Daily Report: 2004 Presidential Watch: Republican conservative news on the Democrat caucus, primary candidates national campaigns.

… At Hispanic convention in Bush Country – Austin, Texas – Kerry intensifies attacks on GWB, promises to “fight” for health coverage for every child. Excerpt of coverage by AP’s April Castro yesterday on the Austin American-Statesman online edition: “On President Bush's home turf, Democratic hopeful John Kerry on Sunday lambasted the president's record on the issues of health care, education and immigration, while making a powerful pitch for the sought-after Hispanic vote. ‘Last election, he promised so much to win your votes,’ Kerry said. ‘But President Bush won't be running on his rhetoric this time, he'll be running on his record.’ Kerry, one of the early front-runners for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, was a guest speaker at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group…’This president is accountable for making a mockery of the words leave no child behind, ‘ Kerry said, noting that one in four Hispanic children in the United States are without health insurance. Kerry said that, if elected, he would fight to ensure health coverage for every child.”

… “Exaggerations: Bush, uranium and hungry Democrats” – headline from editorial in the New Hampshire Sunday News. Excerpt: “Far from Bush intentionally misleading the public, it appears that he and the CIA are guilty of nothing more than trusting British intelligence. The biggest surprise to emerge last week from the whole media circus surrounding this tempest in a teapot was the way Presidential candidate Howard Dean addressed it. Stopping in Derry and Manchester on Thursday, Dean struck a more reasoned tone than some other Democrats. ‘It would appear to me and, I think, to many Americans that the President of the United States was misled by senior officials in the Department of State, the CIA and the vice president’s office. The only other possibility, which is unthinkable, is that the President of the United States knew himself that this was a false fact and he put it in the State of the Union anyway.’ Dean leaves out the third and most likely option, which is that the President and his top advisors simply trusted Britain’s assurances on the matter, probably because he didn’t remember that Bush had attributed the source of his claim to the British government. Still, Dean’s caution was admirable. Rather than recklessly (and ironically) exaggerate the significance of the President’s possible exaggeration, as John Kerry has repeatedly done, Dean chose to play fair, saying, ‘let’s find out what the facts are.’ Who’d have thought that John Kerry could learn a thing or two from Howard Dean about how to play the statesman?”

… Well, Edwards probably will take another Waukee stop off his schedule for the balance of the caucus campaign – primarily since he was invited to leave Iowa. Headline from yesterday’s Quad-City Times: “Edwards defends hog-lot proposal; Senator visits Iowa to stump for presidential bid.” Excerpts from report from Waukee by the Times’ Kathie Obradovich: “A John Deere tractor pulled up across the street as North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat, stood in a nearby gazebo, talking about his presidential campaign to a few dozen supporters and townspeople. ‘This is perfect,’ Edwards said, gesturing to the tractor, raising his voice to be heard as the engine cut into his comments about preserving America’s ‘small-town, rural way of life.’ It turned out a local farmer was intent on attracting Edwards’ attention with more than just machinery. Jerry Burger, a farmer and livestock producer, stopped the candidate as he headed over to the local café to raise his objections to the environmental policy Edwards introduced last week in Congress. ‘I think you need to go back to North Carolina,’ Burger said. ‘All you want is more regulations on livestock.’ Burger, who says he ‘votes Republican most of the time,’ said he’s also concerned about urban sprawl. Waukee is a suburb west of Des Moines with about 5,100 residents. ‘This is some of the best land in the world, and it’s getting bulldozed and just turned into malls and all kinds of development.’ Edwards, who paused briefly, responded, ‘We’re actually working very hard to protect farmland. I’ve worked hard on it in North Carolina.’ He added, ‘I think what I’m doing is actually for the farmers’ as he broke away from the conversation and went into the café. Edwards proposed legislation last week to require the Environmental Protection Administration to limit air and water pollution from large livestock-confinement operations. ‘I would just respectfully disagree with him,’ Edwards told reporters a few minutes later. ‘I think it is important for us to manage the environmental impact in this big, corporate farms.’ He said he wants to ‘keep our farmers in business,’ but said the expansion of big, corporate hog farms ‘can do enormous damage to the water and the air.’” In AP coverage of the Edwards-Burger episode, it was reported that Burger, who raises hogs and crops on 2,000 acres near Waukee, said Edwards was “as far left as you can get” on the environment.

