In a follow-up to a story we first brought in early February, officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) , on Friday, announced that a community tool kit is now available for use by community groups interested in speaking to their members, about a study being conducted by the DOT, on bringing high speed passenger rail service from Chicago, IL., to Omaha, NE. The study is being conducted in cooperation with the  Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Illinois Department of Transportation. The DOT is studying the feasibility of expanding existing passenger rail service and developing a new regional passenger rail service from Chicago to Omaha, Neb., and the purpose of this study is to: Evaluate potential route alternatives; Evaluate levels of service and ridership; Analyze environmental impacts; and, determine a preferred Chicago to Omaha passenger rail route alternative for regional intercity passenger rail service. Officials say the study will be a major step in assessing the viability of a regional intercity passenger rail system serving Iowa and the Midwest through the corridor and public input is a major component of the study.

The FRA and the Iowa and Illinois DOTs have made the community tool kit available online at http://www.iowadot.gov/chicagotoomaha/ under the “resources” tab. Community leaders and others interested in the information can download the following electronic materials related to the study.

• PowerPoint ^® presentation
• Pocket card with a brief description of the study goals
• Fact sheet with more in-depth study information
• Social media Facebook banner for timeline format
• Social media image that can be used as profile picture on Facebook or Twitter
• 11-by-17 poster
• Survey that will also be used at in-person public meetings in early May 2012.

Public comments provide valuable input and contribute to the development of a complete environmental analysis. The Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and planning effort will take approximately 18 months to complete. Comments will be collected throughout the EIS development phase. All comments received will be reviewed and considered. For more information, visit www.iowadot.gov/chicagotoomaha/ or call 800-488-7119.

Forecasters used some unusually strong words and phrases to warn Iowans and others in the Midwest about the potential for severe weather this past weekend. National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Johnson says the Storm Prediction Center, two days prior to storm, stated there was a “high risk” for damaging storms.
“In my career, that’s pretty unprecedented to go with a day two ‘high risk,’ which is a significant outlook,” Johnson said. A warning that a “tornado outbreak” was “likely” was issued on Friday. On Saturday, at least five tornadoes touched down in Iowa – including a couple of EF2 twisters that caused extensive damage in Creston and Thurman in the southwest section of the state. Smaller tornadoes were reported close to Council Bluffs, near the Oskaloosa airport and near New Virginia in south-central Iowa. Johnson said forecasters are trying to encourage people to take weather warnings seriously.

“We’ve had, unfortunately, a lot of bad tornadoes across the United States in the last two years. Some of the findings from our assessments after these storms has been that people are often too optimistic if they’re in the path of the serious storm – thinking the storm is going to hit somebody else,” Johnson said. “Our purpose with all of this is to try to get people to heed the warnings and take cover.” Despite the warnings, many residents of Creston were surprised by the severity of the storm that swept through their town. The twister dropped down so fast that it went undetected on radar and officials were not able to sound tornado sirens. Johnson said the “rain-wrapped” tornado wasn’t spotted until his office started hearing damage reports.

“We had an amateur radio spotter in that area who reported hail at about the time of the tornado. They didn’t mention the tornado because they couldn’t see it,” Johnson said. “Coupled with that, the evidence of (a tornado) on radar was equally weak. It’s one of those cases where it was unfortunate, but that does happen occasionally in this type of an event.” Six people were injured in the Creston tornado, one of them critically. There were no serious injuries in the tiny town of Thurman, although that EF2 twister destroyed at least 14 homes while causing serious damage to 28 other homes.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say a Red Oak woman was arrested Monday afternoon, on a theft charge. 34-year old Julie Crystal Fisher was taken into custody at around 3:45-p.m., on a charge of 4th degree theft. Fisher was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 cash bond.

The Iowa State Patrol says two people, an adult and child, where injured late Monday night when the van they were in was struck by a train in Jefferson. The names of the victims, ages 27 and 5, have not yet been released. Officials say they were in a van which had apparently experienced mechanical difficulties and stalled on the railroad tracks crossing North Grimmell Road, near West Wall Street , on the northwest side of Jefferson. The 1998 Chevy Venture van was hit by an eastbound Union Pacific locomotive at around 11:30-p.m., Monday

The Patrol says the child was ejected from the van, which ended up on its top in the north ditch. The driver was out of the vehicle when medics arrived on the scene. The driver was flown by LifeNet helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, while the child was flown to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, also by LifeNet.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports the theft over the past week, of an ATV from a residence near Braddyville. Officials say a camouflage-style Polaris SPM-XP550 4-wheel ATV was stolen from a building on property located at 3193 Nutmeg Avenue, sometime between April 11th and April 14th. The owner lives in Maryville, MO. No value was placed on the machine. Anyone with information about the theft should contact the Page County Sheriff’s Office.

The City Council in Harlan will hold a public hearing Tuesday evening on the proposed issuance of Series 2012 bonds, not to exceed $2.5-million. Following the hearing during the Council’s 5:15-p.m. session, a vote will be held to begin the process of taking additional action for the issuance of bonds, and they’ll act on a resolution directing the advertisement for sale of $2.455-million in bonds, along with approving electronic bidding procedures.

Two Omaha men were arrested last Friday on drug charges, in Audubon County. Sheriff’s officials say 18-year old Alexander Ward Carter, and 21-year old Alex Thomas Myhre, both of Omaha, were taken into custody at around 8-p.m., following a traffic stop on Southside Drive, near 3rd Avenue, in Audubon. Carter faces a Possession of Marijuana charge, while Myhre was charged with Possession of Marijuana and Driving While Intoxicated (Drug related). The men were transported to the Audubon County Jail, appeared later before a magistrate, and were released.

Some of the buildings hit by this weekend’s tornado in Creston are state-owned facilities and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says it appears the Area Education Agency office in Creston may wind up being a total loss. Dormitories for students at Southwestern Community College that opened just a couple of years ago were heavily damaged. The governor and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds toured the college campus Sunday.

“We actually got to talk to (SWCC) president Crittenden yesterday. She was on the ground with gloves in hand, a pair of jeans, picking up debris,” Reynolds says. “Right now they were working with hotels in the area so they would have a place for the students.” Southwestern Community College is closed today and tomorrow (Monday and Tuesday). A campus building where vocational agricultural classes are taught was damaged. The lieutenant governor says all structures on campus were being checked to ensure there wasn’t additional damage.

“They were assessing the college as a whole,” Reynolds says. “I think they might have lucked out.” While it’s not state owned, the facility which sustained major damage in Creston was the hospital. “The damage that we viewed was really breathtaking,” Reynolds says. “It’s sad when you see the amount of devastation, especially as we toured the hospital — a newly-remodeled wing that was scheduled for a grand opening next week.”

As for other public facilities, the bus barn for Creston schools was hit by the tornado, as was Creston’s Y-M-C-A, which is closed today. “As horrific and as devastating as it was, it is just so inspirational to see the neighbors and the people that come together — it is so Iowa — to help in any way that they can. From the Salvation Army to the Red Cross, I had law enforcement there from Clarke County as well as surrounding areas,” Reynolds says, who is from Osceola, in Clarke County. “There were EMT volunteers from Lenox who said, ‘You know, they were helping us when (two tornadoes) hit us a year ago,’ so people just drop everything and were busy just doing everything that they could to volunteer and help out.” Reynolds was unable to join Governor Branstad in touring damage in the small town of Thurman, where a tornado touched down for 10 miles and left a path a damage that was half-a-mile wide.

(Radio Iowa)