OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials have closed the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge linking eastern Nebraska to western Iowa for a routine inspection. Omaha Parks and Recreation says the bridge closed Monday and will remain closed most of the week until a five-year maintenance inspection can be completed.

The bridge spans the Missouri River, connecting Omaha, Nebraska, to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Officials expect the bridge to reopen before the coming weekend, but note “there is no guarantee.”

One person was injured during a single-vehicle accident Tuesday morning, north of Shenandoah. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office along with Shenandoah Rescue responded to the crash that occurred around 9:04-a.m., in 1400 block of Highway 59.

Photo courtesy Fremont County Sheriff’s Office

Authorities say a 1994 Ford F150, driven by 31-year old Timothy Martin Becker, of Farragut, was northbound on US Highway 59, when it entered the west ditch hit and hit a tree. After the tree the attached to the vehicle, the vehicle the struck a house, impaling the residence with the trunk of the tree.

Becker was transported to the Shenandoah Memorial Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. He told investigators that he was ill at the time of the crash. Authorities cited Becker for Failure to Maintain Control.

DES MOINES, Iowa, July 31, 2018 – Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett announced a historic commitment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to upgrade and rebuild rural water infrastructure. Three of those projects will help improve water infrastructure in the rural Iowa communities of Adel, Brayton and Goodell.  

Eligible rural communities and water districts can apply online for funding to maintain, modernize or build water and wastewater systems. They can visit the interactive RD Apply tool, or they can apply through one of USDA Rural Development’s state or field offices.

USDA is providing the funding through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program. It can be used to finance drinking water, storm water drainage and waste disposal systems for rural communities with 10,000 or fewer residents.

The City of Adel will be using a $16,603,000 loan and a $2,302,000 grant to improve its drinking water system. Improvements include adding two raw water supply wells, a transmission main, water mains, a water treatment plant, additional capacity to the booster station, and a backup power supply. Approximately 3,682 residents will benefit from this project. 

The City of Brayton will be using a $451,000 loan and a $318,000 grant to replace the distribution system and replace individual service lines to connect users to the city’s system. These improvements will update the community’s aging water infrastructure and improve services to residents and businesses. The city, population 128, received a $16,000 USDA Rural Development grant in 2017 to complete an engineering study of its water system. This project is a direct result of that study and implements the recommendations outlined in the report.

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community services such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — Investigators say they still don’t know what happened to a 20-year-old Iowa college student who vanished nearly two weeks ago. At a news conference Tuesday, a lead investigator said dozens of local, state and federal agents are working to determine what happened to Mollie Tibbetts.

Kevin Winker, director of investigative operations with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, says they are working every lead and tip that comes in. He says investigators have drawn no conclusions about what happened, but that her disappearing on her own is “not consistent with her past.”

Friends say Tibbetts had been planning to travel to the Dominican Republic this week for a wedding. Blake Jack says his brother Dalton and Dalton’s longtime girlfriend, Tibbetts, were supposed to be there when he married his fiancee, Aimee Houghton. He says he joked with his brother that he should propose to Tibbetts during the trip. Blake Jack says the cancelled wedding plans are nothing compared to what the town is going through.

Tibbetts was last seen jogging on the evening of July 18 in Brooklyn, a small Iowa town where the University of Iowa student had been living this summer with the brothers.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A sport utility vehicle with no one inside has been pulled from a lake near the Omaha airport. An Omaha officer reported seeing tire tracks leading into Carter Lake around 4:35 a.m. Tuesday. An Omaha Fire Department boat equipped with sonar found the SUV in nearly 10 feet of water. Divers later hooked the SUV up to tow straps and a cable so a tow truck could pull it out.
Investigators are looking into whether the SUV had been stolen and then dumped in the lake near Eppley Airfield.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The interim leader of Briar Cliff University in Sioux City has been named the new president. The university trustees announced their choice of Rachelle Karstens on Tuesday. She’s been leading the campus since last summer, following the resignation of President Hamid Shirvani. He quit after 14 months on the job.

Karstens was among three finalists for the job and was named interim president in February after a person who was offered the job withdrew from consideration because of family obligations. Briar Cliff is a private, Franciscan, Roman Catholic university that has an enrollment of about 1,200 students.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa has launched a new program that offers temporary housing for students who have lease gaps. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the university’s lease-gap program provides students with rooms at a rate of $35 per night from July 20 to Aug. 4. Forty students are currently living at Burge Hall through the program.

Charles Tassell of the National Real Estate Investors Association says Iowa City’s gaps between leases ending this month and beginning Aug. 1 is common in college towns nationwide. Landlords use the time for maintenance repairs and to clean. Members of student government proposed the idea for temporary housing to the University Housing and Dining and Student Life in November. It’s based on a program that launched at Iowa State University last year.