Alabama Crash, Jefferson Search, and Weekend Wrap-up

Good Morning!

I hope you all had a good weekend. We start a full week of just Pat on the morning show. Brooke is off for a little time with her son. The good news is, No Noon News...we'll get to that in a minute.

To the News

Alabama Crash

Recent Dowling Grads will no doubt have heard the news by now. A 19 year-old named Lauren Brue died when a twin engine plane went down near Jasper Alabama. The plane was reportedly flown by her boyfriend's Dad. That's Lauren and her Boyfriend to the right.

His family was taking Lauren with them on a trip to the Gulf Coast of Alabama. I thought the comments on the Birmingham Newspaper's website were nice. A lot of Lauren's Sorority sisters wrote comments in saying how much they thought of her.

Jefferson Search

We'll also be following the search for a nine year-old boy who fell into the Raccoon River Sunday afternoon. Initial attempts to save him didn't work so they started a bigger search and rescue effort. Authorities called that off just after eleven thirty last night. I don't have a good feeling about where this story will be going today, but it's a reminder as we head into the weekend holiday that many of the rivers and lakes are very high still around Iowa. The water is moving faster and is more dangerous. Please stay safe!

Ramona in Court

Ramona Cunningham is back in court where she's hoping a Judge accepts a plea deal she's reached with Prosecutors. The details of the deal aren't public because of ethics rules that attorneys follow. The interesting part of this will be the sentence that the judge gives her. This is, by all accounts, the woman pulling the strings in a salary scandal that bilked taxpayers of more than a million and a half dollars. Under this scenario we won't get to hear her side of the story.

Weekend

Thanks to everyone who came down to the Des Moines Arts Festival this weekend! Brooke Jeriann and I had a great time meeting those of you who took the time to stop by the booth. I also had a chance to walk around the festival Saturday...boy was it packed! Great artists this year and a lot of jewelry. I talked to a few of the artists, asked if this was their first visit and if they said yes, I asked what they thought of Des Moines. All of them said the Festival was something they'd heard of but hadn't been to yet. They all said the City had exceeded expectations so far.

My Parents were in town for the weekend. They were with us on Saturday. My Mom had to be a in a wheelchair due to some recent surgery and I asked if she'd noticed how many things are or are not handicapped accessible. She said that's one of the first things you notice. Curbs, steps, elevators, and openings of all kinds simply aren't built for wheelchairs. I'd say the Arts Festival was tough to get around with someone in a wheelchair. It wasn't through any fault of the organizers. The width of the booths combined with the slope of the street simply made some of the booths harder to visit.

My point is, we all are better off if we get to see things from someone else's perspective every once in a while...even if it's only temporary.

Other than that the visit was really nice. We were over at my brother's house a lot. Played with his boys on their new swingset. We celebrated His son Elliot's third birthday, barbecued and got some good QT in. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa will send some pics over of out escapade with the boys.

Hope you had a good weekend. As I said, No Noon News all week so i think I'm going to use the weather and the time as an excuse to get some golf in.

See ya later!

PWD

More flooding and Arts Fest

Morning! It's been a while... hopefully you remember me. I am getting this morning's blog up and started. Pat will chime in a little later. Well, I don't know about you but I am definitely ready for the weekend. It's mainly that I am ready to catch up on sleep. The great thing about summer is the extended daylight... the bad thing about summer is the extended daylight (at least for those of us on this schedule). The nicer the weather, the harder it is to force myself to call it a night when I could be outside instead. Anyway, I can't wait to catch up on some z's.
Couldn't agree more with Brooke. My parents are in town this weekend for my nephew's birthday. He turns three.

Rain,
Did any of you get stuck in the flash flooding yesterday? It came down heavy and fast. Looks like we could be in for some more rain tonight. If you are trying to decide when to go to the Des Moines Arts Fest, it might be best to hold off until Saturday or Sunday.

Arts Fest
Speaking of Arts Fest, Pat, Jeriann and I will be there on Sunday from 2 to 5. If you are around, stop by and say hello. This is my first Fest at the current location in Western Gateway Park.
Mark Tauscheck asked the question...will the Arts Festival ever move out of the Western Gateway Park? My guess is no. The downtown bridges were a fine location and I know the intention was to move the thing back down there but does anyone else think Principal might have to re-open the conversation about the Riverwalk?

I-Cubs
Sally and I went down to our first I-Cubs game of the year last night. That's me and my first hot dog of the summer...charming.
What a great night to be at the ballpark! A great night indeed until the Cubbies pitcher gave up five runs in the first. The pitching coach went out to the mound to talk to the kid and Sally commented she can never watch that exchange without thinking of "candlesticks making a nice wedding gift".

Goodbye Wade

One more thing, we lost one of our Associate Producers today. He's headed to the Carolinas to keep moving up the News food chain. Wade Parsons filled in whenever he was needed and in some tough circumstances. I hope he enjoyed cutting his teeth during the Iowa Caucuses and the Spring Floods.

Hope you all have a good weekend. I am off next week... so Happy 4th, too!

