WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo zoning board is set to hear a long-running dispute over a proposed industrial wind farm in Black Hawk County. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the county Planning and Zoning board will make its recommendation Tuesday on whether the Washburn Wind Energy should be built south of Waterloo. Company representative Felix Friedman says the 35 wind turbines would produce 70-megawatts, which is enough to power 26,000 homes. He says the project would also generate more than $35 million in lease and tax revenue to landowners and local governments over 30 years.

Cedar Valley Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy is concerned about the project’s impact on their health, wildlife and property values. Wind energy groups say wind turbines have been operating in some areas for more than two decades and don’t have negative health effects.

The search for a missing La Porte City teenager was scaled back this weekend. Jake Wilson‘s family said the autistic 16-year-old was last seen heading to a nearby creek one week ago Saturday — but after after a large search effort he hasn’t been found. La Port City Police Chief Chris Brecher told K-C-R-G T-V in a news briefing that the search is changing. “We’re at the point of our investigation now where we are going to be scaling back, significantly,” the chief says.

Jake Wilson

Brecher says they will now only do periodic checks when tips come in. The initial search effort to find the teen was massive. In a week’s time, hundreds of volunteers marched miles in cold and mud, reaching an about ten-mile radius from town. They checked high and low while specialized teams looked under the water. The search there largely focused on six miles of Wolf Creek.  “We are extremely confident, in the area that we have checked, we know this is where Jake’s not,” Brecher says.

Attention now largely turns to the investigation aspect of Wilson’s disappearance. Was he abducted? Was a crime committed? A multi-agency group will continue to work to find answers. Sheriff Tony Thompson again pushed for people to go online and upload video and images from the night Wilson was last seen. He hoped a lackluster start to the effort would turn around if people realized a camera may have inadvertently captured the key to cracking the case. Thompson says they need that one piece of information, one witness one piece of video or that one photo that could help them find Wilson.

(Radio Iowa)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A trial has been scheduled for an Iowa youth basketball coach who’s accused of secretly recording some of his players undressing. Federal court records say 42-year-old Greg Stephen has pleaded not guilty to knowingly transporting child pornography. His trial is scheduled to begin June 4. Court documents say the ex-Iowa Barnstormers co-director has acknowledged taking secret videos of three players disrobing in a hotel bathroom in Illinois in January. He’s told investigators he recorded the adolescents in an attempt to monitor their physical development.

As part of Donate Life Month in Iowa, residents are being asked to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those who have saved lives through the gift of donation. Deb Thielen (TEE-lun), a registered nurse at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, says the number of Iowa donors continues to grow, but so does the waiting list. “In 2017, a total of 54 Iowans shared the gift of life through organ donation, saving 183 lives,” Thielen says. “Thousands more were healed by 1,743 tissue donors in Iowa.”

There are more than 600 Iowans on the organ transplant waiting list and 115-thousand waiting nationwide. In Iowa, recent reports find about 65-percent of adults have already committed to being organ donors. For those who haven’t, she has a message. “Join the majority of Iowans signed up and register as a donor today,” Thielen says. “Make your wishes known by signing up online at IowaDonorNetwork.org, or check the box when you apply or renew your driver’s license at the Iowa DMV.”

Another person is added to the national waiting list every 10 minutes, while 22 people die each day because the organ they need is not donated in time. Learn more at the website: www.donatelife.net.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Glenwood report 28-year old John Pepper, of Glenwood, was arrested Friday, for OWI/1st offense. Pepper was brought to the Mills County Jail, where his cash or surety bond was set at $1,000.

Officials with the IA Dept. of Transportation’s District 3 Office report road construction work for the expansion of U.S. 20 in Ida and Sac counties will require closing the roadway to traffic between Ida County Road M-25 (near Galva) and U.S. 71 (near Early) from noon Wednesday, Apr. 18, until Friday, Sept. 28, weather permitting. Motorists will be directed around the work zone on a signed detour using Ida County Road M-25, Ida/Sac County Road D-15, and U.S. 71.

Volunteers are helping Iowa DNR wildlife biologists monitor the state’s frog and toad populations. The research of the amphibians, which start “singing” around this time of year, could tell scientists more about the state’s water quality. The DNR’s Stephanie Shepherd says frogs and toads are tied to the health of their environment. “They can actually breathe through their skin and they soak up their environment,” Shepherd said. “It’s what makes them so vulnerable to toxins and pesticides and things in the water that aren’t supposed to be there.”

Field work training sessions for the frog and toad call survey were held last week in Sioux City and Ladora. The survey, conducted since 1991, is one of the longest running in the country. According to the DNR, over 13,000 call surveys have been done on more than 1,200 wetland sites in 82 of Iowa’s 99 counties.

(Radio Iowa)

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Two youths accused in the slaying of another Davenport teenager have made plea deals. Authorities say 18-year-old James Bailey Jr. and 17-year-old Joseph Howard-Rogers Jr. are scheduled to be sentenced May 30 for killing 17-year-old Akeim Hill last May. Police say the two boys met Hill in a parking lot. A fight broke out, and Hill was shot twice. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Court records say Bailey pleaded guilty last week to theft after prosecutors dropped murder and robbery charges. Howard-Rogers pleaded guilty to attempted murder after prosecutors dropped murder and robbery charges. They were prosecuted as adults, but Howard-Rogers’ plea agreement says that because he was under 18 when the crime occurred, the court can suspend all or part of his sentence.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency is asking fire stations and participating partner businesses, to place their Fire Danger placards in the “Moderate” category from today (Monday), through Thursday. While the forecast calls for rain and a rain-snow mix Tuesday night into Wednesday, the rest of the week looks to be dry, sunny and windy, which will aid in drying vegetation and crop residue in the fields. Any controlled burns should be conducted with caution. Always notify your local fire chief before conducting controlled burns on your property.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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