(LE MARS)–Rainfall north of Le Mars will determine the impact of Missouri River flooding on a river through Le Mars.
That’s the view of City Administrator Scott Langel who was said the flooding downstream on the Missouri River could cause back water into the Floyd River.
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Langel explains timing of any large amounts of rain north of Le Mars and maximum flows into the Missouri from the Corps of Engineers will determine flooding impact locally.
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The latest estimate from the Corps of Engineers is a crest on the Missouri in mid-June.
(SIOUX CITY)–Iowa’s governor is seeing the volunteer spirit of Siouxland residents.
The director of Iowa Homeland Security and Iowa Governor Terry Branstad are in Sioux City for meetings with emergency management and local government leaders.
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Branstad has declared a disaster emergency proclamation for six counties bordering the Missouri River including Woodbury and Monona.
The action allows state resources to be used to prepare for, respond to and recover from the effects of predicted flooding due to increased releases from reservoirs on the upper Missouri River.
The Iowa Department of Transportation will provide dump trucks to Woodbury County to help building an earthen berm along the river to hold back flood waters.
Volunteers are still needed to help fill sand bags today at the Long Lines Recreation Center in downtown Sioux City.
You can find the latest Siouxland Flood Information on the KLEM web page, www.klem1410.com
Landscapes are Brechler’s favorite image
(LE MARS) —
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And that she does. From her backyard to Glacier National Park, retired Le Mars teacher Nancy Brechler loves to take pictures.
Brechler grew up in south central Iowa and ended up in Le Mars to teach family and consumer science at Le Mars Community High School. She got her first camera was she was 10 and says the farm scenery she grew up with became her inspiration.
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Landscapes are now her favorites and she uses them to decorate her home and studio. Her business, “Nancy’s Photography” has also given her a love for portraits.
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She takes her seniors out to different places in and around Le Mars. A favorite place in the area that Nancy often captures landscape shots are the Loess Hills.
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Other locations are further from home. A restless night at Glacier National Park led to some beautiful pictures for Nancy.
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Brechler has entered photographs, like this one, into competitions through the Professional Photographers of America. She says the critiques help her continue learning and bettering her work. (Report by Angela Drake of KLEM News)
Yankton continues celebration
YANKTON, S.D. (AP) Yankton’s city manager says the community’s 150th anniversary celebration this weekend won’t be impacted by the flooding Missouri River.
Doug Russell in an Associated Press report said Yankton isn’t facing an immediate threat from the rising waters like other cities. But he says his office has received numerous calls from people asking about the 150th celebration. He says it’s “full speed ahead.”
The celebration begins with a concert Thursday night and runs through Sunday.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Flags to be lowered for Iowan slain in Afghanistan
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The governor has ordered state and U.S. flags under state control to be lowered to half-staff in honor of a 28-year-old Ottumwa airman who was killed when a bomb exploded in Afghanistan.
The office of Gov. Terry Branstad says the flags must be lowered from 8 a.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Monday for Air Force Staff Sgt. Joseph Hamski. He died May 26.
A funeral Mass for Hamski is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church in Ottumwa. Burial will be at Ottumwa Cemetery.
Hamski graduated from Ottumwa High School in 2001 and briefly attended Iowa State University before joining the Air Force.
Survivors include his wife, Air Force Staff Sgt. Maria Christina Hamski.
Ex-Iowa GOP lawmaker backing same-sex marriage
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A former Republican state senator says in launching a group to support same-sex marriage that government has no right to say whom he can marry.
At a news conference Wednesday in Des Moines, Jeff Angelo said the group is called Iowa Republicans for Freedom. He wants the group to encourage rank-and-file Republicans to support same-sex marriage as a principle of individual liberties.
However, Angelo also says he doesn’t believe support for same-sex marriage should be a key factor for choosing any Republican presidential candidate.
The Ames man represented southwest Iowa in the state Senate between 1997 and 2008. He didn’t seek re-election in 2008.
His position is counter to that of many Republicans, who have sought to overturn the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage in 2009.
Sheriff: Gun law has allowed criminals to carry
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) The sheriff of Johnson County says one in five people there who have received permits to carry guns since a new law went into effect in January have criminal records.
Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek (puhl-CRAB’-ik) told the Johnson County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday that his office has issued almost 1,300 permits to carry guns in the first four months of 2011. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports his office issued about 550 permits in all of 2010 before a law went into effect that severely limited the grounds upon which sheriff can deny permits.
Pulkrabek says the law has allowed “more people who are criminal, non-law-abiding citizens to carry guns.” He says 250 approved this year have past criminal records, and many of them would have been denied in the past.
State suspends Medicaid funding for counseling company
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The state has suspended funding for a Des Moines company that provides counseling and mental health services to Iowa families and teens because of concerns that funding may have been used to cover personal expenses of the company’s owner.
The Des Moines Register is reporting Thursday that state officials suspended Medicaid payments to Families First Inc., citing a “credible allegation of fraud.”
Families First is owned by Kim Krum of Ankeny.
It collected $1.5 million through Medicaid last year.
The privately owned, for profit company has 75 employees in Des Moines, Perry and Sioux City.
Krum’s attorney says allegations of wrongdoing are “pretty overblown” and that the company has done a good job of following Medicaid regulations. He says the company is appealing the suspension.
Ventura man sentenced in stolen-checks case
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) A 51-year-old Ventura man who was accused of forging checks stolen from a relative has been given a suspended jail sentence and two years of probation.
The Mason City Globe Gazette says Richard Christensen had been charged with theft and seven counts of forgery for incidents that occurred in November and December last year.
Christensen pleaded guilty to theft after making a deal with prosecutors, who dismissed the forgery counts.
He was ordered to pay more than $1,300 in restitution.
Eastern Iowa man gets 97 months for child porn
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) A 37-year-old man from eastern Iowa has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.
A news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says Theodore Schaefer had pleaded guilty in December. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Linda Reade gave the Coggon man 97 months in prison and ordered him to serve 10 years of supervised release after he leaves prison.
Schaefer admitted that in June and July last year, he possessed sexually explicit computer images of minors.
Burglar cuts hole in Des Moines restaurant roof
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Des Moines police say a burglar cut a hole into the roof of a restaurant, dropped down for some loot and escaped through the same hole.
According to Des Moines television station KCCI, the theft occurred overnight Wednesday at the TNT Vietnamese restaurant.
Police say the burglar got $200 from a cash register but apparently couldn’t get back out of the building with a big-screen TV from the restaurant. The TV was damaged in the effort.
The front and back doors remained locked.
Iowa posed to triple wind energy production
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A wind energy group says Iowa could triple its production of wind energy by 2020.
The Iowa Wind Energy Association says it supports of goal of expanding the wind energy capacity in Iowa from its current 3,670 megawatts to 10 gigawatts by 2020 and to 20 gigawatts by 2030.
The association’s executive director says the expansion would increase jobs, salaries, farm income and property taxes.
The Gazette in Cedar Rapids is reporting Thursday that meeting the 20 gigawatt goal would mean more than 9,500 new jobs, nearly $24 million in new land lease payments and more than $6 billion in property tax valuation.
Democratic State Sen. Rob Hobb of Cedar Rapids says he is confident the state can reach that goal.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Submit your news release, photo, confidential news tip or news idea by email klemnews@lemarscomm or by calling 712.546.4121 or 712.546.9672 fax.
