Some sunshine Thursday afternoon helped snow plow drivers and motorists in western and northwest Iowa deal with the big snowfall there, but the heavy wet snow has made progress slow going on hard surface roads. Woodbury County Deputy, Lieutenant Tony Wingert, says it took crews much longer to deal with what was 15 inches of snow that had drifted. “It’s such a heavy snow, it has taken them a lot more passes to get it wider — because they just can’t push that much weight off to the shoulder. But with every pass, the roads are getting a little wider and a little better,” Wingert says.

Wingert says some of the county’s roads are still in rough shape, and it may take some time for them to recover. “They were soft prior to this because of the frost going out and everything, and now you put this much moisture on them. A lot of those, they may be impassible for days,” according to Wingert. He says it made it tough for emergency vehicles to get to rural areas.

Wingert says in one case they had to call in the helicopter to go to a call because the Correctionville Ambulance wasn’t able to get there. “If you are on a main thoroughfare we should be okay. But if you are on a gravel, it may take emergency vehicles a while to get to you,” Wingert says. At least one county snowplow got stuck. Wingert says travel conditions should improve today (Friday) as crews have more time to clear snow and make the roads safer.

(Radio Iowa)

Some 300 riders on horseback are taking part in an Easter weekend tradition in Iowa today (Friday) as the 49th annual Pony Express Ride for Camp Sunnyside gets underway. Tim Allen of Whittemore is president-elect of the Pony Express Riders who are all headed for the Easter Seals facility in Ankeny, just north of Des Moines. “There’s rides all over Iowa from northeast to southeast to southwest to northwest,” Allen says. “We all start off in our designated counties and we all end up at Easter Seals down at Camp Sunnyside.”

The riders are bringing with them money from dances, toll roads and other fundraising activities to present to Easter Seals. They’re all due at the camp on Saturday afternoon and that night, there will be a dance at Lake Robbins Ballroom near Woodward. “All of the Pony Express riders are volunteers,” Allen says. “We do this out of the kindness of our hearts. None of us get any kickback out of it other than the joy from the kids and adults that benefit from what we do throughout the year at Camp Sunnyside.”

In recent years, the riders have brought in a quarter-million dollars or more to help with the camp that’s been in operation more than 80 years. The ride has been held every year since 1968. Learn more at: www.ponyexpressridersofiowa.org.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A fourth suspect charged in a conspiracy to ship weapons from Iowa to Lebanon has pleaded guilty. Thirty one-year-old Bassem Herz entered his plea on Thursday in a federal court in Cedar Rapids. Herz, along with three family members, was arrested in May 2015 after agents intercepted shipping containers headed from Cedar Rapids to Beirut that had many guns and rounds of ammunition hidden inside construction equipment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican House leaders plan to introduce legislation that would fund water quality initiatives without using a sales tax set aside for education infrastructure. The announcement Thursday indicates Gov. Terry Branstad’s proposal to merge the two efforts is dead this session. House lawmakers say their proposal would use other revenue sources, which could include money that typically goes to the general fund or dollars from a separate infrastructure fund.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who had long been suspected in the 1985 slaying of his wife’s lover was charged in the death after investigators took a fresh look at the case. Anthony Burtch, 57, was arrested at his Iowa City home and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Lance Lee DeWoody.

SHELLSBURG, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man has been charged in the death of a woman whose body was found near a stolen truck. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says Thursday that 32-year-old David Miller has been charged with first-degree murder in the October 2015 death of 25-year-old Sabrina Hustad. An autopsy showed she died of multiple stab wounds and strangulation. Police found her body when they arrived at Miller’s residence in Shellsburg. Her body was near a stolen truck.