COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Officials have distributed emergency notifications to portions of northwest Pottawattamie County amid reports of two breaches in protection structures along the Missouri River as a result of this latest round of flooding. A breach in a protective berm along the bank of the Missouri just southwest of the Boyer and Missouri confluence as well as a breach in the Honey Creek Drainage Ditch have been reported to officials.

The emergency management agency has distributed emergency notifications to residential properties in the potential impacted area. Crews are attempting to get access to the area to observe conditions for more information and remind motorists to observe all road closures and detour instructions. “As more floodwater is now being released into the area due to theses breaches, we need the public to steer clear of the area,” said Doug Reed, emergency management director for Pottawattamie County.

Officials urge residents living in the areas south of the Boyer and Missouri River confluence southward to I-680 and from the Missouri River to just east of I-29 along 152nd street and south to Old Mormon Bridge Road should monitor conditions closely and be prepared to leave the area over the next 2 to 6 hours if conditions worsen or threaten your property.

As a reminder, emergency notifications and alerts are distributed through county emergency notification system “Pottawattamie Alert”, part of the Alert Iowa Network. Residents should sign up for notifications at www.pottcounty-ia.gov.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s governor is defending a law she signed earlier this year that prohibits Medicaid payment for gender reassignment surgery after California’s attorney general prohibited state-funded travel to Iowa.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Friday added Iowa to a list of 10 other states for which state-funded travel isn’t allowed because they violate a 2017 California law that guards against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill in May that reversed an Iowa Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing protection under the Iowa Civil Rights Act for Medicaid-funded gender reassignment surgery. Becerra says California takes an unambiguous stand against discrimination. He says the California prohibition on state-funded or sponsored travel to Iowa begins in October.

Reynolds on Wednesday defended the law as a narrow provision clarifying longstanding state policy in response to the court ruling. A lawsuit challenging the new law is now before the Iowa Supreme Court. After justifying the law, Reynolds described California, home to more than 10% of the U.S. population, as a state with high taxes, excessive business costs and expensive housing.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 200 scientists from 38 Iowa colleges and universities have signed on to a climate change statement that warns of “sobering extreme heat projections” for the Midwest that will put people, livestock and pets at risk. The statement released Wednesday says the World Meteorological Association identified July as the hottest month in more than 140 years of record-keeping.

The scientists say the atmosphere and earth’s surface are warming at an unprecedented rate and by mid-century temperatures in Iowa will exceed 90 degrees for 67 days per year, compared to the average of 23 days in recent decades.

Peter Thorne, director of the University of Iowa Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, says adaptations will include expanded disaster preparedness, increased energy use and curtailment of outdoor work and recreation during times of extreme heat.

The University of Iowa Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research has released annual climate statements since 2011. They are vetted by Iowa’s top experts and are intended to place climate change research into an Iowa-specific context and encourage preparedness.

WESTMINSTER, Colo., Sept. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Coalfire, a trusted provider of cybersecurity advisory and assessment services, issued the following comments on recent penetration tests in which the Iowa Judicial Branch contracted with Coalfire for comprehensive security testing:

Malicious cyber criminals use all techniques at their disposal—fair or foul—to access valuable data from private and public organizations. Global cybersecurity firms such as Coalfire involved in technical testing are professionally contracted to simulate attacks using the same techniques any attacker may use to test the company’s defenses so that they can remedy their vulnerabilities before a real-world incident occurs.

Recently, two penetration testers employed by Coalfire were arrested in the Dallas County Courthouse during a security testing exercise to help the Iowa Judicial Branch ensure the court’s highly sensitive data was secured against attack. Coalfire was working to provide quality client service and a stronger security posture.

Coalfire and State Court Administration believed they were in agreement regarding the physical security assessments for the locations included in the scope of work. Yet, recent events have shown that Coalfire and State Court Administration had different interpretations of the scope of the agreement. Together, Coalfire and State Court Administration continue to navigate through this process. To that end, the Iowa Judicial Branch and Coalfire will each conduct independent reviews and release the contractual documents executed between both parties.

State Court Administration has worked with Coalfire in the past to conduct security testing of its data and welcomed the opportunity to work with them again. Both organizations value the importance of protecting the safety and security of employees as well as the integrity of data.

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Company officials said in a Press Release: “Coalfire’s client confidentiality is one of the most important aspects of our business. We are providing this statement only to clarify an unfortunate set of events; since this is an evolving legal matter and involves confidential client work, we cannot comment on further details of the incident at this time. The Iowa Judicial Branch is also making a statement related to our work together; their statement will link to the contractual documents.”

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says a man from Missouri was arrested at around 1:22-a.m. today (Wednesday), for Possession of a Controlled Substance. 30-year old Kyle Matthew Ledbetter, of Columbia, MO., was arrested following a traffic stop on I-29. And, 53-year old John Anthony Welch, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Tuesday in Hastings (IA), on numerous charges. Welch was being held on $37,000 bond for: Two counts Possession of a Controlled Substance (PCS)/with intent to deliver; Drug Tax Crime penalties; OWI/2nd offense; Possession of drug paraphernalia; Driving under suspension, and on two warrants out of Pottawattamie County.

The Sheriff’s Office said also, only minor injuries were reported following an accident on Highway 34 in Mills County, Tuesday afternoon. A 2013 Volvo driven by 63-year old Charles Larson, of Eagle Bend, MN., was traveling eastbound on Highway 34 and approaching Exit 8. A 2005 Dodge driven by 44-year old Brian Brandon, of Pacific Junction, was also eastbound and traveling at about 20 mph, because he was pulling a hay rake. The implement was equipped with a Slow Moving Sign, and had its 4-way hazards activated. Larson was unable to slow down in time, and struck the Dodge. Neither driver was transported to the hospital. Larsen was cited for Following too close.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Charles Grassley is expressing concern about President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Labor, questioning Eugene Scalia’s record on whistleblower protections. Grassley said Wednesday on a call with reporters that he’s concerned about briefs Scalia wrote while serving as the top lawyer at the Labor Department during the George W. Bush administration.

