(Radio Iowa) — A small group of rural residents in western Iowa’s Mills County have been warned they may have to evacuate due to recent heavy rains and increased flows on the Missouri River. Mills County Public Information Officer Sheri Bowen says “significant flooding” is occurring again west of Interstate 29. “We’ve just seen a large amount of water that has backfilled into that western edge of Mills County,” she says. The advisory about evacuation preparation covers a limited number of people because many homes in the area remain empty following the major flooding in March.

“The greatest percentage of families and businesses are not back and they’ve been working on their properties, but are not living there,” Bowen says, “so we just wanted to be sure the few families that are out there, the few businesses that have been back in are aware of the water situation and they can take steps to make sure they’re safe in the event that water does close more roads.”

The Iowa D-O-T closed Interstate 29 from Highway 34 south to the MISSOURI border yesterday (Wednesday). Highway 34 ALSO was closed west of the interstate to the NEBRASKA border. The closures come after the roads were briefly reopened following repairs. Bowen says the continuing problems have frustrated residents and commuters like.”This just makes us all aware that this is a long way from over,” Bowen says. The governors of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas met with Army Corps of Engineers officials yesterday (Wednesday) to discuss management of the Missouri River.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office said today (Thursday), that a man from Shannon City reported to authorities the theft of his vehicle. The 2004 Mercury Marquis, with Iowa license plate EJW 621 has been missing since May 14th. The vehicle was valued at $5,000

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 45-year old Rob Lee Bent, of Grant, was arrested today (Thursday), on a charge of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bent was taken to the Cass County Jail and later released on his own recognizance. Last Sunday, 60-year old Robert John Rasmussen, who is currently incarcerated in the Cass County Jail, was assessed two additional felony charges of Controlled Substance Violations. Rasmussen was initially incarcerated on May 10th, 2019, on drug possession, drug paraphernalia and drug tax stamp violation charges. He remains held at the Cass County Jail on $75,000 bond.

And, there were two arrests in Cass County last Friday: (as previously reported) 30-year old April Lynn Medina, of Atlantic, was arrested by Cass County Deputies on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Failure to Appear for violation of Compulsory Education Mediation Agreement/1st offense. Medina was taken to the Cass County Jail where she later posted $300 bond and was released; 35-year old Matthew James Bruns, of Atlantic, was arrested by Cass County Deputies, on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Violation of No Contact Order-Contempt. Bruns was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on without bond.

On Tuesday, May 28th, the Atlantic Lions Club opened the Country Schoolhouse in Sunnyside Park for the annual 6th grade class field trip as part of their Iowa History class curriculum and end of school year activities.   Bob Anderson provided interesting insights into what it was like for students to attend a country school.

(Photo submitted)

At one time there were as many as 149,282 one-room schoolhouses in the United States, predominantly in rural areas.  They provided education for students in kindergarten through the 8th grade, although a few students also attended the schools long enough to receive a high school diploma.  There were 12,000 to 14,000 in Iowa, depending on what report you use…more than any other state in the union, but starting in 1935 these schools began to close and students were transported via bus to consolidated schools for elementary education.  The last one-room school houses closed their doors permanently in 1967 through legislative decree.

Approximately only 2,800 one-room schoolhouses still stand in Iowa…many of them houses, garages or gradually being reclaimed by nature.  A few have been retained as museums and one of these can be found in Sunnyside Park in Atlantic.  The Bear Grove Township #5 schoolhouse was built in 1870.  It was donated to the community of Atlantic and moved to Sunnyside Park in 1960 by the Atlantic Lions.

The Lions will have the school house open again this year during the Block Party sponsored by Atlantic Parks and Rec and the Atlantic Kiwanis Club this Saturday, June 1st, from 4 to 6 PM.

(Radio Iowa) — A 48-year-old Sioux City man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on five different drug charges. A jury convicted Shelton Oliver — who also went by the name “Sinbad” — of distributing heroin. Prosecutors say Oliver gave heroin to an informant on four different occasions — and he did it near several “drug-free” zones, including a Sioux City elementary school and four different Sioux City parks.

Authorities linked Oliver to two different heroin overdoses as well. One man died in October of 2017. Evidence showed Oliver was selling heroin out of his car to an informant last year — while a person in Oliver’s passenger seat was overdosing. That person was revived by medical personnel.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reported multiple discharges from sewage treatment plants and livestock facilities in recent days as systems got overwhelmed by large amounts of rain. The D-N-R’s Scott Wilson says livestock facilities have struggled to handle the manure all spring. “Because of the wet weather, just bad farm conditions, ground conditions, and so right now with the extra rains they are full. Some have been overflowing,” Wilson says. “For some that’s a permit-allowable thing — for others it’s not.”  He says the D-N-R tries to help producers address the issue before it becomes a problem. “Yeah, we do like to talk to facilities about options for transferring manure, holding manure, putting it out on fields that are potentially full — but it buys us some time to let manure flow across fields,” Wilson says.