I'll be here...No Noon news next week so we'll have a lot of time to talk golf.
Brooke and Pat

Wake-up Call, Airport Damage, and From the Mailbox

Good Morning!
It looks like another active weather day today. The meteorologists predicted it and it's panning out. Grab an umbrella this morning.

To the News:
The News is the Weather...Again

As I write this Jeriann is running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Weather warnings started popping up just as we got into the 6:30 half hour of the show. She's really a pleasure to watch work. You already know she's good at her job...the great part about Jeriann is that she thrives on the pressure of days like today. Try this for me...take any subject your familiar with...talk about it for three minutes. Then, right in the middle of the three minutes have someone hand you information you need to add in. That was Jeriann's 6:40 forecast.
We'll get to the mailbag later...that's about the weather too.

Airport Damage
70 MPH winds took down the Mesaba Airlines Maintenance facility under construction at the airport. Initially when we saw the pictures from overnight, I thought the points sticking up were the crest of the unfinished roof. Turns out what we were seeing were the right angle that connected the walls with the roof. This was going to be a BIG building. It's a setback for the Airport. They were excited to have mechanics working on some of the newest planes in Mesaba's fleet. We'll see how far this pushes back completion of the project.

North Korea
The President came on in the middle of the show to tell us North Korea handed over key information about the development of it's nuclear weapons program. This is the step a lot of diplomats have been waiting for to make sure N Korea is serious about disarming. Nice to hear about part of the world moving toward stabilization and not anarchy.

Supreme Gun Ruling
So what do you think? Is it the right of every citizen to own a gun if they want, or were the Framers of the Constitution thinking of the right to bear arms and the right of states to arm a militia?

No one will ever know for sure, but the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the question today. Whichever way it goes this one is sure to stir up a LOT of debate.

Just for reference sake, this is the Amendment to the Constitution in question:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

What does that mean to you?

From the Mailbag

We'll go back to the mailbag and let you know people still don't seem to understand why we have to tell people when there are severe storms coming their way. More to the point, they only seem to care about it when it's their city.

One viewer wrote:

I don't watch WHO very often & I'm done watching from now on. One of the few times you have something on that I think might be interesting, I don't get to watch it anyway because Ed keeps interrupting. Oh yeah, and we really needed to know that Nevada had quarter sized hail and we couldn't wait until 10 to find that out.

Another viewer told us:

Just wanted to write you to let you know that I have been watching channel 13 for almost 20 years, and am extremely disgruntled due to your oversize weather radar information in the bottom left of the screen.
Everyone I talk to feels the same way -- the radar screen interferes with viewing our favorite shows.
Can you please downsize the radar screen?? When watching wheel of fortune, you can't even see the entire puzzle -- this is getting out of hand.

Just so I'm clear on this, you can't solve the puzzle on a gameshow you have no stake in and it's the RADAR that's out of hand?

I have a million dollar idea for some genius. Someone go out and invest software that allows the weather warnings and break-ins to go only to the TV's in the area where the National Weather Service puts out the warning. You come up with that system and I bet you'd get a lot of TV stations to buy it. Until then, unfortunately we've got to put out warnings to everyone. The way this summer is going, I think it's going to come in handy for you sooner rather than later.

As always that's just my opinion. You're entitled to think what you want and to say it here. Go for it!

Hope you have a good day.

PWD

What a Month, More Economic news and Weather You Can Wear

Good Morning!
If you haven't stepped outside yet...it's hot and it's humid. This is what I've heard refereed to as Fair weather...not good...sticky like the fair.
My opinion, this is the worst kind of weather. I hate the humidity. The Air Conditioner went on in our house this morning.





One Month
It seems like a million years ago we were talking about Parkersburg Iowa and the tornado there. Unfortunately our attention turned to the flooding that covered the state over the weeks that followed. Stories continued to come out of Parkersburg. We heard about the effort by Parkersburg most famous sons...now NFL Athletes. The generosity and concern they're showing for the people of Parkersburg is, I think, a good measure of the place they were raised.

Erin and Sonya will be back out in Parkersburg tonight to see the progress. I'm anxious to hear their impressions. Tune in at 5.



Economic Indicators
More lackluster news for the economy today. New home sales were down nationally. the caveat was from the Midwest and South where homes sales were actually up. One measure of the houses on the market right now said it would take eleven months to exhaust the supply of homes on the market right now. I think our story on Des Moines Area Home sales hit the nail on the head. Have realistic expectations about the amount you'll get for your house and the time it will take to sell it...you'll be fine.



Roger Roger Roger
Finally to answer the question from yesterday, yes, Roger Riley is everywhere. But he's got a significant advantage on some of the other Photojournalists these days. Roger rides in Chopper 13 most of the time so when the flooding hit and we had to travel a long way for pictures...Roger was the man. Roger is a jack of all trades. We're lucky to have him on Today in Iowa!

As always, please ask any questions you want. Bring up topics you'd like us to take up. We'll do our best to reply.
PWD

Missouri Flooding, Religion in America and the Suggestion Box

Good Morning everyone...Brooke is back and I'm happy.

