The City of Council Bluffs, in partnership with the Iowa West Foundation, will kick-off the summer season starting Memorial Day weekend and celebrate the opening of River’s Edge Park with three weeks of events showcasing all of the possibilities the park can provide. Loessfest is slated to become an annual celebration of Council Bluffs’ landscape and the community. All events for Loessfest’s inaugural year will take place at the new park in an effort to introduce this new park and to celebrate its opening.

This new park will feature the latest addition to the Iowa West Public Art Permanent Collection. Making its public debut during Loessfest on May 25 is a unique and interactive light display on the Great Lawn, entitled Rays. Rays is a $500,000 installation by artist Dan Corson, funded by the Iowa West Foundation. This eight-minute interactive lighting environment uses the five-acre Great Lawn as a canvas. The permanent display will run on the hour and half-hour and will be a “must see” in the metro area. The presenting sponsor for the initial unveiling of the light display is the Peter Kiewit Foundation.

In addition to the Great Lawn Interactive Light Display, Rays, Loessfest features an amazing line-up of events, all of which are free, thanks to generous sponsors. Also, SilverStone Group is hosting a special event for these donors and supporters. The free events include:

•  “America’s Band,” The Beach Boys, kicks off the celebration with a free concert on the Great Lawn on May 25. Thanks to presenting sponsor, American National Bank. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets – concessions will be available. Opening for The Beach Boys is the heartland’s own Mulberry Lane at 7pm.
• On May 26, the Omaha Symphony will play a patriotic selection appropriate for Memorial Day: Fireworks for Freedom: A Patriotic Salute. The Symphony will be joined by the SAC Band. A fantastic fireworks display will follow the performance that will be seen for miles on either side of the Missouri River.
• The acclaimed Playing with Fire Concert series will bring world-class blues, jazz and funk to the park on May 27. Loessfest will also feature a Food Truck Festival on the 27th, offering food trucks from across the region to showcase their food offerings. Ethnic foods and other unique cuisine will be featured, giving visitors many opportunities for delicious foods

For more information, including the full schedule of events taking place this Summer,  visit Loessfest.com.

MAPLETON, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have been searching for a man or men who tried to abduct girls in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska.  The Monona County Sheriff’s Office says a girl was approached about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the city park in Mapleton. Sheriff Jeff Pratt said Wednesday that the girl didn’t get into the man’s dirty, light blue pickup and was not hurt.

On Monday an 11-year-old girl was approached by a man with a similarly described truck at a beach at the Lakeland community south of Blair in Washington County, Neb. She ran home and wasn’t harmed.  Nebraska and Iowa authorities say they’re not sure whether the incidents are connected, but they’re sharing information.

A Prescott man was arrested Wednesday night in Adams County, for violating a protective order and harassment. The Adams County Sheriff’s Department reports Gary E. Lillie was taken into custody at around 10:05-p.m. on an Adams County warrant. He posted $750 bond and was released, pending a court date.

GRAND JUNCTION, Iowa (AP) – A Union Pacific Railroad coal train has collided with another train carrying cargo containers in central Iowa derailing 20 cars and shutting down a section of the company’s mainline track.  The collision is near Grand Junction.  Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis says about seven cars on the coal train are off the track and 13 cars of the intermodal train -which carries ocean-going containers on flatbed cars – derailed.  The cause of the collision at about 6:50 a.m. (Thursday) is not immediately clear. Investigators are on site.

Davis says the derailment has halted traffic on main tracks between Chicago and the company’s Iowa and Nebraska destinations. If tracks cannot be cleared soon trains will be detoured around the wreckage. No injuries are reported.

w/ Ric Hanson

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An unidentified man fleeing from a traffic stop had a literal run-in with the law, Wednesday afternoon, in Carter Lake. The Omaha World-Herald reports the driver of a car fled from police during an attempted traffic stop at around 1:45-p.m., Wednesday. The man, who was driving a car with Nebraska plates, took off when a Carter Lake Police officer tried to stop him for speeding on Avenue Q into Shoreline Estates.

