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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials say more than $100 million dollars worth of levee repair work has been done following last year’s Missouri River flooding.

Omaha and Kansas City District officials updated the post-flood repairs during a conference call Friday. Last summer’s flooding along the Missouri River caused significant damage in Nebraska and Iowa.

Pride Month celebrates the LGBT community and the progress the community has made towards full equality.  Omaha is the site of the Heartland Pride event on June 30th.  

Staff and volunteers from One Iowa will have a booth at the event.  Communications Director Molly Tafoya says the group will share information and talk with attendees about the impact the organization has had on equality issues.  She says one of the things that makes Iowa so unique is their leadership in the movement for LGBT equality in the Midwest.

Agriculture, alternative energy, and job creation were on the agenda of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney during a visit Friday to Council Bluffs.

The former Massachusetts Governor met with a group of western Iowa farmers, then held a rally in Bayliss Park. It was his first visit to Iowa since May 15th. Romney said the national debt national debt is an issue that will plague Americans for generations to come, and it’ll effect economic growth.

Less than ten percent of registered voters cast ballots in two western Iowa counties in Tuesday’s primary election.

Unofficial election results from Pottawattamie County show voter turnout was about 4.5 percent. In Harrison County, turnout was 7.8 percent.

Due to redistricting, Iowa will have one less Congressional District. Western Iowa voters will choose a new District Three or District Four representative in November.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopes to have all Missouri River levee repair projects complete by the end of this year.

Corps officials updated the status of levee repairs during a conference call Tuesday. Last summer’s Missouri River flooding caused significant damage in Nebraska and western Iowa. The Corps’ Omaha District has 11 levee repair projects underway, with $99 million dollars in repairs complete.

Tuesday is primary election day in Iowa.

The state held its first-in-the-nation presidential nominating caucus in January. Voters will have Congressional representatives to choose from in four districts, instead of five, due to redistricting. UNO political scientist Paul Landow doesn’t expect that to boost voter turnout based on primary election results in other states, including Nebraska.

A monthly survey of business conditions in nine Midwest and Plains states shows economic growth slowed in May.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss compiles the Mid-America Business Conditions report.  The business conditions index, which measures overall economic health, slipped to 57.6 in May from 60 in April. However, it continues to show economic growth in the region.

Monday is the last day to participate in an online open house about the Chicago-to-Omaha passenger rail study.

The Iowa DOT has taken public comments on the rail study since February, and held public meetings throughout the state. It’s part of a five-step process that could lead to passenger rail travel through Iowa.

The Iowa DOT wants to hear from metro area residents about the Chicago-to-Omaha rail study.

A public meeting is scheduled Thursday in Council Bluffs about the passenger rail study. The combination state-federal project seeks to identify a “reasonable and feasible” high-speed passenger rail route between Chicago and Omaha. The preferred alternative route travels through the Quad Cities, Iowa City, and Des Moines, following I-80.

VA of Nebraska-Western Iowa officials estimate several thousand veterans in their service territory are homeless or living below the poverty line.

The VA of Nebraska-Western Iowa is partnering with Omaha’s Together Inc. to offer a food pantry for homeless and low-income veterans. The pantry opened April 18th and will operate on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.

VA of Nebraska-Western Iowa spokesman Will Ackerman says they hope to provide another resource to veterans struggling to get by.