A dedication ceremony was held Wednesday evening just outside of Oakland, for the new Riverside Community School District Junior-High School.

Riverside Jr-Sr. High School Principle David Gute

The 22-million dollar facility located at the intersection of Highways 59 and 6 just south of Oakland was designed to replace the facility that was built around 1930, and is the first built since reorganization of the Carson-Macedonia and Oakland school districts into Riverside in 1993.

It has three levels: two gyms and locker rooms on the bottom floor; an auditorium, office, music, art and kitchen on the second floor; and classrooms – grouped into middle-school and high-school spaces – and media center on the third floor.

Superintendent, Dr. Timothy Mitchell, who took over the job in July from Dr. Jim Sutton who had earlier this year announced his resignation, asked those in attendance, “What does it feel like to be the showcase school in all of southwest Iowa?”  Mitchell said he’s been a school superintendent for 22-years, and I have never been in a school district that started the year with so much energy, and so much pride, and so much enthusiasm. It has been an absolutely humbling experience for me and an honor for me to come in here as your new Superintendent.”

{From left to right) Riverside Seniors Lucas Wilber & Lillian Smith, Superintendent Dr. Timothy Mitchell, DLR Design firm rep. Paul Ahrend, & School Board President Murray Fenn.

Other speakers at the event included Seniors Lucas Wilber and Lillian Smith. Wilber said he’s elated be part of the first class to graduate from the new facility, and that spirit and pride extends to the rest of the student body. Smith echoed those sentiments. A member of the FFA, Wilber mentioned the new Ag/Vo-Tech building and how it would serve the students well. She choked-up though, when she spoke of beloved Voc-Ag Teacher-year-old Sherman Rhoten, who died on May 31st.

After six attempts, voters approved a $15.1 million bond issue for the new building in June 2013. Groundbreaking on the project began in July 2014, but there were several delays resulting from heavy rain during the summer of 2014, excavation and other issues, that kept pushing the move-in date back to the spring of this year, a subject Paul Ahrend, with the Design/Architectural firm DLR Group alluded to. Ahrend said getting the project off the ground was a challenge, especially where the soil was concerned, but he said the contractors overcame those challenges. He presented School Board President Murray Fenn with a “Gold Key” to the building, as a symbol of the complete work.

Superintendent Mitchell announced however, that the project is not done yet. He said there’s still some grass seeding to be completed, the erection of scoreboards and other athletic facility improvements. And then there’s a new Tornado Safe room. Mitchell said the School Board last Monday approved the addition of the Safe Room, which is made possible thanks to Federal and State Grants. The Safe Room, which will be completed within a couple of years, will be accessible to students and the public during severe weather.

The Sac County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday) released additional details about a fatal shooting that took place at around 11:40-a.m. Sunday, two-miles east of Lake View. Sheriff Ken McClure officially identified the victim as 24-year old Megan Quinn Sloss, of rural Guthrie Center. Twigg Funeral Home released information about her services on Tuesday.

The Sheriff said Quinn, and her brother, 26-year old Spencer Lee Sloss, also of Guthrie Center, were riding together to a family event in Ida County, with plans in store for some target shooting. As they were driving at highway speeds, Megan and Spencer were talking about how to tear down a gun for cleaning, and Spencer was attempting to show his sister how to clean his Sig Sauer .9-millimeter handgun, when the weapon discharged, striking Megan in the hip region.

After the shooting and while the vehicle was moving, Spencer climbed over the center armrest to bring the car to a stop before calling 911. He got his sister out of the car at about the same time a doctor was driving by. The doctor administered aid to Megan Sloss before she was transported to Loring Hospital in Sac City and then flown to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, where she died from her injuries.

Megan Sloss (Photo from her obituary page at Twiggfuneralhome.com)

Sheriff McClure said Spencer Sloss did have a valid permit to carry his weapon. The permit was issued out of Guthrie County. An autopsy was scheduled to have been performed today (Wednesday) on Megan Sloss. The incident remains under investigation by the Sac County Sheriff’s Office, and Iowa DCI. Once the investigation is complete, it will be forwarded to the Sac County Attorney’s Office for further review.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State University Research Park is facing a major financial loss after a once-promising tenant was allowed to fall behind on rent for years before going bankrupt. The Ames business hub says it’s likely the single biggest creditor of Etrema Products and is owed roughly $480,000 in uncollected rent payments.

Research Park director Steve Carter said Wednesday the park considered evicting Etrema but gave the company time as it sought to turn the business around. The company was seeking to commercialize Terfenol-D, a metal that was thought to have numerous applications.