We had some lively conversation while the camera was off this morning so we'll fill you in on the topic...I'll let people share what they're comfortable sharing here.

Flooding

The St Louis area is now under the gun for flooding and levee watch. In fact two more levees broke near St Charles Missouri. My best friend's family lives near there, though I suspect they're high and dry...the city of St Charles may not be...much of the town is on the Missouri River.

Ramona

We got word just before the Noon show yesterday that former CIETC CEO Ramona Cunningham was going to change her plea. This one is going to make a lot of people mad. I think there will be a significant portion of Central Iowa that wanted to Hear in detail what happened at CIETC and wanted to hear her side of the story. Now she gets a plea deal. We should wait and reserve judgement on this until the deal is made public. It may be appropriate punishment for the crime, though it's hard to imagine the defense accepting a deal that would cover the mess she allegedly help make.

JOHN GAPS III/THE REGISTER

Iraq

I was reading The Register this morning and was interested to read Cal Thomas' opinion piece that ran in today's paper. Is the National Media purposely avoiding good headline sin Iraq to forward the campaign for Sen Barak Obama? Thomas reminds us there are good stories still coming out of Iraq if anyone will pay attention. I have no Idea because I've never been there so I have to trust the reporting of the people on the ground. I've heard good and bad stories from people who've spent time in Iraq. Some of them are reporters, some are stories I've heard from military personnel who've come back. The best I can make out of all of it is that it's a mixed bag of success and frustration that's better today than it was a year ago.

Religion in America

Have you seen this study? It's by the Pew Research Center about Faith in America. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the study but it says some interesting things. This was the topic of much conversation during breaks. I won't go into detail but I will say that my opinions fit with some of the majority responses in this survey. I've said here before that I'm a lapsed Catholic at best. I find a lot to talk about here and wonder your views on the study. Are we a nation that is simply slipping toward secularism because of a lack of understanding of our respective faiths or are we a nation that is increasingly coming to a more tolerant view of other faiths? I'd like yo hear from you.

Finally, the suggestion box is empty. From time to time we open it up to your suggestions. I'd do that now. If you have a question, opinion, or an idea you think might work here; feel free to post it.

Weekend in Sports, Sex in the City and Breakfast on My Shirt

Good Morning!
Sorry I'm a little late with the Blog this morning.
Brooke is out sick today so there's a little more to do. I"ll include a little of our planning for Noon.
To the News:
Sports, Sports and More Sports
If you are one of those people who used to say "there's nothing to do here"" I hope you were out and about this weekend...and I hope you're satisfied. there was something for just about anyone this weekend...
First, the Hy-Vee Triathlon.
I was out there Sunday morning and I have to say I was surprised at the number of people who came out to watch. I think Central Iowa gets that this is a big deal and we should support it...so if they were into Triathlon or just into sitting out in the sun with a few thousand people...They came in droves.
We were not aware of the fatality on the swim course when we showed up at about seven for Today in Iowa Sunday.

Business owner and Urbandale resident Jim Goodman died during the swim phase of the tri. He signaled for help about 150 yards from shore. It appears to be heart related. Our thoughts are with Jim's family.

The Elite athletes took the course later int he day and we had exciting races for the men and women. Hunter Kemper and Sarah Haskins get the final Olympic spots.
Overall great job by Hy-Vee to get everything moved to West Des Moines and running smoothly. I was told by more than one person that the International Triathlon Union is impressed with the way Hy-Vee ran things and they may try to put a world championships here. It would be a nice event between Olympic Games.

Iowa Corn Indy 250
Good Race, parking went better great that the winner gives his check to flood relief... but what's the deal with Scott Dixon? He's calling Danica Patrick "a menace on the track?" I don't know anything about racing so tell me what she's doin? Is this just the guys not appreciating her breaking into the boys club? Explain to me race fans!

Shawn
Well, you kinda knew this one was coming...and the math works out for her. What a poised and yet humble individual. She just looks like she's having fun out there which is more than I can say for her team-mates.
I still say she look like she's not at her peak yet. Lets hope it comes during the Olympics.

Sex in the City
Guys, This is not a bad movie. Go see it with your wives, girlfriends...or if you have neither...go get a group of guys together and see it. I'll explain It this was. In High School I took Dance instead of Gym my senior year...everyone started making fun of me until I laid it out this was. I'm in an air conditioned dance studio with a bunch of girls in leotards, and you're in a hot gym with a bunch of guys...it's not looking like that bad of an option is it?
Same thing here. I was one of four guys in a packed theatre. I think we were all there with our wives. I'm wondering...what better way for a bunch of single guys to make an impression than to be hanging around after the girls night out group just saw a movie about finding true love...or something that resembles it. Do the math...the odds work out for the single men smart enough to go to Sex in the City.

Breakfast on my Shirt.
I'm going to go home and hose myself off. I always try to carry too much to the car in the morning and this morning I tried with a full glass of orange juice. It ended up on my shirt, my tie and my pants. Can't imagine what the girls thought when I walked in.
We'll try to rebound at Noon.

Have a good one!
PWD

Ag Flooding, Busy Weekend and Video Blog is back!

