The Mills County Sheriff’s Office is warning motorists to expect heavy traffic next Friday, August 17th, when the Des Moines heavy metal rock band Slipknot and other acts perform at the Mid America MotorPlex, during “KnotFest.” Gates at the complex, located near Pacific Junction, will open at 2-p.m. August 17th. The concert will not end until 11:30-p.m.

Officials say to expect heavy traffic at Exit 35 off Interstate 29 and Highway 34. Anyone not attending the concert, is strongly encouraged to find an alternate route to home and/or work. You should expect delays also, on southbound I-29 from Council Bluffs.

Atlantic Fire and Rescue along with Medivac ambulance were dispatched at 8:46-a.m. to the scene of a rollover accident involving two semi’s along Interstate 80 in Cass County, about a mile west of the exit to Highway 71 (mile marker 59).

Overturned semi along I-80 at mm 59 westbound (Ric Hanson photo)

The Cass County Communications Center says both drivers and a passenger in one of the semis were checked for injuries, but all refused transport to the hospital.

According to the State Patrol, a tractor trailer entering I-80 westbound from the Highway 71 interchange was building up speed while his rig was making its way up an incline, when the rig was hit from behind by another semi.  The collision caused the first semi to go out of control, and into the median, where it rolled onto its left side.

The names of those involved in the collision have not yet been released.

HINTON, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa construction company has been sued over an explosion of natural gas that followed a pipeline rupture in northwest Iowa. The lawsuit was filed by the pipeline owner, Northern Natural Gas Co, of Omaha, Neb., against DeRocher Construction, of Le Mars.  Two DeRocher workers were injured by the blast that sent a fireball hundreds of feet into the air on April 25. Authorities say the men were operating trenching equipment that struck the pipeline near Hinton.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. It says Northern Natural Gas spent nearly $440,000 for emergency response, inspection and repair and other expenses to get the pipeline back into operation. DeRocher Construction has declined to comment.

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A retired Anita area farmer has won the horseshoe pitching competition at the Iowa State Fair. Ray Pottebaum, of Anita, won the competition for the 4th year in a row Thursday, according to his son.

A rural Red Oak man was arrested Thursday night on a Simple Assault charge. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports James L. Bourn was taken into custody at around 9:20-p.m. as the result of an investigation into a report of a family disturbance at the Bourn residence. The investigation determined there had been a physical altercation between Bourn and a minor living in the home. Bourn was booked into the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held on $300 bond.

This year’s historic Midwest drought is having an impact on all crops — including popcorn. Gary Smith is President of the American Popcorn Company, the parent company of Jolly Time Popcorn. The company is based in Sioux City and has contracts with farmers in northwest Iowa and northeast Nebraska to grow the company’s popcorn. Smith describes this year’s crop as “okay,” especially when compared with conditions in other parts of the country.

“There is going to be a popcorn shortage because Indiana burnt up in June even, I mean, they didn’t even get started. And we’ve got a lot of competitors in the eastern cornbelt,” Smith says. Smith says about 90-percent of the company’s popcorn is grown under irrigation in northeast Nebraska. He says the dryland popcorn grown in the Sac City, Iowa area is in decent shape having received some rain in July that didn’t fall elsewhere. Still, he says there may be some quality issues in this year’s popcorn.

“I think the test weights will be down. When the test weights are down, then maybe your pops aren’t quite as good, we might struggle with quality issues, but that’s the way Mother Nature treats the product. And I’m just grateful we’re going to have a crop,” Smith says. With field corn prices at, or near, all-time record highs,- popcorn companies have to pay more to prevent farmers from switching away from popcorn production. Smith says the company is already paying record-high contracts to farmers, and he expects the contracts to be higher again next year. He worries, though, about an eventual consumer backlash.

“We’re at the highest point we’ve ever been because of the price of corn. Now with the drought, corn prices have rallied more, and so we’re looking at another increase, which is a big worry,” according to Smith. “Because at some point, America’s consumer is gonna say ‘your products too expensive, I don’t want you any more,’ and I don’t think we’ve gotten there yet. But where is that threshold? I’m not absolutely sure.” The American Popcorn Company has been in business for 98 years. Smith is a fourth-generation family member involved with the company.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has released its latest Water Summary Update. Officials say prior to the rains of August 8th, precipitation averaged 50 percent less than normal for the last two weeks. Shallow groundwater levels in parts of Iowa are at or near historic lows. Recent rainfall has helped to lower water demand, but has not impacted shallow groundwater levels. There have been reports in eastern Iowa, of private wells being drilled deeper or having pumps lowered to meet water demand.

