Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 14

A14-TTpuxCity Journal, Wednesday, July 23, 1 993 Km- amru Li moves uo its levees 1 i Two rivers bond in surge toward record crests V. 1. Crane operator Larry Tague, right, and another employee of Anderson Excavating and Wrecking of Omaha check the boom which buckled Tuesday morning. (Staff photo by Bill Huegerich) that are almost Jell-O-like, and they are showing weakness." At least 3,500 people were evacuated from the Armourdale district of Kansas City, as a precaution beginning Monday night when levees there sprang some spotty leaks. An additional 4,500 were evacuated from the Fairfax industrial and residential area of Kansas City, Kan.

The Kansas River crested at 54.9 feet, 22 feet above flood stage, but levees are 57 feet high. The Kansas empties into the Missouri, which crested at 48.8 feet at Kansas City, 17.5 feet over flood stage. Most of the city is protected by a floodwall 57 feet high, however. The previous record for the Missouri was 46.2 feet in 1951, the National Weather Service said. The record for the Kansas had been 51 feet, also set in 1951.

If levees were topped or breached, the most serious flooding would be in low-lying light industrial and commercial areas and a few residential neighborhoods. The heart of the city is on higher ground. Most buildings in the flood plain had sandbags piled at their doors, and windows on many were boarded up. It is not just the saturated levees that pose a threat, Ferrell said. "There is water all over the north-central part of Kansas that is KANSAS CITY, Mo.

(AP) -This time, it's Kansas City's turn. After near-disaster in Des Moines and a still-lingering threat to St. Louis, it now is the folks in Kansas City feverishly shoring up levees and waiting for the water to go down. Businesses and homeowners in low-lying areas bugged out Tuesday as the Missouri and Kansas rivers bonded in a surge toward record crests, the latest chapter in the inexorable ooze of floodwaters across the Midwest. Kansas City residents were all too aware of what could happen.

They have spent week after week watching town after town inevitably fall victim to the Midwest's roiling waters. "See those treetops poking out of the river? I saw the river swallow up the levee near those trees," said David MacGregor, 48, a resident of Kansas City, Mo. "The river is pretty much in the driver's seat now," said Bill Sanders, a police officer in Kansas City, Kan. Though both rivers crested at midday Tuesday at record levels, the tantalizing question remained unanswered: Would the levees hold? "We've had water on the levees for a very long time, and they were made to pass water quickly, not to hold it," said John Ferrell, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers. "We have some levees Demolition crane buckles, narrowly missing vehicle By Kate Thompson Journal staff writer A crane used in the demolition of the Knapp Spencer building in downtown Sioux City buckled Tuesday morning, narrowly missing a station wagon.

Sioux City Police Officer Mark Wyant, who was driving his motorcycle through the intersection of Third and Pierce streets at the time of the accident, said the crane boom buckled in the center as it was removing another portion of the building. When it fell, the boom struck the street just in front of a car driven by Rex Griep, 1519 S. Rustin St. "We were on our way to the Children hit by shotgun pellets Janklow admits he will seek his third term as governor 1 1 I I i 1 i (l Two Sioux City children were injured Tuesday night by ricocheting pellets from shotgun blasts a man fired into the hood of a car at the 700 block of Jackson and Jones streets. Police were questioning a suspect in the shooting late Tuesday.

Sioux City Police Lt. Gene Erickson said a man walked up to the car and fired two shots at its radiator about 8:30 p.m. One child, age five, was hit with three pellets, one each in the chest, neck and head. The other child, eight years old, was struck in the lip, Erickson said. Police refused to identify the children.

Erickson said both children are in good condition and were taken to Marian Health Center by a Sergeant Bluff ambulance. The two boys were fixing their bicycle at the 800 block of Jackson and Jones streets when they were hit with the pellets. "We've found two shells in the radiator but some people said they heard three gun shots," Erickson said. "We do have a suspect and we are questioning him." flowing down toward us," he said. And there is all that water flowing downstream toward the Mississippi River and St.