… Kucinich, apparently unable to see Iowa’s corn and soybean crops, brings seeds to Iowa. Report from KTIV-TV (Sioux City) on Kucinich’s weekend visit: “Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich is arguably the most liberal of the field. Saturday, he met with supporters at the downtown library in Sioux City. He handed out seed packets, saying his campaign is planting seeds of hope. Among his kernels of truth, guaranteeing education through college, repealing the Patriot Act withdrawing from NAFTA and the World Trade Organization and guaranteeing universal health care. Kucinich also accused the Bush Administration of lying about the justification for war against Iraq.” Related coverage: Associated Press reported Kucinich, speaking at a Sunday peace forum at Drake University in Des Moines, criticized the Bush administration for it’s handling of intelligence information in the leadup to the war with Iraq. He also attacked the administration for inflating the Pentagon’s budget and heightening the nation’s fears, which resulted in the Iraq conflict. Kucinich quote: “I think the American people are aware this administration has engaged in a pattern of deceit.”

… Wasn’t it just a few days ago that reports were being written about Gephardt’s alleged strength in South Carolina (and possibly in Michigan) among black voters? Now, we find that the NAACP has declared him – along with Lieberman and Kucinich – as persona non grata with black voters. Headline from this morning’s Daily Iowan (University of Iowa): “3 Dems feel NAACP wrath” Excerpts from Miami Beach report by AP’s Nedra Pickler: “NAACP President Kweisi Mfume criticized Democratic presidential candidates Dick Gephardt, Joe Lieberman and Dennis Kucinich on Monday for skipping the group's presidential forum, saying the three have become ‘persona non grata’ among black voters. Mfume lashed out at the three during a speech to the thousands gathered for the NAACP's convention. Each time Mfume mentioned their name an organmaster played a death knell chord. ‘In essence, you now have become persona non grata,’ he said. ‘Your political capital is the equivalent of confederate dollars.’ The crowd responded to his condemnation with applause and then a chorus of ‘oooo’ at the mention of confederate money. Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards were not planning to take part in the forum with Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton. But Kerry and Edwards escaped Mfume's wrath by deciding late Sunday to join their rivals. Gephardt said he had a prior family obligation, Lieberman said he had campaign events in New York and Kucinich said he wanted to be in Washington to make votes in the House. Spokesman for all three said their absence wasn't meant to be a snub and they hoped to work with the NAACP throughout the campaign, but Mfume wouldn't excuse them. ‘If you expect us to believe that you could not find 90 minutes to come by and address the issues affecting our nation, then you have no legitimacy over the next nine months in our community,’ he said to applause from the delegates. Blacks have been a solid constituency for the Democratic presidential nominee in recent elections. In 2000, Al Gore captured 90 percent of the black vote to George W. Bush's 9 percent, one of the lowest percentages for a Republican in decades, according to exit surveys…Kerry's aides said the Massachusetts senator initially refused to take part in the forum to honor a verbal agreement quietly reached with three of his rivals - Edwards of North Carolina; Gephardt, a congressman from Missouri; and Lieberman, a senator from Connecticut. Under the agreement, the candidates would not share a stage other than during six debates being organized by the Democratic National Committee. That would mean convincing the various groups that invite them to speak to give each candidate a designated time instead of having them appear together.”

… “Dean’s surge poses challenges for him” – Headline from yesterday’s The Union Leader. Excerpts from report – datelined Hopkinton, NH – by AP political ace Ron Fournier: “Although two of his rivals, John Kerry and John Edwards, have collected more money overall, and others have put more cash in reserve, Dean's fund-raising haul from April to June has shaken up a race that now has three distinct tiers of candidates - but no front-runners. His foes for the Democratic nomination are sharpening their rhetoric as Dean tries to ensure his momentum doesn't outstrip a relatively immature campaign based in Burlington, Vt. ‘We're learning as we go along,’ the former Vermont governor said between stops in New Hampshire that drew large crowds and tested his acknowledged lack of patience. Dean shares top-tier status with Kerry, the decorated Vietnam War veteran and favorite of much of the Democratic establishment, and former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., a Midwest populist with strong ties to organized labor. Support for the trio is evenly divided in Iowa, site of the first 2004 voting. Polls in New Hampshire, which holds its primary a week after Iowa's caucuses, show Kerry leading, followed closely by Dean, with Gephardt back in the pack. Gephardt, whose advantage in Iowa has slipped with donors shying from his campaign, recently stepped up criticism of his rivals. His opponents hope the strategy is a sign of desperation; Gephardt says it's simply politics. ‘In any election it is necessary and valid for candidates to engage in debate or discussion about the differences in their positions,’ he said. ‘That is beginning.’ Kerry, too, plans to increase his attacks, but his target is Bush. Amid questions about the president's justification for war against Iraq, the Massachusetts senator plans to question Bush's credibility next week by citing a pattern of deception on national security and domestic issues, aides said. Democratic activists are watching three other candidates for signs of a breakthrough - Sens. Edwards of North Carolina, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bob Graham of Florida. None can be written off.”

