May 17, 2012

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Congressman blasts Corps of Engineers report on Missouri River

April 18, 2012 By

Congressman Steve King (R) Iowa

The latest Missouri River study being released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is being criticized by a congressman as “incomplete” and, in some respects, “inaccurate.”

The study found adding flood storage to the Missouri River system would not have prevented damage to barge and recreational traffic during the record flooding across Nebraska and Iowa last year.

Iowa Congressman Steve King doesn’t buy the claims.

“I think it’s very clear that if they had utilized the storage upstream — and I’m not suggesting they should have seen this coming, but now that they have seen a flood like this, I think it’s incorrect for them to take the position that having the storage upstream would not have protected us from serious damage,” King says. “It would have protected us from exactly what they need to do — it would have protected us from serious downstream flooding.”

King, a Republican from Kiron in western Iowa, is also upset that the Corps released the report without first meeting with members of Congress.

“Now, we have to deal with a public document that I think is incomplete and in some aspects incorrect,” King said. He’s working on setting up a meeting with Corps officials in Omaha.

The Corps report indicates if flood control storage were increased by roughly 30% upstream of Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota, peak releases could be reduced from 160,000 cubic feet per second to 100,000 cfs (C-F-S). But even with the lower releases, the Corps notes widespread damages would not be prevented.

“That’s just simply not true,” King responded. “It would have prevented serious downstream flooding below Gavins Point. If their definition of widespread damage is something that took place in Montana and North Dakota, they should say so.”

Filed Under: Accidents & Disasters, Military, News, Weather

Workshop for veterans held today, week ahead of veterans jobs fair (AUDIO)

April 17, 2012 By

Adjutant General Judd Lyons speaks at news conference as Gov. Dave Heineman looks on

Nebraska veterans looking for work get some pointers a week before the Hire Our Heroes Job Fair next week.

Next week, about 75 businesses representing more than 500 jobs will speak with veterans at the Hire Our Heroes Job Fair at the Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln.

Today, at the National Guard Armory in Lincoln, the State Department of Labor will host a career workshop.

Nebraska Adjutant General Judd Lyons says many in the Nebraska National Guard simply return to their jobs after their deployment ends, especially older members. Others, often those between the ages of 17 and 28, might well be entering the civilian workforce for the first time.

“Many are college students who have not completed their degrees and are looking to enter the workforce. Some are looking to make career changes, perhaps,” Lyons says.

The Nebraska Department of Labor hosts the career workshop today at the National Guard Armory located at 1776 North 10th Street in Lincoln. The workshop aims to help veterans translate their military skills into the civilian job market. It is open the spouses of veterans as well. Veterans will be taught how to write a better resume, how to conduct themselves in a job interview and even professional etiquette, all in an effort to land that job after leaving the military.

Nebraska has approximately 4,800 members of the Army and Air National Guard and thousands more in the United States Reserves and active military.

State officials say the unemployment rate among veterans is similar to the civilian unemployment rate. The United States Chamber of Commerce sponsors the Hire Our Heroes Initiative, which helped more than 9,000 veterans across the country find employment.

For more on the events, go to hoh.greatjob.net and dol.nebraska.gov.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:50]

Filed Under: Military, News

Despite flood, Cong. Smith says key decisions should remain with Corps

April 9, 2012 By

Missouri River flooding last summer near Omaha

In the wake of last year’s record flooding on the Missouri River, some members of Congress are demanding a new management style for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Nebraska Congressman Adrian Smith has been critical of the Corps, but says technical decisions about waterflow should be still be left up to the experts.

“When it comes to members of Congress or engineers to make a decision, I think it needs to be engineers,” Smith says. “Congress layering on another mandate certainly I don’t think addresses the challenges that nature can provide us.”

Smith says while this year has not been nearly as wet as last year, that can change quickly.

“We don’t know where the next rain storm will be, between which dams or above the entire system or even below the bottom dam,” Smith says. “We want to make sure that there’s flexibility throughout our policies.”

