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Governors say Corps should make move now to ease flood threat in 2012

News

October 17th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

North Dakota’s governor is suggesting the Army Corps of Engineers take action this fall to lower the level of a federal reservoir in his state, as a preparation for potential flooding along the Missouri River next year. North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple unveiled the idea in Omaha during a meeting of the eight governors from states along the Missouri River.  “National Weather Service says we’re going to have more snow…We know that the ground is saturated down through the valley. We know that the levees are at a weakened condition,” Dalrymple says. “That calls for an adjustment.” Dalrymple suggests lowering the level of the reservoir behind Garrison Dam, which is north of Bismarck, North Dakota, by two-and-a-half feet. The idea comes from the state water engineer in North Dakota.

“He’s comfortable that because of the relatively dry fall we can easily move an additional 10,000 cubic feet per second out of that area for 38 days and create some significant additional storage before the river freezes up,” Dalrymple says. Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman says this idea could help take some pressure off Missouri River levees. “We’ve gone through this one-in-500-year event. We clearly have more water right outside behind us in the Missouri River than we normally have,” Heineman says. “Our grounds, our lands are saturated, so it’s not going to take as much moisture to get right back to where we are, so we’re all concerned about what additional steps can we take.” According to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, governors up and down the Missouri usually have “sharp opinions” about how to manage the river, but Brownback says this idea has broad support among the governors.

“This is a situation where inches matter and anything we can do to purchase a little bit of insurance, hopefully on the cheap, to provide for a weakened system would be an important thing for us to do,” Brownback says. “And that’s why we’re urging the Corps to do it.” Iowa Governor Terry Branstad says it seems as if the region is in the midst of a “wet cycle” and it’s time to make changes in the Missouri River’s management to address that reality.  “I think we’re in unanimity that we don’t want to have happen again next year what happened this year — a flood of this extent that lasts this long,” Branstad says, “and having more storage as well as repairing the levees as quickly as they can be (repaired), those are important things to do.” The governors in the region want congress to launch an “independent” investigation of the Army Corps of Engineers’ plan for managing the Missouri River basin. The governors also say that plan should make flood control a higher priority.

(Radio Iowa)

Haunted SW Iowa jailhouse is subject of night tours, paranormal investigation

News

October 17th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

October is the busiest month of the year for a 19th century jailhouse in southwest Iowa which some believe is haunted. What’s known as the Squirrel Cage Jail was built in Council Bluffs in 1885. Karla Borgaila is the museum coordinator for the Pottawattamie County Historical Society. She says the jail’s a spooky place.  “It got the name of the Squirrel Cage because inside this absolutely gorgeous brick building is a three-story cage that has pie-shaped cells for the men and it would rotate around,” Borgaila says. “It had a water motor for during the night and a hand crank for during the day.” Only 16 jails of this type were built in the U-S and three survive, but the facility in Council Bluffs is the only one that has three tiers of cells. She says it was a very unpopular place for prisoners.

“It even has a solitary confinement area down this long narrow hallway just barely bigger than the width of a gym locker,” Borgaila says. “There’s a standing area the size of a gym locker at the back they could put you in with a cage door for anywhere from one to ten days.” Members of the group Nevermore Paranormal have spent time in the jail and will share what they have documented about ghostly activity in the cages on Sunday at 2 P-M at the Western Trails Center, in Council Bluffs. Borgaila says there will also be evening tours of the jail on October 29th.

“From 6 to 8 P-M, we do spooky tours, evening tours throughout the jail and Nevermore Paranormal will be there,” she says. “The jail’s spooky enough during the day and once the sun goes down, it’s even a little bit creepier.” The Pottawattamie County Historical Society will also hold haunted lantern tours of its rail cars at the RailsWest Railroad Museum on October 28th. Younger kids can stop buy earlier that evening and go railcar-to-railcar trick-or-treating.

