Flood Waters From The Floyd River Rupture Gas Line
(Le Mars) — The rushing flood waters from the Floyd River has severed a natural gas line, which has affected at least 95 Le Mars residents and businesses. The gas line was located beneath the river near the Highway 3 bridge next to the Le Mars Little League. The ruptured gas line was noticed by nearby residents at about 10:00 a.m. yesterday morning when they could detect an odor from the leaking gas. Mid-American Energy crews are still
working to resolve the problem. Geoff (Jeff) Greenwood serves as the spokesperson for Mid-American Energy.
Greenwood says Mid-American Energy officials hope to be able to restore gas service to the trailer court by this evening.
Le Mars Fire Chief Dave Schipper says officials are examining their available options. One of those options would be to ask the Iowa Department of Transportation if they would allow a temporary gas line to be installed under the Highway 3 bridge.
Schipper says both options may be difficult to achieve since so much of western Iowa has encountered major problems due to the flooding.
Greenwood says the utility company has been busy because of the disruptions of service the flood has created to customers throughout western and central Iowa.
Long-term, Greenwood expects additional concerns along both the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers.
The latest information indicates two bottle-type tanker trucks are parked at the trailer court feeding gas into the mobile trailer park. Each of the residents within the trailer court were able to re-light their furnaces and are getting natural gas through the trucks to supply their heating and cooking needs.
Flood Waters Recede Allowing For Streets To Open
(Le Mars) — Many of the streets that were closed due to flooding waters are now beginning to open. Le Mars Fire Chief Dave Schipper says both Marble and Mahogany Avenues are open allowing residents living near the golf course to
have access to their homes and to downtown.
Schipper says the Floyd River since reaching its peak late last evening has now been receding.
Schipper says there is still a lot of snow north of Plymouth County that still needs to melt, and will eventually make its way here, perhaps as additional flood waters.
Jeneary and Carlin Cancel Town Hall Meetings To Examine Flood Damage
(Le Mars) — State Representative Dr. Tom Jeneary and State Senator Jim Carlin have cancelled their town hall meetings that were scheduled for Saturday at Moville and Kingsley. Representative Jeneary says the reason to cancel the meetings is so the lawmakers can view the damage from the recent
flooding.
Governor Reynolds Adds 15 More Counties As Disaster Areas
DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation in response to flooding and flash flooding beginning March 13 and continuing.
The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather and activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program. Plymouth County is now among the 15 counties eligible for emergency financial assistance. Other nearby counties
include: Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, and Emmet. On Thursday, Governor Reynolds declared 21 counties as eligible for emergency funding. Northwest Iowa counties as part of the designation include: Woodbury, Sioux, O’Brien, Ida and Monona.
The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level or a maximum annual income of $41,560 for a family of three. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Human Services website. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim (April 29, 2019).
Red Cross Sets Up Shelters For Northwest Iowa
(Des Moines) — The American Red Cross stands ready to offer assistance for flooding victims. In northwest Iowa, volunteers have been deployed as requests for sheltering services come in. Three area shelters have been established. They include Westwood High School at Sloan, Iowa; Sioux City West Middle School, and Faith Christian Reform Church located at Sioux
Center.
Helping Hands Resource and Thrift Center Accepting Donations For Flood Victims
(Le Mars) — Helping Hands Resource and Thrift Center of Le Mars is accepting donations to assist with flood victims. They are particularly seeking cleaning supplies and toiletries. Jim Plueger with the Helping Hands Resource and Thrift Center says they hope to obtain a covered trailer in which supplies can be dropped off. Helping Hands is located on Central Avenue Northeast, next to Claussen’s Clothing Store.
U-S Education Secretary Visits Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has met with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, legislators and advocates of private schools to promote a proposal that would provide grants to students to attend school anywhere they choose including private and religious schools.
The proposal DeVos outlined on Friday would provide up to $5 billion in federal tax credits to donors to a nonprofit organizations set up in participating states that would distribute the grant money.
DeVos called the Education Freedom Scholarships program introduced in Congress by Sen. Ted Cruz and others “a historic opportunity to expand education freedom.” She denied the proposal will take money away from public schools.
Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price says Reynolds and DeVos are working together to “enact their secretive school voucher tax credit scheme.”
Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett says Reynolds is open to looking at innovative ways to help public and non-public schools as well as homeschooling.
Rep. RasTafari Smith, the top Democrat on the Iowa House Education Committee says he’s disappointed public education supporters were not invited to the closed-door invitation only discussion arranged by DeVos’ office.
State Revenue Expectations Are Lowered About $20 Million From December Estimates
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State budget experts say revenue for next year will be about $20 million less than they had anticipated in December but it’s not enough of a difference to cause lawmakers to adjust their budget plans.
The state Revenue Estimating Conference, a panel of three budget experts, said Friday they expect revenue to be $7.84 billion, up 1.5 percent from the current year but about $20 million lower than December estimate.
A lower estimate in March usually means the Legislature must adjust its budget plan to consider the difference but lawmakers are discussing a budget of around $7.6 billion so it requires no adjustment.
The panel expects current year revenue of $7.73 billion, an increase of 4.7 percent from the previous year. That’s about $5 million more than the group’s December estimate.
The last two years state officials have had to cut budgets after
actual revenue came in less than the estimates.
The group also made its first estimate for fiscal year 2021 expecting revenue to grow 2.6 percent to $8.05 billion.
Iowa-based Stine Seeds Is Being Sued By Southern African-American Farmers
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A federal judge has approved an extension of settlement talks in a lawsuit claiming a soybean seed company purposely sold faulty seeds to black farmers in Mississippi.
U.S. District Judge John Fowlkes had set a Friday deadline for
mediation talks in a lawsuit filed in Memphis, Tennessee, by a handful of black farmers against Stine Seed Co. A court filing Friday asked Fowlkes to extend the deadline by three weeks. He later granted the request.
The suit alleges Stine conspired with a seed salesman to sell
defective seeds to the farmers because they are black. The suit claims the good seeds the farmers thought they had bought from Stine were replaced by inferior seeds before delivery.
Adel, Iowa-based Stine says allegations including discrimination and fraud are baseless and irresponsible.
