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Officials in western Iowa are watching the rising Missouri River. Water breached a levee in Pottawattamie County last night (Wednesday evening). This is the third protective structure in the area to breach due to the Missouri River’s third round of flooding this year.
Officials estimate about 40 homes are in the affected area. The county has sent out emergency alerts to people. Scott Manz (MAN-z) is an emergency management specialist with the county.
I know a lot of people have already left their homes. A lot of them are just going to monitor it and they’ll leave if they need to.
Water has also breached a berm and a drainage ditch in the northwest part of the county.
The Iowa Department of Transportation is continuing to monitor I-29 to see if it needs to close a portion due to flooding.
Republican Senator Joni Ernst says she doesn’t think President Trump favors oil interests over farmers and ethanol producers.
the Trump administration still hasn’t announced a fix for the president allowing the EPA to exempt 31 refineries from blending ethanol into gasoline.
Ernst, Senator Chuck Grassley, and Governor Kim Reynolds said they had a meeting with Trump last week where he “verbally agreed” to require some refineries to use more ethanol.
But he’s also meeting with senators from oil states.
Ernst says Trump needs to uphold the commitment he made to Iowa farmers on ethanol.
Ernst says Trump expressed he doesn’t want small oil refineries to shut down, and suggests he wasn’t properly informed of the waivers’ impact on the ethanol industry.
Iowa residents attending the University of Iowa and Iowa State ……will be paying at least three percent more in tuition at this time next year……and it could be nearly…… five-and-a-half-percent higher.
In a statement at today’s Board of Regents meeting….Board President Mike Richards said the Board is following the five-year tuition model begun this year…..and it all depends on state appropriations.
If the State fully funds our appropriations request, the base undergraduate rate will be three-percent.”
Richards didn’t project University of Northern Iowa tuition. The Cedar Falls campus was spared a tuition hike this fall and UNI President Mark Nook is urging that tuition be held steady until it’s competitive with other universities.
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