The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) board today (Friday), awarded direct financial assistance and tax benefits to nine companies for job creation and expansion projects. The awards will assist in the creation/retention of 484 jobs and will result in nearly $105 million in new capital investment for the state. The board also took action to support three innovation projects.

The board approved assistance for planned or proposed projects located in Burlington, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Milford, Sioux City, Story City, Swisher, Tipton and West Des Moines. In Council Bluffs, the Echo Group, Incorporated, a holding company that operates 18 electrical product sales subsidiary locations in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota, is proposing a $11 million capital investment project to relocate the company’s wholesale division to a 13-acre site in Council Bluffs.

The project would include warehouse space, a large equipment/product storage area and a training center and administrative support services building in a campus setting. The IEDA board awarded the company tax benefits to create and retain 117 jobs. Currently the company employes about 400 people in four states.

The Carroll Police Department is currently searching for a male who is on the loose this morning after allegedly stabbing a female on North Main Street. With the suspect on the loose and near areas with the Carroll Community Schools the school district has been locked down for the safety of the students and employees. Parents were notified in a message from Superintendent Rob Cordes. The superintendent says all buildings are locked down after the stabbing that was two blocks from Adams Elementary School. He also say all students, teachers and administrators are safe.

Carroll Police Chief Jeff Cayler says his department, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department and a member of the State Fire Marshal’s Office are out looking for the man. “We would like to encourage the public to kind of keep their eyes peeled,” Cayler says. Chief Cayler asks that residents lock their doors. “I don’t know that the subject is going to be dangerous at this point, but we want to close all of his avenues of escape,” Cayler says. He says the man is a black male, approximately five-seven 150 pounds, 27 years old. Cayler asks anyone who sees the man to call 9-1-1 immediately.

The stabbing was reported at 7:20 this morning.

(Radio Iowa)

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a man wanted on a warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance, turned himself-in this (Friday) morning.

Raymond Wiley

40-year old Raymond Dean Wiley, of Clarinda, was arrested at around 10-a.m. and posted $2,000 bond on the PCS charge, but since he was also wanted on a Federal warrant for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Wiley was booked into the Page County Jail and held for Federal agents.

MANSON, Iowa (AP) – The City of Manson is having a big problem drilling a new well, and the reason could date back millions of years. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports Manson is trying for a fourth time to drill a well after three failed attempts.

The difficulty apparently is due to a meteor that struck an estimated 74 million years ago, creating what’s known as the Manson impact crater. There is no evidence of the meteor on the surface, but remnants remain under ground, complicating well drilling.

After an inability to tap a new steady supply of water, the city hired Aquetech Innovation, a Fort Dodge company that uses satellite imagery to find water. Mayor Dave George says it should be clear by Wednesday if current drilling has succeeded.

A Pottawattamie County man was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison, for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 22-year old Newberry Winfield Wright, of Oakland, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge James Gritzner to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release after the term of imprisonment, for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

On February 6th, Wright pled guilty to the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm which was the result of an investigation by law enforcement into a report of shots being fired at the Farm Creek Wildlife Area near Carson. Wright was located a short distance from the Farm Creek Wildlife Area by deputies with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department. He was found to have in his possession a Smith and Wesson .50 caliber handgun and .50 caliber ammunition. Wright was prohibited from possessing a firearm after he pled guilty in 2012 to a felony controlled substance violation.

The investigation was conducted by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 percent in April as the state added more than 5,000 jobs. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday that the rate was down from 4.5 percent in March. Last year, the April rate was 4.7 percent. The national unemployment rate was 6.3 percent in April.

Iowa’s rate declined as the state added 5,600 jobs, bringing the total nonfarm employment to 1,544,400.
The state had an estimated 73,700 unemployed residents in April.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says three people were arrested recently on separate charges. Today (Friday), 22-year old Christian Joseph Newman, of Pacific Junction, was arrested on Interstate 29 at around 2:25-a.m.. Newman was charged with OWI/2nd offense. His bond set at $2,000.

