(Radio Iowa) – The future of a rural Plymouth County bridge south of Struble that collapsed last week under the weight of a semi load of round hay bales remains in doubt. Mark Utesch farms land on both sides of the bridge, and thinks it may not be rebuilt.

“How you could see, potentially, depending on what kind of funds are available, you know, with the county and the state, how they might handle this bridge, if it’s an inconvenient factor for just a few people, you know, it might be considered not worth replacing. So if I had to think about who’s the most impacted by this bridge, I’m the guy,” he says. Utesch says he went around the bridge with heavy loads.

“This particular bridge is only rated for about 24 ton, so a loaded truck and trailer, or a heavier piece machine like a combine, I have to go a mile to the north, north, and then I come through Struble, and then I come a mile to the south, and then I go over this bridge that’s right next to us to go around,” Utesch says. “So I already have the extra couple miles of travel for with my heavier and wide equipment.”

The semi driver was not hurt in the bridge collapse. The truck has been pulled from the scene while a number of round bales that were on the truck remain.

(Radio Iowa) – Police in a central Iowa city are telling residents to not approach a water buffalo that is roaming around.

Police in Pleasant Hill southeast of Des Moines say they were called about an animal in the road Saturday and it turned out to be a water buffalo. The owner of the animal told police it is aggressive and that proved to be true when Animal Control tried to contain it.

A police officer eventually fired one round from a shotgun at the water buffalo after police say it became aggressive toward them. The water buffalo fled and remains on the loose. The animal was last seen in Little Fourmile Creek heading southbound toward Scott Avenue and Oakwood Drive.

Pleasant Hill police are working with the Polk County Sheriff’s office to use a drone to try and find the animal.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – The Page County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on arrests taking place from July 26th through August 5th. Here are the most recent arrests:

On August 5th: 34-year-old Nicholas Allen Gould, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Possession of a controlled substance. two counts of Child Endangerment, Interference with Official Acts causing bodily injury, possession of drug paraphernalia, and making a false report; and 22-year-old Kaitlyn Elizabeth HeMiller, of Clarinda, was arrested on an active warrant for Failure to appear.

On August 4th, 36-year-old Thomas James Slater, of Shenandoah, was booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.

On August third, Page County deputies arrested: 43-year-old Timothy Lee Strange, of Shenandoah, for domestic abuse and possession of a controlled Substance; and, 47-year-old Jason Charles Allison, of Clarinda, was arrested for Domestic Abuse with a weapon.

There were three arrests on August 2nd in Page County: 42-year-old Shaun Allan Davidshofer, of Coin, was arrested for Driving while barred/habitual offender; 31-year-old Johnathan Blake Tucker, of Lawrenceburg, TN, was arrested on an active warrant for FTA; and, 40-year-old Corey Burton Dugger, of Onawa, was booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.

Read about the other arrests here: 7-27-24–8-5-24

(Creston, Iowa) – An attempt by police in Creston to stop a speeding vehicle, resulted in a collision this (Monday) afternoon. According to the Creston Police Department, a 2015 Toyota RAV 4 (SUV) driven by 40-year-old Alberto Alvarez Arronte, of Houston, TX, was traveling west on Townline Avenue at around 12:45-p.m., when the vehicle turned into a Bunn driveway and struck a 2015 Mitsubishi Eclipse, driven by 32-year-old Jordan Leigh Killmon, of Creston, as she was in the driveway after having just dropped-off an employee of the company.

The Toyota had been clocked on radar traveling 80 mph on Osage Street, prior to the collision. Officers were attempting to pull Arronte over for the speeding violation, when he turned into the parking lot. Arronte was cited for speeding. No injuries were reported.

The damage to both vehicles amounted to $1,500 altogether.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Five people were arrested recently in Mills County. Three of those individuals were arrested on warrants. They include:

• 74-year-old Candice Marie Armstrong, of Glenwood, who was arrested on a warrant for Stalking and Harassment. She was arrested Aug. 20th at the Sarpy County, NE jail, and held on a $10,000 bond.
• 64-year-old Randall Dean Herring, of Council Bluffs, was arrested August 21st at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a warrant for Failure To Appear. His bond was set at $2,000.
• and, on Aug. 24th, 37-year-old Justin Lee Parson, of Pacific Junction, was arrested on a warrant for Probation Violation. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

On August 25th, 37-year-old Angela Rose McKinley, of York NE., was arrested for Possession of Drug paraphernalia. Bond was set at $300. And, on August. 22nd, 37-year-old Deonte Levon Manuel, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, with bond set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) The exterior of Sioux City’s Art Center is now covered in vibrant colorful fabric as part of artist Amanda Browder’s work called “Razzle Dazzle.” Browder’s work began 18 months ago with an invitation for area residents to donate unused fabric that could be sewn together to become the large artwork. She says one of the best parts of the creation for her are the connections she’s made. “Definitely with new friends that I’ve made over the year from being here. A lot of times in smaller towns, you don’t get that collaborative contemporary art experience. And a lot of times people think art is something extra,” she says.

