The Iowa Department of Transportation reports a public information meeting will be held Tuesday, March 11th, to discuss the reconstruction of the Interstate 29 and U.S. 275/Iowa 92 interchange in Council Bluffs, which is scheduled to begin June 2014. All interested persons are invited to attend the meeting anytime between 4- and 7-p.m., at the Iowa School for the Deaf’s Community Room, Lied Multipurpose Complex, 3501 Harry Langdon Blvd., in Council Bluffs.

A group question-and-answer session will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a three-minute limit per speaker. The meeting will be conducted utilizing an open forum format. Iowa DOT staff will be present to informally discuss the proposed improvements. No formal presentation will be made.

The project construction area begins on I-29 from 1.3 miles south of U.S. 275 to just north of the U.S. 275 ramps and U.S. 275/Iowa 92 from Metro Mall Drive east to Harry Langdon Boulevard, including the I-29 and U.S. 275/Iowa 92 interchange. Proposed construction consists of new roadway embankments, walking trails, bridge structures, and other features, including the removal and reconstruction of six bridges and removal of portions of the existing roadway embankments.

The reconstruction also involves raising the interstate and U.S. 275 to accommodate the new railroad corridor for the railroad relocation project, which will require ramp closures and two-way traffic, with one lane in each direction, on U.S. 275/Iowa 92 during construction. Travelers may experience traffic delays and detours, which could impact access to businesses, schools, or other properties.

This construction is part of the Council Bluffs Interstate System Improvement Program, a streamlined approach to planned construction projects to I-80, I-29, and I-480 in the Council Bluffs/Omaha metropolitan area. The program is the single largest project in the Iowa DOT’s 2014-2018 Five-Year Transportation Improvement Program.

For those who cannot attend the open house, a virtual, online meeting will be available beginning March 11 and can be accessed by visiting the project website at www.CouncilBluffsInterstate.IowaDOT.gov and clicking the online meeting link on the home page.

Sheriff’s officials in Guthrie County report one person was arrested on drug and numerous other charges, last week, following the execution of a search warrant at a residence in Bagley. A home at 405 Main Street occupied by Dawn Marie Chinberg and 28-year old Dustin Tyler Woody, of Bagley, was searched at around 9:30-p.m. February 27th, during which methamphetamine, weapons and drug paraphernalia were seized.

Woody was arrested and charged with felony Possession with Intent to Deliver more than 5 grams of meth, Child Endangerment, Possession of drug paraphernalia and Interference with Official Acts. Woody appeared before the magistrate on Friday, and was ordered to pay a $100,000 cash or surety bond, prior to being released from the Guthrie County Jail.

A dispatcher for the Pottawattamie County Communications Center received an award Monday afternoon for helping to save the life of a man who had fallen, was unconscious and not breathing.

(from left to right) Council Bluffs Interim Fire Chief Larry Wohlers – Becky Francis – Sheriff Jeff Danker. (Pott. Co. S/O photo)

Operator Becky Francis, who joined the unit in 2009, was honored by the Sheriff’s Office and Council Bluffs Fire Department with a Life Saving Award.

Sheriff’s officials say just before 11-a.m. on June 1st, 2013, Francis answered a 911 call from the son of the unresponsive male. She assisted the son in giving CPR instructions to his father until rescue crews could arrive and assume additional life-saving measures.

The man survived and left the hospital a week later.

The City Council in Council Bluffs has received word a business that has been in the community for years, will be closing its doors in May, leaving about 250 people without jobs. The Omaha World-Herald says Griffin Pipe Products officials notified the Mayor and some members of the Council about the closing, on Monday. The notice, from U.S. Pipe Holdings of Hoover, AL., a subsidiary of U.S. Pipe and Foundry of Birmingham, AL., said Griffin Pipe will close its doors on or about May 3rd.

U.S. Pipe purchased Griffin Pipe early this year, and in mid-February approximately 60 employees at the Council Bluffs plant were let go. At the time of the layoffs, a letter allegedly sent to the affected employees said they could be rehired at a later date if the demand for the company’s ductile iron pipe increased.