Good Morning!
I know I know....
We've been slackers this week. I think its a post flood hangover of sorts. I feel like we've had some things on hold for flood coverage so this week was an opportunity to get back into the swing of things.
We need to be in the swing of things this weekend cause there's a lot to do. More on that in a minute, but first, The News:

Ag Flooding

If you live in Iowa it's obvious farmers are one of, if not the biggest group effected by flooding. Think about it, where cities have levees to protect them (we hope) from flooding, farmers are often along open areas of the river. It's one of the many risks farmers take with the weather every season when they plant their crops. We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in losses from Iowa farms alone. Brooke would have a better perspective on how the flooding effects farming, but if you ask me, farm losses are the subtext of this event that will effect lives all over the country.

One more thing, an aerial tour of the flooded farm fields of Iowa will be preceded by a news conference. I understand and applaud the state for it's efforts to keep the news media up to date. I think that's appropriate. The problem I have is that these events can turn into choreographed PR events instead of what they should be...a quick update on events before getting back to work.

No one needs a podium, or a contrived background, or series of thank yous that make you wish the Academy Awards Orchestra could interrupt and take us to a commercial break. Just gather us all around before you leave, give us an update and go...what are more concerned about the information, or the image of the people giving it out?

Attempted Abductions

I imagine parents are more than mildly concerned over reports of a man trying to lure young girls into his car. There have been a string of attempted abductions or outright sexual assaults on young women in Des Moines, Urbandale and several other communities. Police think the string of incidents is connected.

Russert Replacement

Brian Williams will replace Tim Russert this weekend on Meet the Press. That's not permanent from what we're told. There is a short list of people the network is apparently considering including David Gregory and Andrea Mitchell. Does anyone have suggestions for NBC?

Iowa Corn Indy 250
Out at the Newton Speedway this weekend is the biggest of the year. The Indycar series is in town with its big name drivers and as big a racing event as we get here in Iowa.

Hy-Vee Triathalon

Kudos to Hy-Vee for getting it's triathlon event together is a really short period of time. The event had to be moved because of flooding at Gray's Lake Park. It takes months to pull the event together and get the course certified as an Olympic Qualifier. It took a lot of work and some good luck with the weather to make sure everything went off well in West Des Moines. I'll be down there Sunday morning for Today in Iowa. Stop by and say hi if you like!

Video Blog

I'll let Brooke handle that one...

Other weekend events: Barnstormers, Swinefest, Shawn Johnson on NBC for the Olympic Gymnastics trials and Farmers Market makes it's return to Court Ave. Have a good time!

Cleaning Up, Shawn gets a Ride and The Open is Finally Over

Good Morning...

Sally walked in the door last night from work and asked: "Can we be done with five hours of golf a day?"

We can...but I'm sad the US Open has to be over.Monday's playoff was compelling, edge-of-your-seat golf that ended as it should have...in a sudden death play-off. As much as part of me was rooting for Rocco Mediate to beat Tiger, you have to admit the best player in the world proved why he's on top. It was great TV.

Back to the real world and the news...

Flooding and Clean-up

We're starting to move past the water being so high and on to the massive clean up for neighborhoods like Birdland. The County set up a center in Union Park to pass out clean-up kits and to talk to people about getting back into their homes after they are inspected.

That's nothing when you compare with the clean-up out east...

Has anyone else been completely unimpressed with the lack of knowledge about Iowa in the national Media? Weren't they all JUST here? It seems like people are lumping the entire state together when it comes to flooding. I'm getting calls and emails from friends and relatives that sound panicked..."Are you guys underwater?" "We saw on the news Des Moines is flooded!" Well...it is and it isn't. I just feel like there's no understanding that Cedar Rapids is more than a hundred miles from here.

Shawn to Philly

How about the ride Shawn Johnson got to Philadelphia for the Olympic Trials? Homesteaders offered up the plane after Shawn's gym flooded last week and her training was interrupted. She was supposed to fly commercial but wanted extra time here in Iowa to work on her routines...she got it, and a ride to Philly. The Trials begin at the end for the week...we'll be there.

'

Final Thoughts on the Open

Really...I promise this time.

I wanted to share a few articles I read surrounding the US Open but not necessarily about the tournament itself. If you missed it ...Tiger Woods said last year that a 10 handicapper couldn't break 100 on a US Open Course. turns out he's right and he's wrong. Golf Digest and NBC put the challenge out there to America's average golfers and 54-thousand applied for the chance to play Torrey Pines before the US Open was played.

NBC aired the round and if you saw it, you saw the armature shoot 114. The articles that came out of that day were really interesting to me and the story behind the armature who played the course was heart warming and, I admit, tear jerking. Enjoy, I did.

Have a great day!

Enjoy the drier cooler weather.

PWD

After the Floods, Open isn't Over and Worst Live Shot EVER

Good Morning!

