The Missouri River is number-four on the new list of the country’s “most endangered” waterways, according to an environmental conservation group. Eileen Fretz, spokeswoman for American Rivers, says last year’s historic, months-long flooding of the Missouri showed how management of the river is at a crossroads. Fretz says, “We can either keep going on levees and dams that have failed to provide adequate flood protection, as they did last year, or we can take a broader look and look at some other changes, such as the natural ability of the river’s floodplains and wetlands to absorb and store floodwaters.” The 2011 flooding caused hundreds of millions of dollars damage to homes, businesses, farmland and infrastructure. Many blamed the U-S Army Corps of Engineers for not acting quickly enough to avert the flooding, but Fretz says there needs to be more long-term planning to prevent future flooding disasters.

“Just relying on dams and levees hasn’t been enough to protect us and we need to acknowledge that flooding happens and we need to accommodate for a little bit of that,” Fretz says. “We think that flood plain restoration can help us meet those needs.” She encourages Nebraskans and Iowans to take action by going to the Washington D-C-based group’s website, www.americanrivers.org.”   “There’ll be a link where you can send an email to decision makers,” Fretz says, “encouraging them to support their rivers.” The nation’s top three most endangered rivers, according to the report, are: the Potomac, the Green River and the Chattahoochee.

American Rivers calls itself “the nation’s voice for clean water and healthy rivers,” and releases the report every year to shine a public spotlight on threats facing rivers and how citizens can take action to help.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (9.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 tablespoon pepper flakes (opt.)
• 3 tablespoons instant minced onion
• 2 cups canned tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Brown beef in skillet.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cover and simmer 18 minutes.  Serves six.

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Department of Education has assembled a taskforce on teacher leadership and pay to come up with recommendations on ways to improve schools in Iowa. Taskforce member Kent Mick, who teaches history in the Corwith-Wesley-LuVerne school district, says they need to look at how to get and retain better teachers.  “We recruit football players and basketball players but we don’t recruit the best teachers out of high school,” Mick says. Mick says the profession of teaching needs to be elevated. Iowa Department of Education Director, Jason Glass, agrees. He says teachers should be treated more like doctors – from training to salary. 

“The medical profession has a lot of esteem, respect for it, so that’s where we are trying to move this conversation around the teaching profession in Iowa, how could we do that same thing for teachers?,” Glass explains. But Jessica Gogerty of the Des Moines School District, says improving teacher performance is not just about a paycheck. “That we are still falling short isn’t because we didn’t pay them enough,” according to Gogerty. She says teachers are not holding back and saying “oh gosh I would do a better job if you just paid me an extra.” Gogerty says that teachers need better support systems. The taskforce will continue to meet throughout the summer. They will take their recommendations to the legislature in the fall.

(Dar Danielson/Radio Iowa)

Officials with MidAmerican Energy, Monday, issued a statement warning its customers about “Past Due” account, phone scams. The company says it has responded to several scams involving persons who call its customers, posing as MidAmerican Energy customer service associates or attorneys. The caller says the customer’s account is past due, and payment is needed immediately to avoid disconnection. The caller will follow-up by asking for your credit card number.

MidAmerican Energy says credit card numbers and any personal information should NOT be provided to suspicious callers. Customers are advised to end the conversation and call MidAmerican Energy’s Customer Service line at 1-888-427-5632. There, a company representative will confirm whether the call was from MidAmerican’s Energy call center, or a scam artist. The CSR’s can also confirm your bill payment, service or an appointment at your home or place of business.

If you receive a suspicious call, or other unusual type of contact from someone claiming to be with the utility company, contact your local law enforcement agency, immediately.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a Nodaway man was sent to the hospital following an accident Monday morniong on a county road about two and a-half miles northwest of Stanton. 62-year old Gary Dean Poe was transported by private vehicle to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, where he was checked for possible injuries.

Officials say Poe was traveling east on 200th Street at around 9:25-a.m., when the left front tire blew out on the 1979 Kenworth straight truck he was driving. The incident caused the truck, which was loaded with gravel, to cross the center line of the road and enter into a ditch, where it hit a fence and came to rest upright. No citations were issued.

The truck, registered to David Hart, of Stanton, sustained $15,000 damage. The fence, owned by Ronald True, of Villisca, sustained about $150 damage.

The Atlantic Police Department reported Monday afternoon, that a Pottawattamie County woman was arrested Sunday. 42-year old Theresa Reynolds, of Oakland, was arrested in Atlantic on a charge of OWI/1st Offense. Reynolds was brought to the Cass County Jail and held pending an appearance before the magistrate.

The number of homes sold in Iowa increased again in April. The Iowa Association of Realtors (IAR) reports two-thousand-606 (2,606) homes were sold last month. That’s just 22 more than in April of 2011, but association president Dale Gross, of Atlantic, says it marks the “eighth or ninth” consecutive month of increased sales. “It’s not up much, but it continues in the same direction,” Gross said. He noted the first four months of 2012 marked the strongest first quarter in terms of homes sold in Iowa since 2007. The median sale price of a home in Iowa last month was $124,375. That’s an increase of 8.2% over the previous year.

“People are beginning to think that the dream of home ownership is affordable with our low interest rates, so they’re stepping up and buying a home,” Gross said. The April report from the IAR shows the average home stayed on the market for 112 days before being sold. That’s up just one day over last year. The inventory of homes being sold, statewide, dropped from roughly 23,000 in April 2011 to just over 21,000 this year.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy charged in the slayings of his grandparents in their home in Manchester. Larry Hedlund of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says police captured Isaiah Sweet on Monday night in a wooded area of Cedar Rapids after a short chase. Earlier Monday, the teen was charged with two counts of first degree murder in the death of his grandparents, Richard and Janet Sweet. Their bodies were found Sunday afternoon when relatives arrived for a Mother’s Day gathering. Police say their grandson had been living with them.

PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are treating the case of a missing Nebraska woman and her 11-year-old son as a kidnapping but they say there’s no evidence of a crime. Charlotte and Owen Schilling were last seen Thursday morning in the Plattsmouth area, when she checked her son out of elementary school. They haven’t responded to cellphone calls from relatives. Schilling’s vehicle was found Friday near Lake Manawa near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Her cellphone and wallet were in the car. Police say the two were spotted at a Kohl’s department store in Council Bluffs before her car was found. Investigators say they’re proceeding as if the boy was kidnapped, but they don’t believe anyone is in danger and the mother doesn’t face any charges.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Postal Service spokesman Richard Watkins says the agency is stalling plans to close 600 urban and suburban postal branch offices and satellite stations. Watkin’s announcement yesterday follows the agency’s decision last week to halt the planned shutdown of hundreds of rural post offices.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is planning his first trip to Iowa since effectively locking up the presidential nomination. The former Massachusetts governor will give a speech today about debt and government spending at Drake University in Des Moines.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The maker of the beef product dubbed “pink slime” by critics says it’s laying off 86 employees from its South Dakota corporate office, and company officials are blaming what they call a “campaign of misinformation.” Beef Products Inc. announced earlier this month it was closing its three plants in Kansas, Texas and Iowa.