OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Bridge engineers in Nebraska and Iowa says the safety problems seen in Delaware with an interstate bridge are not likely to happen here. On Thursday, Delaware ordered immediate inspections of major bridges after closing a leaning bridge Monday. Officials think piles of dirt dumped near the bridge might be responsible for shifting the ground beneath the span.

Nebraska State Bridge Engineer Mark Traynowicz says a combination of inspections and laws requiring permits for any work or dumping of state rights of way would thwart similar problems in Nebraska.

Scott Neubauer, Iowa’s bridge maintenance and inspection engineer, says Iowa doesn’t plan inspections like Delaware is requiring. Neubauer says he’s never heard of an instance in Iowa with a contractor piling anything near a bridge that would interfere with its structural integrity.

A public hearing will be held Monday evening in Atlantic with regard to an Early Start Calendar Waiver for the 2014-2015 school year. The hearing will take place at 7:30-p.m. in the Atlantic High School Media Center, prior to the start of the regular Atlantic School Board meeting. During the hearing, district patrons may speak for or against the Early Start Calendar Waiver, which allows districts to request from the Iowa Department of Education, authorization to begin classes earlier than specified in the Code of Iowa.The district is required to hold a public hearing on the matter prior to July 1st if it intends to begin classes earlier than a day during the calendar week, in which the first day of September falls.

During the Atlantic School Board’s regular meeting, the Board will hear special presentations from Gary Sinclair, Finance Support Co-Director for the Iowa Association of School Boards, and, an update from the Lindamood Bell Reading and Comprehension program instructors.

The School Board will also act on: approving various staff contracts, volunteer coaching positions and/or resignations; a digital sign for the Atlantic Middle School; New teacher employment; other, administrative matter, and, the 2014-2015 Early Start Calendar Waiver.

Discussion items to follow, include an Atlantic Middle School teacher request, and a draft Honorary Diploma policy.

The 18th annual Shelby County Relay for Life event will be held this (Friday) evening on the square in downtown Harlan. Teams can setup their camp beginning at 2pm this afternoon. The schedule of events starts at 4pm with the opening ceremonies and flag rising. Suzie Mages with the American Cancer Society says a guest speaker will hit the stage around the same time “We are also very lucky this year to have the American Cancer Society Vice President of Operation come join us. We have never had a national guest before. So because Shelby County has such a strong relay, she was very excited to come. Joy King will be speaking around 4:15-4:30.”

The Relay teams will be introduced at 5-pm with a team lap. The most moving part of the Relay for Life night is the survivors lap. Decked out in purple, survivors will make a complete lap around the square at 6pm followed by a reception in the southeast corner of the square. Nadine Kenkel, a Shelby County resident and cancer survivor will be a guest speaker during the lap. Entertainment, food and the luminary ceremony will be held throughout the evening starting at 7pm.

Mages says the committee decided to do the luminaries a little different this year “During each hour on the hour, [there is] an ‘Hour of Hope’ sponsor [who has} donated money to be the sponsor. [They are] given a commercial and then [Relay organizers] will going to divide up the luminary names and read them throughout the evening.”

The luminary lighting ceremony is scheduled for 9-pm with a street dance with the Road Haus Band wrapping up the night. In the event of bad weather, the Shelby County Relay for Life will move the event to the Harlan Community High School gymnasium.

Before the event takes place, one Shelby County Relay for Life team starts-off a little early with a fundraiser walk. Team Schulte won the team spirit award at the 2013 Relay for Life event and in honor of that, they are walking the trophy from Westphalia to Harlan. Their journey from town to town will start on County Road F-32 then onto Highway 59 before reaching Harlan. You can follow the Schulte’s walk and the full relay for life event on Facebook by searching Relay for Life of Shelby County.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

It’s Parish Picnic season in Shelby County. The St. Peter’s Parish Picnic in Defiance kicks things off at 5-pm Saturday, with the kid’s games and rides, beer garden, food stands and other work stands. Dave Schwarte, member of the Parish Picnic committee, says there is a change in this year’s schedule“We are moving our auction to Saturday night at 6 o’clock. Not always but sometimes we had a conflict with weather so we are trying to do something different. We are going to have the auction on Saturday night instead of Sunday and following the auction we will have a dance with Mac and the Bulldogs from approximately 9 to midnight.”

During the auction, there’ll be a “Heads and tails” game, with the winner enjoying a week-long stay at a Westgate Resort. On Sunday the St. Peter’s Parish Picnic in Defiance resume at 2-pm, with all the stands open, followed by a chicken supper. Schwarte says “On Sunday we have Staley’s Chicken dinner which is always the best. That starts at 4 on Sunday, 4 to 7:30pm. Tickets for adults are $11, kids 10 and under are $5. You may purchase tickets at the door and we do have carry-outs available.”

Two separate raffles will be held throughout the weekend, as well. The $10 raffle gives participants a chance to win a Windows tablet and the $50 raffle’s grand prize is a trip to Branson, MO for the first ticket drawn and the 300th ticket will win a choice between a $3,200 vacation, $3,500 merchandise from Bonsall’s TV and Appliance in Dunlap or $3,000 cash. Raffle tickets can be purchased from members of the parish.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Iowa Democrat Senator Tom Harkin has announced five Iowa regional planning organizations have been awarded a total of $304,000 to help establish a comprehensive economic development strategy in their regions.

Locally, the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area Planning Agency received $60,000 to serve the counties of Mills and Pottawattamie in Iowa, and Washington, Douglas, and Sarpy in Nebraska and the Southwest Iowa Planning Council received $60,000 to serve the counties of Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Montgomery, Page, and Shelby.

The projects will bring together the public and private sectors to create an economic development roadmap to diversify and strengthen the regional economy. Specifically, it is expected these funds will help develop a process and strategy that supports job creation and private capital investment. The funding was made available through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA). 

Many Iowans leave their dogs and cats outdoors much of the time during the warm months, but this week’s severe weather serves as a reminder that those pets need solid shelter, especially during storms. Pam Wiese, at the Humane Society, says Iowans can take other proactive steps to protect their pets, should they become separated in the case of a terrible storm. “We have learned from Katrina and many of the tornadoes, that microchipping pets is really a great way to insure that if there’s any way possible to get them back, you can,” Wiese says. “It’s a permanent form of ID, it doesn’t twist off or leave in high winds and it’s a much better way to permanently identify your pet than any other way that we know.”

Wiese says some animal shelters in the state offer microchipping of pets for as little as ten-dollars. “It’s great to have a collar and tags on your pet as well,” Wiese says. “Joe, on the street, may find him and bring him back but if he’s got a microchip, no matter if he’s caught in winds or under a building or stuck in mud or whatever, we will be able to find that microchip, and in fact, even if he’s deceased.”

Microchips aren’t just for dogs and cats, either. They’re only about the size of a grain of rice and can be implanted into every sort of pet from parrots to horses.

(Radio Iowa)