The Pony Express Riders of Iowa are back in the saddle this Easter weekend as hundreds of them make the trek on horseback from across Iowa to Camp Sunnyside near Ankeny. This is the 51st year the riders have traveled to the Easter Seals facility, bringing with them money from a series of fundraising activities. Tim Allen of Whittemore is the group’s president.

“Throughout the state, there’s 300 to 400 riders that start in all four corners of the state,” Allen says. “Every county’s got their own little thing they do. We all end up at the John Deere plant just outside of Des Moines and we all parade in. It gets to be quite the show.” After the ride to the camp, there’s a celebratory dance, a thank you to all of the volunteers, he says. Allen has some advice for motorists this holiday weekend.

“Just look out for the horses because we’ve got riders of all ages,” Allen says. “My daughter, this will be her 3rd year riding on the ride and she’s 11 years old. My son’s 9 and he rides with me, so just be careful out there.” Some $270,000 was raised last year by the Pony Express Riders to help with the camp that has been in operation for 80 years, serving children and adults with disabilities. This year’s goal is $280,000.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A winning ticket for a giant lottery jackpot estimated at $521 million has been sold in New Jersey. Mega Millions says one winning ticket was sold in Friday night’s drawing. The winning numbers were 11, 28, 31, 46, 59 and Mega Ball 1.

The New Jersey Lottery said Saturday on Twitter that the winning ticket was sold at a Riverdale, Morris County, Lukoil station. Riverdale is in northeastern New Jersey, about 30 miles outside of New York City.

The $521 million is the annuity option, in which payments are made over 29 years. The cash option would pay $317 million. Mega Millions is played in 44 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers say “It sounds like Mother Nature may be pranking us with an April Fool’s day joke on Easter Sunday with the possibility of 2-4 inches of snowfall.” The Chief reminds residents, “That all on Street parking is banned in Clarinda when two or more inches of snow accumulates and remains in effect until the snowfall quits and the streets have been plowed.

“Registered owners of vehicles found in violation are subject to being ticketed for violating the snow ordinance parking ban ($15.00) and the vehicles are subject to towing/impoundment. Your cooperation in complying with the parking ban helps our snow plow operators clear the streets efficiently.”

A collision between a City of Winterset Police car and a pickup Friday night, sent two people to the hospital in Winterset. The accident happened at around 8:30-p.m. on Highway 92 at the intersection with 10th Street, in Winterset.

The Iowa State Patrol says 2009 Ford Crown Victoria driven by 30-year old Christian Ryan Dekker, of Osceola, was traveling north on 10th Street, with its lights and siren activated, when it collided with a 1967 Chevy pickup that was westbound on Highway 92. The driver of the pickup was identified as 49-year old James Robert Penny, of Winterset.

Neither driver yielded the right-of-way. Following the collision, both vehicles came to rest in the northwest ditch of the intersection, where they came to rest. Dekker was transported by Madison County EMS to the hospital in Winterset. Penny was taken by Madison County EMS to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office assisted the State Patrol in its investigation.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge over the Missouri River connecting Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa, will be lit blue next week to raise awareness of autism.

Officials say the lighting will take place at dusk on Monday.

The event will coincide with World Autism Awareness Day. Participants will wear blue and gather on either the Nebraska or Iowa side of the bridge, and each group will meet at the center of the bridge for the lighting.

The bridge joins a number of regional, national and international landmarks — including the Nebraska State Capitol — that will be lit blue on Monday.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Red Oak woman on Friday night after a traffic stop. At 10:40pm Deputies stopped a vehicle after it failed to obey a stop sign. After further investigation the driver, Darian Heideman of Red Oak, was arrested for OWI 1st Offense and Possesion of Paraphernalia. No further details were released.

A high-ranking Iowa investigator who was fired after blowing the whistle on speeding by Gov. Terry Branstad’s security detail will not have his day in court, a judge ruled Friday. Judge David May, who was appointed by Branstad in 2016, dismissed all claims in a long-running lawsuit brought by former Division of Criminal Investigation agent Larry Hedlund. The ruling cancels a trial that had been scheduled for April 9 in the case, which exposed misconduct inside the Iowa Department of Public Safety and created a political headache for Branstad.

