A backhoe being hauled by a truck struck a bridge south of  Carson Monday afternoon, causing $250,000 damage to the bridge and $8,000 damage to the backhoe. Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department spokesman, Sgt. Dwayne Riche told KJAN News 32-year old Travis Meyer, of Atlantic, was driving a 1990 Mack truck hauling a Caterpiller backhoe. The vehicle was traveling westbound on Highway 92 at around 3-p.m., when the boom of the backhoe, which was too high to pass under the bridge,  struck multiple supports for the Highway 59 overpass. Following the impact, the truck and its cargo came to rest about 70-yards west of Highway 59, on the north shoulder of Highway 92. The backhoe is owned by Bluffs Paving and Utility, in Crescent.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson…

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(Updates to add driver’s name)

A Sioux City truck driver escaped injury this (Tuesday) morning, when the 2003 Peterbilt semi he was driving crashed on Interstate 80, in northwestern Cass County.

Accident scene (I-80 EB, 50.5-mile marker) (Photo courtesy Cass Co. Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon)

The Iowa State Patrol reports 23-year old Blaze Anthony Gill was traveling east on I-80 near the Marne exit at around 6:35-a.m., when the Interstate Batteries of Sioux City-owned truck drifted onto the right shoulder and hit a guardrail. The impact caused the semi to roll onto its left side. The crash caused batteries being hauled by the semi to be scattered about on the roadway.  Both eastbound lanes being blocked for nearly two and one-half hours, while crews worked to clean up the hazardous material and remove the semi.  Emergency crews from Atlantic and Marne responded to the scene, along with the Iowa State Patrol and Cass County Sheriff’s deputies.

Adams County is one of seven counties or communities across the state to be nominated for a “Prettiest Painted Places in America,” award. The other nominees include: Albia, Decorah, Greater Des Moines, Grinnell, Orange City, and Pella. The competition is sponsored by the Paint Quality Institute (PQI), whose mission is to educate the public about quality paints and coatings, and the “Prettiest Painted Places.” Adams County was nominated because of its picturesque area “Nestled in the rolling hills of the southwestern part of the state.” The PQI says county is “Dotted with beautiful communities and nicely painted homes and businesses.”

Over the next few weeks, the seven Iowa communities will vie with nearly 200 nominees from other states for regional and national honors, as judges with expertise in color selection, exterior painting, and home improvement review the entries, conduct additional research and make selected site visits.  Finalists will be announced later this month,  the nation’s 12 “Prettiest Painted Places” will be revealed in mid-October.

The Paint Quality Institute has conducted its competition twice before, most recently in 2000.  Its purpose is to vividly show how an attractive paint color scheme can greatly enhance the “curb appeal” of any structure’s exterior. A wide variety of “places” have been entered in the competition — big city neighborhoods, tiny rural towns, historical districts, “Main Streets” and communities with exterior mural programs.  Nominees range from well-known places, such as Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Napa, California to hidden gems like Vashon-Maury Island, Washington and Bell Buckle, Tennessee.

The names and locations of all of the nominees are posted on the Paint Quality Institute website at blog.paintquality.com.

Police in Red Oak say a teenager was arrested Monday afternoon on a charge of Simple Assault, following an incident at the Red Oak High School. 16-year-old Cassidy Lea Cleaver, allegedly attacked a school staff member. The girl was taken into custody at around 2:50-p.m., and later released to one of her parent’s.

The state Office of Drug Control Policy and the “Partnership at Drugfree Iowa-dot-org” are holding a listening post in Council Bluffs this (Tuesday) afternoon. Partnership president, Peter Komendowski, says they want to hear from the communities in Iowa about illegal drug activity related to kids. “There’s been a lot of issues over the past few years in terms of what the state should do in terms of legislation, drug control policy and then prevention and education programs to best meet the needs of the various communities,” Komendowski says. “And it’s been key for us at the Parternship to reach out to the communities because so many of them don’t feel they have a voice in Des Moines… and I think that is part of the job.”

This will be the second listening post, following one held last week in Clinton. “What we found was a strong contingent of educators and treatment professionals that felt that we were not doing an effective job of providing enough resources, both to parents and educators as well as children to understand the scope of the problems. Problems that have seen an increase, especially in generational issues with either substance abuse or criminal behavior.”

Komendowski says these listening posts are targeted at reaching all those who think they need to do more.  “We want people to feel if they don’t have a voice — or especially if they feel they may be frustrated — to come to this forum. We will listen to them. I make a point of it,” Komendowski says.

