DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines Public Schools is hosting nearly 1,200 educators next week at its inaugural Summit on School Climate and Culture. The meeting will be held Monday and Tuesday at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.

The summit will cover several areas, including the latest research and best practices for improving student behavior, learning how a multi-cultural classroom can be an asset and how one’s own culture and identity may affect others.

Other topics will include identifying the social and emotional needs of students, as well as better connecting with families to empower parents to set high expectations, monitor performance and support learning at home.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa side of a pedestrian bridge that connects Omaha, Nebraska, to Council Bluffs will soon be closed for construction. The Daily Nonpareil reports that the Council Bluffs side of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge will close Monday and Tuesday.

Bridge users will still be able to access the Nebraska side of the bridge and can enter and exit the bridge on the Omaha side. On the Iowa side, the bridge starts at Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park.

Two people were injured during a collision late Friday evening between a pickup and two tractors, in Carroll County. The Iowa State Patrol reports the driver of the pickup, 58-year old Ronald Lee Meister, and the operator of the tractor, 43-year old Robert Joe Mohr, Jr., both of Glidden, were hurt and transported by Carroll Rescue to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Carroll.

The accident happened east of Lidderdale at around 10:10-p.m. Officials say the 2003 GMC Sierra pickup and the tractor, which was pulling another tractor, were traveling east on Carroll County Road E-26. Meister didn’t see the tractor in front of him as he approached from behind. His pickup hit the rear of one of the tractors, causing both machines to separate. Robert Mohr, Jr. was thrown from the tractor he was driving and became trapped underneath the pickup truck. Rescue crews used mechanical means to free him from the vehicles’ undercarriage.

The accident remains under investigation.

Police in Council Bluffs say speed and alcohol are being investigated as contributing factors in a crash that took place early this (Saturday) morning. Officials say 44-year old Antwane Curtis, of Omaha, was driving a 2002 GMC Sierra pickup southbound on Interstate 29 at around 2:20-a.m., and exiting onto Avenue G, when the pickup went out of control and left the roadway to the right. The vehicle is believed to have rolled at least once before coming to rest against a fence and trees.

Curtis and his passenger,42-year old Lee Vaughn, Jr., of Omaha, were transported to Creighton Medical Center by the Council Bluffs Fire Department for treatment. Their injuries are not believed to be life threatening at this time.

Over the past few weeks, Iowans may have spotted a bald man in a long orange robe walking along the highway, sidewalk or bike trail. The man known as The Walking Monk has completed his trip across the state and is heading into Nebraska. Bhakti Marga Swami says he took up the tradition of extreme walking some 20 years ago.

“I’m walking to connect with people and to make a green statement,” Swami says. “I’m trying to say it’s not a bad idea to use this body a little bit more of what it’s meant for, it’s meant for walking. Getting back to basics, that’s the message. Slow down. We’re moving a little too fast. Take some time for self-reflection.”

Swami has spent 43 years as a Hare Krishna monk and started this latest walk in Boston. He’s seen plenty of Iowa landscapes since mid-July while following the Old Lincoln Highway route. “Lots of corn,” he says. “I really enjoyed the bike trails. I find the people in the Midwest are really sweet. They’re really nice to me. There’s not going to be a strong judgemental attitude towards me, even though I’m wearing my orange robes which is part of our tradition as a monk.”

Swami says a sense of humor is key as that orange robe has led to him being mistaken for a prison escapee several times along the way. This is his first time walking across America. “People have been really nice and if the big American dream is somewhere, it seems to me so far, it’s in Iowa and it seems to me, people are leading a pretty neat life,” Swami says.

His walking travels have taken him to Israel, Ireland, Trinidad, Guyana and he has walked across Canada four times.

(Radio Iowa)