Police in Red Oak, Thursday afternoon made an arrest following an investigation into a reported Domestic Assault. Officers called to the vicinity of N. 6th and Maple Streets at around 4:45-p.m., found a couple verbally fighting in the 400 block  of E. Maple. After speaking with a male subject, the man – identified as 52-year old Robert Wade Abraham, of Red Oak – was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and was being held without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

Iowa has more “structurally deficient” bridges than any other state in the country, according to a report released Thursday by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. Scott Neubauer, bridge maintenance and inspection engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation, is quick to point out that a majority of the Iowa bridges in question are on low-volume, rural roads.

“Ninety-percent of those deficient bridges have less than 500 vehicles a day traveling on them and 65-percent of them have less than 50 vehicles a day,” Neubauer says. “So, they’re structures that are basically serving the needs that they have.” Iowa has over 24,000 bridges and the reports claims 5,025 are structurally deficient. Neubauer says that designation, created by the Federal Highway Administration, does not necessarily mean the bridge is unsafe.

Photo of a structurally deficient bridge, submitted to Radio Iowa by Neubauer. “It is very difficult to see what makes this bridge deficient,” Neubauer said. “This is typical of most deficient bridges. The deck or driving surface is the element that is causing the deficiency.”

“So, it in no way implies that there’s any serious issue going on with the bridge necessarily that needs immediate attention,” Neubauer says. Most of the old bridges in Iowa deemed structurally deficient have weight restrictions posted. Neubauer says county engineers typically choose to focus their limited resources on the structures that carry the heavy trucks and traffic volume.

“Out in rural Iowa, on gravel roads, people need to get to town in their cars and pickups and a lot of these bridges — that’s the only traffic they see and they’re perfectly fine to handle that type of traffic,” Neubauer says. While Iowa has the highest NUMBER of deficient bridges, Rhode Island has the largest PERCENTAGE of bridges labeled structurally deficient. The report shows 23.2-percent of the bridges in Rhode Island are deficient, Pennsylvania is next at 21-percent, and Iowa is third on the list at 20.7-percent.

(Radio Iowa)

The Omaha police officer and native Iowan who was fatally shot last year will be honored this spring along with other law officers who’ve lost their lives in the line of duty. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer says he’s been asked repeatedly how the department will be remembering Officer Kerrie Orozco, who lived in Council Bluffs.

“We decided on two things,” Chief Schmaderer says. “The first thing we wanted was to make sure the public could be involved. What we did not want was a one-time event and if you missed the event, you missed your opportunity to be involved. We want something everybody can participate in. The second area we wanted to explore was the opportunity for us to honor all of our fallen officers.”

The plan is to create a public art installation called, “Horses of Honor – Omaha.” The chief explains the features of the memorial. “Eight life-sized statues of mounted patrol horses and also a canine statute to commemorate Kobus who died recently,” Schmaderer says. “Seven of the horses will be displayed in prominent locations throughout Omaha’s Turner Park. An eighth horse is planned for the Omaha police headquarters. Each horse will be designed by an artist and named for a fallen Omaha police officer.”

The display is scheduled to be unveiled on May 20th, exactly one year after Orozco was killed. “The statues will remain on display for about one year,” the chief says. “After a year’s time the horses will be auctioned. All of their proceeds will benefit the Omaha Police Foundation.” The 29-year-old Orozco was a Walnut, Iowa, native. She was shot to death while serving an arrest warrant. The suspect was also killed. Orozco left behind a husband, two stepchildren and a newborn daughter. That girl, Olivia, was born several months premature last February and was due to come home from the hospital the day after Orozco was killed.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Rock Island, Illinois company that manufactures body armor for police officers and foreign government allies of the United States is proposing to move its factory to Centerville, Iowa. RMA Armament is set to ask the Iowa Economic Development Authority for high-quality job tax incentives for a $680,000 project to remodel the former National Guard Armory. The economic development board meets Friday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new survey suggests there’s been a little improvement in some bankers’ views of the rural economy in Iowa, Nebraska and other Midwest states. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the monthly survey from Omaha. He says it’s the sixth straight month that the index has registered below growth neutral.

