LA PORT CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities intend to renew their water search for an eastern Iowa teenager who’s been missing for nearly three weeks. Sixteen-year-old Jake Wilson, of La Porte City, was last seen around 9 p.m. April 7, going for a walk to nearby Wolf Creek. A search began less than an hour later, when he didn’t return home. His mother, Megan Neiswonger, has said Jake has autism with a mild intellectual disorder and functions at the level of a 9-year-old.

La Porte City Police Chief Chris Brecher says trained crews from law enforcement and fire departments will be involved Saturday and Sunday, as well as heavy equipment to pull apart log jams in Wolf Creek. He says the creek and other water bodies need to be rechecked as water levels rise and fall, changing conditions.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s Department of Transportation does not currently have the authority to order cities to remove automated traffic-enforcement cameras from highways and interstates. The state’s high court on Friday reversed a state judge’s ruling last April that found the department did have that authority.

The ruling comes on the appeal of three Iowa cities — Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Muscatine — of the judge’s ruling. Those cities had sought the judicial review in 2015 after the DOT ordered some speed cameras turned off, determining that the cameras did not make interstate highways safer.

The three cities had argued that the DOT was infringing on cities’ ability to self-govern and that it lacked statutory authority to make rules regulating speed cameras.

An Atlantic family-owned hardware store in existence for 79-years, and in Cass County for 98-years, is closing its doors. Jack Jensen, owner of Robinson True Value Hardware on Chestnut Street, formally announced today (Friday), that he’s going out of business, effective June 30^th. Jensen said the business wasn’t always located in Atlantic. It was originally located in Wiota in 1920. The business moved to Atlantic in 1939. Jack’s dad, Rodney Jensen took over running the business from Bruce Robinson and bought it in the mid-1960’s. Jack said he spent his time playing and having fun in the store when he was growing up.

Robinson True Value owner Jack Jensen talks about the store’s closing in June.

He’s also seen political celebrities walk through his doors, including Walter Mondale, who served as Vice President under President Jimmy Carter, in the mid-70’s. Jack has worked in the store for 44-years. His dad worked there for 54-years. Jack over the business when his dad developed cancer. He took a hardship deferment from Arizona State University and planned to spend just a few weeks running the business, but that turned into decades. Now, he’s closing up shop in June due to his own health and other reasons. He said he had a heart attack in January, and that “Put the icing on the cake.” He attributed the decision also, to a lack of foot traffic in the store over the past couple of years due to on-line sales and big box stores. Jensen said it’s hard for a brick and mortar store to compete. It wasn’t always that way, though. He said “Things were good for a long-long time…but the times…we just started to see the wave.”

Jack said also, he put in 60-hours per week-plus for 40-years, at the store, and that’s taken away time from his family. His kids, he said, don’t want to take over the business for that very reason. He said he’s only taken one two-week vacation his entire life, and plans to take this summer off. Both he and his dad were always active in the community, and in fact both served as Presidents of the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

In order to help liquidate his inventory, Robinson’s will offer big discounts beginning May 1^st. The store itself is also for sale. Jensen wants to thank his customers and his five employees for their patronage and service. One of the customers, who died recently at the age of 100, had conducted business at the store for more than 44-years. Jack said he was honored to be an honorary pallbearer at her funeral. He also thanked his employees for their hard work. There will be a party at the Elk’s Club June 30^th, with a live band to celebrate the business’ storied history Jack’s retirement. More details will be released at a later date.

WEST LIBERTY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an eastern Iowa man died after becoming trapped in a grain bin. Cedar Rapids station KCRG reports that Cedar County first responders were sent around 5:50 p.m. Thursday to a farm about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of West Liberty. The Cedar County Sheriff’s Office says 64-year-old Randy Koch was pronounced dead at the scene.

The hostess of the Cooking Channel program “Good to Know” is urging Iowans to change up their grocery shopping habits. Laurie March, who also appears on the H-G-T-V show “House Counselor,” notes Iowa farmers may be helping to feed the world, but a lot of that food winds up in the garbage.  “Believe it or not, one-third of all the food that’s produced on earth gets wasted,” March says. “Much of it is ending up in a landfill.” A study finds the average American wastes 27-dollars worth of food every week, or about 14-hundred dollars worth per year. March says the food waste problem causes double-trouble in the state’s landfills.  “Aside from taking up a ton of space, all that food is breaking down and it’s releasing methane gas, which is a greenhouse gas and it’s contributing to our climate change,” she says.

We should stop buying food in bulk, March says, and make out a weekly meal plan, only buying what we’ll use that week.  “Obviously, we can all make some changes in our shopping habits,” March says. “We can look to use food better, is there some preserving you could do at the end there or is there a big soup you could make where you could throw lots of things in before they go bad.” In addition to freezing leftovers, she suggests sharing with friends and neighbors. “Use everything and maybe keep a journal,” March says. “Look at the end of the week and say, ‘Hey, wow, I wasted all of this so when I go to the grocery store next time, I’ll buy half as much,’ so you don’t throw away that 27 bucks a week.”

