The City Council in Walnut will hold a regularly scheduled meeting this evening. During their 5-p.m. session, the Council will discuss, among other matters,  a possible Streetscape enhancement project, and a possible refacing of the billboard located adjacent to Interstate 80. They’ll also discuss and possibly act on an annual evaluation of the City Employees, along with the Codification of the City of Walnut Code of Ordinances, followed by action on the adoption of a Resolution ordering the City Clerk to publish a notice of hearing on The Adoption of the Proposed Code of Ordinances.

(Updates 10:10-a.m. with Press Conference at 4-p.m.)

State leaders are meeting in secret today (Thursday) to discuss plans to lure in a big business using only a code-name. Iowa economic development officials are only referring to the possible new recruit as “Project X.” They’re not saying anything about what the company does, either. We have been told it may have an economic impact as big as two-billion dollars. Iowa’s also reportedly in the running with Nebraska for a large data center that’s said to be worth one-and-a-half billion.

Gov. Branstad, Lt. Gov. Reynolds and Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham will hold a joint news conference this afternoon at 4 p.m.  in Sioux City, to discuss the large capital investment for the state of Iowa.

Back in September, state officials approved a 110-million dollar incentive package for an Egyptian firm that promises to build a one-point-four billion dollar fertilizer plant in southeast Iowa’s Lee County.

(Radio Iowa)

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Department says charges are currently pending, during an investigation into a two-vehicle accident Tuesday afternoon. Officials said Thursday, vehicles driven by 16-year old Lucas Alan Schwery, of Harlan, and 18-year old Taber Charles Andersen, of Marne, collided on Littlefield Drive (County Road F-58), about a mile west of Exira, at around 3:45-p.m., Tuesday.

Authorities said both teens were traveling east when a vehicle in front of them slowed down for a bus pulled off the roadway at an intersection. As Andersen slowed, Schwery was unable to stop in-time. The 1998 Chrysler he was driving rear-ended the 2012 Ford driven by Andersen, causing a total of $4,500 damage. No injuries were reported. The accident remains under investigation.

(9-a.m. News)

Officials with the Cass County Conservation Board say 155 people voted for their favorite Lighted Halloween Campground site last Saturday, at Cold Springs Park in Lewis.

(left to right) Ansleigh Nelson, Leonard Kinney, and Melissa Ehrman-Johnson.

The first place winner was Site 2, the Nelson family, second place winner was Site 5, the Kinney family, and third place winner was Site 3, the Johnson family. The CCCB says they want to thank business sponsor Cappel’s Ace Hardware, who donated the prizes to our Lighted Halloween Campground. We would also like to thank everyone who signed up to decorate a site, and sharing your Halloween décor with everyone.

w/ Ric Hanson

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A Red Oak man was arrested Wednesday night. Authorities say 50-year-old David Lawrence Howe, was taken into custody at around 10:15 p.m., for being in violation of a Trespass order. Howe was being held at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on $300 bond.

w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – In what may be a sign of an improving state economy, Iowa officials say community college enrollment has dropped for the second year in a row.  The Des Moines Register reports that this fall’s enrollment hit just over 100,500 students, a drop of 5 percent from a year ago. Last year’s drop was less than 1 percent. The Department of Education says enrollment rose nearly 6 percent to peak at more than 106,000 students in 2010. It rose more than 14 percent in 2009.

M.J. Dolan is executive director of the Iowa Association of Community College Trustees, and he says that “when the economy improves, people that were going to school go back to work. When the economy declines, people come to community college to hone their skills.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A monthly economic index report suggests an economic slump over the next three to six months for nine Midwest and Plains states. The Mid-America Business Conditions index dropped to 46.5 last month from 50.4 in September.

The survey of business leaders and supply managers uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor. The overall index figure was 49.7 in August, 48.7 in July and 57.2 in June.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says “growth in the regional economy is definitely moving lower.” The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.