Campers anxious to reserve spots for the Fourth of July weekend should mark April 1 on their calendars, when reservations for a Friday arrival open. Campers can make reservations for sites three months ahead of their first night’s stay. “Electric sites go quickly,” reminds Todd Coffelt, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources State Parks Bureau. “And some sites will already be reserved by campers arriving prior to the holiday weekend.”

Not every campsite is available on the reservation system. Parks maintain between 25 and 50 percent of the electric and nonelectric sites as non-reservation sites, available for walk-up camping. Information on Iowa’s state parks is available online at www.iowadnr.gov including the link to reservations. Campers can also log on directly to http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com; enter their preferred dates and/or parks to see what sites are available and make a reservation.

Campers are encouraged to note closures when making their reservations. A few campgrounds are currently closed for renovation and weather will play an important role in how soon they will be back online. Road and bridge work at Springbrook State Park should be completed in early June, and the park and campground are scheduled to reopen June 10.

Up-to-date closure information is available on the DNR website and reservation system.  Closure information can be found at www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks-Rec-Areas/Closure-Information and on individual park webpages.

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

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The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Some sunshine Thursday afternoon helped snow plow drivers and motorists in western and northwest Iowa deal with the big snowfall there, but the heavy wet snow has made progress slow going on hard surface roads. Woodbury County Deputy, Lieutenant Tony Wingert, says it took crews much longer to deal with what was 15 inches of snow that had drifted. “It’s such a heavy snow, it has taken them a lot more passes to get it wider — because they just can’t push that much weight off to the shoulder. But with every pass, the roads are getting a little wider and a little better,” Wingert says.

Wingert says some of the county’s roads are still in rough shape, and it may take some time for them to recover. “They were soft prior to this because of the frost going out and everything, and now you put this much moisture on them. A lot of those, they may be impassible for days,” according to Wingert. He says it made it tough for emergency vehicles to get to rural areas.

Wingert says in one case they had to call in the helicopter to go to a call because the Correctionville Ambulance wasn’t able to get there. “If you are on a main thoroughfare we should be okay. But if you are on a gravel, it may take emergency vehicles a while to get to you,” Wingert says. At least one county snowplow got stuck. Wingert says travel conditions should improve today (Friday) as crews have more time to clear snow and make the roads safer.

(Radio Iowa)

Some 300 riders on horseback are taking part in an Easter weekend tradition in Iowa today (Friday) as the 49th annual Pony Express Ride for Camp Sunnyside gets underway. Tim Allen of Whittemore is president-elect of the Pony Express Riders who are all headed for the Easter Seals facility in Ankeny, just north of Des Moines. “There’s rides all over Iowa from northeast to southeast to southwest to northwest,” Allen says. “We all start off in our designated counties and we all end up at Easter Seals down at Camp Sunnyside.”

The riders are bringing with them money from dances, toll roads and other fundraising activities to present to Easter Seals. They’re all due at the camp on Saturday afternoon and that night, there will be a dance at Lake Robbins Ballroom near Woodward. “All of the Pony Express riders are volunteers,” Allen says. “We do this out of the kindness of our hearts. None of us get any kickback out of it other than the joy from the kids and adults that benefit from what we do throughout the year at Camp Sunnyside.”

In recent years, the riders have brought in a quarter-million dollars or more to help with the camp that’s been in operation more than 80 years. The ride has been held every year since 1968. Learn more at: www.ponyexpressridersofiowa.org.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A fourth suspect charged in a conspiracy to ship weapons from Iowa to Lebanon has pleaded guilty. Thirty one-year-old Bassem Herz entered his plea on Thursday in a federal court in Cedar Rapids. Herz, along with three family members, was arrested in May 2015 after agents intercepted shipping containers headed from Cedar Rapids to Beirut that had many guns and rounds of ammunition hidden inside construction equipment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican House leaders plan to introduce legislation that would fund water quality initiatives without using a sales tax set aside for education infrastructure. The announcement Thursday indicates Gov. Terry Branstad’s proposal to merge the two efforts is dead this session. House lawmakers say their proposal would use other revenue sources, which could include money that typically goes to the general fund or dollars from a separate infrastructure fund.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who had long been suspected in the 1985 slaying of his wife’s lover was charged in the death after investigators took a fresh look at the case. Anthony Burtch, 57, was arrested at his Iowa City home and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Lance Lee DeWoody.

SHELLSBURG, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man has been charged in the death of a woman whose body was found near a stolen truck. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says Thursday that 32-year-old David Miller has been charged with first-degree murder in the October 2015 death of 25-year-old Sabrina Hustad. An autopsy showed she died of multiple stab wounds and strangulation. Police found her body when they arrived at Miller’s residence in Shellsburg. Her body was near a stolen truck.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a woman from Pottawattamie County was sentenced to prison Thursday (Today) on a weapons charge. United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced 35-year old
Sarah D. Long, of Council Bluffs, to 30 months (nearly 2 1/2 years) in prison. Long was also sentenced to three years of supervised release to follow her prison term.

The woman pled guilty to being a drug user in possession of a firearm on December 3rd, 2015. Long admitted that on or about August 11th, 2015, she was arrested by the Council Bluffs Police Department for operating a stolen vehicle. At the time of her arrest, she was found to be in possession of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and a loaded 9 mm handgun.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Clarinda man on Thursday.  At approximately 2:15pm deputies arrested 31-year-old Mark A. Achterberg of Clarinda on a valid Montgomery County bench warrant for Violation of Probation on the original charge of Theft 2nd Degree.  Achterberg was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $5,000 bond.