ELLSWORTH, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man has died after falling from a cellphone tower near Ellsworth in Hamilton County. KCRG-TV reports 28-year-old Stefan Watermann of Anamosa fell to his death while working at a construction site just before 5 p.m. Wednesday.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — An Iowa man has been sentenced to nearly 12 years in federal prison for assaulting and injuring a corrections officer in southern Arizona. Federal prosecutors say 41-year-old Howard Sawyer of Iowa City received a 139-month prison term Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tucson.

MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT and PAGE COUNTIES: A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON TODAY. WEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS 40 TO 50 MPH WILL CONTINUE MUCH OF THE MORNING.

SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR COUNTIES: A WIND ADVISORY WILL BE IN EFFECT FROM 6-A.M. TODAY UNTIL 6-P.M. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30 MPH OR HIGHER ALONG WITH WIND  GUSTS APPROACHING 45 MPH AT TIMES WILL BE COMMON.

Wind Advisory in effect or slated to go into effect, for all counties shaded in brown.

THE STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS…ESPECIALLY HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES TRAVELING ALONG NORTH TO SOUTH ROADS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS BETWEEN 30 TO 39 MPH OR GUSTS BETWEEN 45 TO 57 MPH ARE EXPECTED. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT…ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating the armed robbery of a convenience store. Authorities say at around 12:25-a.m. today (Friday), officers responded to the Kwik Shop store at 3632 Avenue G, in Council Bluffs, where a robbery had just taken place.

The victim told police she was in the back of the store when a black male entered the store wearing a black ski mask, a black jacket and displayed a small black pistol. The suspect demanded the money from the register and a carton of cigarettes. The suspect then fled the store on foot with a carton of cigarettes, and an undetermined amount of cash.

If you have any information regarding the incident, please call Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new survey suggests there’s been a little improvement in some bankers’ views of the rural economy in their 10 Western and Plains states. A report released Thursday says February’s Rural Mainstreet Index rose to 37.0 from 34.8 in January. Survey officials say any score below 50 on any of the survey’s indexes suggests that factor will decline.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the monthly survey, and he says it’s the sixth straight month that the index has registered below growth neutral. The report says 8.7 percent of bank CEOs who responded say their local economy was expanding while 36.9 percent say their local economy was in a recession.

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State University researchers are moving ahead with a long-delayed project in which a dozen students will be paid to eat genetically modified bananas. The Des Moines Register reports that the bananas were created by an Australian scientist and have a gene that’s supposed to help people living in Africa make vitamin A. The participants would be paid $900 each.

The trial has been criticized because natural-food proponents say genetically modified foods can be dangerous. The experiment’s proponents say the gene came from a different type of banana and is safe to eat.

Earlier this week, activists delivered petitions calling on the project’s halt to university officials and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is funding the project. The activists said more than 57,000 people signed the petition.

OSAWATOMIE, Kan. (AP) — The former police chief for an eastern Kansas town has been arrested on charges including witness intimidation. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says in a release that Robert Butters, former Osawatomie police chief, was arrested Thursday and is being held on $250,000 bond in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Jail records, however, show Butter’s being without bond. He’s due in court Friday.

The KBI says Butters was arrested on charges of aggravated intimidation of a witness, attempted interference with a law enforcement officer and possession of a firearm while under the influence. The KBI says the charges stem from a recent incident in the Osawatomie area.

Butters resigned earlier this year as police chief. The KBI says no other information would be released Thursday.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of a Red Oak woman on Thursday after a traffic stop.  At 12:37pm Officers made a traffic stop in the 200 block of Prospect Street and after investigation arrested the driver 41-year-old Jill Leanne Schaefer of Red Oak on a charge of OWI Drugged 1st Offense.  Schaefer was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 cash bond.  She was also cited for Operation Without Registration.