Wilson says there is not set rule or plan that can be used for every situation. “It really is very specific to each facility,” he says, “which is one of the reasons why we always like to asked people to call us when they are anticipating a problem, or they discover that they’ve already got a problem.” The D-N-R had more than 70 reports of city sewage treatment plants discharging after having trouble handling the large volumes of water. “Sometimes those discharges that are being reported are coming from the wastewater treatment plants themselves. Where the treatment plant is getting influent that exceeds what they can handle,” according to Wilson. “It also is sometimes in what we call the collection system.” Problems in the collection system include pipes that get plugged or overwhelmed with water. He says some systems still have sump pumps connected to them from houses and that additional water can overwhelm a plant.

Wilson says they issue a warning to let the public know there might be sewage in the waterways. “It’s the kind of thing for at least for the days which it is occurring anda few after — you’d want to be wary. There is potential for pathogens to be in the water. And also because of a flooding situation there’s other safety hazards in the water too, floating debris, force of the water moving,” Wilson says. He says the risk is a different for the animal manure that’s released from storage. But, he says there have been no reports of dead fish or other aquatic life. Wilson says the immense volume of water helps dilute the risk. “When you have flooding situations, you do end up with a lot of dilution. That’s not an excuse to allow pollution — but it does frankly help out in this situation,” he explains. “Where you don’t see the impact that you might see otherwise if the wastewater was going directly into a stream that was at low flow or normal flow.”

Wilson says livestock facilities that are discharging or expecting to discharge should contact their local D-N-R field office After hours, facilities can call the D-N-R emergency spill line at 515-725-8694. The D-N-R website has more information about spill reporting requirements.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Officials in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport say the city is building a bigger flood barrier in the wake of a breach in April that sent floodwaters rushing into downtown streets. Davenport City Administrator Corri Spiegel tells the Quad-City Times that the city will build larger flood walls when there is a high probability the river cresting above 21 feet. Days after the last temporary barrier broke on April 30, the river hit a historic crest of 22.7 feet.

Davenport’s downtown sits on the banks of the Mississippi River, with no permanent floodwall. Instead, the city has an expanse of riverfront green space and temporary barriers, called HESCO barriers, consisting of large, sand-filled containers. Spiegel says Davenport public works crews began assembling the larger flood wall last week. The design uses two lines of HESCO barriers on the ground with another two stacked on top.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say a 4-year-old boy is recovering from a gunshot wound after picking up a gun he found inside his parents’ vehicle. Television station KCCI reports that the shooting happened Wednesday afternoon on the southeast end of the city. Sgt. Paul Parizek says the child was unattended in the vehicle when he found the handgun and began playing with it. The gun fired, hitting the child in the shoulder.

Police say the boy is in stable condition and is expected to recover. Investigators say the gun belongs to the child’s parents. Police have not said whether charges will be filed.

(Radio Iowa) — President Trump and former Vice President Biden plan to be campaigning in Iowa on the same day next month.  Iowa Republican Party officials confirm Trump is to speak at a PRIVATE fundraiser for the state party on June 11th. The event will be held in West Des Moines.

Politico reports Biden is planning to be in Iowa on the same day, and will be here June 12th as well. Biden’s trip will come a couple of days AFTER the Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser in Cedar Rapids featuring 17 other candidates seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

Police in Glenwood report two recent arrests. Taken into custody this (Thursday) morning, was 35-year old Travis Long, of Council Bluffs. Long was arrested for a Controlled Substance Violation, and on a Pottawattamie County warrant. Total cash/surety bond was set at $27,000. And, on Wednesday, 25-year old Cyril Ngala, of Bellevue, NE., was arrested in Glenwood on a Mills County warrant for Wanton neglect of a health care resident. His cash/surety bond was set at $2,000.

And, Glenwood Police said no injuries were reported following an accident whereby a car struck a building Wed. afternoon at 428 1st Street. Authorities say 91-year old Frances Louise Rainey, of Glenwood, was attempting to park her 2007 Lincoln MKZ in a parking stall, when she accidentally pushed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake. The car jumped a curb and struck a realty business. The building, owned by Mike Hopp, sustained an estimated $1,500 damage. Damage to the car was estimated at $1,500.