SBA BUSINESS RECOVERY CENTER OPENS
The Small Business Administration has opened a Business Recovery Center in Sioux Center today. The agency’s Garth MacDonald is a public relations officer for SBA.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is the lead agency for flood relief, and SBA offers assistance, too.
Mac Donald says the Small Business Administration is offering loans are for businesses, non-profits, and homeowners who suffered flood losses.
MacDonald says their goal is to cover uninsured losses.
MacDonald says the SBA office in the Centre Mall is set up to take applications for relief on a person-to-person basis. The office will serve three counties listed in the presidential disaster declaration earlier this week – Plymouth, Sioux, and Lyon, and the adjacent counties in Iowa affected by the floods.
IOWA SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS FETAL HEARTBEAT LAW
The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a law that will ban most abortions after the sixth week of a pregnancy. Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson reports.
RURAL WATER SYSTEM PROJECT
The Southern Sioux County Rural Water System plans an expansion of their system in Plymouth County. They plan to develop a new South Water Source and Water Treatment Plant. This includes construction of a new water treatment plant in Washington Township, west of Le Mars. It will have a capacity of handling 1.8 million gallons of water per day. The project also includes two production wells and three miles of transmission line. The estimated cost of the project is 27.7 million dollars. System manager Jolene Liston says the project is intended to better serve customers and expand to any potential customers in their service area. Southern Sioux Rural Water covers an area from Hawarden to Granville in southern Sioux County. It also extends into Plymouth County, mainly west of U.S. Highway 75. This includes a rural area around Le Mars, Merrill Hinton, Westfield and Akron. There will be a public meeting to discuss the water system’s plans on Thursday July 11 at the Southern Sioux County Rural Water System office in Ireton.
TEN NAPEL – FLOODED CROPS
Farmers whose crops were affected by the flood have a lot of decisions to make. Area Agronomist Leah Ten Napel says the first thing to do is consult with your crop insurer.
If you have a stand that will survive the flood, Ten Napel says there’s not much that can be done to aid their development.
Producers also have to be concerned about the condition of the soil in the flood areas, and the inputs that have been lost.
Some options for producers are planting cover a cover crop in a flooded field, in order to control weeds or to provide forage for livestock. Ten Napel says it’s too late to replant corn, and soybeans are near that point.
Flooded fields where parts of the plants stay above the flood line can survive. Ten Napel says corn and soybeans are remarkably resilient plants, and can withstand some floods.
TenNapel also urges anyone, farmer or non-farmer, to deal with the stress of the flood. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has a 24/7 Iowa Concern Hotline, which she says is a great resource for anyone concerned about any issues involving disaster recovery, finances, or overall stress. Their number of 1-800-447-1985.
FLOOD DEATH IN ROCK VALLEY CONFIRMED
A man who had been missing is now confirmed to have died in the flooding in northwest Iowa. Scott Van Aartsen reports.
It’s the second confirmed flood-related death in the area. An Illinois man died when a pickup he was driving was swept away by flood waters on the east side of Spencer Saturday.
28 MORE IOWA COUNTIES APPROVED FOR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the approval of twenty-eight additional counties for Public Assistance under the previously approved Major Disaster Declaration for Iowa counties affecterd by tornadoes and severe storms in May.
Among the additional counties are Buena Vista, Cherokee and Clay. The additional counties have been approved for funding for emergency work, such as debris removal and emergency protective measures.
RESEARCHERS ARE WORKING TO SOLVE BIRD FLU MYSTERIES
The governor is extending the disaster proclamation for Sioux, Cherokee, and Sac counties for a full month due to confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in all three counties. State veterinarian Dr. Jeff Kaisand says state and federal teams are working closely to trace how the 15 recent bird flu outbreaks in dairy cattle herds in northwest Iowa may be linked to things like dairy workers, feed, delivery trucks, or wild birds flying through the area. While much is being learned about the virus and how it spreads, Kaisand says many new questions continue to emerge. Researchers are puzzled by cases where there’s been no movement of cattle from farm-to-farm and bio-security measures were followed, yet the virus has spread.
BIRD FLU IN TWO MORE SIOUX COUNTY DAIRIES
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have detected cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in two dairy herds in Sioux County, Iowa. To date, the Department has announced 13 detections of HPAI within dairy herds in Iowa.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is strongly encouraging Iowa poultry producers and dairy farmers to bolster their biosecurity practices and protocols to protect their flocks and herds. Farmers or farm workers who interact regularly with both dairy and poultry or who interact frequently with other farm workers in poultry or dairy, should take extra precautions to limit possible transmissions.
DOWNTOWN RAIL CROSSING CLOSED
Thursday afternoon, Central Ave. in Le Mars was closed on both sides of the rail crossing downtown. One of the rails at the crossing has unexpectedly dropped. Union Pacific Railroad will have a crew there this morning to pull the crossing pads to see what caused the malfunction. The crossing is expected to be opened by Monday morning July 1st .
LYONS ARRESTED FOR OWI 2ND/DWLB/ELUDING
A Sioux City man was arrested late Wednesday night after a vehicle pursuit in western Plymouth County. Broderick Blaine Lyons, 37, failed to stop when a Plymouth County Sheriff Deputy attempted to pull him over on K22 near Granite Ave. The driver failed to stop the vehicle, and a pursuit began. It followed rural roads for a half hour before stop sticks were deployed to stop the vehicle. Lyons stopped the vehicle in the middle of the roadway near the Casey’s in Akron and he was taken into custody. He was booked into the Plymouth County Jail. Lyons is held on bond for a valid arrest warrant out of Monona County. He was also charged with eluding, a class D felony, driving while barred for being an habitual offender, several driving offenses, and OWI 2nd offense.