… Graham – who’s almost become a one-issue Iraq/terrorism candidate – continues Iraq criticisms, says Al Qaeda may have trained as many as 120,000 terrorists. Associated Press coverage from FOXNews.com: “A congressional investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks has concluded that 70,000 and 120,000 terrorists were trained by Al Qaeda and some are still in the United States, Sen. Bob Graham, R-Fla., said Sunday. ‘We have to assume that as those people were placed around the world, some were placed inside the United States. Some of them are in the United States today,’ Graham said on NBC's ‘Meet the Press.’ After months of investigation and a series of congressional hearings last year, the House and Senate Intelligence panels wrapped up their report Dec. 20 and released a summary. The full classified report is still under review at the FBI and CIA, which are trying to determine whether any disclosure of information might pose a risk to national security and should remain secret. Graham, a Democratic presidential candidate and the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has criticized the administration repeatedly for delaying release of the report. He said Sunday the administration has approved inclusion of the estimate of Al Qaeda's terrorist training in the final report. Graham said that estimate shows that the Bush administration ‘lost focus’ when it turned its attention to war with Iraq. ‘We allowed Al Qaeda to regroup and regenerate,’ he said. ‘They've conducted a series of very sophisticated operations, thus far none of it in the United States, but seven Americans were killed in Saudi Arabia.’”

… Some observers believe Gephardt is heating up his rhetoric and partisan criticisms as two rivals – Dean and Kerry – put Iowa heat on him. At Dubuque forum, he took the anti-Bush attacks up a couple notches. Headline from yesterday’s Des Moines Register: “Gephardt takes aim at Bush…Bush is ‘incompetent’ in foreign policy and his economic policy is ‘mindless,’ Gephardt says in a Dubuque stop.” Excerpts from coverage by the Register’s Thomas Beaumont: “Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt on Sunday accused President Bush of ‘stunning incompetence’ on foreign policy and said he was more suspicious about Bush's use of questionable intelligence before the war with Iraq. The longtime U.S. House member from Missouri also called Bush's economic policy ‘mindless’ during a forum hosted by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin in Dubuque. ‘Here they come with tax cut after tax cut,’ Gephardt told roughly 150 Democratic activists at the newly opened National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. ‘Iowa's lost 36,000 jobs in the last two years, and they don't have a clue how to fix it.’ Gephardt also promoted his plan to provide universal health insurance and fielded questions on energy policy and the environment during the appearance with Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who has sponsored the ‘Hear it from the Heartland’ series with 2004 Democratic hopefuls. But Gephardt was also confronted by a small but vocal group who opposed the war with Iraq. Gephardt is one of four Democrats running for president who voted for the resolution last fall authorizing Bush to order the attack without United Nations approval last fall. Gephardt has stood by his decision in the face of some criticism from anti-war Democrats. ‘I've yet not heard an apology, any contrition, any remorse from any member of Congress as a result of this war,’ Art Roche of Dubuque said to Gephardt during the forum, which drew applause from some of the crowd. ‘I'm going to have a hard time voting for any candidate who voted for the war.’ Roche and others voiced frustration about allegations that President Bush gave false information in building his case for the war. Roche, a 55-year-old health care planner with a Dubuque hospital, is supporting U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. Kucinich opposed the war and has accused Bush of lying about pre-war intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. ‘You willfully ignored the facts,’ Roche's 19-year-old son Andy, also a Kucinich supporter, shouted at Gephardt. ‘I voted for the resolution. I don't ask anybody to share my judgment,’ Gephardt said, explaining that he had urged Bush to seek international and U.N. support. ‘Now we get evidence that perhaps some of things the president was saying to the American people and the Congress may not have been true…The one thing you know is that you've got to maintain credibility between the leaders, the government and the people,’ Gephardt said to applause from the group. Gephardt has been cautious about accusing Bush of intentionally misleading the public prior to the war, although some of his rivals have made that case.”

