RED OAK, Iowa (AP) – Engineers with the Iowa Flood Center are mapping the East Nishnabotna River as part of an effort to better track areas at risk of flooding when heavy rainfall occurs.  The Daily Nonpareil reports that the data collected by the engineers on Wednesday will be used to create computer models and maps that’ll show what land likely will flood at a variety of river levels.

Engineer Tony Loeser sat on shore with a laptop Wednesday while his colleague, Dan Gilles, kayaked the river in a zig-zag pattern.  Gilles’ kayak had two pieces of equipment to help map the river. He had a sonar device that measured river depth by bouncing sound waves off the river’s bottom. He also had a global positioning device to measure latitude, longitude and elevation.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Creston Police say two people were arrested on separate charges Wednesday, and two thefts were reported. 36-year old Amanda Atkins, of Creston, was arrested on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault, and 60-year old Joline Logan, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. Logan was later released from the Union County Jail on $1,000 bond, while Atkins was being held in the Ringgold County Jail, awaiting a bond hearing.

And, The Carter Agency in Creston reported to police Wednesday, someone took a Dewalt Radio from an apartment that was being worked on. The theft, which took place sometime between 4:30-p.m. Tuesday and 9:30-a.m. Wednesday, resulted in a loss of about $175. A Creston resident reported to police that someone had siphoned gasoline from the tank of her vehicle parked outside a home in the 800 block of N. Cherry Street. The incident happened sometime between 6:15-p.m. Tuesday and 7-a.m. Wednesday. The loss was estimated at $40.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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We’re beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel with regard to the Highway 6/7th Street reconstruction project, here in Atlantic. Scott Suhr, Iowa Department of Transportation District 4 Coordinator, in Atlantic, says plans are to open Plum Street into Orschelen’s on Sept. 8th, and then close the east end of the project for removals. Weather permitting, the project should be finished by the end of this month.

During the construction process, four-way stop lights are flashing at the intersection of 7th and Hospital Drive, near the Hy-Vee Shopping Plaza, and three way lights are flashing at 7th and Olive Streets. City leaders remind motorists that you must stop at the lights and remember the right-of-way rules. Mayor Dave Jones and other City Council officials say it seems a number of motorists are making rolling stops or not stopping at all when they coming to the intersections, which has the potential of creating a serious accident.

Jones said the police department is stepping-up an increase in the number of tickets being written for red light violations, and motorists need to slow down, and be more observant.

An incident in the 1000 block of E. Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak, Wednesday, resulted in the arrest of a teenager on an Intimidation with a dangerous weapon, charge. Red Oak Police say 16-year old Michael Wade Hamilton, of Red Oak, was arrested just before 11-p.m. Wednesday, after allegedly threatening to use a knife on a family member. The teen was transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs.

A traffic stop late Wednesday night in Shelby County lead to a high-speed pursuit of a motorcyclist, who eventually got away. According to scanner traffic, the pursuit began at around 9-p.m. on southbound Highway 173 and made its way onto Interstate 80 westbound, then into Walnut and onto Highway 6 west. Speeds at times were reported to have been in excess of 120 miles per hour.

Authorities from several departments tried to converge on the motorcycle, which eventually disappeared from their view. No other information is currently available.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say five people have been taken to the hospital in critical condition after being exposed to carbon monoxide at a Sioux City extended-stay motel. The Sioux City Journal reports a 30-year-old woman, her two children and her parents were transported to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s for treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning Wednesday.

According to Sioux City Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Dan Cougill, someone reported around 8 p.m. that five people occupying a unit at the Corey Motel were vomiting and experiencing headaches. First responders found them and said they showed signs of carbon monoxide exposure. Cougill said all five, whose identities have not been released, are expected to make full recoveries.

Officials say the motel’s units are separate and other units were not affected. The source of the carbon monoxide is under investigation.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A super PAC backing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s run for the Republican presidential nomination has announced a $9.25 million ad buy for three early voting states, expanding on a $7 million television ad campaign starting in Iowa next week. The ad buy was announced Wednesday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley says he wants an update on the investigation into a 2014 drowning of a handcuffed Iowa man who fell from a patrol boat in the Lake of the Ozarks. The Iowa senator says in a letter Wednesday to a special prosecutor in Missouri that he wants the current status of the investigation into Brandon Ellingson’s May 2014 death.

HULL, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an 88-year-old resident has died after a pickup crashed through a wall into a nursing home in northwest Iowa. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office says Anna Dykstra was pronounced dead Monday afternoon at Pleasant Acres Care Center in Hull. The pickup driver, 77-year-old Lawrence Sohl, was taken to a Sioux Center hospital for treatment. No other injuries have been reported.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A pesky insect that slowly kills ash trees has been found in Dubuque and is expected to spread quickly through the city’s extensive ash tree population. The Telegraph Herald reports the emerald ash borer is a small, metallic-green beetle. Its larvae chew into the layer of wood under the bark, cutting off the flow of water and nutrients to an ash tree.