A commission established by Governor Branstad is hearing from Iowans who are interested in raising the state’s gas tax to finance improvements to Iowa’s roads and bridges. Stuart Anderson, with the Iowa Department of Transportation, says the Governor’s Transportation 2020 Citizens Advisory Commission has held three public input meetings this month in Bettendorf, Mason City and Des Moines. Commissioners have learned many Iowans are concerned about the conditions of the state’s rural roads.

Anderson says farmers have talked about lengthy detours they take because of weight restrictions on bridges. School officials have also raised concerns about the safety of rural roads. Iowa’s motor fuel tax, which has remained unchanged since 1989, raises about one-point-two billion dollars a year. Anderson says commissioners have been asking people attending the public meetings about their thoughts on increasing the gas tax.

“They’ve heard a lot of feedback that, yeah, they feel that’s a possibility,” Anderson said. “One thing that’s pretty consistent is…if funding is increased, it ought to be from funding sources dedicated to roads and bridge improvements.” He notes the state constitution requires 95-percent of the money raised by the gas tax must be directed toward road construction. The commission will hold four more public input meetings, over the next four Wednesday nights, in Storm Lake, Council Bluffs, Waterloo and Mount Pleasant.

“This is the mission of the commission to hear from the public, so we really hope a lot of people turn up at these meetings,” Anderson said. The commission is expected to complete a report outlining ideas for improving the state’s roads for consideration by the 2012 Iowa Legislature.

on the web at: www.news.iowadot.gov/newsandinfo/2011/07/governors-transportation-2020-citizen-advisory-commission-.html

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Council Bluffs arrested an Oakland man Wednesday evening, after he attempted to flee the scene of an accident. Officials say a motorcycle driven by 38-year old Michael Iwan Carter collided with a car driven by 52-year old Antoni0 Zambrano, of Council Bluffs, as Zambrano was pulling away from a stop sign at the intersection of 19th Street and 5th Avenue, in Council Bluffs.

Authorities say Carter, who had an active warrant for his arrest, tried to run from the scene, but collapsed after traveling about 80-feet. He suffered from possible head and leg injuries, and was transported by Council Bluffs Fire and Rescue to Alegent Health Mercy Hospital.

Zambrano and a passenger in his vehicle refused treatment at the scene. The accident remains under investigation.

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) – Trial has been set for Sept. 28 for a Nebraska woman charged in the 2001 shooting death of a man in her former home in northwest Iowa. Tracey Richter-Roberts of Omaha, Neb., is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 20-year-old Dustin Wehde at her home in Early, Iowa. Richter-Roberts told police Wehde and another man broke into the home and attacked her and that the shooting was in self-defense. No charges were filed at the time, but the investigation was reopened in 2009 and Richter-Roberts was arrested last month.

She is being held in the Sac County jail under $1 million bond. The trial date was set by a judge, on Tuesday.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa company has pleaded guilty to being involved in a price-fixing conspiracy to sell ready-mix concrete at noncompetitive prices. The U.S. Justice Department says Spencer-based Great Lakes Concrete Inc. entered its plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. An indictment filed earlier this month accused Great Lakes Concrete of participating in a conspiracy to fix prices for ready-mix concrete between January 2008 and August 2009.

Court documents show company president Kent Stewart pleaded guilty in 2010 and was sentenced in February to one year and a day in prison and fined more than $83,000. The company’s plea is the result of an ongoing investigation of the ready-mix industry in Iowa and surrounding states.

Sheriff’s Officials in Montgomery County say no injuries were reported following an accident Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of a Red Oak implement dealer. An investigation determined a pickup driven by Donovan Hultman, and owned by Circle “H” Ranch, was backing up in the parking lot of A&M Green Power, when it struck a properly parked car owned by Rhonda Alexander.

Damage from the mishap, which happened at around 3-p.m, amounted to $1,600. The Sheriff’s report did not indicate if any citations were issued to Hultman.

Emergency Management officials in Mills County say a 30-foot levee breach has been reported. The section gave way Tuesday afternoon due to saturation from ongoing flooding and recent heavy rains. Authorities said today (Wednesday), that 182nd Street and Gaston Avenue in northwest Mills County have been closed due to fast moving water over the roads.

Residents in the area have been contacted and told to make preparations to evacuate. Larry Hurst, emergency coordinator for the county, said that the breach is not a part of the main Missouri River levee system. Hurst said levee district workers and the National Guard continue to patrol the main levee to assure its integrity and there are no active repair projects under way at this time.

The breach was in the south berm of Saint Mary’s Drainage District, which is south of Allis Road and west of 182nd Street.

OMAHA, Neb. – Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the VA wants to Welcome Home you home, buy you dinner and offer an evening of fun! The Department of Veterans Affairs is hosting the 2011 Welcome Home Celebration for Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families Aug. 26 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Amazing Pizza Machine, 13955 ‘S Plaza, Omaha.

The event provides an opportunity for the VA and the community to thank Veterans for serving in Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and New Dawn. The VA will provide the complimentary dinner and game cards for the Veterans, spouses and their children.
Veterans who served in one of the campaigns listed above, or spouses of a currently serving Iraq or Afghanistan service member are encouraged to attend. Any additional guests beyond the veteran’s spouse or children will be charged $12 per person. It also serves as a one-stop event for the veterans and their families to learn about the VA benefits that they are eligible for.

Representatives will be available with informational tables from the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, Veterans Benefit Administration’s Regional Office in Lincoln, Neb., Vet Centers, and other community resources.

For information about VA programs and services for returning veterans in Nebraska and western Iowa, visit www.nebraska.va.gov. The VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System proudly serves more than 167,660 veterans in Nebraska, western Iowa and portions of Kansas and Missouri. Omaha’s medical center is an inpatient facility and also a large outpatient clinic for primary and specialty care. The Community Living Center is in Grand Island.

There are community-based outpatient clinics in Lincoln, Grand Island, North Platte, Holdrege, Norfolk, Bellevue and Shenandoah, Iowa; and an outreach clinic in O’Neill, Neb. For more information, visit http://www.nebraska.va.gov.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs has hired an engineering consulting firm to help assess damage from a summer of flooding along the Missouri River and recommend repairs. The City Council hired the company on Monday. The cost will depend on the amount of damage discovered, but the city won’t spend more than $500,000 unless the council agrees to go higher.

The city will provide an inventory of storm and sanitary sewers, streets and roads and zoning maps.

Public Works Director Greg Reeder says information developed by the company firm will be sent to the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in hopes of obtaining their assistance. Reeder says the corps is interested in the assessment of the city’s levees, while FEMA is interested in everything else.