SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Five entities that want another Interstate 29 exit to be built south of Sioux City are preparing to underwrite a nearly $400,000 study.   The Sioux City Journal says  the cities of Sioux City, Sergeant Bluff and Salix, along with Woodbury County and an arm of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, are backing the idea. The exit would serve Sioux City’s Southbridge Industrial Park and the county-proposed Liberty Industrial Park.

Plans to ask the Iowa Department of Transportation for the exit failed last year when local officials couldn’t agree on whether to ask the department to rebuild the Port Neal interchange or build another to the north.   Sergeant Bluff Mayor Dale Petersen says a new interchange would make the area more accessible to businesses.

Officials with the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau and area law enforcement agencies are reminding motorists about the next Special Traffic Enforcement Program (sTEP).

STEP

Law enforcement agencies throughout the state will be out in force beginning tomorrow (Thursday, March 14^th) through Sunday, March the 17th, looking for motorists who are violating traffic laws during the St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The theme is “Don’t Press Your luck. Buckle up day and night.”

The sTEP program consists of five high-visibility enforcement waves throughout the year, meant to get motorists to change their driving behavior by buckling up, slowing down, driving sober, and obeying all traffic laws, in order to reduce the number of vehicle crashes and save lives.

During last year’s St. Patricks weekend sTEP wave, there were more than 16,279 traffic violations reported by 234 law enforcement agencies that together, had more than 1,600 officers working the enforcement effort. After the St. Patrick’s weekend sTEP, law enforcement will be gearing up for the same effort May 20th through June 2nd…during the Memorial Day Holiday.

The Atlantic High School will host a public meeting tonight with regard to consolidation of the Exira-Elk Horn Kimballton School Districts. Atlantic School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein announced during the district’s Board meeting in January, that Exira-EHK officials requested an “impartial setting” for the meeting, which takes place in the A-H-S Auditorium, beginning at 6-p.m.  Also in attendance, will be representatives with the Green Hills and the Heartland Area Education Agencies.

No decision is expected tonight on the reorganization of the districts, but this will likely be one of the final steps in the process.

A four-year old Pottawattamie County boy was injured Tuesday, after a dresser fell on him inside his Macedonia home. According to the Omaha World Herald, deputies with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call around 4:22-pm. Rescue crews from Macedonia and Treynor also responded. Officials say the child suffered a head injury but was breathing and conscious when they arrived.

The boy was transported to Alegent Health Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs, suffering from possible life-threatening injuries.

Cass County Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall reminds residents of the county that your second-half tax payments of real estate and mobile homes are now due. The tax may be paid online at www.iowatreasures.org. You can also use your credit or debit card for the payments made at the Treasurer’s Office. The deadline for payments without penalty is Monday, April 1st, 2013.  Payments postmarked by April 1st will be accepted without penalty.