The City Councils in Audubon and Massena are set to hold their regularly scheduled meetings tonight. The Audubon City Council meeting begins at 7-p.m. Discussion and/or action items on the agenda include: maintenance of the Audubon Fire Dept. building; Insurance matters; a Resolution to re-appoint Board of Adjustment and Planning & Zoning Board Members (Milo Clemmensen, William Roth, & Rod Rowland to the BoA, & Bruce Christensen to the P&Z Board); and, a Resolution appoint a representative to the Hazard Mitigation Committee.  Other discussion items will cover issues pertaining to the transfer station, a nuisance lighting ordinance, a water/sewer maintenance contract, and compensation practices.

The Massena City Council meeting begins at 7-p.m. as well, but will be preceded at 6:30, by a Public Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget. During the regular meeting, the Council will act on building permits for 303 Spruce Street and 103 Rosalinda Drive, and a Resolution pertaining to the installation of a street light near Massena Livestock.

The Council will also: Receive an update from MSA Professionals, and discuss sewer infiltration issues; discuss rainwater runoff and damage concerns, from Mulberry Street RV Park.; hear from Rod Anderson, about concerns over the Feb. 14th 2011 budget hearing minutes;  hold discussion on other matters to come before them.

A woman who was found freezing and seriously injured over the weekend in Council Bluffs, spent at least 24-hours in a sewer ditch before being rescued. The unidentified woman told officers with the Council Bluffs Police Department she’d been walking along a retaining wall Saturday, and accidentally fell into the sewer opening near 515 North 6th Street. She was found at around 4:45-p.m. Sunday, by two men. She was said to have been naked, from the waist down. Authorities said she had been apparently been suffering from hypothermia after having spent Saturday night outside in sub-zero air temperatures. Paramedics took the woman to a Council Bluffs hospital, where she was reported to be in critical condition. The case remains under investigation.

The Iowa Department of Transportation is hosting an on-line open house meeting as part of a study of passenger rail service. Amanda Martin of the D-O-T says the meeting begins today (February 13th).  Martin says the study will consist of five previously established passenger rail routes from Chicago, through Iowa to Omaha. “Each route is approximately 500 miles long, and as part of the midwest regional rail initiative that was the corridor that was established as a route for future study and future passenger rail service,” Martin says. The study is one of the steps in moving ahead to establish a new route. “It’s looking at the alternative routes and determining what route is most feasible based on the purpose and need of the route,” Martin says. “So it’s a tier one service level environmental impact statement is what we will end up with.” You can submit comments on the routes during the on-line meeting.

“People who have concerns about particular routes…or if they are supporting particular routes since it is looking at several. If there are concerns about any sort of impacts their state might be affected by if the route were to go through their community, those sorts of things,” Martin says. The on-line format provides lots of information for people who’re interested. “There is a video that will be on the website that they can review and it’ll talk about the project and will give more details about what we are doing, and there will be resources within the website, maps and information that will help the user understand the study a little bit better, and what sort of comments we are looking for,” Martin said. Go to:www.iowadot.gov/chicagotoomaha to participate in the meeting.

(Dar Danielson/Radio Iowa)

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say the owner of dozens of dogs rescued from a farm in rural Sac County has relinquished ownership of the animals, clearing the way for them to be made available for adoption. Eighty-seven dogs, mostly cocker spaniels, and one cat were rescued two weeks ago. Some of the dogs are pregnant.

Sac County Attorney Ben Smith says the owner gave up ownership to the sheriff’s office on Friday. The sheriff’s office, in turn, gave the animals to the rescue shelters caring for them. A court order says the owner will reimburse Sac County for expenses for the animals’ care since their removal on January 25th, which total over $25,000. Smith says he expects charges will be filed in the case sometime this week.