Grassley says Scalia argued that some whistleblower disclosures made to Congress aren’t protected under federal whistleblower laws and that the separation of powers doctrine prevents whistleblowers from disclosing certain information to Congress. Grassley, author of some current whistleblower protection laws, says it’s extremely important that Scalia would enforce whistleblower laws critical to ensuring public safety and preventing waste, fraud and abuse.

Scalia, son of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, will appear before a Senate confirmation committee hearing on Thursday.

Des Moines police have identified the man who died Tuesday after lighting himself on fire. Authorities report 36-year-old David Franklin Smith was transported to Methodist Hospital for emergency care, and later airlifted to the University of Iowa Hospitals Burn Unit in Iowa City for specialized care, where he later died.

Officials said Smith had been in Des Moines for approximately two weeks. His last known prior address was in Anchorage, Alaska. The incident where he set himself on fire happened a little before 2-p.m., Tuesday, at the downtown Des Moines Library on Grand Avenue.

Library staff used a fire extinguisher and put out the flames. A preliminary investigation indicates that Smith intentionally poured a flammable liquid onto himself, and then ignited a fire. The incident occurred in an enclosed hallway outside of the library interior. There were no other injuries, and only minimal property damage.

(Radio Iowa) — A north-central Iowa man who pleaded guilty to stealing heirlooms from the family of fallen rock star Ritchie Valens during the Winter Dance Party in Clear Lake was sentenced to one month in jail. The Valens family had reported two framed family photos of Ritchie Valens and a framed movie poster were stolen from the Best Western Motor Lodge during a family luncheon on February 2nd. The items were recovered 12 days later in good condition.

Fifty-nine-year-old Mark Hobbs was later arrested and charged with second-degree theft and conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony, with authorities saying that he had been seen on surveillance video taking the photos. As part of a plea agreement, Hobbs pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree theft, with the conspiracy charge being dismissed. Judge Adam Sauer on Monday sentenced Hobbs to 30 days in jail and issued a 625-dollar fine, which was suspended.

Hobbs late last month was also charged after authorities allegedly found more than a pound of methamphetamine in a Mason City storage unit. His trial on that charge is scheduled for November 5th.

(Radio Iowa) – The state Flood Mitigation Board has approved spending 15 million dollars on six flood recovery projects. Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management spokesperson, Lucinda Parker says Hamburg was awarded money for buyouts and to raise a levee. “The city of Hamburg for that buyout project was 940-thousand-856. Also the city of Hamburg to do that additional raising of that levee was six-point-three million,” Parker says.

Other money is also going to southwest Iowa projects. “The city of Hornick — where they are going to build a berm in that area — was a little over two million. Then down there in Mills County in a rural area there, they are receiving two-point-three million for a share of the local property buyouts. And then in Pacific Junction itself, they are also going to be doing property buyouts and they are going to be getting about three-point-one million to cover their local share,” she says.

Freedonia was awarded 135-thousand-555 for a levee district. All of the money approved by the Iowa Legislature was awarded, and Parker says there were a few projects that did not get funding. She says the city of Davenport, the Vanman Levee District in western Iowa, and Muscatine County all submitted requests, but did not get funding. “Certainly the hope is that the legislature might approve some more funding in the upcoming session and these applications will be considered again as well as any others that might come into the flood mitigation board,” Parker says.

Parker says the state money will be used to help leverage federal funding for the flood recovery projects.

Marne Elk Horn, headquartered in Elk Horn, IA has agreed to sell a division which provides fixed wireless Internet to customers in and around the Atlantic and rural Exira areas to NISHNANET, LLC, a wireless Internet company based in Atlantic, IA, according to Janell Hansen, Marne Elk Horn’s CEO. The effective date of the sale is September 20, 2019. “This area of our business came to life about 18 years ago, when customers in and around Atlantic and Exira, needed, but could not get, faster Internet service. Since other options weren’t available, we stepped up to serve the customers in need,” said Hansen. “Technology  and competitors have evolved and changed since then, and it’s time for us to exit this area of  our business. This change should benefit customers who will be able to get faster wireless Internet from NISHNANET, and still be served by another local company.”

Hansen continued, “This will allow NISHNANET to grow and allow Marne Elk Horn to focus all of our staff attention on our fiber projects and other service areas of our business.” NISHNANET, LLC operates Wireless and Fiber Optic networks in Cass and Audubon county Iowa. The wireless network covers approximately 300 square miles delivering speeds between 25-100 megabits per second to rural businesses and homes; in downtown Atlantic speeds up to 10 gigabits per second are available via the company’s fiber optic network. NISHNANET also offers Information
Technology services via a Managed Services Platform for small to medium sized businesses.

“We are excited to extend our high speed network to cover rural Exira while improving connectivity for former METC wireless customers in both Cass and Audubon counties,” said Scott Bennett, NISHNANET President. “This transaction allows both of our companies to focus on what they do best and provide the connectivity for our communities to prosper and grow.” NISHNANET has been a part of the Atlantic business community since 2017 and donated over $10,000 in goods and services to local nonprofits and local economic development efforts in 2018. “We are proud to be part of this community and pleased to give back by supporting continued local business development.”

More information is available at www.metc.net/wireless-internet or by contacting NISHNANET at 712-243-2497 or stopping by their office at 2 East 6th Street in Atlantic.