I hope all of you were asleep, in the shower or something that at least kept your eyes off the TV during the 5:30 half hour of Today in Iowa. We tried something a little different. I promise it was going to be cool. We had the folks from the Iowa Speedway here. They're touring the state with a really cool Indy car Simulator. The idea was to have Brad and I race.
The problem was we weren't exactly clear on how all of this was going to go and then had some technical difficulties...anyway. What's funny about it is that we put on hours of near flawless live television in much more trying circumstances over the last two weeks. Live TV can be great...it can also be a car wreck. You never know and the good and the bad is what I love about this job.

The good news is that you can see the simulator through the middle of the day at the Science Center of Iowa; just one of the businesses that reopens in downtown Des Moines.

Floods of 08'

I'm not sure what more we can say about the flooding that hasn't already been said. Here's what Sally said all weekend: The only thing worse than the evacuation and the hand wringing being for nothing(in downtown)...is if it had all preceded actual catastrophic flooding(in downtown).

Ask the people in Cedar Rapids this morning if 24 hours notice before the water topped the levees would have helped. Ask the people in Birdland if this is really a big deal. Most of us went on with our weekend in a dry home enjoying a beautiful weekend. We are sooooo lucky.

I give the City of Des Moines a lot of credit for the way it handled the evacuation and the response to the levee break. It seems we learned a lot from the floods of 93.

The only thing I'd say about all of those updates was the number of thank yous and ata' boys that were handed out.....

It's appropriate praise...we just heard it a lot at times when people were looking for actual updates on the situation.

I won't address the weather emails we received this week. See this week's, What's Bugging Andy for my feelings on this one.

NCAA Track

We didn't get it in much this week, but kudos to Drake for putting on a hugely successful track meet. The athletes were happy with the way things ran and under a very difficult set of circumstances.

Our thanks to the athletes who helped sandbag. Congrats to LSU and Florida St.!

US Open

It's my golf dream come true...more US Open golf today! It was one of the best tournaments I've had the chance to see. Today we get to see more of Tiger Woods history. If you missed it, Tiger hit a putt to tier Rocco Mediate for the lead. Since this is the US Open that means an 18 hole playoff today. I thought it also meant no Noon news but we don't start our coverage on NBC until 1pm.

Win or lose, this will be one of Tiger's most memorable performances. He's coming off knee surgery and is clearly in pain. He's playing through it and has a great chance to win today. I grew up watching Michael Jordan play basketball in Chicago and I tried my best to appreciate how special it was to see him play in person.

I am trying to soak in the same kind of memories about Tiger. This weekend goes on that list.

Have a good day...US Open Updates at Noon!

Little Sioux, A Lot More Rain, and US Open

Good Morning...
Just when you think we can't see another tragedy to top all that Iowans have gone through...Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch is hit and four people died in a tornado there. ...we'll get to some of the detail and what we learned overnight in the news comments. At some point you lose the words to describe the heartache and the terrible circumstances we find ourselves in. I have a feeling it isn't over yet.

First: The Floods
Overnight we got a lot more rain. I just talked to a guy on the newsline who said his rain gauge had 2.8 inches in it north and west of Madrid...you know where that's headed...
The question is when. It's the question everyone wants an answer to and one no one can true;y answer. We know the levees held overnight downtown and that that water is a lot higher than we left it yesterday morning. There wasn't anywhere for the water to go overnight so it flooded the street. Megan said it stinks down on Court Ave.
Speaking of Court Ave, there are some business owners who are upset...saying we're scaring people away from Court Ave because of the flooding.
For the record, we said twice on the Noon news yesterday and again this morning that businesses were still open down there. There is street flooding and we made sure to let people know the edge of the water only made it to third. The folks from Java Joe's called and asked that we let people know they're still open...we did.

10am Update: Chief Judy Bradshaw just told us they're starting evacuations in the area around Birdland Marina. This is the area they're most concerned about. The Chief says about 200 homes are effected and a handful of businesses. They're calling it a precaution but it's becoming clear that this is the area City officials are most concerned about the Levee failing.


More to come...

Emergency Spillway released, Waterloo Evacuations and Downtown Waits

Good Morning...

5:17am-We're on the air right now but I'm getting a break while Megan is giving the forecast. A lot of you wanted to know that information first this morning because of the rain we expect. She told us the weather models are predicting a little less rain that first expected. That's good news but 1-3 inches of rain is still going to mean some nervous homeowners.



At 5 this morning we got the Army Corps of Engineers on the phone to update you on the flow of the Des Moines River. Those of you who work or live downtown will be pleased to know that the plan is working out so far. The Corps released the emergency spillway at Saylorville last night around 9:45. That flow of water opened up quickly but the water level on the river didn't go up quickly. There wasn't a rush of water into downtown. It's a slow rise of about 2/10 of an inch an hour. That still means we're at risk for flooding but they've got the downtown bridges closed off and sandbagged so they think this first round of water will stay within the confines of the levees. The question is, how will the new rain effect the levels at Saylorville and below?



Downtown Des Moines businesses are sandbagging as a precaution right now. A lot of them are having to pump water out of the basement already but we're not seeing the widespread flooding of the court ave district yet. Still, a lot of those businesses closed and the homeowners left last night. Call before you head down to any appointments or to any of the restaurants downtown.



