Officials have evacuated a Council Bluffs neighborhood because of a natural gas leak.

About a dozen houses were evacuated before dawn Thursday morning.

The area was being evacuated as a precaution while officials searched for the source of the gas leak.

The affected neighborhood is a couple blocks east of Interstate 29 on the west side of Council Bluffs near 36th and B streets.

–AP

Winterset residents are being asked to conserve water as the level of the lake that supplies the city’s water continues to drop.

The level of Cedar Lake is at its lowest since 2006 and KCCI reported the 65-acre lake’s level gets lower each day.

The city’s water utilities manager says there hasn’t been any significant rain since July and with little rain in the forecast, the city is taking steps to keep more water in the lake by asking residents to voluntarily conserve water.

Officials say if the lake falls another 2 1/2 feet, the city will have to buy water from the Southern Iowa Rural Water Association. Residents are being asked to not wash cars, water their yards or run water when they brush their teeth.

–AP

An Iowa High School was put on lockdown Tuesday evening for a short time.

Dallas Center Grimes High School was put on lockdown during a volleyball game Tuesday evening when officials noticed a suspicious person walking along highway 44 near the school. The person reportedly looked to be carrying a rifle and a bullet proof vest.

After calling 911, the school’s doors were locked and officials were put on high alert for any suspicious activity that might occur. At the time of the lockdown, a volleyball game was taking place at the school.

Authorities eventually arrested Michael Jensen who is being held in the Polk County Jail on $100,000 cash bond.

A gathering of World War II Veterans will take place in Council Bluffs starting next Tuesday. Prisoners of War who surrendered to the Japanese in 1942 will be gathering at the annual Mukden Survivors and Descendants Reunion at the Holiday Inn and Suites at Ameristar in Council Bluffs from October 4-8.

The Mukden Prisoner of War Camp was a Japanese slave labor camp using men surrendered during WWII. Mukden POW camp was located in Manchuria in northeast China. It was one of the largest POW camps of the Japanese imprisoning 1500 Americans as well as military men from Great Britain, the Netherlands and several other nations.

Registration will be next Tuesday, with a banquet held on October 8^th at the Holiday Inn.

On October 8 from 10:00-11:00am, the public is invited to meet and listen to the stories of these former WWII Japanese prisoners of war at the Holiday Inn.

For more information about the event, contact Gloria Myers, at 712-784-3913. Reservations for the banquet are $25 and need to be made by Saturday.

The Iowa DOT is reminding the public that all persons are prohibited from entering the Interstate 680 construction site. The construction site will only be open to contractor employees and individuals directly involved in the rebuilding project.

The Iowa DOT would like to have interstate 680 partially or completely open by the end of the year. Disruptions caused by the public by entering the construction site could cause delays in re-building the interstate.

The contractor is mobilizing its equipment to the site and beginning work using heavy equipment and trucks. The work environment is heavily congested and unsafe for observers.

The Iowa DOT says it will let the public know if there are any opportunities in the future to view the construction site.