Louis, where a crest of 48 feet is forecast next week, almost a foot higher than last week's record. Just upriver from Kansas City, the Platte County community of Waldron, lost its battle against the Missouri River early Tuesday when a 100-foot section of a levee breached, allowing muddy water into town. Most of its 60 residents already had been evacuated. Flooding there also threatened Interstate 29, the county's last northbound roadway. The interstate already was closed for 70 miles from the Iowa state line to St.

Joseph, and crews built levee walls along the highway near Platte City. Levees were battered but still holding at St. Joseph, where many of the 6,000 residents of the city's south side had left Monday as a precaution. The Missouri began dropping at St. Joseph early Tuesday, but heavy rain overnight farther upstream in southern Nebraska and Iowa could make it rise again.

About 85,000 residents of St. Joseph and outlying areas remained without running water. The Missouri River flooded the city's only treatment plant Saturday and officials said it might not be fixed until Friday or later. difficult Nebraska bridge south of town since Monday. The Big Blue River crested at 28.85 feet at midnight Monday in; Beatrice, said Gage County Civil Defense Director Dennis TraylorJ The river fell to 28.09 feet by mid-: morning Tuesday.

Traylor said Highway 77 could be: opened today, but the Highway 136 bridge probably will be closed: longer. i "We didn't want to lose anyone in-that river," Traylor said. Hinton said the National Guard is providing water for the Missouri River community of Brownville where the town's water system failed; because of electrical problems. He said the water will be available until the system which is partly func-' tional is fully operational. most of them Lebanese, since Israeli jets, helicopters, gunboats and' howitzers began striking at suspected guerrilla bases across Lebanon on Sunday.

The raids retaliated for an escalation in guerrilla attacks on Israeli 1 troops in the Jewish state's so-called "security zone" in southern; Lebanon. PIERRE (AP) Former Gov. Bill Janklow has confirmed reports he plans to run for a third term in 1994, setting the stager for a Republican primary battle with Gov. Walter D. Miller.

On Miller told reporters he plan- rtiA tn pun fnr a full 1 1 fi iciiii ucai yem, 4 I also said he had at Janklow in which the former governor revealed his plans to run. Janklow confirmed Miller's account Monday but said he wasn't making a formal announcement of his candidacy. "It isn't time for politics," said Janklow, who served as governor from 1979 to 1986. "In this country, Sioux City emergency medical technicians bandage a young boy who was injured Tuesday night by pellets from a shotgun. Police said pellets ricocheted off the hood of a car shot at by at least one man.

The boy was not seriously hurt. (Staff photo by Ed Porter) Iowa, who was operating the crane for Anderson Excavating and Wrecking, said he had never seen an incident of this type before. He was using the crane to remove sections of flooring to demolish the building. "It happened so quick, I didn't have time 10 get scared," he said. "Luckily, nobody got hurt." It is not certain what caused the crane to buckle.

Tague suggested metal fatigue might have been the culprit. The superintendent of the job site, who declined to give his name, called the incident an act of God and said it was an accident. He said the company is insured for the damage to the crane, which would run "thousands of dollars." 1978," Janklow said. "Mickelson had three challengers in 1986 in the primary." State GOP Chairman Don Peterson of Yankton said the primary bat-tle could be good for the Republicans, a "group on the mend" after losing control of the state Senate to Democrats last year. 1 "They will certainly, as far as I'm concerned, keep this campaign on a high level," Peterson said.

"And nothing can go wrong with that if they do that, because when you excite people, the more people you have involved." Peterson said his main concern is ensuring the loser of the primary election supports the winner in the general election. Meanwhile, the Democratic race for governor is not so clear-cut. Supporters of Sioux Falls political consultant Ted Muenster have begun raising money for a possible bid. Yankton escapees admit drinking binge YANKTON, S.D. (AP) Two inmates who escaped from the Yankton trusty unit last month say they left after a clandestine, daylong drinking binge.