The vehicle went over curbs and tore through residential yards and streets. The chase ended when the vehicle collided with an SUV driven by Carter Lake Police Chief Shawn Kannedy, near the intersection with Avenue Q and Marina Court. The suspect jumped out of the car and leaped over a fence. Officers found the man lying on the ground near a house. He told police he ran from them because he didn’t have a driver’s license, but officials say he didn’t appear to have a record or any outstanding warrants.

Neither the suspect, nor Chief Kannedy were injured during the collision. Following the crash, the car skidded into a backup generator for the Carter Lake pump system, badly damaging the machine.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – An attorney says a man arrested in Texas in connection with the shooting of an Iowa police officer won’t fight extradition back to Iowa. The Sioux City Journal reports that the attorney for Jamal Dean said Dean told a judge in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Wednesday that he would waive proceedings.

Dean was arrested Saturday in Riviera, Texas. The 21-year-old was wanted on a warrant that listed attempted murder. Dean is accused of shooting a rifle at Sioux City Officer Kevin McCormick during a traffic stop on April 29. McCormick is expected to make a full recovery.

Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew says experienced deputies will go to Texas, take charge of Dean and bring him back to Sioux City.

A (podcast) of some of the latest area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson…

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Officials with the Riverside School District hope another try will do the trick when it comes to passing a bond issued for new district facilities. Superintendent Jim Sutton told KJAN News the district’s Board of Education have accepted a petition calling for a June 25^th Special Election which if approved, would result in the construction of a new, 7th-12th grade facility.  Sutton says voters will decide on a $15.1 million bond issue that leaves the tax levy the same as before, at $2.70 per thousand dollars of valuation. He says “Together with the savings we have and borrowing against our remaining sales tax, we’re looking at about a $23-million project.”

If approved, the new facility would be located near the intersection of Highways 6 and 59, south of Oakland, and it would not require the closure of all three of the district’s buildings. It would also eliminate the idea of a Pre-k through 12^th grade building, and include an auditorium, a geothermal heating system, athletic complex and track, which remain on the district’s priority list. He said those items have simply been moved up on the priority list. Sutton says until the last election in Dec. 2012, the district’s thoughts were to include the extras if the money was available, but by trimming down the project to a 7-12 building, they were able to “Maintain a couple of buildings that are still usable in the district,” and “Assure voters that we would have geothermal in that project, and the athletic complex.” Previously, those items were on the wish list as more money became available.

Previous bond issue attempts for a new K-12 facility were rejected in April, 2011 and February 2012. The last attempt to pass the measure came up short of the 60-percent supermajority needed for the measure to pass, at 59.2-percent. Sutton says that’s because there were a couple of factors working against them. One was an Iowa Western Community College bond issue that was being voted on during the same day, which he says when added to the Oakland District’s bond vote, “Made it look a pretty hefty proposal.” The other issue, was the fact there was only one polling place in the County, which he says affected the turnout.

Sutton says they’re hoping they don’t have to share the ballot this time around, and that the County will be agreeable to having polling places in each one of the district’s communities, as has been the case in the past. An informal meeting on the latest bond measure is expected to take place June 11^th, just weeks before the scheduled Special Election. Additional details on the locations and times for the meeting will be announced in the district’s newsletter and a mailer that will be sent out to the district’s patrons.

Sutton says the main thing they have to overcome this time around, is “Voter Apathy.”  He says with the tax rate having fallen by as much as 80-cents over the past year , it’s a “Wise time to spending this money for a new building, it really is.”

A riverboat casino in Council Bluffs is about to be retired, and replaced with a new, indoor casino. The Daily NonPareil reports all of the gaming operations on-board the “Kanesville Queen” riverboat owned by Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino and Hotel will be removed from the 18-year old boat and taken into a new, 25-thousand square foot, one-level area, where Harrah’s convention rooms were located. The  move has been five-years in the making, according to Senior Vice President and General Manager, Bo Guidry. A change in Iowa law means casinos are no longer required to be on boats, which are expensive to maintain. Guidry said the company expects to save $2-million per year once the vessel is retired and closed at 4-a.m., June 3rd.

The new casino, which is set to hold its grand opening June 8th,  will offer 600 slot machines, including 200 new games and 100 video poker machines. There will be 18 table games featuring customer favorites like blackjack, craps and roulette. Forty-seven high-definition televisions will be installed on the walls around the room, as well.