(Updates to add driver’s name)

A Sioux City truck driver escaped injury this (Tuesday) morning, when the 2003 Peterbilt semi he was driving crashed on Interstate 80, in northwestern Cass County.

Accident scene (I-80 EB, 50.5-mile marker) (Photo courtesy Cass Co. Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon)

The Iowa State Patrol reports 23-year old Blaze Anthony Gill was traveling east on I-80 near the Marne exit at around 6:35-a.m., when the Interstate Batteries of Sioux City-owned truck drifted onto the right shoulder and hit a guardrail. The impact caused the semi to roll onto its left side. The crash caused batteries being hauled by the semi to be scattered about on the roadway.  Both eastbound lanes being blocked for nearly two and one-half hours, while crews worked to clean up the hazardous material and remove the semi.  Emergency crews from Atlantic and Marne responded to the scene, along with the Iowa State Patrol and Cass County Sheriff’s deputies.

Adams County is one of seven counties or communities across the state to be nominated for a “Prettiest Painted Places in America,” award. The other nominees include: Albia, Decorah, Greater Des Moines, Grinnell, Orange City, and Pella. The competition is sponsored by the Paint Quality Institute (PQI), whose mission is to educate the public about quality paints and coatings, and the “Prettiest Painted Places.” Adams County was nominated because of its picturesque area “Nestled in the rolling hills of the southwestern part of the state.” The PQI says county is “Dotted with beautiful communities and nicely painted homes and businesses.”

Over the next few weeks, the seven Iowa communities will vie with nearly 200 nominees from other states for regional and national honors, as judges with expertise in color selection, exterior painting, and home improvement review the entries, conduct additional research and make selected site visits.  Finalists will be announced later this month,  the nation’s 12 “Prettiest Painted Places” will be revealed in mid-October.

The Paint Quality Institute has conducted its competition twice before, most recently in 2000.  Its purpose is to vividly show how an attractive paint color scheme can greatly enhance the “curb appeal” of any structure’s exterior. A wide variety of “places” have been entered in the competition — big city neighborhoods, tiny rural towns, historical districts, “Main Streets” and communities with exterior mural programs.  Nominees range from well-known places, such as Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Napa, California to hidden gems like Vashon-Maury Island, Washington and Bell Buckle, Tennessee.

The names and locations of all of the nominees are posted on the Paint Quality Institute website at blog.paintquality.com.

Police in Red Oak say a teenager was arrested Monday afternoon on a charge of Simple Assault, following an incident at the Red Oak High School. 16-year-old Cassidy Lea Cleaver, allegedly attacked a school staff member. The girl was taken into custody at around 2:50-p.m., and later released to one of her parent’s.

The state Office of Drug Control Policy and the “Partnership at Drugfree Iowa-dot-org” are holding a listening post in Council Bluffs this (Tuesday) afternoon. Partnership president, Peter Komendowski, says they want to hear from the communities in Iowa about illegal drug activity related to kids. “There’s been a lot of issues over the past few years in terms of what the state should do in terms of legislation, drug control policy and then prevention and education programs to best meet the needs of the various communities,” Komendowski says. “And it’s been key for us at the Parternship to reach out to the communities because so many of them don’t feel they have a voice in Des Moines… and I think that is part of the job.”

This will be the second listening post, following one held last week in Clinton. “What we found was a strong contingent of educators and treatment professionals that felt that we were not doing an effective job of providing enough resources, both to parents and educators as well as children to understand the scope of the problems. Problems that have seen an increase, especially in generational issues with either substance abuse or criminal behavior.”

Komendowski says these listening posts are targeted at reaching all those who think they need to do more.  “We want people to feel if they don’t have a voice — or especially if they feel they may be frustrated — to come to this forum. We will listen to them. I make a point of it,” Komendowski says.

There is another forum scheduled for October second in Waterloo, and Komendowski says he would like to schedule 12 to 14 more across the state. If you are not able to attend a forum, he says you can go to Drug-Free-Iowa-dot-org, and contact him with your concerns. The forum today is at Heartland Family Service in Council Bluffs.

(Radio Iowa)