KWIT: Regional News for 6/11 (2008-06-11)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Flood problems persist across Iowa as
rivers and creeks continue to rise.
In Cedar Falls, officials are asking people to evacuate the
downtown area. Officials expect the Cedar River to top a flood
levy.
High levels on the Cedar River have also caused Waterloo to shut
down its downtown, closing five bridges in and out of the district.
In central Iowa, the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers are being
watched as officials work to protect downtown Des Moines and the
city's water treatment plant.
Officials plan to close the downtown river bridges tonight at 6
p.m.
Dave Miller of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management
says a major change in the forecasts has meant higher and faster
moving flood levels.
The Cedar River at Cedar Falls is expected to crest at a record
103 feet at 1 a.m. tomorrow. Miller says more heavy rain forecast
for tomorrow and Thursday will further add to the flooding.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Flood threats are forcing several state
offices to relocate.
According to the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, the
Department of Revenue, Department of Natural Resources, Office of
Drug Control Policy and Department of Human Services are all
relocating to various locations.
Warehouse facilities for the state, which include documents for
the Iowa Department for the Blind, the Iowa Department of Revenue
and State Archives are also vacating their office space.
In addition, elements of the Department of Human Services, the
Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Disability Determination
Services, Iowa Department of Economic Development Iowa Workforce
Development are being affected and making arrangements.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - A portion of a railroad bridge that
crosses the Cedar River in Waterloo has been swept away by raging
flood waters.
About one-third of the bridge washed away around 2:45 p.m. on
Tuesday. A portion of the bridge struck a street bridge and another
piece washed downriver.
The bridge is used by the Iowa Northern Railroad to transport
tractors from the John Deere Tractor Works to Cedar Rapids.
A railroad spokesman says the railroad is assessing the affects
of the bridge washout.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Christopher Reed is holding on to a slim
lead in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate.
The Iowa Secretary of State's office found that after a
county-by-county canvass of votes, Reed actually increased his lead
by 10 votes. He now leads George Eichhorn by 524 votes. Unofficial
results had him up by 514 votes.
After the canvass Reed, a Marion businessman, had 24,916 votes
in the three-way primary on June 3. Eichhorn, a lawyer in Stratford
and Des Moines, picked up 24,392 votes. A third GOP contender,
businessman Steve Rathje of Cedar Rapids, came out of the canvass
with 21,106 votes.
Eichhorn could still ask individual counties for recounts - but
he must do so within three days.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - U.S. Attorney Matt Dummermuth says 300
of the 389 people who were detained after an immigration raid at
the Agriprocessors meat packing plant in Postville have now pleaded
guilty and been sentenced on federal felony charges.
Dummermuth says the number of convictions makes it the largest
criminal worksite enforcement operation in U.S. history.
Dummermuth says more people detained may yet be convicted.

In Nebraska...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Organizers of three petition efforts say they
likely won't gather enough signatures to get their issues on the
November ballot.
Citizens for a Free Nebraska - which included some former
Elkhorn residents - was gathering signatures for two initiatives.
One would prevent annexation of a city without a vote of the
residents. The other would let cities swallowed up regain their
freedom by a vote of residents.
The group has suspended their drives.
Another group wants the state to let public entities provide
telecommunications services such as broadband Internet access.
But Paul Schumacher, one of the sponsors of the petition, says
he doubts they'll have enough signatures to get the issue on the
November ballot.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - The water level at the state's largest
playground and a major source of surface water irrigation is higher
than it has been in five years, and still rising.
The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District
reports that Lake McConaughy is filled to 46 percent of capacity.
That's up from 39 percent last year. It was at less than 20 percent
of capacity in 2004, when it reached its lowest level since being
built in the 1940s.
Irrigation district officials point to good rainfall last year
that reduced need for irrigation water, along with strong flows in
the South Platte River that helped decrease water releases from Big
Mac.
Also, allocations to the district's irrigation customers have
been about a third of what they are normally.

ST. PAUL, Neb. (AP) - St. Paul school officials have apologized
for not telling parents about a bomb threat at their children's
elementary school in central Nebraska.
School board President Suzan DeCamp and Superintendent Douglas
Ackles told parents at the school board meeting Monday that they
understood the parents' anger.
A note was found May 19 in a boys' bathroom at the elementary
school. It included a threat to blow up the school on May 22, the
last day of school for the year.
No notice was sent home to parents. The school has about 300
students.
Law enforcement officers searched students' bags as they came
into school on May 22 and found no bomb.
Ackles says district officials were hoping to avoid worrying
parents and students.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Bail has been set at $100,000 for a Valley
man suspected of intentionally running his truck into a group of
children in April.
Mark Donnermeyer faces four counts of felony assault charges in
connection with the April 26 incident. Investigators say the
47-year-old Donnermeyer intentionally ran into four kids, then fled
the scene.
The children were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Two
of the children were 13, one was 8 and the age of the fourth child
is not known.
Witnesses went to Donnermeyer's home after the incident and held
him on the ground until sheriff's deputies arrived.

In South Dakota...

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Governor Rounds flew over flooded areas of
South Dakota yesterday and stopped in Parkston, where the southern
part of town has 2-and-a-half feet of water.
The governor says the areas he saw have lots of water but that
officials can't gauge the damage yet. He says significant damage is
possible if eastern South Dakota gets an anticipated 1 inch to 1 1/2
inches of rain later this week.
Earlier, Rounds issued an emergency declaration for all of South
Dakota, which gives the state access to emergency funds.
State officials are working with local representatives. Rounds
says agencies such as the National Guard and the state Department
of Transportation are helping coordinate disaster responses. He
says the challenge is that the flooding is widespread among many
counties.
Rounds says that while there may be damage to roads and
highways, it might not be serious.
Yet the governor says individual residents already have suffered
heavy damage and that they can't go in and repair it until it dries
out.
His aerial trip included Winner, an area south of Sioux Falls,
the Vermillion River and Mitchell.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Two Hells Angels bikers charged with
starting a 2006 gunfight that injured six rival Outlaws will stand
trial in October.
Defense lawyers plan to decide within weeks whether ask to move
the trial from Rapid City.
Chad Wilson of Washington state and John Midmore of Indiana are
charged with seven counts each for the shootout at Custer State
Park.
Their trial has been delayed several times, most recently
because of an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
At a pretrial hearing yesterday in Rapid City, the judge denied
two prosecution requests.
One would have allowed jurors to hear about Wilson's arrest with
a gun in Seattle and the other would have prevented people at the
trial from wearing gang colors.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota high school officials have
rejected a proposal that would have required student athletes to
sit out one year of sports if they switch schools through the 1997
state open enrollment law.
It requires 60 percent approval to amend the bylaws of the South
Dakota High School Activities Association, but the measure got just
48 percent.
In 1998, 71 students switched school districts for sports
reasons. The total shot to 235 in 1999, prompting SDHSAA to
establish a rule that allows students to open enroll only once
during high school and still be eligible for sports.

CANTON, S.D. (AP) - A Sioux Falls man, Elvis "Jake" Hanes,
doesn't have a driver's license because he says he doesn't need
one.
But yesterday, a Lincoln County judge denied his request to
dismiss a charge of driving with a revoked license.
No date has been set for a jury trial. Hanes says if he's
convicted, he will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Hanes says a driver's license is only needed for commercial
activity -- not just to travel. He says he has a constitutional
right to travel on public highways and city streets.
Lincoln County State's Attorney Tom Wollman says he will
continue prosecuting the case.
The judge urged Hanes to hire a lawyer, but Hanes says he won't.