Prison officials said they are investigating the allegations by Scott Hollandsworth, 34, and Terry Anderson, 35. The two escaped from the minimum-security unit June 13 and were recaptured near Rapid City. Both men pleaded guilty Monday to escape charges in Yankton County Court. Anderson told Circuit Judge Jay Tapkin he had been drinking for more than a day at the time of the escape. When Tapkin asked Anderson how he got the alcohol, Anderson replied that he and Hollandsworth had collected money from other inmates and sneaked away from the trusty unit.

The two men stopped at a nearby convenience store, bought two fifths of vodka and several cases of beer, and returned to the unit without being caught, Anderson said. Rain makes traveling in parts of southeast Car bombs jolt Milan and Rome bank," Griep's wife, Ann, said. "We had just stopped at the stop sign. a few feet away when this came down and just missed us." Ann Griep said both she and her husband were shaken by the experience. "We saw it coming but there was no way to avoid it," she said.

"I didn't think I was going to make it to my 73rd birthday. She said she feels there should be more of a buffer between the building under demolition and the traffic. "It could have been a really bad accident," she said. Authorities at the scene said the site was cleaned up in less than an hour. Larry Tague of Council Bluffs, we have a baseball season, a football season, a harvest season, and a political season all kinds of Anybody who's out there campaigning right now is playing ball out of season." Miller became governor in April after Gov.

George Mickelson and seven other men died when the state airplane crashed in Iowa. Some Republicans worry that a Miller-Janklow primary fight could divide the party. "I'd hate to see something like happened in 1986," said former U.S. Sen. Jim Abdnor.

That year, Abdnor defeated Janklow in a heated primary election but lost to Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle in the fall. Abdnor has thrown his support to Miller in the governor's race. Janklow said primary battles don't have to hurt a candidate's chances in the general election, however. "I was in a three-way primary in house.

Police blocked off the area to allow in ambulances and firefighters to battle a blaze from a ruptured gas line. Milan police said that a Moroccan man sleeping in a park, three firefighters and a policeman were killed, and seven people were wounded, none seriously. In Rome, a blast heavily damaged St. John Lateran Basilica, the pope's church in his capacity as Bishop of Rome. The other struck near the ancient forum and the Michelangelo-designed Campidoglio square, the seat of city government, occupy.

Aside from adding a few doors and walls to expand the number of offices, workers are doing little else to alter the space. On another front, technicians are rerouting the communications systems that help city employees perform their job. Elliot Linafelter, senior systems analyst for the Woodbury County Information and Communication Commission, said it could take around 5,000 feet of cable to wire the city's computers. U.S. West Communications will set up phone lines for roughly 300 employees, with city numbers allowed to ring simultaneously at the old city hall and at the Orpheum.

A $1,500 sound system will be installed in the fifth floor council chamber, as well as an electronic board showing how each member voted on an issue. Altogether, $95,000 has been set aside for the relocation to the Orpheum, with officials estimating about $30,000 for a professional mover, to be selected through an upcoming bidding processing. By The Associated Press Travel remained difficult Tuesday in some parts of southeast Nebraska as rain continued to fall and weary Civil Defense workers kept their eyes on skies and river gauges. The National Weather Service said 3.5 inches of rain fell southwest of Rockville, a Sherman County community near the middle fork of the Loup River in central Nebraska. More than 2 inches of rain fell in 24 hours at several locations in Nebraska.

