(Radio Iowa) — The all-time worst flood to hit Davenport is no longer the flood of 1993. The Mississippi pushed past the record level Thursday and it’s still slowly rising, approaching eight feet over flood stage. Meteorologist Rich Kinney, at the National Weather Service in Davenport, says the river has surpassed the record of 22-point-63 feet set in July 26 years ago. “Last weekend, there were significant amounts of rainfall, two or three-plus inches across the area,” Kinney says, “and that really fueled this latest rise that we’re seeing.”

Governor Kim Reynolds is scheduled to survey the damage in downtown Davenport this (Friday) morning. The crest is expected soon and the river may fall about a foot over the weekend, but Kinney is worried about the potential for more rain Sunday through Wednesday.  “That, if it occurs, would lead to renewed rises and we’re already at a very high level,” Kinney says. “We’re certainly very concerned about that and even after the crest, folks cannot let their guard down because the river will start to fall a little bit but we could be back on the rise again next week.”

He notes, the Quad Cities weather service is a “24-7 operation.” Kinney says the employees are very busy providing the “latest and best” information to many cities, counties, emergency managers, the news media, and others. Its forecast area includes the Upper Mississippi River between Dubuque County, Iowa and Hancock County, Illinois.

(Radio Iowa) — Early this week, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley warned the “United States Mexico Canada Agreement” won’t get ratified in congress if President Trump doesn’t lift the tariffs on steel and aluminum. Joni Ernst, the other Republican representing Iowa in the U.S. Senate, says those tariffs “need to go away.” “Our manufacturers are having a very hard time with that right now,” Ernst said.

Ernst met last week with about 120 people at Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg to discuss the impact the tariffs are having in Iowa.The tariffs on steel and aluminum imports also prompted Mexico to impose tariffs on U.S. pork imports.  “One in five jobs in Iowa is tied directly to trade, so this is an area that our manufacturers, our farmers and our ranchers are very, very interested in,” Ernst said. “But right now, the tariffs we have on those products are overwhelming and it is hurting our farm and agricultural income.”

U.S. farm income fell nearly 12 BILLION dollars in the first three months of the year. “I continue to visit with the president about these issues and am encouraging him not only to get the trade deals done as soon as possible, in particular USMCA and long-term China — we need those done, but also to remove those tariffs, so we can move forward,” Ernst says.

Ernst says she met this week with Iowa businesses that distribute canned beverages and heard their concerns about rising aluminum prices.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz and his wife have won another round in a neighborhood fight. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that a judge’s ruling issued Wednesday affirms the Ferentzes do not owe neighbors around $9,600 for road maintenance and don’t have to remove landscaping that affords them privacy from intrusive football fans.

A homeowners association set up by the neighbors sued the Ferentzes in March 2016, accusing they’d breached a contract and committed trespass. A judge ruled in September 2017 that the Ferentzes weren’t required to join the association. The Iowa Supreme Court declined to hear the neighbors’ appeal, setting up what became a nonjury trial on Feb. 12-13 to hear the remaining claims.

The legal dispute is scheduled to continue in court in June next year on another breach-of-contract claim against Kirk and Mary Ferentz.

Sheriff’s deputies in Pottawattamie County responded to a reported alcohol overdose at around 10:55-p.m. Wednesday, in Walnut. A 10-year old boy reported his 11-year old sister drank a bottle of vodka and was very drunk. The parents — Michelle Jones and George Schrader, Jr., — were not home at the time of the incident. Walnut Rescue transported the girl to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs, for treatment. Her parents were contacted and instructed to report to the hospital. An on-call Iowa DHS worker was notified. The 11-year old female was referred to Juvenile Court.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, 23-year old Jody Thomas Taylor, of Glenwood, turned himself-in, Wednesday afternoon. After was warrant for Violation of Probation was confirmed, Taylor was transported to and booked-into, the jail. There were also three prisoners from other jails transported to the Pott. County Jail, Wednesday:

• 30-year old Uriah Seth Hardisty, of Council Bluffs, was transported from the Lancaster County Jail in Lincoln, NE., to address a Pott. County warrant for Violation of Probation.
• 42-year old Royce Leon Singleton, of Clinton, MO., was transported from the Johnson County Jail in Centerview, MO., to Pott. County, where he was also wanted for Violation of Probation.
• And, 32-year old Anthony Michael Huff, of Pacific Junction, was transported to the Pott. County Jail from the Sarpy County, NE. Jail. Huff was wanted on a Pott. County warrant for Violation of Probation, Theft in the 2nd degree, and on a hold for another agency. His bond for the Theft charge was set at $5,000.

The Walnut City Council, Thursday evening, amended the dates for the Antique Fall Festival. City Clerk Shannon Wood said the Festival will take place Sept. 21st & 22nd, instead of the previously announced dates of Sept.14th & 15th. The Council, Thursday, approved a list of streets that will be temporarily closed.

Walnut is a pass through city for this year’s RAGBRAI, and Wood said planning is just getting underway. She said there was a meeting this past Tuesday, with committees being set-up for vendors, public relations and so on.  Officials will conduct a “dry run” of the course on June 2nd, and then the City will approve what streets will be shut-down for the event.

And, the Parks Department reported on preparations for Little League at the City Parks this summer. Wood said all the Little League games from AHSTW will be played there this summer. Crews have been working hard on making the parks….which she says haven’t been used a whole lot these past few years…ready for action.

The Council also approved a Budget Amendment for the FY 2018-19 Budget, after a Public Hearing.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A friend of a 19-year-old Sioux City resident accused of stabbing to death his ex-girlfriend and another man testified that the defendant said he wanted to talk to the girl about their breakup and that he needed closure. The defendant, Tran Walker, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. He’s accused of killing 17-year-old Paiten Sullivan and 18-year-old Felipe Negron Jr. Police say Walker was in a car with the other two on Jan. 28 last year when he stabbed Sullivan and then Negron when he tried to intervene.

Walker’s friend Erin Brand said at the nonjury trial that began Thursday that Walker “was very hurt.” Sullivan’s stepmother, Stevie Sullivan, testified that Walker and Sullivan broke up because he didn’t want her to finish school.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A former college softball player fatally shot while driving in eastern Iowa will be memorialized today (Friday) at a funeral Mass in her Kansas hometown. Micalla Alexis Rettinger was shot early Sunday morning as she drove over a wooded area along the Cedar River in Waterloo.

(Photo provided by the University Of Northern Iowa Athletic Department via AP)

The 25-year-old former University of Northern Iowa softball player pulled over along U.S. Highway 218 and died. The bullet also struck one of her passengers: her 32-year-old boyfriend, Adam Kimball. He was hospitalized and the bullet was recovered.

At least $58,000 has been offered as a reward for information leading to an arrest. The Mass is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. today (Friday) at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Lenexa, Kansas. She had been living in Waterloo since graduating in 2016 from the university.

A man from Nebraska died late Thursday night during a single-vehicle rollover accident south of Williams, in northern Iowa’s Hamilton County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 41-year old Justin Daniel Meyering, of Lincoln, NE., was eluding law enforcement during a pursuit while driving a 2003 Ford Mustang. The car – which was traveling at a high rate of speed -failed to negotiate a curve and rolled over. Meyering, who was wearing a seatbelt, died at the scene. The accident happened at around 11:30-p.m. at 220th Street and Vail Avenue.