… Iowans once again more unfortunate than other Americans – most probably know names of at least three or four Dem wannabes. Headline from CBSNews.com – “Dems ’04: Who Are These Guys?” Excerpts from CBS News: “There's good news and bad news for the Democratic presidential candidates in a CBS News poll. The good news is that President Bush's overall job rating is at its lowest point since before the start of the war in Iraq; it's now 60 percent, down from 66 percent last month. The bad news is that none of the Democratic challengers seem ready to take advantage of the president's falling numbers, since most Americans have no idea who the Democratic challengers are. Just one in three Americans say they can name any of the candidates for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. Even most Democratic voters are clueless; 66 percent of them draw a blank when asked to name one of their party's potential standard bearers. None of the Democratic candidates has a clear edge in name recognition. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts were the most often mentioned, named by 7 percent of those polled. Two candidates with supposedly high-profile national reputations were next: Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who ran for vice president in 2000, at 6 percent; and Rep. Dick Gephardt, the former House Democratic Leader, at 3 percent. Rev. Al Sharpton was named by 2 percent of those polled, while three other candidates – Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio – were named by just 1 percent. Two months ago, Lieberman was the most frequently cited candidate by both Democrats and the overall public, while Dean was named by just 1 percent. The nationwide poll of 753 adults was conducted by telephone July 8-9; it has an error margin of plus or minus four percentage points.”

… Dean vs. Kerry -- Again: Headline from the Boston Globe – “Dean, Kerry showdown looms…Leading Democrats vie for Granite State” Excerpt by the Globe’s Glen Johnson reported from Concord about the continuing New Hampshire battle between the New England neighbors: “Kerry has led by as many as 12 percentage points, but Dean's recent success in outraising the field, with $7.5 million in the quarter that ended June 30, the Internet and grass-roots effort that propelled it, and the media attention it has attracted, have raised the stakes for Kerry. A near-favorite son candidate in New Hampshire, Kerry could be severely wounded by a loss -- or merely a close victory -- in the Jan. 27 primary, especially if Dean surpasses him eight days earlier in the kickoff Iowa caucuses. Such a one-two punch is at the heart of Dean's campaign strategy. This has put a target on his back for all the candidates, especially Kerry, whose campaign team leaders say they are confident they can blunt Dean's surge… Amid that instability, candidates such as Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina are increasing their local campaign appearances, opening regional offices around the state, and working phone banks to broaden their ranks of supporters. ‘Obviously, there's an advantage’ for Kerry and Dean ‘being from next door, and it may be a challenge, but I think Joe Lieberman is up to the challenge,’ said a Lieberman spokeswoman, Kristin Carvell. Peter Greenberger, Lieberman's New Hampshire state director, added: ‘And it creates an opportunity for us because it greatly raises expectations for them.’ In an interview, Dean also dismissed talk of a contest confined to him and Kerry. ‘I know the press wants to do that; I think that's a mistake,’ the former governor said after a two-day campaign strategy session in Burlington, Vt. ‘There are other candidates who are working very hard, and I know that hard work matters. I think it's a little too early to distill it down that far. In the end, I think it will be more than just me versus John. I think there will be other candidates assessed.’ Kerry said his focus was not on Dean or the other candidates, but on his own campaign. ‘I'm going to work very hard at it,’ Kerry said in an interview on Nantucket, after his own two-day campaign planning session. ‘There's an ebb and flow to these things, and you have to be steady. That's what this process does, part of the test it poses, and you've just got to go through it.’ In a monthly opinion survey conducted by the American Research Group Inc. of Manchester that asked likely Democratic primary voters whom they would choose, Kerry and Dean have split an average of 43 percent of the vote over the first half of the year. In June, Kerry led with 28 percent and Dean was second with 18 percent.”