6:18am-Brooke is up in Chopper 13 for us this morning. It's her first trip in the "new" chopper. We don't actually have a new chopper, she just hasn't been for a flight since we upgraded. Anyway, It's a unique perspective and was a really good way to show you the flooding.



In Waterloo and Cedar Falls...good news/bad news. First the Good, Cedar Falls Downtown survived the night and the sandbagging and levees held. In Waterloo we're hearing about a levee breach and some evacuations.


6:45 am-There are other things going on in the world but we just didn't think people would be as interested in the President's trip to Rome as they are in the flooding.


It's Brooke here...
Yesterday we decided that it would be good to send one of us up in Chopper 13 to provide a view from above during the show and some perspective on what it it's like downstream from Saylorville. I haven't been up in chopper for probably 5 years and it's been a long while... at 3 or 4 years... since I have done a live shot in the field. With that said, I was a little nervous this morning about performing under those pressures. You get comfortable doing the news from the desk... but it takes you out of your comfort zone when you are out live. Anyway, after getting through the first few live shots, it got a little easier and let me tell you, the view of Des Moines from above is pretty wild. It actually borders on being heartbreaking in some areas. Especially in those spots where homes are under water. And, Water Works Park which is normally one of the most beautiful places in the state is almost completely under water. The look from Saylorville Dam is like being at a smaller version of Niagara Falls. The water is cascading from the spillway this morning quickly and powerfully. It is quite a sight! But I will say, all in all, the Army Corp of Engineers was right on in the way it predicted how fast the river would rise. It's been slow and the levees so far are holding. And, best of all, Des Moines Water Works is still dry. I hope you all stay dry, too!

Brooke

Noon update: Sonya is reporting street flooding in downtown Des Moines. The water is coming up from the storm drains...
PWD

Early Buzz:NCAA Track Championships

Good Morning!

Our Producer Heather wanted to get everyone the link to the NCAA Track Championships while we were on the air this morning.

We'll update you on the day's other news stories including the potential for flooding in Des Moines this week over the next two hours.

Flooding Flooding and More Flooding

Good Morning...
If you're like a lot of us here in Central Iowa you spent the better part of the weekend bailing out. Thankfully I'm in better shape than a lot of people. Our water problems are only in the garage. As fast as I can sweep it out the door, it's seeping back in through the walls. Justin says its going to dry up over the next few days...lets hope

To the news...which is also about the flooding.
Almost anywhere there's a lake or a stream in central Iowa, you're going to see some flooding. In Mason City they've shut down the water treatment plant after water breached some of the levees. On Fleur Drive, the water is up over the road, so hundreds of cars that usually use Fleur on the way into work will now have to take a few extra minutes. What gets me even more nervous is the Hy-Vee Triathlon. It's supposed to go here in a couple weeks and that lake needs to go down.
In Colfax they might be fighting a losing battle with the water from the South Skunk. sandbaggers worked all day to try and build a wall...will it hold? Who knows.
I'll say this...The improvements made since 1993 have clearly made a difference this time around. We're some ten feet away from having the same kind of flooding we had in 93, water treatment is safe, and generally speaking roads are open in downtown.

Gas Prices
I felt really smart this weekend. We took my gas hog of a car out to do errands knowing it was on E, and knowing we'd be running by the Costco. I got gas for $3.64 and felt even better about that price after watching them raise the rate just after I pulled away. Gas is expensive and there's no doubt we've changed our driving habits to match the price. Now they're talking about $5.00/gallon before fourth of July.

Phoenix
This weekend humidity reminded me how comfortable I was in 90 degree heat last week. Sorry for the late update, but I was trying to wait for some of the photos we took but the boys seems slow to download.
The bottom line was a great trip. We played 36 holes a day for five days starting Saturday morning. We played TPC Scottsdale, Grayhawk, Troon North, Legacy and Dinosaur Ridge over the trip. For you golfers, that will mean something. For non-golfers, be assured along with the world class golf we got some world class views. It's a beautiful part of the world.
-I loved the flight out to Phoenix direct on US Air...
-50 sunscreen works. I came back with very little in the way of burn.
-I also came back beat from the trip. It's a lot of golf in some hot weather and a couple of late night with some good friends. Again, pics will post when I get em.

I'll let Brooke add as she likes....

Have a good day.
PWD

Is this like '93?

Good morning everyone. Looks like we should have some nice, but windy weather for most of today. But overnight was crazy. No it isn't like the floods of 1993... but what we keep hearing people say is that flooding hasn't been this bad since '93. This morning we had some incredible video from our photojournalists right after the rain was done and some of the streets had at least 2 or 3 feet of standing water. Four Mile Creek in north Des Moines is flooded to the point that the city has asked people to leave their homes. In Cambridge in Story County there are also a few families who had to leave their homes because of run-off from flooding. This is serious and it sounds like it will only get worst before it gets better along the Raccoon, Skunk and Des Moines Rivers. Hang on and try to stay dry!

To our news..

