The Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 4 Office in Atlantic reports the right lane of westbound Interstate 80/northbound I-29 between the Iowa 192/South Expressway (exit 3) ramps is currently closed for repairs. The lane closure went into effect 9 a.m. today (Wednesday, May 24th), and continues until 5 a.m. Thursday (May 25th), weather permitting.

To reduce traffic volumes while repairs occur, the northbound on-ramp at U.S. 275/Iowa 92 (exit 47) and the westbound on-ramp at Madison Avenue (exit 5) will also be closed until 5-a.m., May 25th.

The Iowa DOT anticipates that significant delays could occur, so motorists are encouraged to find alternative routes and allow for extra time while repairs are taking place.

Construction during the 2017 season is part of the Iowa DOT’s Council Bluffs Interstate System Improvement Program, a streamlined approach to planned construction projects on I-80, I-29, and I-480 in the Council Bluffs/Omaha metropolitan area. The program is the single largest project in the Iowa DOT’s fiscal year 2017-2021 Iowa Transportation Improvement Program. Visit the program website at www.councilbluffsinterstate.iowadot.gov/.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Emerson was arrested this (Tuesday) morning, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. 27-year old Johnathan Lee Million was arrested at around 2:47-a.m. following a traffic stop on Highway 34 at Jabber Avenue. His bond was set at $300.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a sentencing appeal by a father and son whose Iowa-based egg production company caused a massive 2010 salmonella outbreak.

The rejection Monday means Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter DeCoster will be required to serve prison time for misdemeanor food safety violations. The appeal was denied without comment.

The DeCosters were sentenced to three months in prison by a federal judge in Iowa in 2015 but appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld the sentences last July. They’ve been free awaiting their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The attorney for the DeCosters and the federal prosecutor who handled the case declined to comment.

An investigation into a marijuana operation in Clarinda netted two arrests. Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports a little after 4-p.m., Monday, officers investigated the illegal use of marijuana at 200 W. State Street. Authorities encountered several individuals gathered at the residence and seized approximately eighty grams of processed plant material believe to be marijuana.

Charges are pending against 25-year old Preston Lynn Sichling, and 26-year old Jacob Allen Thomsen, for possession of marijuana, and gathering where illegal drugs are kept and/or used. Both Sichling and Thomsen reside at 200 W. State Street.

Investigative reports have been forwarded to Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen for review and consideration of the filing of formal charges.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) Smoke Free Homes Registry, which was launched in 2012, has reached 1,000 properties. In order to be entered in the registry, a property must have at least one building that is 100 percent smoke free and must have this specified in the lease language.

“The best way to protect against exposure to secondhand smoke is to make sure the places we live and work are smoke free,” said IDPH Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Director Jerilyn Oshel. “Globally, 6 million people die each year due to tobacco-related causes and 600,000 of those are people die from secondhand smoke.”

Benefits of becoming a smoke free property include:

• Free signage
• Lower cleaning and maintenance costs
• Property listing on the free Smoke Free Homes Registry
• Assistance with implementation, including sample lease language

More than 80 percent of all Iowans are non-smokers and generally prefer to rent from non-smoking properties. Residents of a smoke free property who use tobacco are given information about Quitline Iowa to help them quit smoking.

All Iowans can take advantage of the program by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visiting www.quitlineiowa.org to enroll. Registration specialists and Quit Coach® staff members are available 24 hours a day. To learn more about smoke free properties in Iowa visit https://smokefreehomes.iowa.gov.

For assistance in having your property go smoke free, email smokefreehomes@idph.iowa.go or call 515-281-6225.

The Shenandoah Police Department says Law enforcement in the area are on the lookout for a man wanted in connection with an investigation, and on outstanding warrants out of Centerville. Aryon Goodman of Moulton,was last seen along the river between Shenandoah and Essex. He was wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Goodman goes by the alias of (Ryan Hurt). He’s described as being white, five-feet seven inches tall, about 165-pounds, with tattoos on his arms and neck. If you have any information as to where he is located, contact the Shenandoah Police Department at 712-246-3512. You should not approach the man, as he is  considered dangerous.

Updated photo provided by Shenandoah PD Tuesday night

Aryon Goodman (aka Ryan Hurt) (original image posted by Shenandoah PD)

Atlantic Police, Monday, arrested a Treynor man on drug and alcohol charges. 18-year old Isaiah Lagassie was booked into the Cass County Jail on charges of OWI/1st offense, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana.

Des Moines, May 23, 2017— Due to state budget cuts, all Iowa Judicial Branch offices, including clerk of district court offices, the office of the clerk of the supreme court, and juvenile court services offices, will be closed Friday, May 26, 2017. Offices will remain closed for Memorial Day on Monday, May 29, 2017, and reopen on Tuesday, May 30, 2017.

All court personnel, except judges and magistrates, will be required to take unpaid leave on Friday, May 26, affecting approximately 1,446 employees for a statewide reduction of $364,573. The initial Fiscal Year 2017 appropriation for judicial branch operations was $5 million less than the amount needed to maintain the same level of service to all Iowans as in Fiscal Year 2016. In January 2017, the Iowa Legislature passed and the Governor signed Senate File 130, de-appropriating an additional $3 million from the Fiscal Year 2017 operating budget of the Iowa Judicial Branch.

The order closing judicial branch offices is posted on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at:

http://www.iowacourts.gov/wfData/files/Budget/2018/supervisory%20order%2005-09-17.pdf

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Department of Education plans to end its contract with a testing software vendor after a technical audit found the $14 million system was “unfit.” The Des Moines Register reports the 91-page audit found that the TIER testing platform, which is designed to give reading tests to students, was a “dense and disjointed” system and would likely experience technical failures in the future.

The software was created by nonprofit tech group TIES. TIES attorney Susan Mussell has disputed the audit’s findings. Mussell says the system has supported Iowa teachers and students.

The state hired a third party to investigate the TIER testing platform in the fall after teachers administering reading exams to elementary students expressed frustration with the system.  State officials plan to terminate the contract June 30.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds will take the oath of office tomorrow (Wednesday) at 10:30 in the state capitol, right after Governor Branstad resigns in the office he’s occupied for more than 22 years and is sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to China. Reynolds will deliver her first speech as governor tomorrow (Wednesday) and she gave a hint of what it may contain this (Tuesday) morning.

“I’m just going to talk a little bit about me and who I am and my journey from county treasurer to serving as lieutenant governor to now serving as the governor of the great state of Iowa,” Reynolds says. “…And, of course, some forward-looking policy as well.”

Early this month Iowa’s attorney general issued an opinion that Reynolds did not have the authority to name her replacement once she becomes governor. On Thursday, Iowa’s next governor will reveal whether she’ll name her replacement on Thursday. “I will have the opportunity to share my news about the lieutenant governor process,” Reynolds says.

Reynolds and Branstad both spoke to statehouse reporters today (Tuesday). It was Branstad’s final news conference as governor.

(Radio Iowa)