Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds welcomed a crowd of about 40 people to a Town Hall meeting in Harlan, Wednesday morning. When Branstad took questions from the audience, Shelby County Supervisor Board Chair Steve Kenkel asked about the secondary roads funding in the county and how the state was going to help. Kenkel told Branstad Shelby County currently does not have any bond debt, due to bonding for roads but he said if funding wasn’t made available in the near future, that will likely change. Branstad noted Iowa Department of Transportation Director Paul Trombino has laid out plans in several forms to help with the road funding for counties.

” “I asked him (Trombino) then, okay, we know we have a challenge, the gas tax is very unpopular and brings in less money because people are going to more fuel efficient cars. So we need to come up with a new way to provide financing. He put together a whole series of options. And, one of those was to replace the gas tax or a portion of it with an excise tax on gasoline, like a sales tax does. So that would go up when the price of gas goes up. Some of the other ideas would be to give a local option tax and raising the fees for excessive weight loads.”

The Governor said the legislature had taken a look at the options from Trombino but nothing was finalized. He stressed they would continue to fight for those options and work with legislation to get a common ground. After the meeting, Governor Branstad said he feels confident about his chance in November’s General Election. “I feel really good about this. First of all I think we made great progress in getting the state financial house in order. We made great progress in our jobs goals and I think we have the state going in the right direction. I think people see that.”

Branstad was asked about the lack of youth in Shelby County and Iowa as a whole, and how to get them back. “Well the key is jobs and I think as we are able to grow the economy and have more job opportunities that will be the key to attracting people back to Iowa as well as keeping young people here when they finish their education. That is the reason we put such a big focus on STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. One of the areas of growth in rural Iowa has been renewable fuels and all these other products made from corn and soil beans as well as revitalizing the cattle industry.”

On the topic of student loan debt, Branstad said the three major universities in Iowa will not see an increase in tuition for Iowa students for the second consecutive year. He also mentioned students need to be frugal. “The other thing is to encourage students to be frugal and don’t borrow every dime you can borrow. There are a lot of opportunities to borrow but you have to pay it back with interest. I didn’t get all my loans paid back until after I was Governor. But I never missed a payment and it was a good investment but I only borrowed what I had too. So that’s my advice to students; be careful, don’t live high off the hog. You know be frugal and don’t incur any debt you don’t have to.”

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Two people were taken into custody early this (Thursday) morning, near Grant, following a pursuit and a brief foot chase. Details are sketchy but according to dispatch reports, the suspects allegedly stole a vehicle, which nearly ran over Cass County Deputy Ryan Johnson, as he was deploying stop sticks in an attempt to end the chase. The vehicle ended up in a field off of Spruce Road near Grant, and the suspects taken into custody at around 2-a.m.

Agencies involved in the pursuit and apprehension of the suspects include: the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Red Oak Police and K-9 units from the Cass County Sheriff’s and Red Oak Police Departments.

More information will be posted when it becomes available.

Red Oak Police report the arrest Wednesday evening of a man wanted on a local warrant. 33-year old Luke Daniel Rinehart, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 6:20-p.m. on an active Red Oak warrant for Breach of Peace. Rinehart was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $300 cash bond.

Police in Atlantic said Wednesday that a Pottawattamie County man was arrested Tuesday on a charge of Public Intoxication. 31-year old Damian Morgan, of Council Bluffs, was arrested and booked into the Cass County Jail.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The nation’s wheat crop is smaller than earlier was predicted due to drought. But corn and soybean crop expectations have changed little in the latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The monthly update released Wednesday shows farmers producing a record 13.9 billion bushels of corn and 3.6 billion bushels of soybeans.

SOLDIER, Iowa (AP) – A western Iowa town is under a boil advisory after a hole in a well pipe drained the city’s water tower. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said yesterday that the hole in the pipe was repaired, and the city of Soldier’s system was running once again. But the loss of water pressure created the potential for bacteria to enter the water system.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) – A state agency has begun an investigation into the death of an Illinois man at a Muscatine construction business. The Muscatine Journal reports 52-year-old David Bewley of Colona, Illinois died in an accident Monday at Heuer Construction. The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Herky has returned to his spot on the Pentacrest at the University of Iowa. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports the fiberglass Reflections of U Herky is back on its concrete base on campus. Last month, a vandal broke off the statue beneath the university mascot’s knees. Cedar Rapids artist Kim O’Meara repaired the shattered legs, and the statue was bolted back into place Monday.