It’s said to be a key factor in creating healthier and more livable communities, and the walkability of Iowa towns and cities is taking center stage this week. Residents, elected officials and municipal leaders will gather Wednesday and Thursday in Des Moines to learn how to improve walkability. Connie Eastman, associate state director of community outreach for AARP Iowa, says walkability benefits all, including those older adults who want to age in place.

“Access to safe streets for all people of all ages to walk, bike or use assistive devices to get from their home, school, shops and recreation can make a big impact, and help them stay where they want to stay as they get older – in their home and in their community,” she stresses.

This week’s walkability events are free and open to the public and will be led by national expert Dan Burden, who’s been called one of the most important civic innovators in the world. Eastman says there are a number of ways that Iowa communities can improve walkability, including many projects as simple as painting a crosswalk at an intersection or adding a curb cut to a sidewalk.

“To help people access that sidewalk, that’s a good thing for a senior who may be using a cane or a walker, a mom who uses a stroller, or a kid who’s on a bicycle,” she explains. “So, by improving streets and helping people be more active, it will in turn improve their health.”

(Iowa News Service)

Police in Red Oak report a teenager was cited for Minor in Possession of Tobacco/1st offense and for not wearing his seat belt, following a traffic stop Sunday afternoon. During the routine traffic stop for a seat belt violation that took place at around 4:15-p.m., an officer observed 17-year old Josiah Prokes allegedly smoking a cigarette. The teen was released on the citations and will appear before the magistrate or juvenile court judge at a later date.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Newly released records show that a 39-year-old man was shocked with stun guns at least 15 times before his death as Worth County Sheriff’s deputies tried to subdue him. The Des Moines Register filed a lawsuit to obtain the records from the Sept. 22 incident in Northwood after the officers were officially cleared of any wrongdoing. The deputies shocked Michael Zubrod after finding him beating his girlfriend with a hammer and scissors. He also attacked a deputy.

CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) — One small northwest Iowa town is preparing to deal with the loss of 450 jobs this fall when the Tyson Foods plant in Cherokee closes, and business owners are worrying about what it will mean. The Tyson plant is the second-largest employer in Cherokee.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa inmate who was sentenced to life in prison has died less than a year being granted compassionate release because she was dying. Friends and family members say Kristina Fetters died Sunday. Fetters was diagnosed with Stage 4 inoperable breast cancer last September, when she was imprisoned at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women. The 34-year-old Fetters was 15 when she entered prison for a 1995 first-degree murder conviction in the death of her great-aunt in 1994.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A small plane has to be towed to the airport on a truck after safely landing on an eastern Iowa road. The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s office said the plane flying from Longmont, Colorado, to an annual air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, when it had engine trouble around 8 p.m. Saturday. So 49-year-old Michael Hickman and his 22-year-old son James had to land the plane on a road north of the Waterloo Regional Airport. No one was injured and the plane wasn’t damaged.

(Updated 9:35-a.m.)

One person was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic early this (Sunday) morning following a rollover accident a couple of miles southeast of Wiota. According to dispatch reports, a woman went to a farmhouse just south of 390th Street and Independence Road at around 3:15-a.m. and reported she was in a vehicle that had been involved in an accident.

Deputies found the car upside down and were initially unable to determine if there were any other persons in the vehicle because the top was crushed. They saw footprints leading from the car into a field.
Anita Rescue and Wiota 1st Responders were called to the scene and used a thermal imaging device to help search for other, possible victims. None were found, and after doing some checking, deputies determined the woman appeared to have been alone in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Quist told KJAN News the woman, whose identity has not yet been released, was cited for Failure to Maintain Control and Having No Proof of Insurance. An additional charge of OWI is pending the results of chemical tests given to the woman at the hospital.

Additional information is expected to be released on Monday.

Police in Red Oak say a man from Missouri was arrested late Saturday night for Public Intoxication. 36-year old Paul Michael Campbell, of St. Joseph, MO., was arrested at around 11:30-p.m. after officers responded to a residence in the 1600 block of east Summit Street. Campbell was being held at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on $300 cash bond.