Authorities in Guthrie County report a gas powered leaf blower was found Aug. 25th at around 2-a.m.  The machine was discovered near a bridge south of Panora on Wagon Road. No other details were provided.

Anyone missing the device is asked to call the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office at 641-747-2214.

(Update 12:15-p.m. – The child has been found safe!)

Waukon, IOWA – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Iowa State Patrol and the Allamakee Sheriff’s Office are currently searching for a 9 year old boy. Lance Kirk Palmer was last seen walking a gravel road towards school. Lance was last seen by a neighbor walking on a gravel road near his residence (1833 Moose Road, Waukon, Iowa) at 7:15 AM.

9-year old Lance Palmer

Lance is described as 4 feet tall with blond hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans and carrying a sweatshirt and book bag. Anyone with information about Lance’s whereabouts is asked to call their local law enforcement.

Media contact: Iowa DCI Special Agent in Charge Mike Krapfl at (563) 599-4239.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Board of Regents said Monday it will ask lawmakers for an additional $13 million to help the state’s three public universities transition to a new funding model based on in-state enrollment. A board budget plan shows the money would be split between the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University. Regents will consider the plan Wednesday during a meeting in Ames. Board spokeswoman Sheila Koppin said the new money would prevent $13 million from being shifted away from the University of Iowa next year.

The school has a lower percentage of students from Iowa than the other two universities, and it was expected to lose up to $39 million over the next three years under the plan. University of Iowa spokesman Joe Brennan said Monday’s funding request was good news and should reassure faculty who are anxious about possible cuts. But he cautioned that it was only the beginning of the process.

Under the funding model adopted in June, 60 percent of money for the schools will be allocated based on in-state enrollment. The other 40 percent would be based on measures such as the number of graduates and diversity of the student body. Regents said the new model aligns state tax dollars with Iowa students, and holds the universities accountable for their performance.

Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County report an Exira man was arrested Friday evening in connection with an incident that happened in the 300 block of S. Carthage Street, in Exira. 71-year old Charles Emmert Paulsen, of Exira, was charged with Harassment in the 3rd Degree. He was brought to the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office and later released. Paulsen is scheduled to appear before the magistrtate on Sept. 11th.

And a man from Kansas turned himself-in to the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office early Saturday afternoon. 19-year old Dylan Leeroy Millard, of Topeka, KS, was wanted on a warrant for Burglary in the 3rd degree and Theft in the 3rd degree. The charges stem from an investigation into an incident that occurred August 9th in the 1600 block of Littlefield Drive.

Millard was being held in the Audubon County Jail on $5,000 bond. The incident remains under investigation.

With all the rain in recent weeks across the Midwest and Northern Plains, water levels are rising along the Missouri River basin — and the water will likely remain high through fall. Dave Becker, operations manager for the U-S Army Corps of Engineers at Gavins Point Dam, says they’re having to increase the releases from the dam near Yankton.  “Our runoff here above Sioux City has gone now up to 141% of normal, so the upper reservoirs are really storing quite a bit of water and we need to evacuate that this fall while we can,” Becker says. “Our flows are steadily being increased.”

Becker says the high water levels will likely continue for a few months.  “Releases are expected to be up there through the fall, probably until about Thanksgiving,” he says. “They have extended the length of the navigation season which normally stops a little before Thanksgiving so they’ve extended that a little bit.” Repair work is still underway on several of the spillway gates at Gavins Point Dam. Becker says they can use the spillway and continue the repairs.

“Right now, we’re using five gates and we may go up to as many as using eight gates for these releases,” he says. “Even though we have four gates being worked on, we have plenty of gates we can use to release the excess water.” The river has risen about two feet at the gauge on the Meridian Bridge in Yankton, but it’s still well below flood stage. Releases from all the main stem dams are being increased to move the water before winter arrives.

(Radio Iowa)