(Radio Iowa) — Iowa’s infrastructure ranks ninth worst in the country, according to report by the financial website 24-7 Wall Street. The study analyzed the age and upkeep of the state’s roads, bridges, dams and highway spending. The site’s Aaron Granquist says county-maintained rural bridges connecting farmland to metro areas are the most vulnerable. “They just don’t have quite as much funding as the Iowa DOT or cities to address these bridges,” Granquist says, “so those county rural bridges are really what brings the overall score down.”

Granquist says Iowa ranks higher in other more comprehensive reports, but he says a recent raise in the state’s gas tax isn’t enough to offset years of what he calls deferred maintenance of public infrastructure. “You’ll see a sign leading to one of these rural bridges that says you can’t go over this with more than 10,000 pounds or whatever,” Granquist says. “That’s some of the ways of trying to reduce the risk associated with those bridges, but you know you really need to make sure that the funding gets to the county level.”

Granquist says the 2015 boost in the state’s gas tax will help fund improvements, but he says it’s not enough to keep up with what he calls decades of deferred maintenance. He made his comments on the Iowa Public Radio program, River to River.

(Thanks to Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to robbing an eastern Iowa bank on his birthday. Records say 46-year-old Joseph Kripner, of Monticello, entered the plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. His sentencing date hasn’t been set. Authorities say he robbed the Security State Bank in Springville on his birthday, June 1, getting away with nearly $4,000 after showing his handgun to a teller. Kripner’s distinctive tattoos helped authorities zero in on him as the robber after a tipster helped identify the robber’s getaway car. Kripner was arrested in Colorado.

Officials with the Creston Police Department report three arrests have taken place and two thefts occurred. At around 2:12-a.m. today (Wednesday), 20-year old Isaiah Foster, of Creston, was arrested for Possession of drug paraphernalia. Foster was being held in the Union County Jail on a $300 bond. And, late Tuesday morning, 23-year old Jacey Glynn, of Lenox, and Asastasia Imsland, of Gravity, were both arrested in Creston for Violation of a Protection Order. Glynn was also charged with Driving While Suspended. Both were released from the Union County Jail on a Promise to Appear in court.

Tuesday morning, the Creston Park Apartments reported that sometime between Aug. 18th and 21st, two Dell computers were stolen from the apartments’ Community Room. The loss was estimated at $700. And, a woman residing in the 300 block of E. Fremont St., in Creston, reported to Police that sometime overnight Monday into early Tuesday morning, someone broke into her vehicle that was parked near her home, and took an old phone, a debit card and a Chemistry Book. The loss was estimated at $200.