The number of streams with “protected flow” (cannot be used for irrigation) have been reduced from 22 to 19. Streams in most of southwest Iowa are below normal flow, and the report shows shallow groundwater in all of southwest Iowa is not enough to meet the demand for irrigation. More than two-thirds of the State are now under Extreme Drought conditions, including every county stretching from northern Boone County southwest, through northwestern Fremont County. Cass County and the northwestern tip of Adair County are included in the Extreme Drought conditions, while the remaining southwest and south central counties are under Severe Drought conditions.

The past two weeks continued to be mostly hotter and drier than normal weather across Iowa. Temperatures averaged 4 degrees above normal while precipitation averaged 0.60 inches less than normal for the period. Rain totals varied from no rain at Underwood in western Iowa to nearly four inches at Nevada through August 6th. Storms on August 8th (after the cut-off time for the drought
monitor and for the precipitation map) resulted in a statewide average of 0.34  inches of rain, with almost everyone in the state seeing some rain. Among the areas with the most rain, was Audubon, Harrison, Page, and Shelby counties.

For a more thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends July 23 through August 8, go to http://www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate. The report is prepared by the technical staff from the Iowa DNR, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and the USGS, in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division.

A majority of Iowa lawyers who participated in an Iowa State Bar Association survey favor a “yes” vote for all 75 judges and justices on November’s ballot. The evaluation is based on the 12 performance characteristics (10 for members of the supreme court and court of appeals) specified in the survey. Sioux City attorney Cynthia Moser is president of the Iowa State Bar Association. “In the aggregate, the judges and justices received a 90 percent confidence rating on the question of whether they should be retained in office,” Moser says. In the KJAN listening area, only District Four Judge James Richardson, of Audubon, received the lowest rating for recommended retention out the four judges who serve the counties of Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Pottawattamie, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont and Page. Richardson garnered a 77.8% recommendation from lawyers who participated in the Bar’s survey. He was appointed to the bench in 1986. Justices Greg Steensland and Mark Eveloff, from Council Bluffs, received votes of confidence ranging from 95.5- to 98.5%, while District Associate Judge Craig Dreismeier was given 100% confidence. Dresmeier was appointed to the bench in 2010. Steensland was appointed in 2005, and Eveloff was appointed in 1996.

Only one Iowa Supreme Court justice targeted by a campaign to vote him off the bench because he signed onto the court’s 2009 same-sex marriage ruling, got a much lower score than most in the survey. About 63 percent of the lawyers surveyed favored retention of Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins. The Bar Association’s president says that same-sex marriage case was probably a factor in the score Wiggins got from Iowa lawyers who’ve taken cases before the Supreme Court. “We certainly acknowledge that the controversy over the Varnum decision may have played a role in the responses,” Moser says. “I think what the important take-away is that the majority of lawyers who did evaluate his performance voted or indicated that they believe he should be retained on the bench and that’s really the take-away that we think the public should have from this.”

The Iowa State Bar Association plans to be more active in this year’s retention election. “I anticipate that we will be running ads. I think they will be positive and pro-active. They may also be responding to lies and inaccuracies,” Moser says. “…We are prepared and positioned to do that if circumstances arise.” However, Moser says the ad campaign will not advocate for any one particular judge or justice, but for retention of all. On August 1st the chairman of the Iowa Republican Party called upon Iowans to “send a message to unelected bureaucrats” and vote no on Justice Wiggins because Wiggins and other members of the court had “redefined” marriage in Iowa. It’s likely the same coalition of groups that successfully campaigned to unseat three other members of the court in 2010 will wage a similar campaign against Wiggins.

Moser calls Wiggins and the other 74 judges who’re on the November ballot “well-qualified” for that role. “We don’t think that judges should be subject to those kinds of political pressures,” Moser says.The Iowa State Bar Association chose an earlier release date for its survey charting the opinions Iowa lawyers have of judges and justices who’re up for retention. The group also has a booth at the Iowa State Fair to tout the state’s judicial system.

Moser said “We understand that the constitution gives Iowa voters the ability to vote for retention…Our hope is that by providing information to the public, people will be better-equipped to make an informed and intelligent decision about whether a specific judge or justice should be retained.” Three Iowa Supreme Court justices were voted off the bench in the 2010 election. In 2011 Governor Branstad appointed three men to the court to replace those justices and all three new justices must face a retention vote this fall.

View the full report for yourself at www.iowabar.org. A complete biography of each of the judges and their individual recommendations for retention, can also be found by clicking on a link within the report itself.

(by O. Kay Henderson – Radio Iowa & Ric Hanson-KJAN)