A Red Oak man was cited following a single-vehicle accident this (Tuesday) morning, near Red Oak. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says a SWITA (Southwest Iowa Transit) bus was legally stopped at a railroad crossing about one-quarter of a mile west of the intersection of Highways 48 and 34 outside of Red Oak, when a 2008 Dodge Caravan registered to JFSCO Engineering, approached from behind. The driver of the van, 62-year old Charles Peter Crawford, of Red Oak, was checking an e-mail on his cell phone, and did not see the SWITA bus, with its 4-way flashers on.

When Crawford finally noticed the bus, he took evasive action. The JSFCO van entered the north ditch and hit the railroad tracks before coming to rest in a field. The vehicle sustained $3,000 damage. There was no damage to the SWITA bus. The accident happened at around 9:45-a.m.

Officials say following an investigation, Crawford was cited for using an Electronic Communications Device While Driving.

(12:40-p.m. News)

President Obama on Monday signed a law which extends a program named for a late National Guardsman from Iowa. Andrew Connolly of Dubuque spent 16 months in Iraq before returning home in August 2007. A year later, doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in his spine related to his military service. Andrew quickly lost his ability to walk and applied for a federal veterans grant to help build a wheel-chair accessible home. Connolly died just under one year ago. His wife, Jennifer, remains in the home. Jennifer is now caring for the couple’s son, Brody, who has a neuromuscular disorder that restricts his breathing and keeps him confined to a wheelchair.

The “Andrew Connolly Veterans Housing Act” was set to expire, but now the benefit is extended for a decade. In May of 2011, Andrew Connolly testified before a panel in Washington, D.C. about the frustration he felt when he was confined to a wheelchair while living in a duplex built in 1890. The federal grant allowed him and his family to move into the wheel-chair accessible home.

“Today, I am in my new house. Today, I took a shower by myself in a five by five (foot) roll-in shower with handicap controls. Today, I cooked my own breakfast because I was able to reach all of the ingredients. Today, I was able to watch my son sleeping in his bedroom because I could (fit) through the doorway with my wheelchair,” Connolly said during the hearing. Andrew Connolly died on August 26, 2011. He was 28 years old.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors Wednesday, are expected to act on approving a Resolution to place a public measure on the November 6th General Election ballot, calling for the appointment of township officers to occur by the Board of Supervisors, rather than by election. Auditor Dale Sunderman says 12 townships in Cass County current have their positions filled by the Supervisors. Four townships (Benton, Edna, Union and Victoria), would be affected if the Resolution is approved.

The Board is also expected to act on awarding a tuckpointing contract to one of two firms who submitted bids and made presentations to the board a couple of weeks ago. The Supervisor’s meeting begins at 9-a.m., in their board room at the Cass County Courthouse, in Atlantic.

The Iowa State Fair begins Thursday, but hundreds of people are already camping on the fairgrounds. Kevin Muxfeldt of Story City started setting up his family’s campsite last Saturday. “There’s so much to do here that I don’t want to have a heart attack,” he says, “so I take my time, get everything all set up and leveled up.”

The Muxfeldts have two adjacent camping spots. He and his wife stay in one camper and his mother — 80-year-old Aretta, of Webster City — stays in the other. Green indoor/outdoor carpeting covers the space between the campers and Muxfeldt tacked it down with laths so the wind doesn’t whip the carpeting away.  “This is like Grand Central Station,” he says of the spot. “We have three-quarter-inch plywood picnic tables on both sides, lawn chairs all over the place. I’ve got the ice cream maker here.”

Muxfeldt was sitting in one of those lawn chairs, relaxing underneath an awning on Monday afternoon, as an electric fan sitting on one of those picnic tables stirred up the air. Muxfeldt has two words for those who’d like to start camping at the fair.  “Good luck,” he said. “If you get these spots and you give ’em up, it’s like Green Bay Packers tickets. You’ll never get it back because there’s a waiting list a mile long wanting to get reserved spots here because we have electricity, we have water and about 13 years ago I came in and we have sewer hook-up, so we have all the comforts of home.”