Smith says the Corps has to work with Congress on changes to the river’s master manual to allow for the extremes.

“We cannot afford to have this boilerplate approach that in a water-short year would actually complicate matters,” Smith says.

In wet years, too, if there’s a mandated flow rate, he says the water would have to be run through even when there are indications of complications that would result downstream.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

Filed Under: Accidents & Disasters, Featured Stories, Military, News, Weather

Legislature struggles with tax issue that delays new STRATCOM HQ (AUDIO)

April 3, 2012 By

State Sen. Heath Mello talks with U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson prior to Revenue Committee hearing

A tax issue has delayed construction on a new STRATCOM headquarters near Omaha, sending legislators scrambling to resolve the issue with only five days left in the legislative session.

Either state law needs to be changed by the legislature or a form needs to be changed by the Department of Revenue to give the United States Army Corps of Engineers the comfort it needs to claim its rightful exemption from state sales taxes on the material needed for construction.

United States Sen. Ben Nelson told the legislative Revenue Committee that Congress today has approved $120 million to start construction of the new headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, but the tax issue has delayed construction for four months.

“Amendment 2629 or a similar remedy is absolutely crucial to insuring that the STRATCOM project proceeds without further delay and is done so without assessing taxes to taxpayers on a project that is intended to be exempt,” Nelson stated.

AM 2629 to LB 727, at the moment, is the promoted solution to the problem. No one disputes that the federal government is exempt from state sales taxes on construction projects. The dispute arises from the Corps of Engineers refusal to sign a Department of Revenue document to claim the exemption. The Corps has concerns that signing the document could make the federal government liable for any legal action arising from the conduct of its contractors.

Nelson testified that the problem must be resolved quickly so the new headquarters can be built.

“Which is crucial to our national security,” according to Nelson, “we talk about economic development, but we’re also focused on our national security here, because every day there are more cyber-attacks on our businesses, on our government and on private individuals that we’re experiencing.”

Cost overruns seem to have triggered the concern. Exemption from state sales tax is expected to save the federal government between $15-to-16 million dollars on the project.

The construction delay could stretch out further if the state doesn’t act, according to Nelson.

“The key here is that we do need to resolve this in a quick way for Nebraska, so we can continue to move this project along and then we need to work on it on a larger scale, recognizing that more would need to be done,” Nelson said.

The legislative session ends April 12th.

AUDIO: U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson testifies before legislative Revenue Committee [13 min.]

Filed Under: Legislature & Government, Military, News

Corps: “Money flowing” for repairs on flood-damaged dams & levees

March 22, 2012 By

Levee breach near Hamburg, IA, June of 2011 (Photo thanks to Iowa Department of Public Safety)

Top brass in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have wrapped up a spring inspection tour of the six dams along the main stem of the Missouri River.

All of the dams had to release record amounts of water last spring and summer as the Corps dealt with record levels and historic flooding.

Brigadier General John McMahon, commander of the Corps’ Northwest Division, says the recovery and repair process is well underway.

“We’re making good progress in the assessments,” General McMahon says. “We have money flowing at one dam. We have construction crews going out that we actually saw at other dams, there was evidence of construction so, the process is working. That’s always good to see. We’ve got a lot to do and we don’t know all that we have to do because we haven’t concluded all of the assessments that we need to do.”

McMahon says there are critical issues at some of the dams.

“There are, but they’re being addressed, as you would expect them to be,” he says. “We have a good scheme of what needs to be done first and those things are being done but no surprises in that regard.”

There were several levee breaks downstream of Gavins Point Dam in Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri. McMahon says most of those compromised levees have had at least temporary repairs.

“There are other places in northwestern Missouri where we’ve got a lot of work to do but that’s being held up by different aspects of the process,” he says. “We’ve got to get easements, we’ve got to get land and those are responsibilities of the local folks but all of that’s unfolding as we speak.”

McMahon says another issue for the Corps will be regaining the trust of the people who live along and near the river.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

Filed Under: Accidents & Disasters, Military, News, Weather
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