More than a dozen bridges in Cass County failed to pass a recent inspection, and either must have their maximum weight load lowered and re-posted, or they will need to be closed. That was the word from Assistant County Engineer Rich Hanson, who spoke Wednesday morning before the County Board of Supervisors. Hansen said there are 16 bridges that are in bad enough shape that the posted weight limit needs reduced. Inspectors recommended closing two bridges. One of the bridges, #450, was closed Tuesday. Hansen says that’s the high truss bridge over the Nishnabotna River located near the Schildberg Recreation Area walking path, off of Buck Creek Road.

The other bridge is Bridge #83, known as the Griswold Golf Course bridge. Inspectors cited severe rust as the reason for closing the bridge, but Hansen says the County may keep it open, with a reduced weight limit, instead. It would have a 3-ton weight limit and be restricted to one-lane only. The bridge has a 15-mile per hour speed limit. Hansen said some of the worst beams on the Golf Course bridge are along the west wheel path. He says they’re so badly rusted, you can put your hand through the center part of the beam, but the top and bottom are still intact.

He said they will put a 10×10 curb along the bad section and restrict the lane to a 15-foot width on the east side of the bridge until the replacement project for that bridge is let for bids. Hansen says the bridges have deteriorated since their last inspection in part, due to the salt and calcium on the roads being transferred to the bridges by vehicles passing through them. He said once the rust starts, it’s very hard to stop.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday), approved the awarding of a contract to Tbb&m, LLC in Greenfield, for reconstruction of the lower floor of the building at 707 Poplar Street. That portion of the building will be used as a new 9-1-1/Communications Center.

The Board held-off on awarding the contract during their meeting last week, because there was an insufficient breakdown of the costs. Cass County 9-1-1 Director Rob Koppert presented a revised listing of the costs through the project’s architects, but it still wasn’t to the Supervisors’ satisfaction. Supervisor Chuck Rieken said he understands why the contractor wouldn’t want to provide too much in the line of specifics. he said the general contractor wouldn’t want to do that unless their bid was accepted. Koppert agreed.

What swayed the board to accept the $365,000 bid, was a reduction in the amount the County will have to pay. Koppert said he had “$75,353 worth of good news” where the cost was concerned. He said the County can pay the entire cost of the HVAC installation with 9-1-1 Surcharge money, instead of property tax dollars, which saves the County $41,800. And, since the generator is required by State law, the County can pro-rate what the usage would be, since the machine would power the entire building, and not just the Comm. Center in the event of primary power failure. A pro-rated amount of $33,563 can be paid for the 9-1-1 Surcharge dollars.

That leaves the County to pay $11,187 on the generator portion, for a total bill to the County amounting to $280,647. $75,353 would be paid through 9-1-1 surcharges.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports two men were arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with a burglary and theft. Officers arrested 32-year old Joshua Jay Martin,  of Clarinda for second degree burglary of an occupied structure and theft in the second degree, for exercising control over stolen property.Also arrested was 55-year old Jeff Dale Veach, of Clarinda, for being an accessory after the fact.

Martin and Veach were arrested at the Parkview Apartment Complex, located at 1001 E. Main Street. Both men were transported to the Page County Jail and held on $15,000 bond, each. A decision with regard to the filing of formal charges is under review by Page County Attorney Jeremy S. Peterson.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Waves of storms moving through western Iowa Tuesday evening into early this (Wednesday) morning, brought destructive winds, hail and heavy rain. The National Weather Service out of Valley, NE. will send a survey team to the Oakland area this morning to assess damage following a possible tornado that may have been responsible for knocking roofs off grain elevators.

The first wave of storms rolled into western Iowa from Nebraska Tuesday afternoon and evening, knocking out power for several hours to more than 5,100 customers of OPPD in Omaha. Mid American Energy reports 2,677 customers were still without power in Council Bluffs this morning.

Damage reports from around the area include downed trees in Council Bluffs, where there were numerous incidents of streets flooding, and water over the hoods of vehicles. In Corning, numerous homes and outbuildings were damaged by falling tree limbs, which also took out power lines not only in Corning, but elsewhere in Adams County. Large hail shattered some windshields in Corning, and damaged a fire department vehicle.

Montgomery County officials say high winds caused extensive damage in the Red Oak area, where several trees fell on vehicles and there were scattered power outages, but no immediate reports of structural damage. Roads across southwest Iowa were temporarily flooded and/or blocked by flood debris last night. In Cass County, there was debris reported between 550th and Victoria Roads, after flood waters crossed in that area.

Thunderstorm winds estimated at 86 miles per hour whipped through an area northeast of Massena Tuesday evening, while ping-pong ball to egg-sized hail pounding the same area. There were also reports of 2-to 3-foot diameter tree limbs crashing to the ground in Massena as the first wave of storms blew through. Street flooding was reported in Griswold for a time Tuesday evening, with water hubcap deep at times.

For a chronological listing of storm reports and damage, go to the Weather page at KJAN.com and scroll through the warnings and other information to find our Storm report.

The winners of local and most state primary elections have been tallied, with only the U-S Representative in District 3 left to be determined. Here is a summary of some local election results. These figures will not become official until canvassed in the respective counties.

In Cass County, Mary Ward beat out three other Republicans in garnering nearly 46.5% (811) of the 1,747 votes to win the Recorder’s job. Shelly Glynn was a distant second, with 27.65% (483) of the votes. Incumbent County Attorney Dan Fiestner was defeated by Dave Wiederstein, who received a little more than 64% of the votes cast (1,112) to Feistner’s 35.47% (613).  Feistner reflected on the results during Wednesday morning’s Cass County Board of Supervisor’s meeting. He said “Obviously the primary didn’t turn out too good for me yesterday, but hey, live and press on, right?” Feistner, who has served the County for 10-years, will remain as the County Attorney until the end of the current calendar year (December 31). Supervisors Gaylord Schelling and Mark Wedemeyer were unopposed in the Primary, as was County Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall.

