May 22, 2012

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Corps predicts Missouri River flows to be below normal for 2012

May 22, 2012 By

Flooding Missouri River at Sioux City in June of 2011

After record run-off and flooding on the Missouri River last year, it appears river flows this year will be below-normal.

Jody Farhat is chief of the Missouri River Basin Water Management Office for the U-S Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha.

Farhat says their predictions will be welcome news to those who had flood damage last year.

“Our run-off forecast for the 2012 calendar year above Sioux City, Iowa, is 21.6-million acre feet which is 87% of normal,” Farhat says. “This is based on the lack of Plains snowpack, the lower-than-average mountain snowpack and the unusually warm and dry conditions we’ve had so far this year.”

Farhat says the Corps will be able to maintain normal flows on the river until at least July first.

“We’re currently providing full-service navigation flow support,” she says. “If the total system storage falls below 57-million acre feet on July first, flow support will be reduced for the second half of the navigation season.”

Farhat says some normal signs of life are also returning to the river, including two types of endangered birds.

“To date, 51 piping plover nests have been located, with the highest number of nests on Lewis & Clark Lake and on the river reach below Gavins Point Dam,” she says. “Very few nests have been found on the new habitat that was created below Gavins Point Dam due to last year’s flood. The first interior least tern was spotted in the basin this week but no least tern nests have been found.”

Last year’s flooding of the Missouri River in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa and northwest Missouri caused hundreds of millions of dollars damage to homes, businesses, farmland and infrastructure. The high water lasted months.

Filed Under: Accidents & Disasters, Agriculture, Environment & Conservation, Featured Stories, Military, News, Recreation & Entertainment, Transportation, Weather

High-speed rail proposal ready to move to next phase

May 21, 2012 By

Today is the last day to take part in an online open house about the Omaha-to-Chicago passenger rail study.

The Iowa Department of Transportation started taking comments on the proposed rail line in February and held several public meetings.

Amanda Martin, the DOT’s freight and passenger policy coordinator, says it’s part of a five-step process that could eventually lead to high-speed rail service across Iowa.

Martin says, “Now we’re going into step three, which is reviewing the public and agency input, which is through those comments we’re receiving online through our public input open houses and through other agencies like the railroads that are involved and the FRA and other agencies, what we call resource agencies.”

Once that’s complete, an environmental impact study will begin. Martin says public input has been overwhelmingly positive.

“So far, we’ve gotten a lot of feedback through our first effort which was mid-February through mid-April and now we’re currently obtaining feedback for our alternatives analysis report which has a draft copy on the website,” she says. “So far, there’s a very low amount of negative comments, right around four-percent is negative.”

Martin says the Iowa DOT received 287 comments last week through the online open house. The February-through-April effort resulted in more than 12-hundred comments.

Agencies involved in the rail study have identified a route that follows I-80 as the most feasible alternative.

Filed Under: News, Transportation

Bicycle riders pay respects to those killed/hurt with Ride of Silence

May 16, 2012 By

Bicyclists in at least two Nebraska cities will gather and ride their two-wheelers in a slow line tonight as part of the Ride of Silence. Organizer Scott Sumpter says it’s a solemn tribute.

“The ride exists so we can ride in honor and pay respect to those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways,” Sumpter says.

The Nebraska Office of Highway Safety says two bicyclists were killed in motor vehicle collisions in the state last year, while 279 were reported injured.

Sumpter says it’s an unfortunate fact that cyclists aren’t always respected by careless motorists.

“Every year, we see bicycling grow but we also see a few people get hit and killed,” Sumpter says. “We’re out there to raise awareness that the cyclists have the legal right to ride the roads.”

He says the bike riders will only be rolling along at maybe 10 or 12 miles an hour, often with a police escort.

“Every ride is supposed to start at 7 PM,” Sumpter says. “It’s just a silent procession, a really slow ride. It’s almost like a funeral-like procession.”

Rides are being held in: Lincoln and Bellevue. The rides only go between eight and ten miles in distance.

Learn more at: www.rideofsilence.org

 

Filed Under: Accidents & Disasters, Human Interest, News, Recreation & Entertainment, Transportation

Nebraskans get rolling with Bike to Work Week

May 14, 2012 By

Nebraska motorists will notice more two-wheelers on the road this morning as part of Bike to Work Week.

Whether it’s for exercise, to save money or to live a greener lifestyle, biking enthusiast Mark Wyatt says plenty of people are turning to pedal power, and not just for a week.

He encourages Nebraskans to give biking to work a spin.

“A lot of times your commute is much shorter than you can even imagine and it’s pretty comparable by car,” Wyatt says. “It’s easy. If you really want to start, give it a try it on a weekend and get out there and see how long your commute’s going to be and help with your timing and such.”

Common complaints are that people don’t want to be all sweaty when they get to work, or that their hair will be messed up from wearing a bike helmet. His reply?

“You can take your clothes to work,” Wyatt says. “Hair products are portable so it’s really easy to set up there at work, towel off and change clothes before you go on about your day.”

One study found that biking to work instead of driving a car can save $6,000 to $7,000 a year. While the winter months pose a challenge in Nebraska, Wyatt says there’s no valid excuse to not try biking to work this spring — and this week.

There is a host of rides, races and other bike-related events over the coming weeks as part of National Bike Month.

Nebraska has hundreds of miles of bike trails. Get rolling by visiting: www.nebraskabiketrails.com

 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Health & Medicine, News, Transportation

Report: Forget gloomy forecast of $4/gallon gas by Memorial Day

May 9, 2012 By

AAA predicted we’d see gasoline selling in Nebraska at $4 a gallon or higher by Memorial Day, but a new government report is forecasting much cheaper prices.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration now estimates the national average price this summer will be $3.79, even lower in the Husker State.

Rose White, at AAA-Nebraska, says pump prices have been steadily falling for weeks.

“As this industry is, it’s very unpredictable, but certainly this latest news is welcome news for all motorists,” White says. “Oil prices are down about 9% in the last six days. In fact, for the last 23 days, retail pump prices have declined.”

Nebraska is seeing gas prices averaging $3.66 a gallon, about nine-cents below the national average. She says prices will still likely rise as the summer approaches, but not as high as they’d first thought.

“Based on what we’re seeing now, which is an improvement in supply levels and economic concerns that are driving down crude oil prices, the combination of factors certainly is reversing earlier projections,” White says. “Right now, we’re expecting prices to stay right at that $3.70 level for many of the summer months.”

Between January and April, gas prices nationwide rose a whopping 20%. Some politicians blame President Obama for the increase, but White says that’s not a legitimate claim.

“It’s hard to put the blame on any one organization, industry or country, certainly not on one person,” White says. “It’s a global issue, based on supply and demand.”

Oil prices have dropped about $8 a barrel since early April. Nebraska’s current average gas price of $3.66 a gallon is down from $3.96 a year ago.

Filed Under: Economy, Featured Stories, News, Transportation
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