Iowa Congressman Tom Latham will take part in a Nov. 30TH hearing focusing on this summer’s historic flooding along the Missouri River. The hearing was announced on Thursday by the newly formed U.S. House Missouri River Flood Working Group, of which Congressman Latham is a member. Latham said he will voice the concerns of Iowans who live and work along the Missouri River during the hearing. He said any new river management policies enacted in the wake of this summer’s disaster must focus on flood prevention in lower basin communities.

The working group aims to make flood control a greater priority in Missouri River management after concerns arose in recent months regarding river management practices by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps of Engineers is currently conducting public meetings for its 2012 Annual Operating Plan of the Missouri River system. The Nov. 30th hearing will be a chance for House members to voice questions and concerns about the 2012 operating plan.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a Red Oak man was arrested early this (Saturday) morning. 44-year old Mark Ray Maley was taken into custody at around 12:30-a.m., on a charge of Public Intoxication, following an incident at 3rd and East Hammond Streets in Red Oak. Maley was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

Life is slowly returning to normal for many people in western Iowa who dealt with a summer of flooding along the Missouri River. Businesses that were evacuated are also reopening. Ann Thelen, spokesperson for MidAmerican Energy, says they’re moving back into their customer service office in Council Bluffs this weekend after spending nearly five months working out of a temporary office in the Mall of the Bluffs. “We have been able to serve our customers in this temporary location, but it feels good to go back home where customers are accustomed to finding us,” Thelen said. The MidAmerican facility, located at 3003 South 11th Street in Council Bluffs, was not badly damaged – thanks in part to sand barriers.  Thelen said they also moved a lot of equipment to higher ground. “We had minimal impact to our facilities. We’re pleased we took all the steps to protect it, because if we hadn’t, we would’ve likly seen some damage,” Thelen said. The MidAmerican temporary office at the Mall of the Bluffs is closing at 5 p.m. today (Friday). The office on South 11th will re-open Monday at 8 a.m.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa Congressman Steve King will serve as moderator of a debate between Republican presidential candidates Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich tomorrow night (Saturday) in Houston, Texas. The event’s

(R) Congressman Steve King, IA

organizers have said the “gossip” about allegations that Cain sexual harassed former employees in the late 1990s will not be discussed and King doesn’t expect the topic to come up at all.  “Only if Speaker Gingrich brings it up. I don’t think Herman Cain will and I don’t intend to,” King said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “My view is…you’re innocent until proven guilty. We don’t even have the name of anyone who alleges this at this point.” King says the whole issue should be off limits until “responsible media” produce an “Anita Hill” — a reference to the woman who came forward during U.S. Senate confirmation hearings to say that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her.

“It may well be that these allegations, even if true, are so devoid of substance that the voters would decide they like Herman Cain a lot more,” King says. Cain and Gingrich have agreed to focus the debate on entitlement reform.  “It’s going to be really interesting to see how the two candidates interact with each other,” King says. Beyond Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, King is prepared to press the candidates to reveal their plans for dealing with the federal budget deficit and the interest on the federal debt.  “I want to see if we can get the presidential candidates, in this case Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich, to address the components of the entitlements and what they would do to slow the growth in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in such a way that we can get ourselves to a balanced budget again,” King says. The event is billed as a “Lincoln-Douglas” style debate. Earlier this week during an appearance in Pella, Gingrich described the format this way:

“Having two people sit down and have a serious conversation, not a Mickey Mouse debate, not a gotcha — but just talk.” Gingrich expects to present “three big” reform proposals.  “My guess is that Herman and I are going to have a very interesting conversation that’s very different than most political stuff,” Gingrich said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to is an interesting two hours of the American people seeing people talk about very large solutions at a time when we have very large problems , as opposed to: ‘In 30 seconds, what’s your position on X?’ which, when you think about it, is pretty silly.”

The debate — which will be 90 minutes long rather than two hours — is set to begin at 8 p.m. Saturday and will be broadcast nationally on C-SPAN. According to the agreed-upon format, King as moderator is to have a limited role, asking just three or four basic questions during the event. Iowa Democrats have criticized King for “chasing the limelight” and paying more attending to the presidential campaign than to the concerns of his Iowa constituents. King was a panelist at a South Carolina forum for the G-O-P presidential candidates and this past winter King hosted a candidate forum in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A man has been awarded $50,000 in winning his libel suit against the Iowa Democratic Party.  The Pottawattamie County jury ruled for Randy Higginbotham on Wednesday. He’d sued the state party over a campaign pamphlet mailed during a 2008 Iowa House seat race between Democratic incumbent Paul Shomshor and Republican challenger Scott Belt.

Higginbotham’s attorney, Mark Rater, says the pamphlet mentioned that Belt, in 1994, had bailed Higginbotham out of jail. The pamphlet said Higginbotham was a convicted sex offender. Rater says Higginbotham had been charged but had never been convicted “of any sexual-related offense.”

Party executive director Norm Sterzenback says the party had relied on an independent firm for the research, which proved to be inaccurate about Higginbotham’s court record.