DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Davenport officials have closed a bridge that carries thousands of vehicles daily after finding the span’s surface showed “widespread deterioration.” The Quad-City Times reports that city officials announced Wednesday that Elm Street bridge would be closed to vehicles and pedestrians. Assistant City Administrator Brandon Wright says city workers first discovered holes in the bridge’s deck on Monday. He says they immediately closed off the bridge, though some people continued to use the span.

Wright says an inspector told the city midweek that the bridge should remain off limits. He says the city is waiting for a final inspection report and that it’s unclear when the bridge will reopen. Wright says the city received an estimate last year that says replacing the bridge would cost about $3.4 million.

WASHINGTON, Iowa (AP) — An August sentencing is scheduled for the father of a 17-month-old girl who weighed just 11 pounds when she died in southeast Iowa. Station KCRG reports that Anthony McCoy filed written guilty pleas Thursday to involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangerment. His sentencing is set for Aug. 3. McCoy and the little girl’s mother, Ambrashia Chrzan, were charged after the girl’s Nov. 9, 2016, death in rural Riverside. An autopsy found that malnutrition and neglect significantly contributed to her death. Chrzan is scheduled to be sentenced July 27 for her child endangerment conviction.

At least ten Iowa communities are hosting “Wear Orange” events this weekend as part of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Megan Gentrup, an organizer of the Wear Orange campaign in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says deadly gun attacks in schools and elsewhere have become too common across the country. “We found a lot of community members didn’t know what to do but knew we wanted to do something,” Gentrup says. “We decided to hold an event where the only purpose is to gather, get to know your neighbors, learn about more organizations in the community that are making us safer and also honoring those we have lost to gun violence.”

More than 350 Wear Orange events will take place across the country tomorrow (Saturday), from concerts to picnics to Orange Walks. Gentrup says survivors of gun violence will attend some of the Iowa events, like the one at Lake Manawa, in Council Bluffs. “We’ll have families who have lost loved ones to gun violence to talk about that,” Gentrup says. “We do want to acknowledge that this is happening and we need to talk about it. We’ll also have activities for kids, family-friendly events. We’ll have board games, cornhole, we’ll have Giant Jenga.”

While the events are called “Wear Orange, she says actually wearing orange clothing isn’t a requirement. “Color options of any kind are welcome,” Gentrup says, laughing. “Wear Orange is just the color we use because it signifies safety with hunters and we want to signify safety at our event and with everyone in our communities.”

Events are planned in several other Iowa communities, including: Ames, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Dubuque, Grimes, Iowa City, the Quad Cities, Keosauqua and Waterloo.

(Radio Iowa)