WHITING, Iowa — Officials with the Iowa DNR said Monday, that on Friday July 13th, the DNR was notified of a clay tile line discharging into a ditch near the Monona County City of Whiting’s, wastewater treatment plant.

Upon further investigation, DNR staff found a tile line discharging sewer into the Candless-Cleghorn ditch, which runs into Guard Lake. It is estimated that approximately 50 gallons is being discharged into the ditch per minute. It is unknown how long it has been discharging or whether it is connected to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. Samples have been collected and will be analyzed.

Whiting city officials plan to cap the tile line with concrete within the next 48 hours, which should stop the bypass into the ditch. Furthermore, they plan to hire consultants to identify the origin of the tile line and what it may be connected to.

The DNR will continue to work with the city of Whiting and its consultants and determine if any enforcement action is necessary.

The Council Bluffs Police Department, Monday evening, put out a request for help from the public in locating two juvenile runaways from Children’s Square USA, in Council Bluffs. The juveniles, 12-year old Tristan Holley and 11-year old Isaiah King  ran from from the facility at around 2:47 pm. Two hours after the initial press release, authorities reported the teens had been found safe and healthy, but no further information was provided. They were returned to Children’s Square.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa lost nearly $1.2 million from its operation of a business campus in Des Moines, according to university budget information. University officials said the decision to close the former AIB College of Business is due to reductions in state support, The Des Moines Register reported. Since the 2016 fiscal year, the Iowa Legislature has cut UI’s budget by $16 million.

The university announced last week the decision to sell the campus’ seven buildings and permanently furlough 33 full-time staffers whose positions aren’t directly tied to student instruction. Some employees may be reassigned to other positions at the university, officials said.

The university’s cuts will save the school nearly $3.6 million, officials estimated. Students who attend classes at the campus will either move to a downtown center or take their courses online, officials said.

The university took possession of the nonprofit institution in 2016. The merger was described as a gift to the university. The terms of AIB’s gift agreement say the property could be sold if the school’s officials determined that operating the campus was “no longer feasible for economic or other reasons.”

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A judge is allowing an appeal to move forward in the case of an inmate seeking to prove his innocence in the 1986 slaying of a western Iowa girl. District Judge Jeffrey Larson signed an order Monday denying the state’s request to dismiss the postconviction relief action filed by inmate Daniel Harris.

The ruling means Harris’ lawyers can seek discovery and the case will proceed toward a hearing in which they’ll ask for a new trial. Harris was convicted in the 1986 stabbing and beating death of 16-year-old Kristina Nelson in Council Bluffs. His attorneys are seeking new proceedings and forensic testing that they believe will prove he was framed. A new witness has come forward with an affidavit that implicates two other suspects in the slaying.

A state lawyer had urged Larson to summarily dismiss the matter without further proceedings.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The health care system for Nebraska and western Iowa veterans has ordered machines to help deaf or blind veterans contact the federal Veterans Affairs Department. The VA’s Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System said last week that it’s ordered teletype machines, one of which will be placed in Omaha’s VA hospital, the Omaha World-Herald reported. The new devices will be tested beginning Friday, according to VA spokeswoman Jennifer Scales.

The VA for years has distributed teletype machines for free to help deaf, hearing-impaired or blind veterans make text-based calls from their home telephone lines. But some haven’t been able to schedule appointments or order medicine with the VA because the agency has lacked machines to answer if a veteran calls for help.

Nebraska Sen. Carol Blood contacted the director of the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, B. Don Burman, and other VA officials in Washington after learning about the communication difficulties for local veterans who are blind and deaf. She even wrote to President Donald Trump.

“Often (veterans) have a simple question they need to ask and must trek to the hospital,” Blood said in a letter. “Nebraska-Iowa veterans deserve better.” Burman recognized that the VA “is lacking in some areas where the hearing-impaired might be needing care from our system.” The VA is looking into creating a call center to communicate with deaf and hearing-impaired veterans across the region, he said.
Blood said she’s pleased that the agency has responded to her concerns.
“Within six weeks, we got action,” she said. “They realized it was a pressing issue.”