SPM News

061019 504 Iowa farmers ---using….. five….. sunny and dry work days during the past week----now have planted …ninety-three-percent…. of Iowa’s corn acreage. That’s nearly three-weeks behind…. the five-year average progress….. at this stage of the growing season. This (Monday) afternoon……Mike Stewart….farming near Mount Vernon…. was among those scrambling to get seeds in the ground…. “I’m on my last day, hopefully, planting beans. Everything else is in the ground. Finished corn Thursday evening

061019 432 Iowa's court system has blocked public access to online records detailing Gov. Kim Reynolds' 2000 arrest for drunk driving, saying they inadvertently exposed her sensitive personal information. The records contained the governor's Social Security number, driver's license number and other sensitive information that should not have been made public under court rules. The annual Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" – a region of oxygen-depleted water off the Louisiana and Texas coasts that's

061019 404 The Iowa Department of Transportation is awarding 4.6 million dollars to help transit fleets replace buses. The money comes from Volkswagen as part of its settlement for 2015 Clean Air Act violations. The largest amount of money will partially fund 107 new school buses across the state. Half of these buses will use a propane engine. Zac Bitting (BIT-ting rhymes with hitting) is the DOT’s grant manager and says propane fuel generates less pollution than diesel. 0610bitting1.wav :12

Nineteen of the nearly two dozen Democratic presidential candidates were in Cedar Rapids yesterday for the Iowa Democratic Hall of Fame Dinner. Joe Biden wasn’t there. He attended his granddaughter’s high school graduation in Washington, D.C. Biden is expected to visit Ottuma, Iowa tomorrow. A poll released over the weekend shows Biden leading the 23 candidates running for the Democratic nomination. He is ahead by 8 points at 24%. That is down from 30%. Bernie Sanders was second with 16%,

Old Missouri Trail 2 061019 A marker for a long-forgotten trail was dedicated in Sioux City’s War Eagle Park Sunday afternoon. The Old Missouri Trail Monument marks a Native American and fur trappers’ trail that was being used long before white people settled the area. The monument was first unveiled in May 1928 by the Martha Washington Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The DAR’s Elizabeth Rosenbaum said the boulder was identified last May after Sioux City Journal retired

060719 532 From St. Louis to just north of Sioux City, the Missouri River is now closed to all commercial and recreational vessels. The US Coast Guard says the closure is due to existing hazards such as drift and high water. Boats may cause damage to or overtopping of levees. The closure will remain in effect until water levels decrease to a safe condition. Vessels being used for flood mitigation or restoration and fortification of levees may continue to operate, but minimize their wake to the

060719 504 The Missouri River is closed to all commercial and recreational vessels, from St. Louis to just north of Sioux City, mile marker 750. The US Coast Guard says the closure is due to existing hazards such as drift and high water. Boats may cause damage to or overtopping of levees. The closure will remain in effect until water levels decrease to a safe condition. Untreated wastewater has stopped flowing into the Little Sioux River at Cherokee County. The Iowa Department of Natural

060719 432 A northwest Iowa city discharging untreated wastewater into the Little Sioux River has contracted with a manure hauler to stop the releases. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the hauler is pumping wastewater from the city of Quimby’s lift station into a tanker and transporting it across the river into the city’s lagoon. State environmental officials estimate at least 15,000 gallons of untreated wastewater was going into the river each day from a city sewer line break. The

060719 404 USDA forecasters say Iowa may have cooler-than-normal temperatures and much less rainfall throughout June. But, that’s not necessarily good for farmers. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the USDA’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says the rainy spell we’ve been enduring for months is over. Todey says much of the month ahead will be cooler than usual and may not bring Iowa’s acres of corn and soybeans the warmth they need to mature. Todey says the area could still have a lot of

060719 404 USDA forecasters say Iowa may have cooler-than-normal temperatures and much less rainfall throughout June. But, that’s not necessarily good for farmers. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the USDA’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says the rainy spell we’ve been enduring for months is over. Todey says much of the month ahead will be cooler than usual and may not bring Iowa’s acres of corn and soybeans the warmth they need to mature. Todey says the area could still have a lot of