Thousands of Iowans will be hitting the road over the Memorial Day weekend and they’re being reminded to watch out for construction zones. Mark Bortle, with the Iowa Department of Transportation, says one of the bigger projects in central Iowa is along Interstate 35 from West Des Moines, south to just beyond the town of Cumming.  “We still will be maintaining two lanes in each direction, but traffic will be a little bit more congested due to the closeness of the construction activity,” Bortle says. That project, which carries a price tag of just over $32 million, is expected to be completed later this year.

Other roadwork will impact travelers in western Iowa. “We have ongoing projects in the Council Bluffs metro area as we continue to rebuild the interstate system there and up in the Sioux City area…that will impact Interstate 29 traffic up in Woodbury County,” Bortle says. In northeast Iowa, motorists may be slowed down a bit if they pass through Waterloo.

“We’re doing some work on the I-380 bridge over San Marnan Drive and traffic is restricted to one lane in that normal three lane section,” Bortle says. While the DOT will not be doing work in most construction zones over the holiday weekend, Bortle says motorists should still slow down when they see the black-on-orange warning signs and merge into the appropriate lanes as soon as they can.

(Radio Iowa)

A portion of Interstate 29 in Council Bluffs was closed for several hours, Tuesday, after a semi tractor-trailer leaked acid onto the road. Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department said the northbound lanes of I-29 and I-680 southbound was closed near the 25th Street exit on the west side of the City.

The incident occurred sometime around 5-p.m. Traffic was allowed to resume a normal flow on the affected section of roads by around 8:30-p.m. No injuries were reported, and no other details were released.

Iowa State University crops specialist, Joel Dejong (Dee-young), says last week’s freezing temperatures have caused some widespread damage to western Iowa corn fields.  “A lot of northwest Iowa and actually even into southwest Iowa — although they didn’t even freeze — they had some damage in some fields also from radiation frost where it got cold so fast,” DeJong says. “We had temperatures in the mid 20’s, so obviously that’s going to cause come crop damage.” DeJong says in many instances corn had already emerged when the cooler temperatures had hit, and he believes most of the crop will recover.

“As I go dig fields, it looks like most plants have grown quite a bit since we had that frost and these nicer sunnier days help,” DeJong says. He says some plants look like they lost a leaf, but he says they will continue to regrow. DeJong says while the corn was damaged, soybeans are a different story.

“Soybeans once they emerge, their growing point is above ground. So, southwest Iowa reported several fields where they did freeze off emerged beans. I am not sure if I know of any emerged beans (in northwest Iowa) — maybe there was field or two out there. If there was, they are probably hurt pretty seriously,” DeJoung explains. Statewide, 40 percent of the soybeans have been planted and DeJong believes northwest Iowa farmers have perhaps planted as much as 60 percent of the intended soybean acreage. DeJong says farmers will want to start scouting for black cut worms based on their tracking of the adult larvae.

“We trap adults as they start moving up, they don’t live through an Iowa winter, so traps went out in mid-March and the first part of April,” DeJong says. He says the adults started showing up mid-April and he says they predict the worms will be big enough to start cutting off the plants by around May 27th. The agronomist says the day length and temperatures will determine how fast the cutworms will move into this area. He says as the corn growth slows down, so do the insects and other pests.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak report the arrest Tuesday night of a local woman. 44-year old Holli Anne Burgess, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 9:30-p.m. in the 400 block of East Coolbaugh Street, for a Probation Violation. Burgess was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $5,000 bond.

Two people from Union County were arrested late Tuesday night in Adams County, following a traffic stop. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports a deputy stopped a vehicle for speeding on Highway 34 at around 11:50-p.m., Tuesday. During an investigation, it was determined the driver, Skylar Cook, of Creston, had no valid driver’s license. Cook was arrested for Driving While Suspended, and brought to the Adams County Jail, where he was held on a $566 cash bond.

A passenger in Cook’s vehicle, Katlyn Hughes, of Creston, was charged with Minor in Possession of Alcohol (Under the age of 21), Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

TREYNOR, Iowa (AP) — A teacher in western Iowa faces felony charges in connection to alleged inappropriate contact with former high school students. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says 44-year-old Mike Travis turned himself in to authorities Tuesday morning. Travis faces two counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — Officials say an Iowa State Penitentiary employee has been assaulted by a prison inmate. Prison officials say the assault occurred Monday morning after the employee directed some inmates to move away from a restricted area. One inmate began to argue with the staffer, which led to the alleged assault.

EARLY, Iowa (AP) — A 14-year-old boy has been accused of sending a threatening email to several students and a staff member at a middle school in northwest Iowa. The Sac County Sheriff’s Office says the boy sent the email May 12 to 16 students and one staff member at Ridge View Middle School in Early. Authorities say the email told recipients they had three days to live. Law enforcement officials removed the boy from school and he was taken into custody.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A West Des Moines teenager has been accused of setting a small fire inside a high school bathroom. Police say the 16-year-old boy set the fire Tuesday morning at Valley High School. The fire set off the sprinkler system, and no injuries were reported. The student was taken into custody.

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, will hold a closed session at the end of their regular session, to discuss a personnel matter. Once the Council resumes their open session, they’re expected to act on a motion to execute an Employment Agreement with regard to the filling of an upcoming Wastewater Treatment Plant Supervisor vacancy position. In April, City Administrator Doug Harris announced Mark Farrier, who was hired to run the new treatment plant in 2012, tendered his resignation, effective July 3^rd, 2014. Farrier, his wife and family are moving to Guatemala to become Missionaries.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, will hold the second reading of an ordinance regarding “Flood Plain Regulations.” The State has asked the City of adopt the technical changes in our to keep Atlantic’s regulations in conformance with FEMA requirements. The Council will also act on setting June 4th as the date for a public hearing on a proposed Airport Land Use and Height Overlay Zoning Ordinance, which the Airport Board is recommending for approval. The ordinance regulates the height of structures, objects and growth of natural vegetation, as well as land uses within the vicinity of the airport.

The Atlantic City Council is also expected to act on awarding a bid for the sale of property at 405 W. 4th Street, which the Council voted to dispose of during its last regular meeting. The City Council session gets underway at 5:30-p.m., Wednesday, in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall.

It was an Extreme Makeover type experience as the Pre-kindergarten through 2nd graders at the Harlan Community School District along with parents, grandparents and administration unveiled an all new play house to the Primary Building. Mrs. Spangenberg’s 2nd grade class started the  project in November of collecting cans to help raise the funding needed for the new playhouse. With the help of Mr. Klaassen’s high school engineering class, every student designed a miniature playhouse to show
the designer’s what the kids wanted to see in the actual playhouse.

One of the 2nd graders, Teya Frolich said the class gave Leinen Construction some pointers on how the playhouse could be more efficient. The crew designed the playhouse with a skylight on the roof for the children. Mrs. Spangenberg said the class’s project tied into everything the students were learning in math and science. She says in addition to the cans, a bake sale was held. “We did a bake sale at Hy-Vee. Adam was great and allowed us, three moms, to do a bake sale on a Saturday morning. So some money came from that and some came from generous donations.”

One donation in particular was very heart warming. “We got a letter in the mail from Nan and it
was in honor of her husband. Her husband was known as the ‘Avoca Can Man.’ He would collect cans in Avoca, bring them to Harlan. He would cash them in, get the money and give it to youth organizations. And he passed away so that was in honor of him. That was really special and a
neat lesson for the kids to learn.”

Now that the project is over, the kids were asked how soon they would design a real house. They said it would be a “Couple of years.” The students were able to play in the playhouse at second recess this (Tuesday) afternoon.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)