A groundbreaking ceremony for a new library will take place Monday afternoon, in Lewis. An official with USDA Rural Development will be on hand for the event, which is set to begin at 4-p.m., Monday, August 29^th.

USDA Rural Development is assisting the project with grant funds totaling $187,250. The funds are being awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $550,000 and should be completed in the spring of 2012.

The new, future library, which is located just east of the Lewis City Hall, will replace the current building that was built in the late 1800’s, and does not have adequate space for the services offered by the library. The current facility is also not handicap accessible.

The Iowa Dept. of Transportation reports I-29 northbound has reopened to normal traffic flow, following  a vehicle crash earlier this afternoon.  Details on the crash will be posted when they become available.

An Atlantic couple was being held in the Cass County Jail today (Friday), after they were arrested Thursday on charges related to child abuse. According to the Atlantic Police Department, 21-year old Tony Berry and 20-year old Alyssa Bates, have each been charged with Multiple Acts of Child Endangerment, Willful Injury, and two-counts each of Serious Assault. Berry faces an additional charge of 1st degree Harassment.

Police Chief Steve Green says the couple were placed under arrest following an investigation into allegations of child abuse occurring at their home. After officers accompanied Department of Human Services personnel to home and conducted an investigation Tuesday, a four-month old child was taken into protective custody.

Green says the investigation, which also involved medical staff at the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, determined the child had suffered abuse and serious injury. The infant was placed with the DHS, pending the outcome of Bates’ and Berry’s court proceedings.

MAX, Neb. (AP) – Amtrak says a train carrying about 175 passengers between Chicago and San Francisco has derailed in southwest Nebraska. Spokesman Marc Magliari says the California Zephyr derailed around 8 a.m. Friday near Max, not far from the state’s borders with Kansas and Colorado.

Magliari says there have been no reports of serious injuries but can’t say for sure whether anyone aboard was hurt. He says it appears the train struck a vehicle on the tracks. He didn’t know what kind of vehicle was hit.

Modern warplanes and historic aircraft will fill the skies during two major air shows on opposite corners of Iowa this weekend. The Thunder in the Valley Air Show in Waterloo is expected to draw 50-thousand spectators, while Omaha/Council Bluffs hosts its Defenders of Freedom Open House and Air Show at Offutt (OFF-it) Air Force Base. Lieutenant Colonel Donovan Routsis is the 55th Wing Group Commander at Offutt and says they have an entertaining lineup, starting with parachutists.

“The Army Golden Knights kick off our air show and then we’ll have an F-15-E Strike Eagle demonstration team,” Routsis says. “We’ll also have a Russian attack helicopter performing for the first time ever at a U-S air show. This will also be the first time we will have a B-2 (stealth bomber) on display here at Offutt.” In addition, the base has scheduled more than 20 aerial performers and more than 30 static displays. Flying can be a hazardous business and he notes, just last weekend, there were three deadly crashes at air shows nationwide.

“We’re very saddened by the tragic accidents that happened last weekend and we express our condolences to those families and friends of those involved,” Routsis says. “We’ve heard nothing from the FAA and our operations group stays in very close contact with the FAA in regards to accidents and our open house and air show are going to take place as scheduled.”

Routis was referring to the crash at a Kansas City, Missouri air expo, which took the life of 50-year old Atlantic native Bryan Jensen on August 20^th. That same day a 33-year old Royal Air Force pilot died at an air show in the U.K. The next day, wing Walker Todd Green fell 200 feet, after an attempting an aircraft transfer from a Stearman to a Helicopter at an air show in Michigan.

Both airshows in Waterloo and Omaha are planned for Saturday and Sunday. Jensen had been scheduled to perform this weekend, at the air show in Waterloo.