Minnesota Cities Brace for Spring Floods

Chances remain high for major spring flooding in some Minnesota cities along rivers as a heavy winter snowpack melts, the National Weather Service said. But city officials remain confident their towns can handle high water that might approach 2001 flood levels.

The National Weather Service said Friday that the chance for major flooding in Montevideo, on the Minnesota River in the western part of the state, remains 80 percent, unchanged from last month's outlook.

Montevideo City Manager Steve Jones said the latest outlook actually is optimistic.

Jones said Montevideo had major flooding last year, but because many homes have been removed from a low-lying area after flooding in 1997 and 2001, few people noticed."It appears to us the probability of high waters increases, but the probability of high, high water has decreased,'' Jones said. He said the week's daytime temperatures in the 30s, followed by cold nights, has meant a gradual thaw, and this weekend's forecast was for less rain than earlier expected.

In Granite Falls, the latest outlook calls for a 30 percent chance of moderate flooding from the Minnesota, with a slight chance of major flooding. But Mayor Dave Smiglewski said he thinks his city is in for "some pretty significant flooding.''

The city is downstream from Montevideo and Smiglewski said "the water doesn't disappear.'' A community meeting on flood preparations is scheduled for Thursday, but the mayor said sandbagging probably won't begin until the third week of March, since sandbags that freeze in cold weather are useless.

West of Minneapolis, chances of major flooding remain about 60 percent in levee-protected Delano on the south fork of the Crow River, according to the updated outlook. Parks, parking lots and some roads could see standing water, said Delano city administrator Phil Kern, but "pending a levee break, we should be in pretty good shape.''

In downtown St. Paul, the chance of major flooding on the Mississippi River has increased to 70 percent, up from last month's outlook of 60 percent. The forecast indicates an 80 percent chance of at least moderate flooding in downtown St. Paul, where floodwaters forced Holman Field to shut down in 2001. The airport is now protected by a floodwall.

Other cities that could see flooding include Hastings on the Mississippi River, where the chances of major flooding are 70 percent, and Shakopee and Savage on the Minnesota, the National Weather Service said. Even minor flooding would inundate Highway 101 across the Minnesota at Shakopee.

While the last week of February was dry, helping the flood outlook remain relatively unchanged, the heavy snowpack in western and southern Minnesota is not melting as it should, weather service hydrologist Diane Cooper said.

"I think everyone is seeing the melt occurring in the (Twin) Cities, so they're assuming things are starting to melt elsewhere,'' Cooper said.

The weather service releases its next flood outlook on March 26 before beginning to issue river crest forecasts.

Kansas Debates Ignition Lock Reporting Amendment

Some fear a proposed amendment to a drunken driving bill would make it easier for DUI offenders to avoid getting a device that prevents them from starting their vehicles if they have had too much to drink.

That's because the amendment would remove the requirement that the drunken drivers who are required to get ignition interlock devices report to the state that they had done so.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving national president Laura Dean-Mooney is urging lawmakers to eliminate the amendment.

The Wichita Eagle reported that Sen. Mary Pilcher Cook offered the amendment to address an issue a constituent had alerted her to. The constituent was required by the court to drive with the ignition interlock device for a year. But the constituent did not have a car.

"I don't want people to drive drunk,'' said Cook, a Shawnee Republican. "I want our roads to be safe; I just want to find a solution for everybody.''

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lance Kinzer anticipates the amendment will be altered or removed when his members take up the issue this coming week.

Currently, drivers who are convicted of a second drunken-driving offense, who refuse a breathalyzer test or who are caught with a .15 blood alcohol level -- almost twice the legal limit of .08 -- must drive for a year or more with an interlock device, said Marcy Ralston, chief of the state Driver Control Bureau, Division of Motor Vehicles.

The devices cost $50 to $70 for installation and $65 to $75 a month in fees after that.

Once the devices are installed, the installation company notifies the state and the clock starts running on how long the device must be on the car, Ralston said.

"Your driving privilege is not reinstated until you've kept that interlock for the full period,'' she said.

She said compliance was low before the state began requiring the notifications in July 2006 because many drivers would simply drive without the devices and risk getting pulled over.

House Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, said he thought the idea should be removed from the bill and sent to the state's DUI Commission for study. The commission is in the midst of a comprehensive overhaul of Kansas' drunken-driving laws.

"There are a few ... people without a vehicle, but they are very few,'' Ward said "We don't want to throw the baby and the bathwater out.''

West Virginia Mining Foreman Says Boss Put Profit Ahead of Safety

A mining foreman accused of forging safety inspection reports at a West Virginia coal mine says his boss put profit ahead of potential danger, telling him to stop production and evacuate the mine only if a federal inspector was watching.

John Renner, a foreman at Patriot Coal Corp.'s Federal No. 2 mine near Fairview, told state investigators he wanted to do his job properly. But he wanted to keep it even more: In 2009, he made $106,000 with overtime.