(Radio Iowa)

AP Iowa Prep Football Poll

Sports

October 17th, 2011 by Jim Field

The Top Ten teams in the Associated Press Iowa high school
football polls of the 2010 season with first-place votes in
parentheses and won-loss record, total points and position last
week at right:
Class 4A
Record  Pts  Prv
1. West Des Moines Valley (9)    8-0     162  1
2. Cedar Falls (8)               8-0     159  2
3. Marion Linn-Mar               8-0     134  3
4. Southeast Polk                7-1     119  4
5. Bettendorf                    7-1     89   6
6. Ankeny                        7-1     83   7
7. West Des Moines Dowling       7-2     66   8
8. Eldridge North Scott          7-1     46   10
9. Iowa City High                6-2     31   5
10. Des Moines Lincoln            7-1     27   NR

Others receiving votes: 11, Pleasant Valley 10. 12, Iowa City
West 3. 13, Cedar Rapids Washington 2. 13, Marshalltown 2. 15,
Council Bluffs Lincoln 1. 15, Davenport Assumption 1.
Class 3A
Record  Pts  Prv
1. Clear Lake (15)             8-0     159  1
2. Boyden-Hull-RV (1)          8-0     139  2
3. Adel ADM                    8-0     116  3
4. Webster City                7-1     108  4
5. Sioux City Heelan           7-1     88   5
6. Solon                       7-1     79   6
7. Manchester West Delaware    7-1     67   7
8. Maquoketa                   7-1     49   8
T9.Grinnell                    7-1     20   NR
T9.Pella                       7-1     20   NR

Others receiving votes: 11, Creston-Orient-Macksburg 13. 11,
Norwalk 13. 13, La Porte City Union 3. 14, Oskaloosa 2. 14, Harlan
2. 16, Keokuk 1. 16, Decorah 1.
Class 2A
Record  Pts  Prv
1. Iowa City Regina (11)             8-0     154  1
2. State Center West Marshall (5)    8-0     149  2
3. Spirit Lake                       8-0     122  3
4. Mediapolis                        8-0     100  4
5. Monroe PCM                        8-0     92   5
6. Carroll Kuemper                   7-1     76   6
7. Calmar South Winneshiek           8-0     65   7
8. Dyersville Beckman                7-1     42   8
9. Fort Dodge St. Edmond             7-1     41   9
10. South Central Calhoun             7-1     32   10

Others receiving votes: 11, Forest City 3. 12, Central Lyon-GLR
2. 13, West Union North Fayette 1. 13, New Hampton 1.
Class 1A
Record  Pts  Prv
1. Council Bluffs St. Albert (9)    8-0     149  1
2. Emmetsburg (7)                   8-0     143  2
3. Woodward-Granger                 8-0     113  3
4. Logan-Magnolia                   8-0     111  4
5. Aplington-Parkersburg            7-1     103  5
6. Lawton-Bronson                   8-0     79   6
7. Panora Panorama                  8-0     76   7
8. Alburnett                        8-0     58   9
9. Inwood West Lyon                 6-2     16   10
10. St. Ansgar                       6-2     11   NR

Others receiving votes: 11, Fairbank Wapsie Valley 6. 11, Des
Moines Christian 6. 13, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 5. 14, Jackson Junction
Turkey Valley 3. 15, West Branch 1.
Class A
Record  Pts  Prv
1. Le Mars Gehlen Catholic (10)    8-0     153  1
2. Lisbon (5)                      8-0     148  2
3. Postville (1)                   8-0     122  3
4. Britt West Hancock              7-1     113  4
5. Mason City Newman               7-1     89   5
6. Traer North Tama                7-1     78   6
7. Lone Tree                       7-1     68   7
8. Wayland WACO                    7-1     37   9
9. Bedford                         7-1     25   10
10. Madrid                          6-2     23   NR

Others receiving votes: 11, Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 13. 12,
Brooklyn BGM 8. 13, Lynnville-Sully 2. 14, Akron-Westfield 1.
Class 8-Man
Record  Pts  Prv
1. Armstrong-Ringsted (14)       9-0     156  1
2. Blairsburg NE Hamilton (1)    8-0     134  2
3. Tabor Fremont-Mills (1)       7-0     126  3
4. East Mills                    8-0     105  4
5. West Bend-Mallard             8-0     94   5
6. Newell-Fonda                  8-0     92   6
7. Preston                       8-1     59   8
8. Clarksville                   8-1     50   7
9. Melcher-Dallas                8-0     31   10
10. Remsen-Union                  7-1     13   NR

Others receiving votes: 11, Adair-Casey 8. 12, Moravia 7. 13,
Glidden-Ralston 3. 14, Janesville 1. 14, Murray 1.

Iowa State QB Competition Heating Up

Sports

October 17th, 2011 by Jim Field

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State’s quarterback competition appears to be heating up after redshirt freshman Jared Barnett replaced struggling starter Steele Jantz in the last game.  Coach Paul Rhoads says he hasn’t lost confidence in Jantz, who has thrown eight interceptions and lost four fumbles this season.  But he indicated Barnett would get a closer look this week as the Cyclones prepare for Saturday’s home game with No. 17 Texas A&M.  Rhoads says he will decide at the end of the week which quarterback gives the team its best chance to win.  Jantz led Iowa State to come-from-behind victories in its first
three games. But the Cyclones have lost their last three and Barnett guided them to their only offensive touchdown in last Saturday’s 52-17 loss at Missouri.

