The Council Bluffs entrance to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge and major portions of the Council Bluffs Trails System will reopen to the public at 8:00 a.m., Saturday, September 3^rd.  These areas have been closed due to flooding.  To ensure these and other sections can be safely used by the public, the City is closing its trails at dark and advising users to be especially cautious when using the trails. 

Although the majority of these trails are in excellent condition, visitors should remain alert to their surroundings and the trail’s surface.  The trails along the Missouri River, Indian Creek and Mosquito Creek were especially impacted by the flood.  Users of these trails may find sections to be worn and uneven.  In other locations, trail users will encounter pipe crossing.  These are necessary to accommodate the pumping which will continue along the levee for some time.  Bicyclists and pedestrians are advised to proceed slowly and with caution in these areas. 

Additionally, the ongoing security, maintenance, inspections and potential construction activities associated with the levees will significantly increase the normal vehicle traffic on the levee trails.  As a result, users must be alert to encountering vehicles along the trails. Although the majority of the Council Bluffs trails will reopen on Saturday, some sections cannot be opened to the public until the river level recedes.  The trail sections that remain closed are: 

• The Riverfront Trail from Harrahs to the Western Trail Center
• The Manawa Trail from Redtail Road to the Iowa West Trail Head Park
• The Big Lake Trail

For further information, please contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 712-328-4650.

Cass County: Corn $7.35, Beans $13.87

Adair County: Corn $7.32, Beans $13.90

Adams County: Corn $7.32, Beans $13.86

Audubon County: Corn $7.34, Beans $13.89

East Pottawattamie County: Corn $7.38, Beans $13.87

Guthrie County: Corn $7.37, Beans $13.91

Montgomery County: Corn $7.37, Beans $13.89

Shelby County: Corn $7.38, Beans $13.87

Oats $3.09 (always the same in all counties)

A farmer from Pottawattamie County was elected President of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, Thursday. The ICGA and Iowa Corn Promotion Board says Kevin Ross of Minden, was elected to the top executive position for the organization. and

Ross is corn, soybean, and cow-calf producer and has been a member of the ICGA Board since 2008. During his tenure on the board, Ross has served on a number of committees ranging from ethanol to animal agriculture to membership and check-off.

Officials with the USDA report the Atlantic Food Pantry and Hamburg area will receive a total of 1,176-pounds of non-perishable goods, thanks to the efforts of the local  FSA, NRCS and Rural Development area offices. Cass/Audubon County Management Unit District Conservationist David York says half of the food collected (588-pounds) will go to the Atlantic Food Pantry, the other half will be delivered to the Hamburg area by Rural Development Employees. Those items will be distributed to victims of the Missouri River flood.

The goods were collected as part of the recently concluded “Feds Feed Families” event. USDA agencies across the nation were asked to participate in the event and collect non-perishable food items to donate to their local food pantries. Items collected include non-perishable food items such as fruits and vegetables, baby food, personal care items such as shampoo and soap, diapers, and bottled water.

Monica Robinson, program technician with FSA, and Kara Conn, RH technician with Rural Development were the leaders of this effort.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a brutally hot July and a relatively dry summer have caused a moderate to severe drought in about a third of Iowa and have lowered expectations for the state’s corn crop. Crop yield predictions are down, and some lawns, particularly in southeast Iowa, have yellowed without adequate rain. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted early last month that Iowa would average 177 bushels of corn per acre, down from 182 bushels in 2009 but higher than the 165 bushels per acre last year. But the continued lack of rain has prompted some private forecasters to drop the projection for Iowa’s corn yields to as low as 164 bushels per acre.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Ten companies are recalling 2 million bottles and jugs of the gel fuel used in outdoor decorations known as firepots because of the risk of serious burns. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the gel fuel has been linked to several dozen injuries when users could not tell whether the flame was extinguished. Pouring more gel on a burning pot can lead to dangerous flares or burns.

The companies recalling gel fuel are: Bird Brain Inc. of Ypsilanti, Mich.; Bond Manufacturing of Antioch, Calif.; Sunjel Company of Milwaukee; Fuel Barons Inc. of Lake Tahoe, Nev.; Lamplight Farms Inc, of Menomonee Falls, Wis.; Luminosities Inc. of St. Paul, Minn.; Marshall Group of Elkhart, Ind.; Pacific Decor Ltd. of Woodinville, Wash.; Real Flame of Racine, Wis.; Smart Solar USA of Oldsmar, Fla.

