The Iowa State Patrol reports a Lake City woman died and two passengers in her vehicle were injured, during a rollover accident early Monday morning in Carroll County. 19-year old Janelle Marie Woods died when she was ejected from the 1999 Ford Expedition she was driving, as it rolled several times in a high speed crash. The Patrol says she was wearing her seatbelt.

Officials say the SUV was westbound on 170^th Street at around 12:34-a.m. Monday, and traveling at a high rate of speed, when the vehicle went off onto the right shoulder of the road. When Woods steered hard to the left, the Expedition went out of control and rolled over. Woods died from her injuries.

The passengers in her vehicle, 28-year old Roger Hickerson, and 27-year old Ashley Hahn, were injured. The Patrol’s report didn’t indicate where they were from. Hickerson was also ejected, and suffered serious, incapacitating injuries. He was flown by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. A report on his condition was not available. Hickerson was not wearing a seatbelt. Hahn was also not wearing a seatbelt. She suffered serious, non-incapacitating injuries, and was transported by ambulance to the Carroll Hospital.

Officials at the hospital administered a blood test on Woods to test for alcohol or drugs, but the results of those tests are not yet available. The SUV sustained $8,000 damage during the crash.

The Atlantic School Board Tuesday, adopted a resolution directing the sale of 7.66-million dollars in school infrastructure, sales, services and use tax bonds, series 2012.

Hutchinson-Shockey-Erley & Company of Chicago, IL, was the winning bidder for the marketing of the bonds.

HSE had the lowest interest rate of 3.74%, which was about one-half percent lower than what was expected when the district began to look at financing earlier this Spring. Piper Jaffrey’s Travis Squires said that will save the district about $500,000 in interest. The bonds will be used to finance construction and renovation at the Atlantic Middle School.

Squires said there were four bidders for the bonds. In addition to the Illinois firm, the other three were located in Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York. All of the bids were received electronically, through a parity on-line bidding system, which is common practice these days.

Squires had some good news for the board Tuesday night. He said during past month, the company finalized the rating cull for the Standard and Poor’s rating agency. He says the Atlantic Community School District received an “A-plus” bond rating, which, he says, is “very good.”

He says that’s based essentially on the fact the district’s enrollment is fairly stable, and because it has sufficient bond coverage on the existing debt. Squires says the district has almost double the amount of revenues needed to make the bond payments.

High Trestle trail

Spener Michael Sisco

Authorities have arrested a man in connection with the vandalism of a popular new tourist attraction in central Iowa. People have been stealing the expensive L-E-D lights installed on the High Trestle Trail Bridge near Madrid. Sergeant Kenny Kendall, with the Boone County Sheriff’s office, says tips from the public this week led them to 22-year-old Spencer Sisco of Boone.

Sisco admitted taking four of the lights. He’s facing charges of theft and criminal mischief. Kendall says Sisco hasn’t been the only one swiping the lights.
“They cost $420 a piece…I guess it was just kind of a novel thing for him to try and do. We’ve got about 15 of those lights now missing,” Kendall said. Other lights on the bridge have been damaged.

“It’s just one of those things – you have something nice and people don’t respect it,” Kendall said. The High Trestle Bridge opened in late April. It’s a 13 story high, half-mile long structure that spans the Des Moines River. The bridge is part of a $15 million bike trail that runs from Ankeny to Woodward and passes through Slater, Sheldahl and Madrid. Kendall says plans are being made to increase security on the bridge.

“Our office does regularly patrol the area and we’re working with the Boone County Conservation Board in an effort to get some security cameras installed,” Kendall said. “But, unfortunately there again, we have to make sure the cameras aren’t in such a place as they can be vandalized.” The entire 25 mile long bike trail, including the bridge, follows a former railroad line once owned by Union Pacific.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Three school districts in Iowa are set to receive federal funding for safe rooms in the event of a tornado.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has approved nearly $3.3 million in funding for projects in Creston, Lenox and West Des Moines over the past three months.

The safe rooms will be designed to withstand winds of 250 miles per hour. They typically shelter an entire building’s population and are often used as gyms, cafeterias and libraries on a daily basis.