An Atlantic Middle School student was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, after a light fixture in a recently renovated classroom broke loose and fell from the ceiling at around 9-a.m., Wednesday.

School officials said two students suffered from scratches, while another had a bump on the head. The trio were treated by the school nurse. One was subsequently transported to the hospital for additional examination and treatment. The classroom was evacuated while the general contractor examined the remaining light fixtures to find out how the incident occurred.  

A traffic stop late Wednesday night in Montgomery County has resulted in the arrest of a minor female on alcohol charges. Sheriff’s Officials say 17-year old Cheryl Ann Hallcock, of Elliott, was arrested at around 11:10-p.m. on a charge of OWI/1st Offense. The teen was processed at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center before being released to the custody of her mother.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Engineers at Iowa State University are working on a way to make wind turbine towers taller by building them from concrete instead of the steel currently used. Increasing tower height to about 328 feet from the current 260 feet would mean steadier less turbulent wind conditions and longer turbine blades. ISU Professor Sri Sritharan says those changes could increase energy production by 15 percent.

He says the work he’s done with engineering graduate student Grant Schmitz and other engineers at Iowa State shows towers made of precast concrete panels and columns withstand necessary stresses. He says the concrete towers would last longer than steel towers and would be easier to transport. A $109,000 Grow Iowa Values Fund grant from the state helped fund the research which is ongoing.

Two people were injured during a car-versus-tractor collision Wednesday night, north of Atlantic. According to dispatch reports, a tractor and a Honda Accord collided about a mile south of Boston Road on Highway 173 (590th St.), at around 9:05-p.m.  An elderly male and female were reportedly suffering from neck pain and other, possible/unknown injuries. Both were transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital with what were considered to be non-life threatening injuries. The woman was later flown to an Omaha hospital for additional treatment.

Officials indicated the accident happened as the car hit the tractor from behind as both were traveling south and the tractor, which was pulling a seed carrier, was attempting to pull into a residential driveway. The driver of the tractor was not injured.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — Officials at Tyson Pet Products say they hope to decide soon whether to expand operations in Independence and add more than 100 full-time jobs. The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board awarded tax incentives about a month ago for the proposed project, and the city of Independence gave its official backing of the plan on Monday night.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa drivers will be able to renew their driver’s licenses online under a bill signed into law by Governor Terry Branstad yesterday. It allows drivers between 18 and 72 to renew their driver’s licenses through the state Department of Transportation’s website without passing a vision test. The bill also extends the time licenses are valid from five years to eight years.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature has approved a $41 million compromise economic development budget. The House and Senate both easily approved the plan yesterday. The budget next goes to the governor.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa legislators have approved a compromise budget plan for the state justice system. Yesterday lawmakers in the state House and Senate approved $547 million in spending that largely goes to prisons and public safety. The budget plan is an increase over the spending in the current fiscal year. It is more than the $534 million proposed by the House and less than the $560 million pushed by the Senate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Geological Service says it will shut down three stream gauges in Iowa due to federal budget cuts. The agency announced Wednesday it would shut down the gauges on the West Fork Cedar River at Finchford, the Des Moines River at Humboldt and the East Fork 102 River at Bedford. The move was prompted by automatic federal spending cuts that have required reductions by most federal agencies.

The monitors are used to measure stream flows and warn of possible flooding. The USGS says the three gauges were chosen because their shutdown would have limited impacts on other organizations and were least likely to affect public safety.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports investigating a hit and run accident Wednesday (today) that occurred at Highway 34 and G Avenue west of Red Oak. The victim, Keyla McDougall was in her vehicle which was stationary at the northbound stop sign behind a semi tractor when the tractor and trailer began to back up, making contact with McDougall’s vehicle. The semi then went east bound on Highway 34. Damage to McDougall’s vehicle was estimated at $1,000. No injuries were reported.

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — The trial of a northwest Iowa man accused of killing his mother and kidnapping another woman has been moved to a courtroom nearly 50 miles away. A judge on Tuesday granted a change of venue request for 21-year-old Kirk Levin’s trial. It will be moved from Sac City in Sac County to Fort Dodge in Webster County. Levin’s attorney requested the change based on extensive media coverage in the county and surrounding counties.

The Sioux City Journal reports Levin’s trial is scheduled to begin on June 3. He is charged with first-degree murder and third-degree kidnapping. Prosecutors say Levin repeatedly stabbed Marilyn Schmitt in Early on Jan. 3, then kidnapped a 21-year-old woman. She later escaped. Levin had been released from prison days earlier after serving time for burglary.

Officials with Harlan Municipal Utilities say hot weather and high winds were responsible for the cause of electrical blinks and outages in Harlan on Tuesday. In a press release, HMU said a transmission line in the southern part of Harlan had excessive sag and the high winds caused the line to strike an adjacent line. The two hot lines kept touching causing the blinks.

HMU crews diagnosed the problem, isolated the line and rerouted power to avoid outages. HMU says crews made permanent repairs today to prevent the incident from happening again.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)