MidAmerican Energy photo

(Radio Iowa) – Powerful thunderstorms with intense winds and a possible tornado thrashed across the Davenport area last (Tuesday) night, toppling trees and snapping several dozen utility poles. There are no reports of any serious injuries. MidAmerican Energy spokesman Geoff Greenwood says many thousands of homes and businesses across the Quad Cities were left in the dark. “At its peak, we had about 21,800 customers out, mostly in Illinois, though we had some on the Iowa side and we restored most of those customers overnight,” Greenwood says, “however, we still have a few thousand that we’re working on and those are the customers where it’s going to take a little bit more time.” That’s because the areas are hard to access, like in hilly backyards that are full of trees.

MidAmerican Energy photo

While much of Iowa just had showers on Tuesday, the storms gained strength as they approached the Quad Cities. “We just had very strong winds that went through the area. In some cases, they just felled trees and the trees took down our power poles and took down the lines,” Greenwood says. “We have counted at least 40 poles that are down and that count is still growing.” Given the extent of the damage and outages, the utility dispatched crews from Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Waterloo and Iowa City to join crews from the Davenport area in the response. “We had more than 75 line workers out in the field overnight, along with more than 70 tree crews,” Greenwood says. “In some cases, we needed those tree crews to clear areas to enable our line crews to do their work safely.”

Most Quad Cities customers had their power restored quickly, though others will need to be patient.”We’re working really hard to get those customers on,” Greenwood says. “We expect to have most of them restored by some time today. It could be into tonight, so most customers will be back throughout the day.”

The Davenport office of the National Weather Service had reports of more than three inches of rainfall in some areas as well as wind gusts of up to 72 miles an hour.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials in a northwest Iowa county have approved a plan for road improvements and repairs as 259 wind turbines are removed from a wind farm in Buena Vista County and replaced with more energy-efficient turbines. Two wind farms near Alta have been operating since 1999 and Allete Clean Energy, the current operator, expects to make the switch outs in 2027. Some gravel road intersections may have to be widened for the project — and the county will bill Allete for the work.

Buena Vista County Engineer Bret Wilkinson says he and the county attorney reviewed the details in the written agreement with Allete. “It spells out in here fairly well what will be the procedures will be during the project and after regarding the roadways,” he says, “do a few things on both sides to make their life simpler and to make our life simpler during this construction project.”

The company is replacing the towers as well as the turbines at its two wind farms in Buena Vista County. The new towers will be shorter than the existing towers.

(Audubon, Iowa) – The Audubon County Secondary Roads Department reports that because a bridge on 350th Street over Troublesome Creek has been removed, and the land vacated before reverting back to adjacent landowners, 1,921 feet of 350th Street, commencing from Mockingbird Avenue eastward, is now closed to the public. (See the map below) If you would have normally traversed that section of the road, you will need to find an alternate route.

(Denison, Iowa) – Emergency Management officials in Crawford County say they were notified on Monday, of an oil spill from a Denison car dealership that had reached the Boyer River. Authorities were notified about the incident from a City of Denison employee saw what appeared to be oil leaking from the “Wheels and Deals, L.L.C.” dealership on South 15^th Street.

The fluid entered a storm sewer and eventually made its way to Boyer River. The oil was contained, and crews will continue to monitor the river for any potential impacts.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who are looking to book their summer vacations are warned to be watchful for scams, especially with iffy hotel listings. Lisa Schiller, at the Better Business Bureau, says cybercriminals are able to make fake websites that look like legitimate online booking sites. Schiller says, “When you click on the link, what happens is you find a website, you see professional photos from what you believe to be the hotel and reasonable pricing.” Schiller suggests you should only be working with a trusted travel agent or an online booking site and -not- a third party. Also, she says to be very careful in -how- you pay, as credit cards typically offer stronger fraud protection.

“You want to make sure that you only pay with your credit card,” she says. “If you are asked to pay through an unusual payment means, such as a gift card payment or wire transfer, steer away from that.” Schiller says the best way to book is to search directly from your favorite booking site, rather than trusting a search engine. Also, if you’re going to book a short-term rental, check a map website to see if the property being offered actually exists.

Schiller says any deal that seems too good to be true shouldn’t be trusted.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa students in an advanced macroeconomics class were sent on a field trip across campus to the U-I’s Stanley Museum of Art this past semester to learn how focusing on tiny details can help illuminate the bigger picture. Alexandra Nica, a professor in the U-I’s Tippie College of Business, says she first had students look very closely at complicated graphs depicting economic concepts, then they headed for the art museum. “They went through a series of exercises. One of them was also this ‘close looking’ exercise and at the museum I also had them link at least three economics concepts with the artwork that they were looking at,” Nica says. “That was really rewarding because out of my 55 students, I did not receive the same answer twice.”

Calling it an “art intervention,” Nica says the business students took in Jackson Pollock’s famed “Mural,” as well as other works by Joan Miro and Katja Farin, as well as the museum’s extensive collection of African art. She says she was pleasantly surprised at how engaged the students became in linking economic concepts with artwork. “The vast majority of them have been extremely enthusiastic, not just about the fact that they went to the art museum,” Nica says. “Some of them told me that they’re graduating in two days and they never went to the Stanley Museum and they were really excited that this project offered them the opportunity to just even visit the museum.”

The field trip was part of a special program the Stanley Museum offered to U-I faculty and Nico says she was the only non-art-related professor to seize the chance.  “I applied for it because I always wanted to do something economics and art related, because I’m also a concert pianist,” Nica says, “so for me, art and economics go really well together, even though maybe at first glance, they might not.” She says learning to visualize and interpret artistic images shows the value of “close looking,” or slowing down to notice details which helps to make more sense of the whole, whether it’s an economic chart or an abstract expressionist work of art.

