DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa bison known for surviving a lightning strike has died. The Des Moines Register reported Friday that the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge announced Sparky the bison’s death. He was 14 years old.

Sparky was struck by lightning in July 2013. Biologist Karen Viste-Sparkman previously said she found Sparky afterward covered with burn marks, bloodied and wounded.
The biologist said he lost weight and grew weak after the lightning strike. He was found dead Thursday.

But the refuge in a Thursday Facebook post said he was still part of the bison herd after the strike and “became a symbol for the endurance of his species.”
He fathered three calves.

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa State University lecturer arrested last year for public intoxication during class has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge. The Des Moines Register reports that 56-year-old Gordon Branch Knight has pleaded guilty to first-offense public intoxication, a simple misdemeanor.

Knight had been charged with second-offense public intoxication, a serious misdemeanor with penalties of up to a year in jail. He was fined $200 plus court fees at a mid-March court hearing in the case. Knight, who was philosophy and religious studies lecturer, was teaching a class in November when campus police arrested him.

Court records showed it was his third alcohol-related arrest in little more than a year.
Knight is no longer employed at the university.

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Sunday (Today), reports three arrests took place, Saturday. 43-year old Alan Gray, of Villisca was arrested during a traffic stop, for driving while suspended. Gray was brought before a magistrate where he plead guilty to the charges and was released. 55-year old Bruce Fitzwater, of Gravity, was arrested during the traffic stop, and was charged with Possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. He was being held at the Taylor County Jail on $25,000 cash bond. And, 39-year old Tamara McCoy, of Villisca, was also taken into custody. She was charged with open container as a passenger and littering. McCoy has since been released from the Taylor County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa lawmaker has closed an unusual chapter in her work life: Bringing along her newborn baby to the state Capitol. Rep. Megan Jones, a Republican from the northwest Iowa city of Sioux Rapids, started bringing her daughter, Alma, to the Des Moines statehouse just a few weeks after giving birth on Jan. 24.

Alma was often spotted snoozing on her mother or observing legislative action from the vantage point of a portable bassinet in the Iowa House of Representatives. Jones announced last week that Alma is now headed to her next adventure: day care. Jones, 31, said her decision to bring Alma to work was driven in part by necessity. Her husband is a farmer with an early morning schedule, and Alma wasn’t initially old enough for day care. Jones wanted to represent her constituents during Iowa’s relatively short legislative session, which runs from January until about April.

Experts say as more women run for state and federal office, expectations will shift on how politicians should balance their family lives. In Iowa, more than 95 women are running this year for the Legislature, Congress and statewide office like governor, a new record. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, the top Republican in the Iowa House, said Jones reached out last year about her pregnancy and presented a game plan for how she would work while bringing her baby to the Capitol.

Upmeyer said legislative leaders saw no reason not to be accommodating. Upmeyer, who became the first woman elected speaker in 2015, noted she raised her children before running for the state Legislature. “When I was in Megan’s stage of life, that would not have been something I would have considered an option,” she said. “And clearly that’s changed, and I’m glad that’s changed.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System has announced road closures beginning Monday, April 2nd, on the Omaha VA Medical Center campus. The closures are designed to accommodate the construction site for the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC).

The road closures impact Nimitz Drive, the road that connects Woolworth Avenue to the hospital’s main entrance and parking lots, and Puller Drive, the road that connects Center Street to the main entrance. The closure will be permanent as the new ACC building will connect to the existing hospital. The hospital and outpatient clinics may be accessed by the Woolworth Avenue entrance.

The loading dock, physician parking lot, Building 9 and Building 8 will continue to be accessed from Center Street. In addition to the road closure, a section of parking lot 2 (located northeast of the main hospital entrance) will be closed. Lot 2 will be relabeled to provide Veterans with the closest available parking on campus. Shuttle service will continue from the parking lots to the main entrance.

Additional Veteran, visitor and employee parking has been secured at a University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) owned lot approximately one mile away from the VA. Shuttle Service will be provided from this lot to the medical center.

While the impact should be minimal, Veterans, visitors and employees are encouraged to consider how the road closures and parking changes will affect their transportation to the medical center beginning April 2.

A special meeting of the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Board of Directors will take place 5:30-p.m. Monday (April 2nd), in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall. Action items and/or New Business on their agenda include:

• A Public hearing on the plans, specifications and form of contract, for projects
• Action on a Resolution approving the plans, specifications and form of contract.
• Review construction bids.
• Resolutions making an award of contract.

Four people have been arrested so far this Easter weekend, in Montgomery County. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports at around 4:35-a.m. today (Sunday), 57-year old Richard Louis Charles, of Clarinda, was arrested at the intersection of Highway 34 and Evergreen Avenue. Charles was taken into custody on a Pottawattamie County Bench Warrant for Theft in the 1st Degree. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 bond.

At around 9:15-p.m. Saturday, Montgomery County Deputies arrested 49-year old Michael Sean Colebank, and 49-year old Christina Ann Slauter, both of Red Oak. Both were taken into custody in the 2400 block of N. 8th Street, in Red Oak, and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault. Colebank and Slauter were being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

And, at around 8:45-p.m., Saturday, Red Oak Police were called to the 300 block of E. Market Street, following a reported domestic assault. Upon investigation, Officers arrested 25-year old Dustin James Danick, of Red Oak, for aggravated Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding air or blood flow. He also faces a charge of Interference with Official Acts, after allegedly obstructing the Officers’ investigation. Danick was being held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

Deputies with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office early this (Sunday) morning, investigated a suspicious vehicle in the 1700 Block of Willow Avenue. At around 3:35-a.m., and upon further investigation, five juveniles were cited into juvenile court for being a Minor In Possession of Alcohol. Their names were not released because of their age.