Two people were arrested Sunday evening following a traffic stop for excessive speeding on Highway 59, in Shelby County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a Trooper attempted to stop at vehicle north of 200th Street at around 7:30-p.m.  When the Trooper turned his cruiser around and attempted to catch up to the vehicle, the suspect’s car went out of control and came to rest in the southeast ditch.

When the Trooper pulled up to the vehicle, a male passenger in the car later identified as Mark Osborn, Jr., of Avoca, ran into a soybean field and laid down, in an attempt to hide from the Trooper. The driver of the car, Christopher Chapman, of Walnut, was held at gunpoint but taken into custody without further incident. Chapman was charged with OWI/1st offense, speeding, and failure to maintain control. Osborn located and taken into custody without incident. He faces charges that include with Interference with Official Acts, and Possession of Alcohol under the Legal Age/3rd offense.

Both subjects were booked into the Shelby County Jail.

Governor Terry Branstad is regrouping and hopes to come up with a new alternative that would prevent Iowa school districts from starting early in August.  “It is an important issue to a lot of Iowans and I do want to see it resolved and I want to see it resolved in a reasonable way, and I think we’re going to continue to reach out to people that have concerns about it to see what is the best and most appropriate way to deal with it,” Branstad says.

Last week the Iowa Board of Education voted down rules that would have made it tougher for schools to get a state waiver to start school in August.  “I’m disappointed that the board decided that they didn’t want to take on this issue,” Branstad says. State law stipulates that schools are not to start before the week in which September 1st falls, but under present practice all districts that apply for a waiver to start in August get one.

Iowa’s tourism industry has been a critic, saying they lose millions because families stop traveling in August, plus many of their teenage employee leave because school is resuming. Branstad vows to meet with parents, teachers, school administrators and others to come up with another plan to address the controversy. “It’s not going to go away and I think we need to try and come up with a reasonable and fair compromise in trying to deal with this,” Branstad says.

Branstad suggests he may make a recommendation to legislators to pass a law on the issue in 2014. The Iowa House and Senate have passed bills in the past to restrict early starts for schools, but a bill on the issue has never cleared both the House and Senate in the same year and in the same form.

(Radio Iowa)