She also suggests using your garbage disposal more instead of tossing food in the trash. So it won’t end up in a landfill, that food goes through the water treatment system which she says is more environmentally-friendly.

(Radio Iowa, w/thanks to Karla James in Omaha)

Officials with the Glenwood Police Department report 40-year old Matthew Eichelberger, of Glenwood, was arrested Thursday. Eichelberger was taken into custody for Driving While Barred. His bond was set at $2,000 cash or surety.

(9-a.m. News)

Officials with the Harlan Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office say they have received numerous calls from citizens regarding phone calls claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service. A caller will tell you that money is owed to the IRS and that you can be arrested if the call is not returned and/or money sent. Authorities warn “These are scam calls. The IRS will NEVER contact anyone by phone regarding their tax status.  Ignore these calls. Do not call them back or give out any personal information. If a voicemail has been left with you, simply delete the message.”

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on recent arrests and other activities. Authorities say a man who was getting ready to bond-out of the Pott. County Jail, was served with a warrant Thursday morning, for Violation of Parole. 42-year old Anthony Cortez Francis, of Council Bluffs, was advised of the warrant and returned to the custody of Corrections Staff. Late Thursday morning, a Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputy appeared at a residence in Neola, to locate a woman who had a valid warrant for Probation Violation. He spoke with 36-year old Staci Lynn Ashley, of Neola, the person wanted on the warrant. She acknowledged the warrant and asked to make some phone calls to arrange for bail. She was permitted to do so, then taken into custody and booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail without incident.

At around 11-p.m. Thursday, an eastern Iowa man was arrested by a Pott. County Deputy, at the Love’s Truck Stop, in Shelby. 42-year old Jason Asa Grulkey, of Cedar Rapids, was loitering at the Truck Stop and was asked to leave the area, but refused to so. A Deputy located Grulkey and ran a license check on him. Dispatch advised Grulkey had warrants for his arrest out of Linn County.  He was into custody and transported to Pott. County Corrections to be held on the Linn County warrant until their deputies could pick him up and transport him back to Linn County.

A man from Council Bluffs was arrested early this (Friday) morning, after 52-year old Vernon Atkinson, of Glenmora, LA., called the Sheriff’s Office at around 1:10-a.m.  Atkinson reported to authorities someone had tried to break into his truck while he was sleeping on the side of the road on Interstate 80 at the 17 mile marker. When Atkinson confronted the suspect, 31-year old Jestin Michael Hambright, Hambright fled east on Interstate 80. Atkinson followed the suspect vehicle to the 23 mile marker, where law enforcement was able to make contact and stop the suspect vehicle on 298th Street just east of Neola.

The driver of the suspect vehicle was identified as Hambright, who was taken into custody for burglary 2nd degree. Hambright was also charged with a restraining order violation due to his sister 18-year old Shaylee Elizabeth Hambright being in the vehicle. There is currently a no contact order in place between Jestin and Shaylee Hambright, with Shaylee Hambright being the protected party. A third passenger in the suspect vehicle identified as Zachary Michael Digilio was taken into custody for having outstanding warrant for Theft and Violation of Probation, in Pottawattamie County.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation report construction work on Interstate 29 in Sioux City, will require closing the inside lane of northbound I-29 from the Floyd River to Hamilton Boulevard nightly, from 6-p.m. until 6-a.m. Sunday nights through Friday mornings, weather permitting, from this Sunday, April 29, until Friday, May 11th. Motorists should expect to encounter road construction crews and slow down…it’s the law.

Warm spring weather has been slow to spread across Iowa and the rest of the Northern Plains, causing costly delays for planting, construction and other outdoor activities. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub, says changes are underway in the major climate drivers. “We are transitioning between La Nina and potential El Nino, so, a large part of what you’re seeing here is trapped,” Todey says. “There is this noted warming hole over the middle part of the country in the middle part of summer, so that’s what is coming into play here.”

La Nina patterns often bring cooler temperatures along with more storms in some areas and droughts elsewhere. El Nino patterns typically do the opposite. Due to the extended cold weather, many Iowa farmers are a couple of weeks behind in planting and Todey says it will take quite a while to get back to normal growing conditions.  “The catching up cannot happen during the early part of the summer,” he says. “Above-average temperatures, middle part of the summer don’t do much to catch us up in the way of growing degree days.”

Todey says there is no single cause for the prolonged winter we’ve seen across much of the region in recent weeks. “There is a little bit of La Nina influence still because we still are in La Nina,” he says, “but there’s not one indicator. There’s a combination of several different things that has locked into it.”

Many areas in the region have set all-time April records for snow and cold temperatures. The Midwest Climate Hub is based in Ames.

(Radio Iowa)