WAUKEE, Iowa (AP) — Slips, slides and an injury have prompted the Des Moines suburb of Waukee to close its new splash pad.

The city said Friday in a Facebook post that the splash pad at Fox Creek Park was being shut down for a safety review. City spokeswoman Summer Evans told The Des Moines Register that one person required an ambulance ride to medical care after slipping at the pad.

The city held a grand opening for the pad on June 25.

NEW HAMPTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man was hospitalized after a fireworks explosion in northeast Iowa. The explosion occurred Saturday afternoon at a mobile home park in New Hampton.

The Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office says the man was setting off fireworks, and they ignited flammable material in his shed, causing the blast.

The 22-year-old man was taken to a hospital. His name hasn’t been released. A police officer who responded to the scene was treated for smoke inhalation.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports numerous arrests took place over the past few days. At around 12:25-a.m. Sunday, 20-year old Blaine Michael Clark, of Glenwood, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension (DUS).

51-year old John Merrill Meyers, of Glenwood, was arrested Saturday afternoon, for Assault causing bodily injury, and 5th Degree Criminal Mischief. Early Saturday morning, 33-year old Kari Jean Peterson, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. And, 40-year old Tony Lynn Keller, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Driving While Barred (DWB).

Friday night, 45-year old Patrick Michael Marshall, of Bellevue, NE., was arrested in Mills County for OWI/1st Offense. 42-year old Gabriel Angel Rodriguez, of Phoenix, AZ, was arrested Friday evening for DUS. And, 19-year old River Jordan Studey, of Glenwood, was arrested early Friday morning for “Accommodation/Marijuana.”

On Thursday: 37-year old Randall Eric Crawford, Jr., of Sidney, was arrested for Driving While Revoked; 40-year old Christina Mae Robbins, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/1st offense and Assault on a Peace Officer.

And, as previously reported, five people were taken into custody over a 24-hour period Wednesday and Thursday, on numerous burglary and theft charges.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Monday (Today), said there has been a large quantity of property recovered during recent search warrants. If you have reported items as stolen since the flood this spring, please contact the Mills County Sheriff’s Office to set up a time to go through and identify any property that may be yours.

Any kind of proof of ownership is highly encouraged. If you have had items stolen and not reported it to the Sheriff’s Office, please make a theft report prior to setting up a time to go through the stolen property.

(Radio Iowa) – Statistics from the Iowa Department of Health show a 33-percent drop in opioid-related deaths in 2018. The state went from 206 deaths in 2017 to 137 last year. Health Department Opioid Initiatives Director, Kevin Gabbert, says reasons include an increase in the overdose reversal drug Narcan.

He says the use of a prescription drug monitoring program had also helped, along with more addiction treatment programs.

The 137 deaths in 2018 marks a five year low for opioid-related deaths. Iowa has one of the lowest rates of opioid-related deaths in the country.

(Radio Iowa) — A fifth and final book club meeting is scheduled in Red Oak today (Monday) — for discussion of a 448-page publication that’s at the center of the country’s political debate. Barb Nelson, a Democrat from Red Oak, is the organizer of club — which has been reading The Mueller Report — the special counsel’s report about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“At every meeting we say: ‘We cannot keep it here, go share with somebody what you’re doing,'” Nelson says. “Go share that you are reading this and ask them: ‘Have you read it?'” Sarah Smith of Red Oak says every week new people have joined the group — and a few have been Republicans.

“We really had quite a robust discussion last week because we had some attendees who were very absolute about what they believed,” Smith says, “and so it was more challenging to have a good, give-and-take conversation because we were open to listening to them, but we also wanted them to hear us.” Jan Norris of Red Oak says it makes her uncomfortable when Democrats running for president say they’re not hearing about impeachment from voters.

“We care deeply about this issue,” Norris says. “If this president isn’t called into check, we have no guardrails on our democracy.” Nelson says the group may also get together on July 17th to watch Mueller testify before congress. “Even if all he’s going to do is read passages from the report, it could be a game-changer when it comes to waking people up and getting them to also take this report seriously,” Nelson says.

Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann says he’s not surprised Democrats are reading The Mueller Report. Kaufmann says Republicans read the Starr Report about Bill Clinton in 1998 when it was released in paperback. “I would say it was about half and half of why they were reading it,” Kaufmann says. “Part of a democracy is being informed. The other part, I mean, let’s face it — sex sells and there was a lot of that in terms of the investigative procedures and conclusions and such.”

Kaufmann was teaching college students at the time and he felt it was inappropriate to make the Starr Report a reading assignment given some of the salacious subject matter. The U.S. House passed articles of impeachment against Clinton in 1998, but the U.S. Senate did not convict him of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

(Radio Iowa) — The world’s largest steam locomotive will be chugging across Iowa this month, carrying a full load of passengers. The 1940s-era locomotive known as Big Boy Number 40-14 will steam from one end of Iowa to the other during its tour. Tim McMahan, a spokesman for Omaha-based Union Pacific, says there will be fans of historic trains at every stop along the way.

U-P “Big Boy” Number 40-14

“We’re running a sold-out excursion from Omaha on July 15th with whistlestops in Denison, Carroll and arriving in Boone about 3:15 that day,” McMahan says. “July 16th, it’ll depart Boone for whistlestops in Nevada, Iowa Falls and Mason City, where it will depart on the morning of July 17th.”

Later in the month, the locomotive will run another route starting in Clinton on July 30th, with stops in Wheatland, Cedar Rapids, Belle Plaine, Marshalltown, Elkhart and Des Moines. The big locomotive is one of only 25 that was manufactured and it was featured in Ogden, Utah, at a special event back in May.

“Number 4014 is the world’s only operating Big Boy,” he says. “We recently completed its inaugural tour to Ogden for Union Pacific’s 150th anniversary ceremony.” The rare machine was used as a model for photographs to mark the special occasion.

“The Big Boy and another one of our steam locomotives, Number 844, met nose-to-nose to recreate that iconic image you’ve seen, taken on May 10th of 1869 when the last spike was tapped in place at Promontory Point (Utah), creating America’s first transcontinental railroad.” In addition to the Iowa tour, other stops will be made across Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. Learn more at www.up.com.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report a deputy on patrol Friday evening saw a vehicle traveling south on Highway 59, near Carson. When the deputy ran the vehicles’ license plate, he learned the registered owner had a warrant out for their arrest. A traffic stop was conducted near the intersection of Highway 92, and the driver/owner, 42-year old Glen Alan Vanderpool, was taken into custody on a warrant for Theft/larceny in the 4th Degree.

A disturbance a little after 12-a.m. Saturday, in Carson, resulted in the arrest 37-year old Christopher Lawrence Knoke. He was arrested for Assault/insulting or offense contact, and disorderly conduct.

A traffic stop in Shelby late Saturday evening on a speeding motorcycle, resulted in the arrest of 23-year old Stephen Caden Muhlbauer. He was arrested on a charge of OWI/1st offense, after failing the Standard Field Sobriety tests.

That same evening, a man was arrested in Neola after deputies were dispatched to Arrowhead Park, for a report of an intoxicated male trying to leave the area on a motorcycle. 32-year old Franklin Delano Lovings, III, was arrested for Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault.

And, late Saturday night, a traffic stop in Avoca on a vehicle that allegedly ran a stop sign, resulted in the arrest of 25-year old Mitchell Patrick Fuller, for OWI/2nd offense.

All subjects had either bonded out of custody or were otherwise released since their arrest.