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Heavy Rain Causes Increased Water Releases From Gavins Point Dam, 4:04

052819 404 

Water releases from Gavins Point Dam will be increased today and Wednesday because of heavy rainfall over a large portion of the Missouri River basin above Sioux City.

Rainfall in Nebraska, South Dakota and central North Dakota for the past seven days has been 200 percent to 600 percent of normal, leading to higher inflows to South Dakota reservoirs.  Increasing Gavins Point releases will allow more water to pass through the system and slow the rise at reservoirs upriver from Gavins Point, near Yankton, South Dakota.

Areas around Lincoln, Omaha, Bellevue and other cities in eastern Nebraska are under a flash flood warning after torrential rains early Tuesday.

The National Weather Service has issued the warning for parts of Lancaster, Douglas, Sarpy, Saunders, and Washington counties. The alert also covers a western portion of Pottawattamie County, including Council Bluffs, across the Missouri River in Iowa.

The weather service says up to 2 inches of rain had fallen on those areas overnight — most of it since 4 a.m. Tuesday.

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says she rejected a bill late last week that would’ve expanded Iowa’s medical marijuana program because she thought it went too far.

The bill that passed with wide bipartisan support would’ve allowed for much more potent medical marijuana products at the state’s five dispensaries. Some Republican House members later reversed their position on the policy.

Reynolds says she wasn’t comfortable with the significant increase in potency and noted the state’s medical marijuana advisory board proposed a lower limit.

Republican Senate leaders say expanding the medical marijuana program will be a priority next year. Reynolds says she’ll work with them but wants to keep any expansion “narrow and cautious.”

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