Art Center Curator Christopher Atkins says the project took root and hundreds of volunteers answered the call to cut, pin and sew fabric at the public sewing days. “And over the past 12 months, since Amanda was here at last Artsplash, where she began building her community, we’ve added hundreds of volunteers, thousands of feet, perhaps miles of thread, hundreds of hours of time put into this project, hundreds of volunteers, dozens of locations,” Atkins says. “The project has simply grown and grown and grown over the past year.” The project is clearly evident outside, but you also have to go inside to see the full impact.

The Sioux City Art Center is covered in a fabric. (photo from KSCJ)

“The sun that comes through it, it turns into a big kaleidoscope. It’s a colorful explosion,” Browder says. “So not only do we get the beauty on the outside, when people are driving around or standing in different parts of the city, they can come into the art center and experience this envelopment of all the color and the fabric that you see up above.” The exhibition will remain on display through October 31st.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports a central Iowa man was arrested by Stuart Police August 19th, at the Casey’s Store, in Stuart. 38-year-old Michael Eugene Matherly, of Ankeny, was taken into custody at around 9:50-p.m., on an Iowa Department of Corrections warrant for Violation of Parole. Matherly was being held without bond in the Adair County Jail, while awaiting transportation to the Iowa DOC.

And, 42-year-old Wesley Allen Gregg, of Greenfield, was arrested at around 10:20-p.m. on August 19th, by Greenfield Police. He was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding air/blood flow, causing bodily injury. Gregg was released the following day on a $10,000 bond.

(Mount Ayr, Iowa) – The Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office reports a 16-year-old was injured in a crash late Saturday morning. Authorities say a vehicle driven by the unnamed teen was traveling north on Ringgold County road P-27. The driver became distracted by something, causing the vehicle to drift onto the southbound lane shoulder before entering the west ditch. The driver attempted to correct the vehicle in an effort to get back onto the road, but the vehicle struck a culvert and went airborne.

When the vehicle landed and began to roll over, the driver was ejected and flown by helicopter to Des Moines for treatment of their injuries. The accident occurred at around 11:35-a.m., Saturday.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns says there will now be 3 public measures on the ballot for voters during the Nov. 5th General Election:

Public Measure A:

Shall the Cass County Board of Supervisors, upon recommendation by the Cass County EMS Advisory Council, for the purpose of funding emergency medical services in Cass County, including, but not limited to, ambulance service, personnel, and equipment, be authorized, for a period of 15 years, to 1) levy and impose a local option income surtax of one percent upon the state individual income tax of each individual taxpayer who is a resident of Cass County on December 31 for each calendar year commencing with the calendar year 2025, and 2) levy and impose an ad valorem tax not exceeding seventy-five cents per one thousand dollars of assessed valuation on all taxable property within Cass County commencing with the levy of property taxes for collection in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026?

Public Measure B:

Shall the Board of Directors of the CAM Community School District in the Counties of Adair, Adams, Audubon, and Cass, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $22,500,000 to provide funds to construct, furnish and equip a classroom addition to the High School building; to remodel, repair, improve, furnish and equip exterior and interior portions of the existing High School building, including mechanical, electrical, and fire systems improvements, secure entry improvements, and technology and security improvements; and improve the site?

Public Measure SB:

Shall the Board of Directors of the Iowa Western Community College (Merged Area XIII) in the Counties of Adair, Adams, Audubon, Cass, Crawford, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $55,000,000 to provide funds to construct, furnish, and equip a new academic building and renovate, remodel, and improve existing buildings within the Merged Area XIII?

A list of all the current candidates that have successfully filed papers for an election position in Cass County as of August 26th can be found here: Candidate Listing

The last day to file nomination papers is this Wednesday (8/28/2024) at 5 p.m.

As a reminder, Absentee Ballot request forms can be turned into the Auditor’s Office starting tomorrow 8/27/2024.  Ballots will be mailed out on Oct 16th.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  Officials with the Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) say they are celebrating another year of record ridership for Fiscal Year 2024. From July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 SWITA provided 552,231 rides. The milestone tops last year’s record mark of 542, 457 total rides, showing the continued importance of public transit in Southwest Iowa.

SWITA helps get riders in the region to work, education, healthcare, and much more. SWITA’s workforce transportation services provided approximately 94,000 rides this fiscal year. Taxi rides are available in Atlantic, Glenwood, Harlan, Missouri Valley, Red Oak, and Shenandoah. That service notched 54,808 rides this year; helping residents complete their day-to-day activities.

Fiscal Year 2024 riders travelled a total of 1,880,799 miles during 116,792 hours of vehicle operation. Obtaining cost-efficiency during that much public transit service can be a major challenge, but SWITA has improved that metric each of the past three years, leading the state among rural agencies.

Photo courtesy SWITA

SWITA officials say they are proud to be part of transit equation for many people in eight area Iowa counties. SWITA’s ride services include that workforce transportation and those taxis along with medical transportation, student transportation, and special/charter trips. SWITA vehicles are equipped with wheelchair accessibility and one personal attendant rides free.
SWITA has earned major honors for its service this year. SWITA was named the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Regional Transit System of the Year and received the FTA Region 7 Rural Transit Systems Award of Excellence.

To find out more about SWITA and the services offered you can browse SWITA.com or call 800-842-8065 or 712-243-2518. Follow us on Facebook for regular updates as well. SWITA services are open to the public.