  Typical applicants include community colleges, universities, vocational-technical colleges, workforce development organizations, non-profit organizations and others with an interest in the program. 

Nationwide, as of January 2012, approximately 10,275 individuals have completed training, and 7,155 have been placed in full-time employment in the environmental field, with an average starting wage of $14.12 per hour.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A June survey report says growth in rural areas of 10 Midwestern and Western states has slowed. The report released Thursday says the Rural Mainstreet Index hit its lowest level of the year, 56.7, compared with 58.5 in May.  But survey organizers say any survey index score above 50 on the 100-point scale suggests growth in the months ahead.
 
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey of rural bankers. Goss says the global economic slowdown, combined with a stronger U.S. dollar, have pushed agriculture and energy prices lower. He says downward pressure that weakens overall growth for rural parts of the 10 states.  The states are Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The Iowa State Patrol says an Adair woman injured during a single-vehicle rollover accident was later cited for Failure to Maintain Control. 73-year old Rosalie Jessen suffered non-incapacitating injuries following the crash which occurred Tuesday morning in northwestern Adair County.  The woman was transported by private vehicle to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, for treatment.

Officials say Jessen was traveling west on County Road G-30 at around 8:20-a.m., when the 2008 Toyota Corolla she was driving went off the road, to the north. When Jessen over-corrected, the car entered the north ditch where it rolled over and came to rest on its wheels, near a utility pole. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $10,500.

Dry, wilting crops may have prompted some Iowa farmers to pray for rain in recent weeks, but some of them may’ve prayed a little too hard. Parts of northwest Iowa were drenched in Wednesday’s thunderstorms, as parched areas quickly became lakes. James Oberreuter is a farmer from Danbury in Woodbury County. “We got around four inches of rain here,” Oberreuter says. “It came out of the fields pretty good. Luckily, the crop was pretty tall and it didn’t do a lot of damage.” Four inches of rain wouldn’t be so bad over a few weeks, but he says this deluge was a bit too much of a good thing. “It came in about an hour and a half period of time,” Oberreuter says. “It just kept coming. One thunderstorm would go over and another one would take its place.” He says rainfall was spotty, as the four inches that fell on his field was a rare amount.  “You didn’t have to go more than about four or five miles away and they only got about two or two and a half (inches),” he says. “It’s a summertime rain. We got a whole bunch and you didn’t have to go too far and they didn’t get hardly any.”

In the KJAN listening area, rainfall amounts varied widely, from .45″ in Malvern, to as much as 1.6-inches near Avoca. In Atlantic, we received just under eight-tenths of an inch of rain (.79″). Up at “The Valley” (near the Hwy 71/I-80 interchange), a listener reported 1.00″.  A listener in Audubon reports 1.5-inches. Other reports include: Harlan – 1.1o”; Massena – 1.01″; Oakland – 1.00″;  Red Oak – 1.05″; Villisca – .83″; and in Clarinda, .82″.

Forecasters say more rain is expected this weekend, especially Saturday.

(Radio Iowa/rainfall amounts reported from various sources)