This week, Troopers in central Iowa, along with members of the state legislature and officers from local law enforcement agencies, will pause to honor a Trooper who recently died in the line of duty.

Trooper Mark Toney

On Thursday, exactly one year after his death, the Highway 65/69 South River Bridge located south of Indianola will be dedicated in honor of Trooper Mark Toney. The dedication ceremony where take place at the Indianola Fire Station, at 110 North 1st Street, beginning at 2-p.m.

Trooper Toney was killed in an automobile accident on U.S. Highway 65/69, south of Indianola in September of 2011. He was serving the citizens of Iowa when his patrol car left the roadway, overturned several times, and burst into flames. Trooper Toney served the Iowa State Patrol for 24 years.

Members of the public are invited and welcome to attend the dedication ceremony as a show support for those who serve and protect Iowa communities.

A backhoe being hauled by a truck struck a bridge south of  Carson Monday afternoon, causing $250,000 damage to the bridge and $8,000 damage to the backhoe. Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department spokesman, Sgt. Dwayne Riche told KJAN News 32-year old Travis Meyer, of Atlantic, was driving a 1990 Mack truck hauling a Caterpiller backhoe. The vehicle was traveling westbound on Highway 92 at around 3-p.m., when the boom of the backhoe, which was too high to pass under the bridge,  struck multiple supports for the Highway 59 overpass. Following the impact, the truck and its cargo came to rest about 70-yards west of Highway 59, on the north shoulder of Highway 92. The backhoe is owned by Bluffs Paving and Utility, in Crescent.

(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.