… “Hispanic leaders are telling Democratic officials that Hispanics are no longer part of the party's political base because President Bush and the Republicans have made inroads into the nation's largest minority voting bloc.” – opening sentence from Sunday’s Washington Times report by veteran reporter Donald Lambro. Headline: “Republicans draw Hispanic voters from Democrats.” More excerpts from Lambro’s report: “In closed-door Democratic strategy meetings to plan for the elections next year, Hispanic leaders and pollsters have painted a picture of declining Hispanic support for the Democrats, warning party officials that if they do not reach out more aggressively to this pivotal group, Republicans likely will make further gains in the 2004 elections. ‘If we don't do that and don't do that now, the Democrats will not enjoy additional support from the Latino community because what has happened is that, even though Bush has lost some support this year, most of that support has gone to the undecided column,’ said Maria Cardona, who heads up a Democratic drive to rebuild political and cultural connections with Hispanic voters. ‘We can no longer be considered a base vote’ for the Democrats…’If they don't follow up, they risk losing additional [Hispanic] support to the Republicans,’ she said in an interview. ‘Democrats cannot take Latinos for granted, or they will suffer the consequences. Democratic support among Latinos has been trimmed.’ The party has been ignoring election numbers showing the Republican Party's inroads over the past several years, said Ms. Cardona, a former Democratic National Committee official who is director of the Hispanic Project at the New Democrat Network (NDN). Mr. Bush captured 35 percent of the Hispanic vote in the 2000 election to Vice President Al Gore's 62 percent. That shift represented a sharp decline for the Democrats. President Bill Clinton got 72 percent of their vote in 1996, while Republican challenger Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas won only 20 percent. But the Democrats' performance only worsened last year in the congressional elections. A post-election poll conducted by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg found that the Republicans won over 39 percent of the Hispanic vote, 16 points higher than a previous NDN poll had forecast. Another Democratic poll conducted by the NDN in 2002 showed that Mr. Bush, riding a wave of popularity in the war on terrorism, would have gotten 44 percent of the Hispanic vote against any Democratic challenger at that time. ‘That clearly shows that Latinos were increasingly looking at the Republican Party as an option,’ Ms. Cardona said.”

Des Moines Register, top front-page headline: “Invasion of Iraq justified, Bush says…The president claims the intelligence he relied on was ‘darn good’ as Democrats continue to question his credibility.”

Featured stories, Quad-City Times online: State – “Values Fund board sets first meeting” Members of a newly appointed board overseeing the Iowa Values Fund will meet for first time tomorrow in Okoboji.

Nation/world headline, Omaha World-Herald online: “Bush stands behind intelligence about Iraq” & “Storm gains strength, moves toward coast” Tropical storm Claudette plodded toward land.

Sioux City Journal, lead online stories: “Edwards heads to NAACP convention” Edwards was in Sioux City Monday morning, but “halved the number of his appearances” to attend Miami confab. & “German heads Bastille Day parade amid tight security” In a gesture of European unity, a German general headed France’s Bastille Day military parade yesterday for the first time.

Daily Iowan (University of Iowa), nation/world heads: “Mandela: AIDS failure a travesty” & “Iraq selects U. N. delegation”

Featured online stories, New York Times: “North Korea Says It Has Made Fuel for Atom Bombs” & “Architect and Developer Clash Over Plans for Trade Center Site”

Chicago Tribune, top online headlines: “Bush hints troops in Liberia likely” & “German leads French parade in show of unity”

Iowa Briefs/Updates:

… WHO Radio and other IA media outlets yesterday reported the death of Dr. W. Robert Parks – the longest serving president of Iowa State University. Parks, who served as the ISU leader from 1965 to 1986 and oversaw the transition from a college to a university, died at age 87 after an extended illness

KCCI-TV (Des Moines) reported that the investigation continues into a horse-drawn buggy accident near Kanawah -- in northern Iowa -- over the weekend that sent a dozen people to the hospital. The Iowa State Patrol said the horse was spooked and spun the buggy around, tossing the passengers off the buggy. Two reportedly received serious injuries

The Sioux City Journal reports that an Iowa priest – the Rev. George McFadden, 79 – who was forced to retire after he was accused of sexually abusing boys has moved to Indiana. McFadden, who served six western Iowa parishes from 1953 to 1992, was sent to a treatment center and “summarily retired” after the Diocese of Sioux City learned of allegations of sexual misconduct 10 years earlier in LeMars. He was never charged, and indicated he moved to the Fort Wayne area to be near relatives.

… India rejects U. S. request for 17,000 troops in Iraq. Headline from VOANews (Voice of America) – “India: No Troops for Iraq without UN Mandate” Excerpt from Anjana Pasricha’s report: “India has turned down a U.S. request to send troops to Iraq to join a stabilization force. The Indian government failed to build a domestic consensus on the issue. Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said Indian troops cannot be deployed in Iraq without an explicit United Nations mandate. The decision came after a two-hour meeting of the country's top security committee, headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The announcement ends weeks of indecision by New Delhi. The government has been debating the issue since last month, when Washington asked India to contribute a division of about 17,000 soldiers to control a sector in northern Iraq.”