Big 12 Sporting Trio of Unbeaten at Midway Mark

Sports

October 17th, 2011 by Jim Field

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were expected to contend for a national championship, and both are certainly on pace to do that with perfect seasons intact. The surprise in the Big 12 has been Kansas State, which also hasn’t lost.  That gives the Big 12 three of the 10 undefeated teams left in major college football.  The SEC is the only other league with more than one undefeated team: top-ranked LSU and No. 2 Alabama.  The Sooners play Texas Tech on Saturday, while Oklahoma State gets Missouri and Kansas State faces Kansas in the annual Sunflower Showdown. So it’s quite possible the trio could still be undefeated next week, when the third-ranked Sooners visit the No. 12 Wildcats.  Oklahoma and Oklahoma State don’t meet until the final week of the regular season.

Financially Struggling UFL to Cut Season Short

Sports

October 17th, 2011 by Jim Field

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The struggling United Football League is cutting its season short, moving up its championship game to Friday.  UFL founder and owner Bill Hambrecht said in a statement Monday
that the league would turn its focus to “building a blueprint for the long-term success of the league” and that there were plans to expand from four to six teams in 2012.  Each team has played four of its six regular-season games in a league that has lost more than $100 million the last two years.  The Las Vegas Locos will visit the Virginia Destroyers in the championship game. The Sacramento Mountain Lions will visit the Omaha Nighthawks on Friday in what the league calls the consolation game.

Atlantic teen sentenced for role in Neb. shooting.

News

October 17th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — An 18-year-old Cass County, Iowa man has been sentenced to 4 to 9 years in prison for his role in a deadly shooting of another man in Bellevue. Online court records show Cable Cohrs, of Atlantic, was sentenced on Monday in Sarpy County, NE, District Court after pleading guilty to being an accessory to a felony and aiding consummation of a felony. Cohrs was originally charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Kyle Williams. In exchange for Cohrs’ plea, the murder charge was dropped.

Williams was found injured and unresponsive by his grandfather at their home in March. He died of his injuries. Johnathan Armendariz was sentenced in September to 80 to 100 years in prison on charges of second-degree murder and use of a firearm in Williams’ death.

Governors at odds over Missouri River management

Ag/Outdoor, News

October 17th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – Missouri River state governors are clashing with Montana over flood control as federal officials tell them damage from this year’s high water will make them even more vulnerable during next year’s flood season. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer lashed back against a developing notion that downstream flood control should dominate upstream reservoir management. He told the downstream governors Monday such a plan would lead to empty reservoirs in Montana when a drought hits.

Schweitzer called into what was expected to be a private meeting attended by governors from Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota. The host, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, clashed with Schweitzer during the meeting. Schweitzer invited reporters to his office to listen to the meeting. He criticized the others for closing the doors to the public.

Iowa State running back likely done for season

Sports

October 17th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State running back Shontrelle Johnson may be gone for the rest of the season because of a neck injury. Johnson injured his neck in a loss to Texas on Oct. 1 and has missed the last two games. Coach Paul Rhoads said Monday that the medical staff hasn’t decided yet how to treat the injury. Johnson was the Cyclones’ leading rusher when he got hurt. The 5-foot-9, 187-pound sophomore has carried 51 times for 247 yards, an average of 4.8 yards a carry. Sophomore James White has played most of the time at running back since Johnson’s injury. White rushed for 148 yards at Baylor on Oct. 8 and had 61 yards in 14 carries at Missouri on Saturday.

Wellmark proposes 9.35 percent hike in premiums

News

October 17th, 2011 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is proposing a 9.35 percent increase in premiums for more than 70,000 individual customers in Iowa, saying it’s needed to offset rising health care costs. The Des Moines-based health insurer announced the increase Monday. Wellmark executives say the primary factor behind the increase is increased use of health care services as Iowans become less healthy, in part because of obesity. The proposal would translate into an increase of up to $47 per month. Earlier this year, Wellmark imposed an 8.5 percent increase on individual customers. That followed an 18 percent hike in 2010. Hugh Espey, executive director of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, calls the proposed increase “outrageous” during a time of economic crisis. A public hearing on the increase is scheduled for Dec. 10.