The Iowa Transportation Commission today (Tuesday) approved several RISE grants during its video conference meeting. Among the cities/counties receiving a grant, was:

• Mills County: Up to $2,525,000 from the county share of the RISE Fund was approved for a Local Development grant to assist in the paving of approximately 2,400 feet of Applewood Road, construction of approximately 4,100 feet of 182nd Street, passing/turn lanes on County Road H-10 and Bunge Avenue and overlay of approximately 11,700 feet of Bunge Avenue located south of Council Bluffs. This project is necessary to provide improved access to seven lots totaling more than 680 acres for industrial purposes. This project is anticipated to be completed by July 2021.
• Pottawattamie County: Up to $580,670 from the county share of the RISE Fund was approved for a Local Development grant to assist in overlaying of approximately 2,050 feet of 192nd Street, and construction of approximately 926 feet of Portland Avenue and 687 feet of North 193rd Circle located south of Council Bluffs. This project is necessary to provide improved access to fourteen lots totaling more than 28 acres for industrial purposes. This project is anticipated to be completed by May 2021.

The RISE program was established to promote economic development in Iowa through the construction or improvement of roads and streets.  Iowa cities and counties are eligible for funding in the form of a grant, loan, or combination thereof.  Projects must involve construction or improvement of a public roadway.  There are two RISE project types: 1) Immediate Opportunity, and 2) Local Development.  More information is available at https://iowadot.gov/systems_planning/Grant-Programs/Revitalize-Iowas-Sound-Economy-RISE-Program.

The Iowa Transportation Commission also approved more than  $7 million in funding for 73 new public transit vehicles that will replace vehicles past their useful life. Funds are granted through the Federal Transit Administration’s Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Formula Program as well as the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Program. Vehicle replacement projects were approved for 20 different public transit systems. In southwest/western Iowa:

• Region 12 (Based in Carroll) received $425, 252 for bus or mini-van video surveillance systems and related vehicles.
• Region 13 (Based in Atlantic) received $79,405 toward the 93,418 total cost of a Light Duty Bus. The local share is $14,013.
• and Region 14 (Based in Creston) received more than $427,000 for mini-van/light duty buses and surveillance systems.

Council Bluffs received $1,037,981 in grants from the Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Program. The complete list of funded vehicles can be found at https://iowadot.gov/transit/Funding-programs-and-applications/funding-programs.

WATERLOO, Iowa (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier) — Police in northeastern Iowa say a one-time boxer and suspect in a deadly, botched armored car heist last month is now charged in a fire that destroyed a well-known Waterloo restaurant. The Courier reports that 29-year-old Kevin Cruz Soliveras was arrested Monday on arson and burglary charges in the March 5 fire that gutted the Wishbone Restaurant and Bar.

Police say security video shows Cruz and another person breaking into the restaurant and coin-operated machines there before setting fires in the restaurant. Days later, police say, Cruz was part of a group that hatched plan to rob an armored car outside a Waterloo bank. The robbery failed when guards opened fire, wounding Cruz and another man and killing Bryce Miller.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report the arrest at around 6:30-a.m. today (Tuesday), of 48-year old Darold Eugene Bredberg, of Emerson. He was taken into custody in Red Oak on three warrants: A Bench warrant from Montgomery County for 2 counts Delivery of Methamphetamine (cash bond set at $100,000), and two Mills County warrants for Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, and Driving While License Denied (Total bond on those charges, $2,600).  Bredberg was being held in the Montgomery County Jail.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (The Des Moines Register) — Officials say high winds hampered firefighters’ efforts to extinguish a fire in a huge assisted living complex under construction in West Des Moines, Monday. The Des Moines Register reports that the four-alarm fire was reported around 6 p.m. