DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s nonpartisan redistricting process has laid the groundwork for competitive races in all four congressional districts, where no candidate is a shoo-in. After a low-turnout primary, attention shifted Tuesday to congressional races expected to cost millions of dollars and legislative contests that could shift the balance of power in the Iowa Senate. Republicans say they have a realistic chance to knock off one or more incumbent Democratic congressmen. If they win two state Senate seats, the GOP will claim a majority needed to approve new restrictions on abortion, reduce property taxes and place a constitutional gay marriage ban on the ballot. Democrats, meanwhile, are taking aim at Republican U.S. Reps. Tom Latham and Steven King. Their races are expected to be the most hotly contested in Iowa.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a Braddyville man was arrested Tuesday, on a warrant out of Shelby County for revocation of his probation, on 2010 drug-related charges. 44-year old Roger Dale Schaben was taken into custody at around 7-p..m Tuesday, and brought to the Page County Jail, before he was extradicted to Shelby County by their deputies. His bond was set at $25,000.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Board of Regents says it wants to eliminate the practice of using tuition dollars to give scholarships to low-income students within five years.  The regents voted Wednesday during a meeting in Iowa City to create a 12-member committee tasked with developing a long-term plan to end the practice, in which about 20 percent of tuition revenue is used for financial aid.
 
The practice dates to the 1980s. Last year, more than $144 million went to nearly 26,000 students as need-based and merit-based scholarships. Some parents and Republican lawmakers have been critical of the practice, which they say hurts middle-class families by raising their costs to subsidize other students. Regents say the committee will develop a plan for a state-wide scholarship program and private fundraising to replace the aid.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday) were prepared to authorize Board Chair Duane McFadden to sign a letter of intent to join with other counties in an agreement for delivery of Mental Health services. Instead, they approved a motion signifying they intend to do so, after Mental Health Administrative Assistant Deb Schuler, who spoke for Mental Health Coordinator Teresa Kanning, informed the Board an ISAC (Iowa State Association of Counties) official suggested the motion to Regionalize those services be made, because the process to regionalize is still in the very early stages. Governor Terry Branstad signed legislation late last month that reform’s the state’s mental health system. It shakes up the current county-based format, in favor of one based on “regions.”

Parts of Iowa that are desperate for rain may not get it anytime soon. The National Weather Service is predicting a warmer-than-average weather pattern in the lower Missouri River basin, which includes Iowa, through June. South Dakota State climatologist Dennis Todey says he doesn’t expect rainfall to be excessive.”From Montana to North Dakota and northern South Dakota, a decent chance for above-average precipitation chances,” Todey says. “As we look in the southern part of the basin, the near-normal precipitation is expected.” Todey’s comments came during a U-S Army Corps of Engineers conference call. Warm, dry weather has allowed the Corps to inspect Missouri River dams following last year’s flood.

Officials with the U-S Army Corps of Engineers hope to have all Missouri River levee repair projects complete by the end of this year. Last summer’s Missouri River flooding caused significant damage in western Iowa. The Corps’ Omaha District has 11 projects underway, with 99-million dollars in repairs complete. Brett Budd, chief of the Omaha District’s System Restoration Team, says some already-repaired areas need additional reinforcement.

Budd says, “We anticipate phase two contracts will be awarded in the coming weeks for the Omaha Flood Protection project, levee L-624/627 at Council Bluffs, Iowa, levee L-611/614 south of Council Bluffs, Iowa, L-575 near Percival and Hamburg, Iowa, L-550 near Rock Port, Missouri, and L-536 south of Rock Port, Missouri.” Releases from Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, South Dakota, are at 31-thousand cubic feet per second. Last year at this time, releases from there were at 110-thousand C-F-S, and the Missouri River was more than five feet above flood stage.

(Radio Iowa)