OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — As predicted, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it plans to keep water releases into the lower Missouri River elevated, as runoff continues to keep upstream reservoirs full.

The Corps said in a news release Tuesday that water releases from Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will remain at current levels, which — at 70,000 cubic feet per second — are more than double the average amount for this time of year.

The Corps says areas of Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska received two to three times the normal amount of rain in July.

July runoff in the upper basin was 7 million acre feet, more than twice the average. The Corps says this year’s upper basin total runoff is forecast at nearly 53 million acre feet, which would be the second highest total runoff in 121 years of record-keeping. Only the 61 million acre feet seen in 2011 would be more.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 19-year-old man convicted of stabbing two people to death last year in Sioux City will be sentenced next month. The Sioux City Journal reports Tran Walker faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole when he’s sentenced Sept. 20 in Woodbury County District Court.

A judge last week convicted Walker in a bench trial of two counts of first-degree murder for killing 17-year-old Paiten Sullivan and 18-year-old Felipe Negron Jr.
Police say Walker was in a car with the two on Jan. 28 last year when he first stabbed Sullivan, then Negron when Negron tried to intervene.

Sullivan and Walker had recently broken up before her death. Sullivan’s stepmother testified that Walker and Sullivan broke up because he didn’t want her to finish school.

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — A religious activist accused of burning four LGBTQ children’s books that he checked out of a library in Iowa has been convicted of criminal mischief and fined.

Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle says 63-year-old Paul Robert Dorr, of Ocheyedan, was found guilty of the misdemeanor Tuesday and ordered to pay $125 in fines and court costs.

Dorr posted a video to Facebook in October in which he denounced the Orange City library for having the books and threw them into a burning barrel.

Dorr had fought to have the charge dismissed, saying he was singled out for prosecution because of his anti-gay message. A judge rejected his argument in July, saying the only message being sent to him was “that he cannot burn books that do not belong to him.”

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo man convicted earlier this year of kidnapping and trying to kill a woman by intentionally wrecking the car they were in has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The Buchanan County Attorney’s Office says 55-year-old Ronald Dean Share was sentenced Tuesday to life for kidnapping, plus 25 years for attempted murder and another 15 years for other counts.

Prosecutors say Share kidnapped a woman who had a restraining order against him and told her he was going to kill her by crashing the car he forced her into. She called 911, and when police spotted the car and tried to stop it, Share led them on a high-speed chase. Police say he then intentionally drove into a guardrail at about 90 mph, causing serious injuries to the woman and himself.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state has settled a complaint with a Cedar Rapids woman and her son who threatened to file an excessive force lawsuit over a May 2018 incident in which officers in pursuit of a suspect entered a home and restrained several people.

The State Appeal Board on Tuesday approved a $100,000 settlement with Shashona Wright, the mother of Lamonte O’Neal, after they threatened to file a federal lawsuit claiming O’Neal was injured.

O’Neal, who was a juvenile at the time, was restrained by one of three troopers who entered a Cedar Rapids home while assisting Cedar Rapids police in pursuit of a suspect with outstanding arrest warrants.

The state denies injuries occurred. Assistant Attorney General Jeff Peterzalek says the suspect ran into a house and officers followed, encountering several individuals in a chaotic situation. Peterzalek says the state believes the amount is a fair settlement to avoid costly litigation.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley will hold town meetings in Union County on August 14 and Page County on August 15 as a part of his annual 99 county meetings.

Grassley is in his 39th year of holding meetings in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. Grassley has held at least one meeting in every county, every year since he was first elected to serve in the U.S. Senate. He takes and answers questions on any subject raised.

These town meetings are open to the public:

• Wednesday, August 14, 2019 – Union County Town Meeting, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m., Afton Community Center, 240 N. Douglas St., Afton
• Thursday, August 15, 2019 – Page County Town Meeting, 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m., Page County Courthouse, 112 E. Main St., Clarinda

The Harlan Police Department reports seven arrests. The following persons were arrested on Monday, August 5th:

• 32-year old Richard Lewis Marshall, of Persia, was arrested following a search warrant.  Marshall was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with invasion of privacy and obstructing prosecution.
• 53-year old Michael Mario Morelli, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for a possible domestic situation.  Morelli was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault, assault on a peace officer and interference with official acts.
• 30-year old Jonathan Wayne Sparks, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for an assault.  Sparks was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with assault causing serious injury.

Arrested Saturday, August 3rd was:

• 37-year old Kristina Marie Namanny, of Harlan, for violation of a no contact order.  Namanny was transported to the Shelby County Jail.
• 44-year old Jason Michael Lassen, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for a disturbance.  Lassen was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with public intoxication.

On August 2nd, Harlan Police arrested 47-year old Jamie Dean Anderson, of Harlan, on an active Jasper County warrant.  Anderson was transported to the Shelby County Jail. And, on July 30th, 29-year old Jacob Brady Scheffler, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant.  He was transported to the Shelby County Jail.