On Thursday, 39-year old James Lee McFerrin, of Glenwood, was arrested for violating the terms of his probation. His bond was set at $2,000 also. That same day, 35-year old Nicholas Mark Brule, of Malvern, was arrested in Malvern on a charge of OWI/1st Offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

The Harlan Community School District’s Board of Education approved 128 seniors as the graduating class of 2013-2014. In a board meeting Thursday, the board approved the final list presented by Superintendent Justin Wagner and High School Principal John Connell. The senior class will graduate at commencement ceremonies on Sunday afternoon.

In addition, the board heard from four seniors in regards to their Legacy Project. Every year, the senior class at Harlan Community has tried to leave a lasting impression on the school. This year a group of ten individuals from Mr. Swanson’s business class decided to undertake a legacy project. The class decided to create a portrait made up of all the communities representing the Harlan Community School District.

Legacy Project

The four seniors at the school board meeting were Taylor Leinen, Nate Gettys, Rhiana Chickering and Savanna Scheffler. The students hope the Legacy Project becomes an annual project by the graduating class. The class designed six different portraits that are hung up in various areas in the school district with three in the high school and one in each of the outlining school building.

The eight communities in the school district Corley, Defiance, Earling, Harlan, Jacksonville, Panama, Portsmouth and Westphalia are represented by different pictures in each portrait. The other students participating in the Legacy Project were Elizabeth Blum, Shelby Gettys, Broghan Kelly, Morgan Meyer, Sidney Mills and Jordan Schaben. Superintendent Justin Wagner said the students worked hard to make each design unique.

“That was the other thing that took a lot of time. That was good, attention to detail and taking the extra time to put in different pictures for each one. So if you have seen one, you haven’t seen them all. Great project and appreciate all the time you put into it and Mister Swanson as well.”

In other business, the board approved the 1 to 1 computer purchase of 170 laptops for the upcoming freshman class in the fall of 2014. Lisa Swanson said the purchase was under budget by $24,000 through Riverside Technologies. The purchase price for the new laptops was $157,096.40.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

An Anita man was arrested Thursday on a Cass County Sheriff’s warrant for Violation of a No Contact order. According to the Atlantic Police Dept., 29-year old Ehren Mardesen turned himself-in, and was booked into the Cass County Jail.

A coalition of state soybean associations is working with the Iowa D-O-T and Iowa State University on a project to improve technology used to inspect bridges. Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, says bridges are now visually inspected by trained engineers, but their decisions can sometimes be too conservative, leading to expensive repairs, or bridges being closed or load restricted. “The taxpayers, who actually paid for the roads and the bridges in their vicinity, no longer have full access to a system that they paid for,” Steenhoek says. “For a farmer, it can be a real cost. What would normally be a five-mile journey from the farm to the local elevator can easily become a 10- or 20- or 30-mile journey.”

Steenhoek says another problem with visual inspections is they can lead to wasting money for repairs and upkeep. “If you don’t have a clear understanding of the condition of your various bridges in your inventory, that can result in misallocation of scarce taxpayer dollars,” Steenhoek says. “This is a time when the federal government, the state government and the local government are really cash-strapped.” Steenhoek says that’s why the coalition, the Iowa Department of Transportation and Iowa State University are embarking on this project to find ways to do more detailed analysis of bridges using advanced science.

“To actually use technology that is available to evaluate bridges, that provides real data and allows engineers to make accurate decisions about their bridges,” Sheenhoek says. “We’re wanting to see this project replicated in other states like Minnesota and South Dakota and Nebraska.” Steenhoek says a recent bridge collapse in Guthrie County highlights the need for a new inspection system. A farmer driving a tractor pulling two tanks of anhydrous ammonia was on a bridge when it collapsed. He had only minor injuries.

The Soy Transportation Coalition is comprised of the American Soybean Association, the United Soybean Board and 12 state soybean boards, including the Iowa Soybean Association. The 12 states account for 80% of all soybean production in the U-S.

(Radio Iowa)