DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is naming the daughter of 2008 Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee to help lift his own effort ahead of a key test of strength in Iowa. Pawlenty’s campaign says Sarah Huckabee Sanders begins today as the former Minnesota governor’s senior adviser for the state’s Republican straw poll.

The August 13 event at Iowa State University is seen as a test of strength for Republican presidential candidates ahead of the leadoff caucuses, set for February. Pawlenty has spent a year and a half meeting Iowa Republicans and building a circle of top Iowa consultants, but registered only 6 percent in a recent Iowa poll.

Sanders was Huckabee’s 2008 national political director. Huckabee finished second in the August straw poll and surged to win

the caucuses.

Congressman Steve King, of Kiron (R-IA)

Western Iowa 5^th District Republican Congressman Steve King toured the area affected by Missouri River flooding last week, along with Governor Terry Branstad and Homeland Security/Emergency Management Director, General Derek Hill. King told KJAN News he’s proud of the effort Iowans have put forth to try and protect homes, businesses and farm land from the “Mighty Mo.” He says the amount of water coming down the river is unprecedented, and it’s going to be a very long Summer.

He credit’s the residents and officials in Hamburg in particular, with putting forth a valiant effort to protect the community. King says during his aerial tour of the flooded area, the extent of the flooding became clear. He says the water is a minimum of 1.5-miles wide in some locations, while in other areas, it’s about 11-miles wide.

And, while some have criticized the Army Corps of Engineers for not acting quickly enough to relieve pressure on the Gavins Point Dam this past Spring, King says they appear to have done everything “by-the-book,” but their actions will be scrutinized during a Congressional hearing.

On the topic of Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachman’s announcement last week she intends to run for President, King was asked if he will endorse her bid. He says she’s been a good friend of his since she came to Congress, and, while she’s near the top of the polls, he’s not willing to step forth and back her because she has to earn her place in the political arena by convincing voters at the straw poll and the state’s first in the nation caucuses she’s the best candidate for the job.

King says he wasn’t in Waterloo for her announcement because it would have come across as an endorsement of her candidacy. He says if Sarah Palin were to enter the race, he doubts the two women would ever team-up as the first female President-Vice Presidential candidates in the nominating process.

No charges are expected to be filed after some residents in southwest Iowa’s Pottawattamie County took matters into their own hands by blowing up a levee to get Missouri River flood water off private property and farmland. County Attorney Matt Wilber says the breach was a surprise, to say the least.

Wilber says, “We had a group of citizens that intentionally breached basically a private levee up in the northwest corner of the county, first mechanically and then with explosives.” His main concern was the amount of water released back into the already flooded Missouri River would impact many others in Iowa and Nebraska downstream.

He says, “We saw a rise in the river by about 3 or 4 inches as a result of we believe of that breach.” Wilber says the water quickly receded. No criminal charges will be filed as they used a licensed explosives expert to blow the levee which was located on private property. He says if they had damaged other property the landowners could face other charges.

“If any private property or other property is damaged as a result of this,” he says, “if you change the flow or velocity of water going down stream off of your property to the detriment of others, you can be held civically liable.” Wilber says there was a lot of confusion when this happened on Friday. Authorities in Harrison County were notified of the intentional breach but no one informed those in Pottawattamie County. Wilber says a lot of concern and panic could have been avoided had they made that call.

AMES, Iowa – July 5, 2011 – The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is reporting that installation of the flood barrier wall along portions of the north side of U.S. 30 from the Missouri River crossing (at Blair, Neb.) to Interstate 29 (near Missouri Valley) will begin Wednesday, July 6. The road will close at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Work will be performed around-the-clock and will take approximately 48 hours.

The Iowa portion of the detour, established for persons traveling from Missouri Valley, Iowa, to Blair, Neb., is: I-29 south to I-680E, take I-680E to I-80W, and then take I-80W to the Iowa/Nebraska state line at Council Bluffs/Omaha. The public will be notified when the roadway is reopened to travel. 

As a reminder, flood mitigation work being performed at this site is intended to address a specific scenario – breaches that occur south or downstream of U.S. 30. This site remains on the Iowa DOT’s list of roadways at “high-risk of closure due to flooding” because of its continued vulnerability to a levee breach north or upstream of U.S. 30. The duration and severity of the flooding is putting tremendous pressure on the levee systems. Placement of the TrapBags® on both sides of the roadway in lower-lying areas does not prevent an inundation of U.S. 30 should a breach occur in the agricultural levee north of the highway. Due to the characteristics of this site, no mitigation strategies were feasible for a northern breach.

Governor Terry Branstad today (Tuesday) announced the names of the individuals he has appointed to Iowa’s boards and commissions. They include, from western Iowa:

James Graham, of Council Bluffs, to the Iowa Arts Council

Angela Hance, of Creston, to the Early Access Council for Children and Families

Daniel Rittel, of Stuart, to the State Historical Records Advisory Board

Frank Hermsen, of Carroll, to the State Historical Society of Iowa Board of Trustees

Wayne Phipps, of Glenwood, to the Preserves Advisory Board

Jerry Mathiasen, of Council Bluffs, to the Terrace Hill Commission

Sherri Clark, of Red Oak, to the Vocational Rehabilitation Council

And Gina Schochenmaier, of Council Bluffs, to the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service. 

The members of Iowa’s boards and commissions are appointed by the governor. State law requires most boards and commissions to be balanced by gender, political affiliation. Geographic location and diversity is considered.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A federal report says data entry errors nearly caused the Iowa Medicaid program to overpay doctors by $9.2 million, but the mistakes were caught before the checks were cashed. An audit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services made public last week says the mistakes in 2009 involved employees who copied and pasted the wrong numbers into the amount to pay. The errors resulted in two doctors receiving checks for $9.2 million more than they should have for the procedures they performed.

The audit says the state was fortunate to catch the mistakes and cancel the payments following a special review of old checks that had not been cashed. Iowa Medicaid officials say they’ve prohibited employees from using the “copy and paste” function during data entry.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad says he no longer plans to call a special session of the Legislature to deal with recommendations from an education summit being held later this month. The governor told reporters Tuesday that any major reforms of the state education system will require time to build political support and he will make the issue a top priority of the Legislature convening next January.

When he announced plans for the summit earlier in the year, the governor called for a special session to enact recommended education reforms. But that was before this year’s session stretched until the end of June, making it one of the longest sessions in Iowa history.

Branstad says he also intends to seek public pension reforms in the next session.