Mostly our news was weather related but we did hear a little more about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. They met last night but there is a lot of speculation about why. They were reportedly talking about uniting the party but everyone really wants to know if they were also discussing Hillary being Obama's running mate. Soon enough we'll find out.

Former CIETC CEO Ramona Cunningham will stand trial at the end of June. That's what a judge ruled yesterday. Her lawyer was trying to argue that she wasn't competent because of a suicide attempt last fall.

There is a lot going on this weekend around Des Moines. And we will have some periods of dry weather. First, there is Wine Fest. I have never been but I hear its a lot of fun if you like wine. There are literally hundreds of wines at Sips in the City and some good food, too. Speaking of wine, my friend Rachel Parker from California (she used to be the reporter on Today in Iowa a few years ago) sent me some Viognier wine from Santa Barbara. It's called Domaine de Deux Mondes Viognier. She told me it was her favorite and it has quickly become mine, too. It's the best white I have ever tasted. You can buy it online but I haven't found it here in Des Moines yet. I don't like sweet wine and this is the perfect balance between dry yet flavorful.

My brother-in-law comes home on Saturday afternoon. So, we'll be in Ottumwas for the welcome home ceremony at Indian Hills Community College. I know he's chomping at the bit to get back. Those last few days are torture when they are "decompressing" here in the US because they're just a few hours away yet cannot see their families.

Pat is back from Arizona and told me he wished we had dry heat here. Sounds like he had a good time playing golf and enjoying the sunshine. Jeriann is running on a few hours of sleep and I think she's going home to crash since it's been a week of adrenaline-filled days.

Hope you all have a good weekend. See you Monday!

Brooke

More weather and More Hillary

Good morning everyone. Hopefully you are not waking up too cranky after a night of heavy rain, thunder and wind. I didn't hear a thing after I went to bed, but I am a very heavy sleeper so that isn't unusual. I think a tree could crash through our bedroom and I would still be sawing logs. Although I have noticed that any small noise from the baby monitor does wake me up... but that's another story for another time. I am sure there are other mothers who can relate.

It was all about the weather again today. Jeriann says tomorrow could be the most serious day so far this week. We had a lot of rain overnight and the Raccoon, Des Moines and Skunk rivers are all ready to spill out. Tomorrow the big story will definitely be flooding. And now Jeriann says the weekend will not be dry like we first thought.

Greg Edwards from the Greater Des Moines Visitor and Conventions was on the show this morning talking about all the events going on this weekend and all of them are outside. I guess you have to just suck it up, put on a rain jacket and try to make the best of it. The Pork Expo, Wine Fest, Antique Jamboree and Greek Food Fair are just a few of the events happening this weekend. By the way, we had some organizers of the Greek Food Fair on the show yesterday and they brought baklava. I love to bake and have a serious sweet tooth, but this was the first time I have tried this Greek staple. Oh my goodness. Have you ever had it? It is to die for. That alone is reason to go to the Fair this on Saturday or Sunday.

To the news...

Will it ever end?

The rivers are spilling in over this morning in lots of areas but one town in particular where we are seeing a lot of water is Peru in Madison County. Chopper 13 was over the town this morning and there are houses and fields flooded. Photojournalist Roger Riley even got video of some horses and cows in a farm field that were at least in three feet of water. From our view, you could see the owner out there trying to feed the animals from buckets since they couldn't move to the trofts. This is bad and I when you keep hearing farmers say things like, "it hasn't been this bad since 1993" it tends to make you a little nervous.

Hillary Clinton

(no... this isn't Hillary... read on)
She says she will officially drop out on Saturday and endorse Barack Obama. People who talk politics for a living on television say she is on Obama's short list of VP candidates. There is also word that two other women, the governors of Kansas and Arizona are also potential running mates. Having worked in Kansas for a couple of years in the late '90's... I feel like I have a bit of a connection to Kathleen Sebelius, the governor of Kansas. When I started working at WIBW-TV, the CBS in Topeka, Kathleen was the Insurance Commissioner of Kansas and came on the noon show (which I anchored) each week to talk about insurance advocacy issues. She was such a classy, smart and truly nice woman and I knew back then she would have a bright future in politics. It has been fun to watch her move on to the governor of Kansas and become a star of the Democratic Party on a national level. The fact that she was able to win (by a lot) the office of governor as a Democrat in one of the most conservative states in the country says a lot about this woman. People really like her and I can see her as Vice President.

I promised you these pictures on Tuesday and never delivered. Sorry. I am going to blame it on my computer at home. Anyway, these are a few shots of NY that I thought you would enjoy. (Thanks Tiffany Tauscheck!!) I just realized that most of them are of us eating. I guess that's what we did for most of the vacation so it is only appropriate. The one of Tiffany Tauscheck, Rebecca Templeton and myself show us with our new purchase in China Town. We got a great deal on "almost-Tiffany" bracelets. The sandwiches are from Carnegie Deli. Mark and I ordered the Woody Allen.

Have a great day and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. Pat is back tomorrow.

Brooke

Obama gets the nomination, Local election news and Chicago Games?

