Officials with the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Tuesday evening, released information about a pursuit that took place late Monday night, and is requesting help from the public in finding the suspect who was pursued. The incident began at around 10:45-p.m., a Taylor County sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop a 1995 Buell motorcycle in Bedford.

The motorcycle sped off south of Bedford on State Highway 148. The deputy pursued the motorcycle at speeds of over 95 miles per hour until he lost sight of it near Hopkins, Missouri. The motorcycle was found abandoned a short while later in Hopkins and was determined to have been stolen from a residence in Atchison County, Missouri. A search of the area did not turn up the suspected driver.

The incident remains under investigation. If anyone has information about the driver of the motorcycle, call the Taylor County Law Enforcement Center at 712-523-2153. The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Nodaway and Andrew County Missouri Sheriff’s Departments and the Iowa and Missouri State Patrol.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa park ranger is being credited for saving two Council Bluffs men whose boat on Lake Manawa filled with water because of high winds. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says in a news release that 72-year-old William Buchholz and 54-year-old James Tanga were fishing on the western Iowa lake around 10 p.m. Monday when winds kicked up. The men were about 100 yards from a boat ramp when the boat became swamped.

Lake Manawa State Park Ranger Aaron Johnson, who had been monitoring the boat because of the weather, went to the men’s rescue. Johnson and Council Bluffs firefighters were able to pull the men, who were treading water, to safety. Authorities say there were life jackets on board the boat, but the men were not wearing them.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education is expected to act Wednesday evening, on approving the ballot language for the Sept. 13th, 2016 Special Election pertaining to a Voter Approved Physical Plant and Equipment Levy. The levy calls for a combination of a Property Tax on all the taxable property in the School District, commencing July 1st, 2017, AND a Physical Plant and Equipment Income Surtax upon the State individual income tax of each resident in the District on December 31st for each calendar year, commencing with the 2017 calendar year.

The Resolution says the Income Surtax will not exceed 20-percent (to be determined by the Board each year), with the total amount of taxation not to exceed 85-cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in any one tax year, for a period commencing July 1st, 2017, and not to exceed 10-years.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board will act on approving a Retrofit lighting contract for the Washington and Schuler Elementary buildings using energy saving LED lights, the total cost of which amounts to $73,401. The new lights are expected to save the District nearly $13,250 annually in energy costs, and would be eligible for AMU rebates amounting to slightly more than $11,570.

The Board will also discuss and act on approving: Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein’s contract for the 2016-17 school year (the final year of his contract); A June 2017 trip to Washington, D.C. for Atlantic Middle School students. The trip includes visits to several attractions, such as the Lincoln Memorial, MLK, Jr., WWII and Vietnam War Memorials, the Smithsonian Museum, and more. Currently, 26 students and four chaperones are signed-up for the trip.

And, just before their meeting concludes, the Atlantic School Board will discuss Capital Projects and the Atlantic High School Cell Phone Policy. The meeting gets underway at 5:30-p.m. in the Atlantic High School Media Center.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Transportation says it is closing two driver’s license stations and seven maintenance garages because of reduced budget funding from the Iowa Legislature. The driver’s license stations are in Spencer and Carroll. The maintenance garages are in Sabula, Akron, Soldier, Corning, Gowrie, Rock Valley, and Centerville.

The department announced the closings Tuesday. An agency spokeswoman says the changes do not include layoffs, but 67 open positions will be permanently removed. The closings will affect 28 employees, but those workers will be given the option to relocate to other DOT locations.

The department sought $9.7 million in additional dollars from the Iowa Legislature for the budget year that began in July. Lawmakers approved half the money, despite the department predicting it would affect agency services.

A popular new game played on smart phones may be endangering the lives of some Iowa drivers and pedestrians. Pokemon Go uses “augmented reality,” where you switch on your phone’s camera, look at your screen and see virtual creatures you’re trying to catch superimposed over the real world view. Gail Weinholzer, at Triple-A-Iowa, says you should never try to play the game while driving.

“The three most important things you can do while driving are: keep your eyes on the road, your hands on the wheel and your mind on the task of driving,” Weinholzer says. “Obviously, playing this game while driving violates all three of those most important issues.” The game is appealing to people in their teens and 20s and that’s the age group which the motor club says is already at the highest risk for crashes.

“Younger drivers are the most vulnerable drivers, they’re the least experienced,” Weinholzer says. “If they’re participating in these sorts of activities, they’re only enhancing the risk of being involved in a serious or even fatal crash.” Another problem, pedestrian players are wandering into traffic, too engrossed in the game to realize their lives may be at risk.

“We’ve seen an increase in pedestrian fatalities across the United States over the last year and certainly, participating in this game is not going to assist us in reducing those numbers,” Weinholzer says. “It’s important that drivers and pedestrians alike both focus on the tasks they should be involved with.”

A recent AAA report showed distraction was a factor in 58-percent of all crashes. It also found six out of 10 moderate-to-severe teen driver crashes involved distraction, four times more than was reported on police records.

(Radio Iowa)

A new convenience store chain is being launched in Iowa. Yesway is the brand name for this new convenience store chain. The Yesway website says there will be a “grand opening” sometime this summer. The Des Moines Register reports Yesway stores will open in Newton, Fort Dodge, Webster City, Waterloo, Clarion, Story City, Belmond, Ottumwa, Centerville, Elkhorn, Harlan, Walnut, Audubon, Missouri Valley, Manilla and Logan. Six of the new Yesway stores are in Mason City. The company hasn’t released a list of its other locations in Iowa.

Yesway is being started by B-W Gas and Convenience which is part of a Boston-based private equity firm. BW ultimately aims to have more than a thousand Yesway stores in “selected regions” of the country. To start, the company is buying 21 Kum N Go stores in Iowa. It acquired 10 Country Store locations in Iowa late last year.

The company’s news release touts “neighborly customer service” and executives promise to “completely upgrade and remodel” all 31 stores the company now owns in Iowa. There will also be some sort of “loyalty program” for repeat Yesway customers. A headquarters for Yesway will be based in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa)