A water tower fashioned to look like a Swedish coffee pot is no longer perched above the town of Stanton. The Daily NonPareil reports the water tank was cut from its moorings early Thursday afternoon, and lowered to the ground. It will be preserved as a piece of town history on the grounds of the Cultural Center, operated by the Stanton Historical Society.

The water tower, which had supplied water to the town since 1914, had been a visible symbol for decades. The structure once looked like others that were perched above prairie towns like Stanton. But in 1970, the town’s centennial, locals started a campaign to repaint the water tower and add a metal handle and spout to make it look like a Swedish coffee pot.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A new monthly survey report says April results suggest that slow economic growth remains ahead for nine Midwestern and Plains states. The survey report issued Friday says the overall Mid-America Business Conditions Index rose to 52.7 from 51.4 in March.  Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says rising economic expectations from nonenergy firms, resulting from lower energy prices, “more than offset economic pessimism stemming from weakness in firms directly tied to energy.”

The survey results from supply managers are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests economic growth, while a score below that suggests decline. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Three longtime employees of the Iowa State Patrol have been placed on leave over concerns with the state’s new contract for handguns. The state patrol employees are Major Todd Misel, Major Michael Winter and Lieutenant Richard Pierce.

Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan

In an email to employees, Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan said the agency is reviewing the process that led the state last year to contract with Smith & Wesson to supply handguns to officers.

Few other details are known, but two retired DCI Special Agents are leading the investigation. Ryan also announced that the patrol’s leader, Colonel David Garrison, is being reassigned to his previous position as a lieutenant. Ryan said the move is not related to the gun investigation and Garrison requested the reassignment. Ryan has named Michael Van Berkum as the new chief of the Iowa State Patrol.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Agriculture officials say five more farms likely have been affected by the deadly H5N2 bird flu virus, including an egg-laying operation with 5.5 million chickens. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says more than 15 million of Iowa’s 60 million egg-laying chickens are now affected with the news of it spreading to another farm in Buena Vista County. Thursday’s numbers include two turkey farms in the same county with an unknown number of birds, an egg-laying farm in Sioux County with 84,000 chickens and an unknown number of chickens on a Clay County egg farm.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines Water Works has tapped into reserve storage wells as nitrate levels in the rivers used for source water exceed federal regulations. The Register reports the public utility on Thursday began drawing from an aquifer storage well in Clive, one of two 300-million-gallon reserves under Water Works’ control.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — One person is dead and two others have been taken to the hospital following a head-on collision in Cedar Rapids. Authorities say two vehicles were involved in the wreck Wednesday. Police say the driver of one of the vehicles, 53-year-old Jonathan Dale of Mount Vernon was pronounced dead at the scene. The collision is under investigation.

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The Washington Redskins have taken Iowa offensive lineman Brandon Scherff with the 5th pick of the NFL draft. Scherff, listed at 6-foot-5 and about 320 pounds, is from Denison, Iowa.