Flood warnings continued for a number of small streams that lapped at the borders of communities from Grand Island to DeWitt to Brownville and Rulo. The weather service said the Wood River was nearly a foot above flood MILAN, Italy (AP) A car bomb exploded in downtown Milan late Tuesday, killing at least five people. An hour later, suspected car bombs jolted the ancient heart of Rome, injuring 24 and heavily damaging the church the pope heads as Rome's bishop. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts, but officials said they had the same aim as recent bombings: sowing chaos in a country wracked by a devastating corruption scandal. The Milan explosion hit about 11:15 p.m.

near Piazza Cavour, about a half-mile from the La Scala opera Lebanese flee Israeli bombing attacks Technicians rerouting communication systems stage at the South Locust Street gauge in Grand Island. "The west half of the street is under water," said Hall County Civil Defense Deputy Director Therese Muchow. Volunteers also sandbagged near the river in the Hidden Lakes housing development east of Grand Island, she said. The Grand Island City Council amended its 1993-94 operating budget Monday to allocate $250,000 for cleanup and repairs of storm damage. Bridges underwater forced the closing of two major state highways south and west of Beatrice.

Beatrice City Clerk Gwen Grabouski said trie Highway 136 bridge west of town has been closed since Sunday and the Highway 77 Israel launched the operation Sunday. Undeterred so far by the Israeli firepower, guerrillas fired more Katyusha rockets into northern Israel, where 150,000 inhabitants huddled in bomb shelters or reinforced rooms. At least 53 people have been reported dead and 290 wounded, fore those offsets were agreed upon. On Tuesday, swayed by pressure from the governors, Clinton and angry victims, it voted 224-205 to go ahead and act on the bill. Republicans also argued against an unrelated Democratic amendment, introduced in a manner to pass without debate, dealing with a jobs and education program for the hardcore unemployed in Los Angeles and other cities.

In a separate vote, the House refused Tuesday to eliminate the provision. Republicans characterized the amendment as a special favor to Rep. Maxine Waters, in exchange for support from the Congressional Black Caucus for Clin Speedy approval expected in Senate NABATIYEH, Lebanon (AP) -Lebanese civilians flattened themselves on the floors of their homes Tuesday to ride out Israeli air and artillery bombardments aimed at Shiite Muslim and Palestinian guerrillas. The United Nations said more than 335,000 other Lebanese have fled their homes and headed north since $1.92 billion, would go for direct aid to flood victims and to cover crop losses. The remainder would go for jobs; repair of housing, highways and flood-control works; loans; and a variety of other relief.

The bill also increases the farm disaster payment for losses beyond 75 percent of the crop. The money for crop losses could also be used to compensate victims of drought in the Southeast as well as hail and other weather disasters elsewhere. In the House, no one objected to the spending, only to whether Congress should first find a way to cover the cost with offsetting cuts elsewhere. Last Thursday, the House narrowly refused to consider the bill be from page one "We're not tearing up any carpet," Jensen said. "We just need to make it look more presentable." Terry Bennett, city maintenance supervisor, said workers have run into few problems as they update the top four floors parts of which have been vacant for years.

For example, the eighth floor reportedly has been unoccupied since the former Iowa Public Service Company left the Orpheum for a new downtown office building in 1980. Officials said some construction is necessary to meet various government regulations. Two restrooms must be remodeled to make them handicapped accessible. The Chamber Foundation has agreed to cover up to $10,000 of costs. In another project, the city ripped out assorted kitchen equipment at a seventh floor room which the treasurer's office will ton's deficit reduction plan.

1 Branstad said he also wants to push Clinton to waive a requirement: that states pay up to 25 percent of the cost of disaster programs. "Now we need some help from the federal government," said Branstad. "We tried to do everything we could at the local and state level." Branstad said he made progress; with Clinton on that issue, though the; president didn't agree to waive the requirement. "He indicated a willingness to work with us," said Branstad. "At least it's not been ruled out.

The president certainly left the door open to that today." from page one Midwestern governors was crucial, because political reality dictates that whatever aid package is approved this time is likely to be all that's available. Joining Branstad were governors from Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The governors and the president helped pressure the House to put aside procedural arguments which had delayed the bill since last Thursday. It finally passed, 400-27, and was sent to the Senate where speedy action was anticipated. The largest share of spending,.