"I've got three kids at home, and I've never had a good job like this,'' he told state mine safety investigators on Jan. 29. At the time, the state was investigating reports of trouble at the north-central West Virginia mine.

The investigation has since been turned over to federal authorities, and Renner has been charged with falsifying inspection reports. He is cooperating with prosecutors and is expected to plead Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg.

Audio recordings of that meeting with state officials reveal a man struggling with panic attacks, regularly consulting a psychiatrist and taking more medication than prescribed to deal with job-related stress. Throughout the two-hour interview, Renner said he feared being fired but was relieved to tell his story.

He said his father, who retired after 38 years as a miner, urged him to come clean: "He's told me from day one, don't cut corners. Always be honest.''

Renner started working at Federal on Aug. 15, 2008, training as a fireboss. His job was to test the seals on worked-out areas, determine whether methane and oxygen levels had reached a potentially explosive mix, then either ventilate the area or clear out the mine.

Federal regulations have required seal monitoring since a January 2006 methane explosion in a sealed section of the Sago Mine -- just 70 miles south of Federal No. 2 -- trapped and ultimately killed 12 men.

But Renner says his marching orders became clear just days after he received his foreman certification in late 2008, when mine foreman Randy Coffindaffer, his supervisor, berated him for an evacuation.

"I tell you what, I thought I was fired then,'' Renner said. "He cussed at me. Screamed at me. ... He said, 'Do you know how much money you're costing this company right now, evacuating it?'''

Coffindaffer told him then he was "never, ever, under any circumstances'' to evacuate over seal readings unless a federal inspector was present, Renner said.

Coffindaffer could not be reached by The Associated Press. His home telephone has been disconnected, and a worker at Federal No. 2 declined to relay messages. The human resources office refused to say whether he's still working at the mine.

In a regulatory filing, Patriot acknowledged it has fired one worker and put two others on administrative leave, but the St. Louis-based company would not identify the employees or comment on the investigation.

Renner's attorneys did not respond to questions, so it's unclear whether he's still employed.

Federal has more than 90 seals, but Renner told the investigators only a handful routinely caused problems.

After the evacuation in 2008, Renner once again got bad readings on a seal. This time, Renner said he recorded it in his book and went to Coffindaffer, thinking he'd order the evacuation.

Instead, he claims Coffindaffer ripped the page from the book, cutting the ragged edge off with a pocketknife. Coffindaffer shredded the page, shouted at him, then stuffed the scraps in his pocket, Renner said.

Later, he said Coffindaffer told him, "As long as I don't have no problems, you won't have no problems.''

"I knew what he meant,'' Renner told the investigators. "He meant he didn't want no problem with these seals.''

Aside from Coffindaffer, Renner said, safety workers at Federal took their jobs seriously.

"But when it comes to these seals ... I can't turn in a reading if it's bad,'' he said.

Renner said he liked his job but worried about the ramifications of ignoring methane levels and kept track of the bad readings he couldn't report. He told investigators they were too high on 15 days in December 2009.

"I honest to God thought about quitting,'' he said, "because I couldn't do nothing.''

The company said Friday it was suspending mining at the mine after an air measurement in an abandoned area of the mine was out of compliance. The company said it would review its ventilation plan with federal officials so the mine could resume production.

Kentucky League of Cities Under Fire for Keeping Deputy,

Criticism of the Kentucky League of Cities is mounting over a state audit that criticized its spending, and some member cities are withholding their dues.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that some cities are displeased the KLC is keeping Deputy Director Neil Hackworth and Insurance Services chief William Hamilton in the top two posts.

Critical letters have been sent recently by the cities of Cold Spring, Flemingsburg and Taylor Mill.

A recent letter from Cold Spring Mayor Mark Stoeber was most direct.Former KLC executive director Sylvia Lovely resigned last summer after stories in the Herald-Leader detailed high salaries, excessive spending and conflicts of interest. Member cities pay dues to the league for service including for lobbying, financing and insurance services.

"Shame on you for the blatant, arrogant, self-effacing abuses,'' he wrote. "Equally shocking is for the board to allow executives involved in the oversight of such abuses to remain.''

Executive board member Diane Whalen, the mayor of Florence, said she thinks there's new awareness of the need for change.

"There's a recognition across the board (that) there needs to be new direction from the top down,'' she said. "I do believe there are board members who are taking a look at the situation a little differently than they did in the beginning.''

Board members have been traveling across the state over the last month on a "listening tour'' to meet with officials in different cities.

Stoeber said Cold Spring would withhold its annual dues until changes are made and recommended hiring executives from outside immediately. He also said the city would seek competitive bids to the League's insurance services.

"Such is owed to our residents, who give your organization approximately $120,000 per year,'' he wrote.

Board chairman Mike Miller, the mayor of Jackson, declined to comment on future leadership. He said he went to six meetings on the listening tour and heard mostly positive comments.

The League has changed many of its spending and ethics policies; in addition, lawmakers have proposed legislation that requires the League to be more transparent. The league's board this week approved a search firm to find a new executive director within four months.