… From the Korean Front: More conflicting reports on North’s nuclear weapons program. VOANews headline – “No Evidence N. Korea Reprocessing Nuclear Rods, Says Seoul” Excerpts: “South Korea has said there is no evidence to confirm Pyongyang's claim it has finished reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods, which could yield weapons-grade plutonium. The latest statement comes amid a series of conflicting reports on North Korea's nuclear activities. South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan said Monday the government has no proof that communist North Korea has completed reprocessing its 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods. Reprocessing the rods would allow Pyongyang to increase its arsenal, which U.S. intelligence experts say already includes one or two nuclear weapons. The comments, given during a radio interview, come in response to a South Korean news report Sunday saying that the North may have reprocessed all of its spent nuclear fuel. It quoted Chang Sung-min, an intelligence aide to former President Kim Dae-jung, who said North Korean diplomats told U.S. officials in New York that the reprocessing was finished on June 30. The claim contradicts a South Korean government report last week that Pyongyang had reprocessed only a small number of the rods.”

… Headlines in Sioux City and Omaha – and probably further down the river -- report another losing round for proponents of increased Missouri River flows. The bad weekend news, in a headline from the Sioux City Journal: “Corps told to reduce Missouri River flows” Excerpt from AP report: “A federal judge granted a request by conservation groups that will force the Army Corps of Engineers to reduce flows on the Missouri River for the remainder of the summer. The plaintiffs argued that high flows on lower portions of the river threaten two species of birds and one type of fish that must be protected by the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a 2000 biological opinion said the corps should manage the Missouri River and its system of six dams to allow rising water levels in spring and lower levels in summer to the advantage of the pallid sturgeon, least tern and piping plover. When the corps did not adopt that management strategy for 2003, the plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction in federal court in the District of Columbia. ‘There is no question the three species will suffer irreparable harm if the corps is allowed to carry out its 2003 annual operating plan,’ Judge Gladys Kessler said in a 66-page opinion released Saturday. ‘There is no dollar value that can be placed on the extinction of an animal species -- the loss is to our planet, our children and future generations,’ she said...Eric Eckl, a spokesman for American Rivers in Washington, said the order will require lower river flows from July 15 [TODAY] to September 1 this year…The judge acknowledged that her decision could affect barge traffic, water quality and hydroelectric costs in downstream states, but she said no one could provide reliable estimates on the financial or economic damage.”

… Today’s editorials, Des Moines Register: “It’s not just 16 words…Use of the false report on uranium suggests a pattern of reckless disregard for the truth.” & “The university is his legacy…ISU will always bear the imprint of W. Robert Parks.” Tribute to Parks, who died over the weekend, for transitions at Iowa State University during his 21-year tenure as president.

… Under the headline “Sundberg has the baseball itch again,” the Quad-City Times’ Steve Batterson reported that after 16 years in the major leagues and another six years in the broadcast booth former University of Iowa catcher Jim Sundberg is back in uniform. Sundberg, a three-time American League all-star, left the game in 1995 to go into business, but the 52-year-old has returned to be minor league catching coordinator for the Texas Rangers. During his big-league career, Sundberg played for the Rangers, Brewers, Royals and Cubs.

… DSM 7 a.m. 73, fair, sunny. Temperatures across Iowa at 7 a.m. were from 61 in Spencer to 73 in Des Moines and Iowa City and 75 in Burlington and Davenport. Today’s high 88, sunny. Tonight’s low 65, clear. Wednesday’s high 88, mostly sunny. Wednesday night’s low 68, chance T-storms. From WHO-TV’s Ed Wilson: “Highs will remain around 90 through the week. Another chance of thunderstorms by Friday will bring cooler temps for the weekend.”

… WHO Radio said this morning there were reports of an overnight tornado near Estherville in northwest IA, but no indications of damage yet.

… Sioux City forces lineup for election over city government structure. Excerpts from report by Sioux City Journal’s Lynn Zerschling reported there is “one thing upon which organizers of opposing campaigns for the Aug. 5 election agree. ‘The big problem we have so far is that we didn't get a response for donations,’ Rudy Salem, ‘The Rebellion is On!’ organizer, said. ‘The donations have not come in. Maybe we haven't done a good job of letting people know where to send the money. As a result, we are at a disadvantage.’ TRIO's contributions still fall under the $750 amount required to be reported in campaign expenditures and expenses disclosure documents, Salem said. Max Spain, chairman of Just Vote No, said his committee's goal is to raise $10,000. By Friday, the committee had received $2,375 in donations.” In addition, Carolyn Goodwin, a member of the League of Women Voters, said the Just Vote No Committee mailed out more than 9,000 fliers last week. Voters go to the polls next month to determine whether to scrap the current council-manager form of government in favor of a commissioner system.