The ruling was denounced by supporters of Hedlund, now a Fort Dodge detective.
“They were out to get this guy. Right now it looks like they got away with it, but we’ll keep fighting,” said Hedlund’s attorney, Tom Duff, who pledged an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.

The case dates to April 2013, when an SUV zipped past Hedlund on Interstate 20 in northern Iowa traveling at a high rate of speed. Hedlund reported the speeding to a dispatcher, who sent a trooper to respond. The SUV was clocked going 84 in a 65-mph zone. But the trooper declined to stop the SUV after seeing that the driver was another trooper transporting Branstad and then-Lt.-Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Hedlund complained to superiors Branstad’s drivers routinely sped, creating a safety hazard that needed to be addressed. They turned the tables on Hedlund, asking why he was working on a scheduled day off and removing him from duty pending a disciplinary investigation. Hedlund was then fired for what the department said was insubordination that started weeks earlier and was unrelated to the speeding incident. Hedlund had been clashing with his DCI superiors, opposing their reorganization plan.

Branstad denied any retaliation against Hedlund, saying at a news conference that his firing was “for the morale and for the safety and well-being of the department.” The governor’s driver, who was eventually ticketed, testified that he routinely sped because he took “great pride” in getting Branstad to events on time. State officials later warned troopers on the executive detail to obey the speed limit.

Hedlund was a 25-year department veteran who supervised cases in northern Iowa. He filed a lawsuit contending that his superiors wrongly destroyed his career for complaining about the speeding and other misconduct. He claimed that Branstad’s suggestion that he was a security threat was defamatory and that other employees engaged in far worse misconduct but weren’t fired.

He wrote that Hedlund and other state officers cannot bring wrongful termination lawsuits under an Iowa law intended to protect whistleblowers. Instead, May agreed with the state that they must appeal their terminations administratively through a governor-appointed board.

May ruled that Branstad, now the U.S. ambassador to China, didn’t defame Hedlund because the governor had “absolute privilege against liability” for statements made within the course of his duties. May found that Hedlund did present “evidence of several bad acts by his superiors” that were potentially malicious, dishonest and intended to harass. But he said the conduct didn’t reach the high bar needed to prove a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Lastly, he found that Hedlund, now 60, failed to present enough evidence that age was a factor in the firing, siding with the state that remarks by his supervisor about Hedlund being in the “twilight of his career” and near retirement weren’t relevant.
The Iowa attorney general’s office, which defended the state, said it was pleased.
“We appreciate the hard work the judge put into the case,” spokesman Lynn Hicks said.

HAWARDEN, Iowa (AP) — A flood warning is in effect for parts of Sioux County in far northwestern Iowa until Sunday evening. The Sioux City Journal says , based on information from the National Weather Service, that the Big Sioux River near Hawarden was over flood stage Friday morning at 23 feet and causing some flooding of fields and low-lying areas. Minor flooding begins at 19 feet.

The levels are expected to decline several feet over the next several days. In Akron, river levels are expected to crest within the next day. Flood warnings are also in effect for parts of the Little Sioux River, including areas near Milford and Spencer.

Spring snow-melt is part of the reason for the swollen Big Sioux, and recent rains that fell onto frozen ground added to that.

The Cass County Treasurer’s office has issued the first new license plate design in the County, to Craig Sporleder.  Early in 2017, Governor Branstad and Governor Reynolds asked the DOT to redesign the 1998 “county standard” blue and white with a silver-grey city and country image in the background plates.  Although this plate design has served Iowa well, it’s become a bit dated and stale. Iowans voted for the new “City and Country Reboot” design last August.

Cass County Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall shows the 1st, redesigned license plate issued in the County, with its owner, Craig Sporleder

It provides an updated representation of the urban and rural theme. The top blue border profiles city and country images and the bottom green border is intended to evoke growth, nature and wellness.  Reminds us Iowa is a great place to live, wherever you choose.

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) maintains license plate design standards that are intended to make sure license plates are recognizable and legible.  The license plate design was created with these standards in mind while keeping the purpose of the plate in mind, which is to help law enforcement and others clearly read the letters and numbers that identify the vehicle.

Materials for Iowa’s license plates are supplied by Minnesota-based 3M Co., and they are manufactured by inmates at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. Cass County will be using the old-style plates until inventory is depleted.  Only personalized plates ordered through the state will be issued with the new design.