In Adair County, Incumbent Republican Supervisor Cliff Sheriff lost the Primary to his Republican challenger Brian Rohrig in District 4. Rohrig garnered 64.3% of the vote, and moves on to face Dem. Jodie Hoadley in the November 4th General Election.

In Adams County, Republican Leland Shipley will meet Democrat Tyler Edwards in November, to determine who will sit in the District 4 Supervisor’s seat. Shipley beat fellow Republican Kevin Olsen to advance to the General Election.

In Guthrie County, Incumbent Republican Clifford Carney received nearly 61% of the vote and moves on to face Democrat Kerry Sheeder in November, to determine the winner of the Supervisor seat in District 2, while incumbent Republican Thomas Rutledge was the winner in the District 4 race.

In Montgomery County, your Republican winners include: Steven Ratcliff – Supervisor, District 1; Joshua Wiig – Supervisor, District 2; and Mark L. Peterson – Supervisor, District 4.

In  Shelby County, Republican Geralyn Greer and Democrat Jessica Gessert will meet in November to determine who will become the County Recorder, after both women beat out their respective challengers in the Primary. And, in Pottawattamie County, Republican Mark Brandenburg will face Democrat Flory Blount in November, to determine the winner of the County Recorder’s job. Republican incumbents Scott Belt and Loren Knauss, along with Justin Schultz, were the winners of a seven man Republican race for three seats on the Board of Supervisors.

For any other results, go to the Iowa Secretary of State’s website at sos.iowa.gov.

Republican voters in Iowa’s third congressional district failed to push a candidate across the 35 percent mark needed to secure the G-O-P nomination, so a convention will be held to pick the party’s candidate for November. Brad Zaun, a former Urbandale mayor and a current member of the state senate, was the top vote-getter, with just under 25 percent support in the primary. “My message is not going to change,” Zaun says. “Obviously going to be having a lot of conversations with all the delegates. I’ve already contacted all of them once. I personally called all of them, I’m guessing probably it’s been a couple of months ago.”

Robert Cramer, a construction company executive from Johnston, was just three-and-a-half percentage points behind Zaun. “We knew it would be tough to really pull away from the pack,” Cramer says. “But we feel like being our first time out and not being a politician that we ran a really good campaign, had a lot of good volunteers going a lot of work and we’re really pleased where we’re ending up that we think we can now make a good case to the delegates that we’d be the right guy for the job.”

The third place finisher, with just over 20 percent of the vote, was Matt Schultz, a former Council Bluffs city councilman who is currently serving as Iowa’s secretary of state. “We always thought this would go to convention,” Schultz says. “We’ve been preparing a convention strategy and now we’re going to execute it. My campaign’s always been about grassroots and I feel like a nominating convention is a great place for me.”

Six candidates rushed to run in the district after Republican Congressman Tom Latham’s surprise announcement in December that he would not seek reelection. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw finished in fourth place, with nearly 17 percent of Tuesday’s primary vote, followed by David Young, a former aide to Senator Grassley, who finished in fifth with about 15-and-a-half percent. The other candidate, Des Moines P-E teacher Joe Grandanette, finished with just 666 votes.

Iowa is one of just 11 states that require a candidate to secure 35 percent of the vote in a primary to become their party’s General Election nominee. Iowa Republican Party leaders have not set the date or location where party delegates in the third district will select a congressional nominee. A nominating convention is a rarity in Iowa politics. The last time it happened was in 2002, when Republicans chose Steve King as their congressional candidate in Iowa’s old fifth district. King had finished first in a four-way primary with just under 30 percent of the vote.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State Sen. Joni Ernst has won the Republican primary for an Iowa U.S. Senate seat held for 30 years by retiring Democrat Tom Harkin. The 43-year-old Ernst won the nomination over five candidates. She’ll face Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in the November general election. If she wins election to the Senate, Ernst would become the first Iowa woman elected to Congress.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has easily won the Republican nomination for governor as he seeks a record sixth term in office. Branstad had no trouble in Tuesday’s primary election, in which he faced conservative political activist Tom Hoefling. Branstad now will run against Democratic state Sen. Jack Hatch of Des Moines in the November general election.

MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) — A man convicted of killing his stepmother in 1987 and then setting fire to their Maquoketa home will now be eligible for parole. Judge Thomas Reidel on Tuesday ruled that James Corder could be eligible for parole after 25 years in prison. He’s served 26 years.

BERRIEN SPRINGS, Mich. (AP) — Searchers have found the body of a 17-year-old Iowa boy in a lake in southwestern Michigan. The Berrien County sheriff’s department says that crews found the body of Tyler Albers about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Berrien Springs. Authorities say one 17-year-old swimmer made it out of the water Monday evening and the other went under and didn’t surface.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State Sen. Joni Ernst has won the Republican primary for an Iowa U.S. Senate seat held for 30 years by retiring Democrat Tom Harkin. The 43-year-old Ernst won the nomination over five candidates. She’ll face Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in the November general election.

All the Republicans seeking the nomination described themselves as deeply conservative, but Ernst managed to stand out in part due to two television ads. One featured her on a farm, talking about her experience castrating hogs, and the other showed her firing a handgun.

Ernst also received endorsements from a variety of groups and individuals, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Rifle Association and Sarah Palin. If she wins election to the Senate, Ernst would become the first Iowa woman elected to Congress.