Only two school districts from southwest Iowa, the Riverside Community School District in Oakland and the Tri-Center Community School District in Neola, sought a waiver from the Iowa Department of Education to start school early next year. The Daily NonPareil reports a total of 52 districts applied for a waiver. The Riverside Community School District asked to start Aug. 25th, while the Tri-Center Community School District asked for Aug. 18th.

After reaching an impasse on what to name a reorganized school district representing AHST and Walnut, school board members decided to stick to their original compromise: AHSTW, a five-letter acronym for Avoca, Hancock, Shelby, Tennant and Walnut that already adorns the Avoca-based district’s secondary school, which educates middle and high school students from Walnut through a grade sharing agreement.

School officials say board members from both districts unanimously accepted AHSTW as the name for a proposed reorganized school district, during a brief, joint session of the AHST and Walnut School District Boards of Education, Tuesday evening, at the Walnut Community School. The vote means the process of collecting signatures for a petition to reorganize the districts into one, can begin.

At least 400 signatures from AHST and 178 signatures from Walnut district patrons are required, in order to advance the petition to the Green Hills Area Education Agency, which would hold a public hearing and approve an election to determine whether the districts will merge.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Senate has passed a bill that would allow law enforcement officials to more easily regulate Iowa’s ban on texting while driving. The Senate voted 44-6 Tuesday to make texting while driving a primary offense instead of a secondary one. It now heads to the House for consideration.

Iowa law prohibits a person from reading, writing and sending messages on an electronic device while driving. The bill would remove a stipulation that a law enforcement official must stop a person for a different offense to enforce it.

Sen. Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, says distracted driving kills people. Most lawmakers voted for the bill, which has Gov. Terry Branstad’s support. But some Republicans questioned whether the legislation was needed.

A Page County man was arrested early this (Tuesday) morning on a drug charge. Clarinda Police say 24-year old Quentin Russell Horter, of Clarinda, was taken into custody in a parking lot at 1107 S. 16th Street, at around 12:30-a.m.

Horter faces a misdemeanor Possession of drug paraphernalia charge. He was subsequently released on his own recognizance pending an appearance before a Page County Magistrate.

HONEY CREEK, Iowa (AP) — A resident who tried to burn dead grass caused a fire that spread to nearby field, requiring the efforts of four southwest Iowa fire departments to control it. Pat West, who lives northwest of Honey Creek near Interstate 29 and 152nd Street, tells the Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil that he intended to burn only a small section of his backyard. Instead, strong gusts of wind carried the flames north into a nearby field, and West says his attempts to extinguish the fire himself were futile.

Four area fire departments responded to the fire at about 12:15 p.m. Monday and contained it within an hour. The National Weather Service had issued a warning reflecting the dry conditions, but West won’t be fined because Pottawattamie County wasn’t under a burn ban.