The Muxfeldt family has the two spots closest to the east gate that leads from the campgrounds into the fairgrounds. Muxfeldt’s mother secured their prime location 35 years ago, when one of the two spots was mainly occupied by a huge oak tree. That tree was knocked down by a tornado several years ago, making more room for two campers.

(Radio Iowa)

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Department reports 20-year old Micah Blake Taylor, of Exira, was arrested Monday night. Taylor was taken into custody on an outstanding Audubon County warrant charging him with Domestic Abuse Assault. The charge stems from an incident which allegedly occurred at a residence in Exira, on Saturday, August 4th. Taylor was being held in the Audubon County Jail without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

A public hearing with regard to the plans, specifications and form of contract for the Atlantic Municipal Airport’s Taxiway Grading and Fuel Lane construction project will be held Wednesday morning, in the airport terminal building. Following the 9-a.m. hearing, the Airport Commission will act on a Resolution approving the plans, specs and form of contract. The City received a grant amounting to more than $510,760 last May, to help pay for the project and other improvements at the airport. The grant requires a 10-percent local match.

The Commission will also review the construction bids, and pass a Resolution awarding a contract for the project. They’ll also review the status of the City Hangar Door replacement project, before hearing other, airport-related discussion and business. The hangar door project received a $36,000 grant from the State of Iowa. The project calls for an old, manually sliding hangar door to be replaced with one that is hydraulically operated.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Army Corps of Engineers is again reducing its prediction for how much water will flow down the Missouri River this year because of the drought.  The corps now predicts 21 million acre-feet of runoff this year in the 2,341-mile-long river that flows from Montana through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. That forecast is about 85 percent of normal, and well below last year’s record amount of 61.2 million acre-feet of runoff. Flooding along the river last year caused massive damage, but this year the amount of snowmelt and rain flowing into the river is below normal.  Some of the extra water stored in reservoirs along the river has been used to provide enough water for navigation, power and other uses of the river.

An accident in Atlantic Monday morning caused $3,500 damage, but no one was injured. The police department reports a vehicle driven by Marilyn Spatz, of Urbandale, had stopped at the intersection of 2nd and Poplar Streets headed north, but then pulled out in front of another vehicle. Officials say Spatz didn’t see the vehicle driven by Todd McDermott, of Walnut, which was traveling east on 2nd Street. Spatz’ bumper hit the McDermott vehicle on the right side. The accident happened just before 10:30-a.m. Officials say Spatz was cited for Failure to Yield upon entering a through highway or street.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State Fair officials are on alert but not overly worried about swine flu cases showing up at the fair as it begins Thursday. Animals have been passing a new swine flu strain on to humans. Officials say more than two dozen human cases of the new strain have been confirmed in the U.S. in the past year. Ten cases confirmed last week were linked to the Butler County Fair in southwest Ohio.

Iowa State Fair manager Gary Slater, says that the state veterinarian has been checking fairground preparations before up to 3,500 pigs start arriving today (Tuesday). Each animal must have papers from its local veterinarian, attesting to the animal’s health. Slater says any pig that appears to be sick will be sent home if necessary.

A vehicle which had been parked in the driveway of a Clarinda funeral home was driven through a garage door, last Tuesday (July 31st). The Clarinda Police Department says the owner of the Walker-Merrick Funeral Home reported a burglary and theft had occurred at the funeral home. Officials say a BMW parked in the drive had been crashed through a garage door at the funeral home. The owner of the business said two firearms that had been in the vehicle were stolen. No damage estimates to either the building or the BMW were given at the time of the report. The incident remains under investigation.

Police in Clarinda also report no arrests have been made in connection with a series of vandalism incidents which occurred the week of July 22nd through the 28th. The damage amounted to more than $2,500, and included an incident which took place at the Meadow Run Apartment Complex, where a sign designating the location of the business office had been deliberately set on fire.

Officials say also, no arrests have been made in connection with several incidents of theft that occurred that same week. Items stolen include: the hood to a riding lawn mower; cash, a cell phone charger and CD’s taken from a vehicle, and, an I-Pod. The loss amounted to more than $730 altogether.