There is another forum scheduled for October second in Waterloo, and Komendowski says he would like to schedule 12 to 14 more across the state. If you are not able to attend a forum, he says you can go to Drug-Free-Iowa-dot-org, and contact him with your concerns. The forum today is at Heartland Family Service in Council Bluffs.

(Radio Iowa)

An Iowa State University economist says with the drought pushing up corn and soy beans prices, you can expect to pay more for food at the grocery store. Chad Hart says prices in 2013 could go up about one to one-and-a-half percent more than the normal. “It’s going to be distributed across the products that we buy at the grocery story. We’re likely to see more impact in the meats than we will in say the produce or the grain section of the grocery store,” Hart says. He recommends putting some beef in your freezer now before prices go up. “It’s probably not a bad idea, and if you’re also one that consumes pork, buy some pork here during the fourth quarter. These will be some of the lowest pork prices that we’ll see,” Hart says. Hart says food prices normally go up about two-and-a-half percent each year, so you can tack that additional cost brought on by the drought problems to that increase.

(Radio Iowa)

A deep disagreement over voting and lack of progress on the Farm Bill were the hallmarks of last night’s debate between Republican Congressman Steve King and Christie Vilsack, his Democratic challenger. The two candidates appeared together at a forum in Hampton and King said it’s time to not only require a photo I.D. for voting, but for election officials all over the country to check the voter registration lists for non-citizens. “There’s no reason for anybody to defend anything else because there’s voter fraud that’s determining these elections and it’s got to stop,” King said, getting cheers and whistles from his supporters in the audience.

Vilsack expressed reservations about requiring a photo I.D. “It is restrictive in many cases for people who are elderly,” she said. “There are a lot of situations where people don’t have a picture I.D. and they need to be able to vote.” Vilsack did not directly address King’s comment about non-citizens casting ballots, but she did speak to his assertion there is voter fraud. “I don’t think that there’s any evidence that there is a great deal of voter fraud out there,” Vilsack said, getting moans and groans from some in the audience and applause from others in the audience. “It’s the most important right and responsibility a person has in this country, to be able to vote, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure that people are allowed to do it.” King was given a minute to offer a rebuttal.

“I heard that, ‘We should do all we can to encourage every person to vote.’ I don’t agree. I completely don’t agree. I think they should be citizens of the United States of America in order to cast a ballot,” King said. According to King, voter fraud is “real” and if it’s not addressed, he said it will change the “destiny” of the U.S. “There are people here that might be visiting America, they might be on a green card, they might be here illegally — and there are people out there recruiting them to vote now,” King said. “We’ve got to stop that before we turn this country over to people that are not American citizens.” The subject of the Farm Bill was raised by the debate’s moderator.

Vilsack began: “I think Steve King should have shown more leadership on this and should have pounded on the door of Speaker Boehner…in making sure we have a Farm Bill.” King replied: “I’m not really sure if Mrs. Vilsack wants me to be a leader or a follower. I’ve gotten advice to be both a leader and a follower and it depends on the issue.” Throughout the debate King accused Vilsack of lobbing “baseless charges” his way. He also attacked the way Vilsack’s husband, former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, is running the U.S.D.A., twice mentioning a “Meatless Monday” idea unsuccessfully floated by an agency employee. Christie Vilsack did not speak of her husband’s role as U.S. ag secretary during the debate. Vilsack closed the debate by saying she’d be able to hold her own in congress because — as a former 8th grade teacher — she’s “used to dealing with adolescent behavior.”

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Two vehicles, including an Iowa State Patrol cruiser sustained a total of $1,900 damage during an accident Friday afternoon, in Elliott. According to a report filed Monday by the State Patrol, at around 4:35-p.m. Trooper Sgt. Martin McCreedy, of Council Bluffs, had conducted a traffic stop at Main and Minden Streets in Elliott. The vehicle, a 2007 Chrysler Town and Country van driven by 64-year old Kenneth Peterson, of Elliott, was pulled over for speeding, and because Peterson allegedly failed to wear his seat belt. When Sgt. McCreedy activated the emergency lights on his 2008 Ford Crown Victoria patrol vehicle, the van stopped in the middle of the intersection, facing east.

McCreedy pulled up behind the van, exited his patrol car and noticed the van was backing up. The van continued to turn left while in reverse, and hit the cruiser on the left front bumper before coming to rest. Peterson told McCreedy he was backing up to a repair shop at the northwest corner of the intersection, to have a tired repaired, when the collision occurred. No injuries were reported, and no citations were issued in association with the accident.