Sheriff’s officials in Page County say an Essex woman was injured Sunday evening, when she jumped from a boat dock at Rapp Park, as part of a “Polar plunge.” 34-year old Carrie Sickler was found lying next to her vehicle on the ground. A Shenandoah Ambulance crew attended to the woman’s injuries.

Sheriff Lyle Palmer reminds citizens that “In all of Page County Parks, swimming, wading, or any other form of [those activities are] prohibited without express permission of the Page County Conservation Board for certain organized events, such as the ‘Relay for Life’ event that took place at Rapp Park.” Palmer says “The signs in all of the county parks are there for a reason: Public Safety.”

An ATV reported stolen out of Cass County, Nebraska, was found near Shambaugh Sunday afternoon, after authorities responded to a report of teenagers riding the machine on a road, possibly endangering the lives of children playing in the area. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says when deputies arrived, they found 15-year old Dillon Davis, of Clarinda, riding an ATV from the road onto private property at 409 Cinder Avenue.

A check of the 2003 Polaris Predator’s  Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) revealed the machine had been stolen. The teen’s father, Kelly Davis, arrived with paperwork showing he had legally purchased the ATV in Feb. 2013, and other documentation. All of the characters on the bill of sale matched, except the last one. The number was left off the State of Iowa Certificate supposedly issued through Pottawatttamie County.

The ATV was subsequently seized. While the case remains under investigation, authorities stress neither Kelly nor Dillon Davis are suspects at this time, as they have done everything correct in purchasing the ATV.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A southwest Iowa lawmaker has stopped participating in the legislative session, saying he’s too busy working on his farm.  Sen. Hubert Houser hasn’t cast a vote on the Senate floor since March 4th.  Houser, a Republican who has served 22 years in the House and Senate, says he asked GOP leaders for a light load this session, which will be his last. They obliged, and Houser says he now doesn’t have much to do at the Legislature, other than vote on bills making it to the Senate floor.

Because Democrats are in the majority, Houser tells The Des Moines Register his vote makes little difference.  Houser says he’s busy on his farm, where his family is building new livestock facilities.  Houser says he’s “more than ready to move on.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad is standing firm in support of the director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, who says no money was offered to former workers for silence about their dismissals.  Branstad, at his weekly news conference Monday, says he believes Mike Carroll when he says no money was offered to keep settlement agreements confidential.

At least two state workers have testified they were offered additional cash to remain silent about their dismissals in 2011. Carroll told a joint legislative Government Oversight Committee last week that no money was offered.

Branstad says he believes Carroll that no state agencies offered money for silence. He says the workers are disgruntled former state employees. Branstad in an executive order signed last month prohibited future confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements.

While legislators in Des Moines continue to haggle over how to raise money to repair, maintain and expand Iowa’s crumbling roads, County Engineers and others keep pressing Iowa’s leaders to increase the Gas Tax. Cass County Engineer Charles Marker is one person who hopes legislators will stop fighting over the matter and get a bill passed that will give him more money to fix the roads that he can’t fix given his current budget.

Marker says the gas tax hasn’t changed since 1989 inflation “Has been eating us [meaning the County Secondary Roads budgets] alive, because [the] Road Use Tax is two-thirds of my budget.” Marker says about half of the property tax dollars he receives locally, are used to purchase road rock. Without an increase in the RUTF, they’re falling being on getting the roads fixed. Even when property taxes go up, according to Marker, his department’s share of the money doesn’t change. He says he has been capped at his maximum Mil levy for the past 12-to 15-years, and when the property taxes go up, it’s caused by something other than Secondary Roads.

Marker says when there’s no money, there’s no improvements in road infrastructure. The Iowa County Engineer’s Association, a trucker’s  lobby, the Iowa Association of Contractors and others are lobbying for an increase in the gas tax, which Governor Branstad has said is “not popular” with Iowans. Marker disagrees. He says from what he hears, people are not opposed to improving county roads. The question remains however, “How do we fund them?” Marker says Road Use Taxes are just that – User supported – meaning they are paid by tourists, truckers and anyone who uses Iowa’s roads, when they fill-up with gasoline, in the state.

Marker understand no one wants to pay more for gas, especially with the day-to-day fluctuations in prices, the gas tax is something that – if approved – would be spread out over a period of three- years. The one-time 10-cent increase would be phased-in three-cents for both the first and second years and four-cents the third year.

He also wanted to dispel rumors that funds derived from the tax would be used for anything other than road repairs. Marker says that’s simply not the case. If the misconception were alleviated, there would be an up-swell of support among the public in favor of the specifically designated tax.

In an update to our earlier story, authorities in Harrison County say a Harlan man was transported by Medivac ambulance to Myrtue Memorial Hospital in Harlan, following a collision Sunday night, about three-miles west of Portsmouth.36-year old Eric Robert Lidgett, of Harlan, was a passenger in a 1999 Toyota Corolla that hit the back of a wagon being pulled by a tractor. Two other people in the car, 23-year old Shawn Mosher and 19-year old Brett Ballantyne, both of Harlan, were also injured, but did not require transport to the hospital.

Officials say the car, driven by 25-year old Kyle Tearney, of Tennant, was traveling east on Highway 44 at around 8:20-p.m., when the vehicle crested a hill near Vienna Avenue and quickly came upon an eastbound slow moving tractor pulling a wagon. Tearney slammed on the brakes and took evasive action but the car, registered to Sarah Koester, of Harlan, struck the wagon, causing minor damage to the wagon, and $3,000 damage to the car. Tearney, and the operator of the 1974 Farmall tractor, 58-year old Bruce Bruck, of Portsmouth, was not injured.