OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Transportation has shut down several interstate ramps in east Omaha expected to affect 47,000 drivers and cause traffic headaches for motorist in Omaha and western Iowa.

Station KETV reports that westbound Interstate 80 ramp to northbound Interstate 480 has been closed along with northbound Highway 75 ramps to westbound I-80 and northbound I-480. Also, the F Street entrance ramp to northbound Highway 75 is closed.

Drivers are being rerouted east on I-80 to northbound I-29 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, then westbound back into Omaha on I-480. The ramps were closed Wednesday night for construction that’s expected to last until the first week of October. The DOT says the closures are needed for bridge repairs and repaving.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Tennant was arrested for filing false reports with law enforcement. 48-year old Mark Allen Boardman was taken into custody late Sunday night, after deputies were called to the 600 block of Stanley Blvd in Tennant, for reports of shots fired. Deputies arrived on scene and determined in fact no shots were fired. Boardman was booked into the Shelby County Jail and posted a $300 bond Monday afternoon.

And, on June 30th, Sheriffs Deputies in Shelby County arrested 57 year old David Gerard Ausdemore, of Persia, for OWI/1st Offense. Ausdemore was also cited for Speeding, and Reckless Driving. The charges were the result of a traffic stop along Highway 191. Ausdemore was transported to the Shelby County Jail and released the following morning on his own recognizance.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County say a man residing in the 100 block of Kansas Avenue, in Lorimor, reported Wednesday, that sometime during the last couple days, someone came along the side his 1997 Ford F250, and broke out the side window.  The damage was estimated at $350.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling means black defendants on trial in Iowa have a better chance of challenging all-white juries. The court’s decision last Friday throws out a method previously used to gauge the racial composition of a jury and says judges must consider multiple methods of assessment that offer a more balanced review.

The court considered the appeal of Kelvin Plain Sr., a black Waterloo man convicted by an all-white jury of harassment. The jury pool in his case had one black man among 56 potential jurors. Plain’s attorney, Gary Dickey, says the ruling now gives minority defendants in Iowa an avenue to challenge jury pools lacking a minority presence.

Plain may get a new trial if a judge, using the court’s new assessment directive, determines the jury pool violated his right to an impartial jury.

(Update 7/6/17 10:50-a.m.: The Charles City Police Department report a man suspected of murder was apprehended in Chicago. On the Charles City P-D Facebook page: “Last night, the Chicago Police Department took Antoine Williams, age 36, into custody on a warrant for 1st degree murder issued from an incident which took place in Charles City on 06-30-17 at 21:46 hours in the 2100 block of Clarkview Drive. The Chicago Police Department does not have any current charges of their own on the subject.”)

A northeast Iowa murder suspect remains at large, but police have found his vehicle. Charles City Police say 26-year-old Antoine Williams is wanted for the shooting death of another man last Friday night (at an apartment building on the city’s southeast side). The victim has been identified as 36-year-old Nathaniel Fleming of Mason City.

Police said Williams was believed to be driving a red 2006 Chevy Equinox, which has been found in (the 900 block of Oneida Street in) Waterloo. Williams, however, has not been located and police call him “armed and dangerous.”

Antoine Williams

(Radio Iowa)

Davenport’s city council voted Wednesday to revive a ban on the use of fireworks within the city limits. A new state law permits the sale and use of fireworks from June 1st through July 8th and December 10th through January 3rd. While the law prevents cities and counties from banning fireworks sales, it does allow them to ban or limit their use.

Davenport city leaders conducted an experiment to see if residents could use fireworks responsibly. But Mayor Frank Klipsch says there has been some irresponsible use. According to the Quad City Times, Davenport Alderman Mike Matson says, in addition to fireworks being noisy, they have caused five major injuries, three of them serious enough that victims needed to be transported out of town.

Matson also says as of Monday, fireworks have caused two structure fires, one vehicle fire and four major fires outside of buildings.

(Radio Iowa)

A Charles City teen is being declared clinically brain dead after an all-terrain vehicle accident over the holiday. Logan Luft was involved in the ATV accident on July 4th in Charles City. Luft was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester for a severe brain injury. According to a statement from the Charles City Community School District, Luft’s family shared with them on Wednesday evening that Luft was declared clinically brain dead and was being kept on life support while his organ donation recipients were being chosen.

Charles City school officials were providing counseling to Luft’s classmates on Thursday. Luft was going to be entering the 9th grade this fall.

(Radio Iowa)

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Summer is getting into full swing, but parents who are sending a kid to college are being advised to start thinking ahead now about how they are going to pay for it in the fall. Iowa Student Loan C-E-O Steve McCullough says it’s especially important for parents who might use the Federal PLUS Loan program, as the rates increased on July 1st. He says those rates went from six-point-three-one percent to seven percent.

McCullough says there are other options available. “For this particular loan, there are several private student loans that parents can consider using instead. One of those is the Partnership Advanced Education loan provided by Iowa Student Loan. And a new version called the College Family Loan,” McCullough says.

He says the loans administered by his organization do have a lower interest rates. “The highest fixed rate that we’re charging for this fall is six-point-eight-five percent,” according toe McCullough. “Now we know that there are other private loan programs that are available to parents to fill this gap — but we don’t believe that any of them that have this same situation where the highest fixed-rate they are charging is six-point-eight-five percent.”

These are loans that are taken out by the parents with the idea that the college students will eventually pay them off. McCullough says it is important for parents to fully understand that they are on the hook for the loans if the students don’t pay. “Now many parents make the mistake of assuming that there son or daughter will pay it anyway — but that doesn’t happen in all cases — and that leads to some real consternation among the families,” McCullough says.

He says parents and students should do as much research as they can right now to find out all the options available so they don’t have to scramble in the fall.  “Most families tend to look into loan options at the point they get their first bill from the college and they figure out they don’t have the money in their bank account to pay for it,” McCullough explains. “They receive their award letter from the college that said they may need to borrow in the spring, but they’ve still been trying to arrange how they are going to pay for it.”

Iowa Student Loan is the non-profit entity in the state that administers students loans. McCullough says they have a variety of information on their website about student loans and borrowing.

(Radio Iowa)

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