The last summer holiday has once again put camping spots at state parks at a premium. Department of Natural Resources Parks Bureau Chief, Kevin Sczdronski, says the on-line reserved spots always go quickly. But he says a visit to Rock Creek State Park east of Grinnell Tuesday showed how quickly the other spots go too.

He says the park staff already declared the campground full as all the “walk-in” sites already have people there and they are booked up for the weekend. “So there’s just one example that’s probably pretty indicative of what we are looking at across the state of the demand,” Szcodronski says. He says the numbers have been good for the parks throughout the summer. Szcodronski says extreme heat hurt attendance at some parks, but it helped others.

Szcodronski says the parks with beaches and lakes see even more people when it is hot. He says most of the campgrounds have been full almost every weekend. The D-N-R received some more money for maintenance of the parks when the new budget year began July first and Szcodronski says people should notice some improvement this weekend.

He says a lot of parks were able to hire some people and one of their first priorities is to get into day use areas and mow where they hadn’t mowed in awhile. You can find out more about the state parks on the D-N-R’s website at: IowaDNR.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Kate Olsen

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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has cancelled the
special deer hunt in Lake Manawa State Park, scheduled to begin October 1.
An estimated 90 percent of the area in Lake Manawa where the hunt was planned is
still under several feet of water.

AMES, Iowa–As waters recede from farmland that has been covered for several months by Missouri River flooding, Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Extension are jointly planning a workshop for Monday, Sept. 12 to address cropland issues. The workshop will be conducted via webinar at several viewing sites in both states from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Extension agriculture staff will host the workshop sites and facilitate questions to the panel.

Topics to be covered during the webinar and extension presenters include: sedimentation and debris removal, Shawn Shouse, ISU Extension ag engineer; managing post flooding soils: flooded soil syndrome, Mahdi Al-Kaisi, ISU Extension soil specialist; cover crops for soil health, Paul Jasa, UNL Extension engineer; and leases and crop insurance on flooded land, William Edwards, ISU Extension farm management specialist. Rick Koeslsch, UNL associate dean of extension, will moderate the panel.

“It is important for us to share information with those tasked with caring for farmland post flooding, but it is also important for Extension to hear the concerns and specific issues these folks have on their land,” said Shawn Shouse, extension ag engineer and planning committee member. “There is science that we can apply to this situation, but there is much that comes from farmer experience.”

Physical damage to farm ground may include obvious things like erosion and sand deposition. But some effects are invisible, having to do with the loss of soil microbes and soil structure. Land managers need to start planning and acting as the waters recede so that the soil can be productive again for next year.

“Using webinar technology helps us reach the most people on both sides of the river without having them travel great distances,” said John Wilson, UNL Extension educator and event co-chair. “It also allows for informal discussion at each site among those who have been most affected by the flood and with extension staff.”

In Iowa, the workshop will be held at the following ISU Extension offices: Fremont County in Sidney, Harrison County in Logan, Mills County in Malvern and Monona County in Onawa. ISU Extension in West Pottawattamie County is hosting the session at the Lied Multipurpose Center, 3501 Harry Langdon Blvd, Council Bluffs and Woodbury County Extension is hosting at a site to be determined. Nebraska viewing sites will be in Auburn at a site to be announced, in Blair at the Blair City Hall Council Chambers, in Dakota City at the USDA Service Center, in Falls City at the Courthouse, in Omaha at the Douglas/Sarpy Extension Office and in Tekamah at the City Auditorium. The Extension agriculture educator hosting the workshop at each location will be available after the webinar to address additional questions and concerns, if needed.

The webinar will also be available in South Dakota at the Davison County Extension Complex in Mitchell and in Kennebec at the Lyman County Courthouse. Further information on the Flood Recovery for Cropland Workshop, including additional sites and information as it becomes available, is available on ISU and UNL extension websites: www.extension.iastate.edu/topic/recovering-disasters and flood.unl.edu .

(Press Release from Cass Co. Extension)