Good morning... or I guess I should say afternoon. Pat is off again today so I was solo on the morning show. I am writing this as I do the noon show so I apologize I didn't get this done earlier like I usually do. It still isn't habit for me to do the blog and I kind of got side-tracked with some other things at work.

We had a break in the weather this morning which was nice because it sounds like we are going to get hit by the rain again tonight and Friday. I thought Saturday was going to be my one chance to get outside and enjoy the day but now Megan says the models are showing a stronger possibility for rain. Ahhh! Make it stop.

I did get some good news today from my mom. My brother-in-law Robert is finally back in the country and will be home on Saturday. He left for Iraq last June and spent most of his second deployment in Baghdad. He's with the 182nd Engineering Battalion our of Mt. Pleasant. Big sigh of relief!!!

To the News..

Why is Hillary still in the Race?
Well... there are probably a lot of reasons. Barack Obama got the number of delegates he needed to secure the nomination but Clinton still hasn't conceded. This morning on the Today Show TIm Russert said there are a couple of reasons why she is still in it. First, she is holding on to try to get on the ticket and set herself up in 2012 in case Obama fails as President.

One of the most interesting developments in the primary congressional races is the fact that two women won and will now face incumbents Tom Latham and Dave Loebsack. Iowa has never had a female member of Congress which seems so hard to believe considering we have some influential women leading our state in corporate and political roles.

Chicago is one of the four finalist for the Summer 2016 Olympic Games. Having the games so close would make it easy to attend or at least be a part of the excitement.

That is it for now. See you tomorrow!

MORE severe wx, adventures in airline travel and fun in NY

Good morning!
First, my apologies to Dan Winters. If you were watching yesterday you noticed he was filling in on Today in Iowa. But he wasn't supposed to. In fact, he got the call to come in at around 10 pm the night before which means he probably only got a few hours of sleep. This leads me to my latest airline horror story as Eric and I were headed back from New York on Sunday afternoon. We were supposed to leave Newark Airport late Sunday afternoon but the flight got delayed by "air traffic issues." We sat on the runway for probably a good hour. I knew it would be close, but at that point I still thought we would make our connection in Chicago. But when we got to O'Hare we sat for what seemed like another hour until we could unload. By that time, we had missed our flight to Chicago and I knew I wasn't going to get to work which normally wouldn't be a huge issue because Pat could do the show alone. But, Pat is also on vacation. So, I called my news director Rod and shared the good news and I guess Dan was the not-so-lucky person to fill in for me. To top it off, our flight got re booked for the next morning and the airline wouldn't pay for our hotel because it wasn't their fault. Air traffic issues! Our bags couldn't be retrieved so we had to sleep in our clothes. United will be hearing from me again... (we were late getting to NY as well because of delays out of Des Moines.)



Despite those bumps in the road, the trip was a lot of fun. I will tell you more later and post a few pictures.



But first... to the news



More Severe Weather
Jeriann was rockin' and rollin' on the morning show. It was all about weather as the storms rolled in right as the show was beginning. We saw a lot of water in the roads and trees down on power lines thanks to Chopper 13. And, there was even a bridge out in rural Story county just north of Ames. And this is rain we don't need. The rivers are already swollen and it is going to get worst before it gets better. Jeriann says Thursday it will probably rain hard again and we could see more thunderstorms. I keep thinking about all the people up in Parkersburg and Attica. They must be wondering if they are ever going to catch a break.



School's Out for Summer

I always think of the Alice Cooper song, "School's out" when the end of the school year rolls around. Des Moines students are done after today and a few other districts that had to go a little longer this year because of snow days will be out by the end of the week.








The Big Apple
New York was a great time! I always have a good time there. Steve Templeton and his wife Rebecca along with Mark and Tiffany Tauscheck met us there for a weekend of walking, people watching and eating. Isn't that what a trip to NY is all about? Cory, a friend who used to work in radio here in Des Moines and now lives in the city was our official tour guide and took us to some of the fun places we probably wouldn't have picked on our own. Like a dim sum (Chinese appetizers) restaurant in China Town called the Golden Unicorn. It's a very casual place but it's in a ballroom-looking room with big tables with chairs that have gold seat covers. Looks like a place you would have a nice wedding reception. But the servers bring around small plates of things like pork dumplings and other things I have never tried like fried rice balls with shrimp. And, round cake balls with custard in the middle. They basically pile food on your table until

We did a lot of shopping on Canal Street and I got my fake Prada and Tiffany's bracelet. We did Central Park and Carnegie Deli which is a NY institution. The corned beef sandwiches have about 2 pounds of meat. And, like every good out-of-towner, we did some great sight seeing like St. Patrick's Cathedral, 30 Rock and Times Square. Oh, I almost forgot. I dragged my husband to Magnolia Bakery on Sunday for one of their famous cupcakes. Definitely worth the 1/2 hour wait in line. It's the place that became famous from Sex and the City.

Also, thanks for the recommendations for restaurants. We did have drinks at the place called Perilla, in Greenwich Village. I think that is one of my favorite areas of the city. I will post pictures later. For now, have a great day! Looks like the sun is out!

Brooke