Carter said the company made “irregular” rent payments but its debt built up over recent years. The company’s lease was reduced last year to about $12,000 monthly. Etrema and its parent company filed for bankruptcy June 30.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new consortium of environmental groups is asking Gov. Terry Branstad to support a statewide moratorium on new and expanded hog confinement operations because of polluted waterways. The Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture announced itself at a Wednesday Capitol news conference and sought Branstad’s backing.

The alliance, which includes more than 20 groups, wants the moratorium in place until the state improves water quality in its lakes and streams. Alliance members blame hog confinements for polluting waterways and creating health problems for nearby residents.

Branstad spokesman Ben Hammes rejected the alliance’s proposal, calling it an “extreme” plan that would hurt agriculture and Iowa’s economy.

The alliance is separate from the recently formed Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Coalition, comprised of agriculture, business and conservation groups that support increasing the sales tax to fund natural resource programs.

One person suffered what were described as non-life threatening injuries during an accident southwest of Atlantic Wednesday afternoon.Cass County Chief Deputy Sheriff John  Westering told KJAN News a John Deere 8310-R tractor hauling an empty liquid manure hauler/spreader, was traveling north on Highway 6 at around 12:48-p.m., when part of the trailer clipped east side the Trooper Stanley Gerling Memorial Bridge, over Turkey Creek, about a mile south of Memphis Road.

The impact caused the both the tractor and tanker to go out of control and crash into the concrete bridge railing on the west side of the bridge. The tractor and tanker went over the concrete railing and toppled about 25 feet, with tractor ending up on the north side of the ditch and part of the tanker in the creek.

Photo’s by KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

The driver of the tractor, 31-year-old Timothy McFarland, of Waukee, was freed from the machine by non-mechanical means and was said to be up and walking around. He was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac Ambulance.

The tractor was considered a total loss. The accident remains under investigation.

Atlantic Fire and Rescue and Medivac were called to the scene of a single vehicle accident at around 12:50-p.m. southwest of town on Highway 6, near Memphis Road. A vehicle had left the road and hit the bridge before ending up in the creek below. LifeNet was put on standby. Additional information is not available at this time.

LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) – Authorities say an Iowa pilot and his passenger have died after a single-engine plane crashed at a suburban Kansas City airport. Lee’s Summit police Sgt. Chris Depue says the crash happened around 6:10 p.m. Tuesday at Lee’s Summit Municipal Airport. Responding crews found the 1964 Piper PA-28 on the west side of the airport tarmac. The victims were identified Wednesday as 53-year-old Vincent Basile and 24-year-old Kelli Basile, both of Des Moines, Iowa.

Depue says the initial investigation indicates they crashed while traveling to Lee’s Summit to meet family. Depue says no one else was aboard the plane, and no other injuries were reported.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a Council Bluffs man was arrested Tuesday night on drug and other charges. Authorities say at around 11:35-p.m., a deputy on patrol saw a vehicle whose driver was possibly intoxicated or tired. A traffic stop of the vehicle resulted in the arrest of 18-year old Jackson Butler Rackley, of Council Bluffs, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, 45-year old Frankie Jo Garren, of Irwin, was arrested at around 8:50-p.m. Tuesday, for Driving While Barred. Her arrest took place after a deputy responded to a report a pickup truck was traveling on Interstate 80 without its headlights on.

A Pott. County Deputy arrested 21-year old Cole Bernard McKenzie, of Council Bluffs early this (Wednesday) morning. McKenzie was taken into custody for Driving While Barred, following a traffic stop at around 3-a.m. in the 24000 block of Greenview Road.

A workshop is being held in central Iowa today (Wednesday) to help communities find the needed resources to help redevelop and revitalize areas that may have environmental contamination. Mel Pins, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the workshop is focused on what are known as “brownfield” areas, and he offers an example.

“If there’s a closed gas station in your community that’s been sitting there for a number of years, why has it not been redeveloped?” Pins asks. “That’s probably because somebody fears contamination. Whether there are problems or not, that perception or that stigma holds up reuse and redevelopment.”

The all-day workshop is free and open to anyone, targeting Iowa community leaders and non-profit groups. “The workshop is designed to cover some of the things we can offer, both technical and financial assistance, to help investigate environmental issues at these sites, to see if they’re suitable for reuse, and if necessary, even to help clean them up.”

The D-N-R workshop is underway at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames.

(Radio Iowa)