GLENWOOD, Iowa [KETV] — The City Pool in Glenwood will remain closed again this year, due to ongoing leaks that resulted in what City officials say was a loss during last year’s swimming season of three and one-half inches of water per day.

Glenwood Mayor Angie Winquist said the Glenwood Aquatic Center and pool sit empty after the City Council may the decision in May, to close the facility to assess the situation and determine how it can be fixed. City Administrator Mitch Kolf said there’s been leaks in the pool, almost every summer since it opened nearly 10 years ago. The issue, he said, is the soil underneath the pool, which freezes during the winter, and allows the pool to move and creates broken pipes and the pool’s seals to leak.

Kolf said the city is still waiting to get a full report from a pool engineer consultant to figure out what to do about the soil. The City has hired a law firm to investigate a possible course of legal action it can take against the engineer and contractor that built the pool. It’s hoped the pool can be open for use in the Summer of 2026.

The City of Glenwood says the Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) has offered to bus Glenwood residents to the Malvern Pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summer. Trips leave Glenwood Middle School at 1 p.m. and return at 4 p.m.

The city says riders have to be registered as Summer Fun Bus riders and are encouraged to give a day’s notice of intention to ride.

The cost is $5 round-trip or no cost to SWITA Summer Fun Bus Unlimited Pass holders. The cost does not include pool entry cost.

(Exira, Iowa; Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Iowa Auditor/Democratic candidate for Governor Rob Sand visited with residents in Exira Tuesday afternoon about the shortage of water and a recent boil advisory. The meeting was held at the Exira Public Library. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports during the session, residents mentioned homes running out of water from the Regional Water Rural Water Association’s system (based in Avoca), and was told it was not the first time the town’s pipes had gone dry. In fact, the problems, they said, have gone on for several years.

Tom Kallman, the association’s general manager, said since the flood of 2019 water tables in the region have been 10-12 inches below average, and the persistent drought conditions have meant no replenishment for groundwater stores. Customers in the system have been on water conservation advisories during most of this time, and since May 14 have been on advisories to boil all drinking water after shortages created a loss of pressure from the systems. The recent advisory has led to frustration with the system, especially in Exira.

Boil advisories for almost all of the system have been lifted following negative sampling results, and Regional Water is now looking to a nearly completed pipeline connection to Council Bluffs to adequately supply water to the system.  Exira officials and residents, however, are skeptical that this will be the end of their water-related problems.

Democratic candidate for governor and State Auditor Rob Sand speaks with residents of Exira about water shortages on June 3, 2025. (Photo by Cami Koons/ Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Exira officials allege Regional Water oversold the system, which has led to their perennial water issues.  Kallman said “that was not the case” but that drought conditions in eight of the last 10 years have created a situation which no one predicted. Referring to previous management of the RW system, Kallman said “If they had known (then) what you know now, 20 years later, they would have probably made a different decision. Kallman has been with the association for nearly four years.

The RWRWA has 2,600 connections and serves around 750-square miles in parts of Audubon, Cass, Harrison, Pottawattamie, and Shelby Counties. Exira is the newest addition to the system, according to Kellman, and came on in 2005 after an engineering study revealed it would be more cost effective for the town to join the rural water district than to rehabilitate its failing water treatment system.

Meg Andersen, Exira’s city clerk, said the city of 763 people could not fund a solution without the help of funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office which were only available if the city decided to join Regional Water, to which they signed a 40-year agreement. “You have no option,” Andersen said. “And now all of a sudden, we’re realizing this is an unsustainable source.” But the past three years, especially, have left the town frustrated with their perennial water issues.

Kaellman said the system has relied almost entirely on its shallow well field, which has made the most sense, given that the region does not have a surface-water source sufficient enough to tap. The association explored drilling a deep well, but found it would require drilling down between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, with just a 40% chance of striking water. The other option, which the system decided to pursue, involves an 18-mile pipeline to connect with the system in Council Bluffs and pump water into Regional Water’s system.

Kallman said the pipeline project was approved for federal funding and construction began last October. A temporary pump for the station is projected to be completed on or about June 11th and will bring some respite to the wells and customers in the system. The permanent pump for the system should be completed by October 2025. Kellman said drought was the primary reason the wells are no longer able to meet demand, but he also pointed to the consistent use and installation of drainage tile to agricultural fields as part of the problem.

Since the town is locked into a 40-year contract with Regional Water, and its own water treatment facility has been sold, Exira is left with few options. The city sent a demand letter to Regional Water and is exploring legal options to leave the contract.

Sand, a Democrat from Decorah, listened to the experiences of the Exira residents and said it should be a crisis to which state leaders pay more attention. “Exira matters,” Sand said. “I think anyone in Iowa that’s facing problems like this should have their problems fixed. Government is supposed to work for everybody.” Sand took issue with the expensive steps city officials said they would have to complete in order to change the current situation. “Instead of prioritizing the process, prioritize the people,” Sand said.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Vision Atlantic Board President Christina Bateman reports crews began pouring concrete for the roads in the new, Camblin Hills subdivision, Monday (June 2nd).

Bateman says their goal is to pour approximately 900-to 1000-liner feet per day, weather permitting. Nineteenth Street should be completed in two-working days (weather permitting).

The roads are part of a $75-million project to transform the 49-acre property into a community of 142 mixed housing units. The new housing development will feature a park, a brand-new daycare facility with a 300-child capacity, along with walking and biking trails throughout the neighborhood, that will connect with existing trails and parks across the city. (Photos are courtesy of Christina Bateman)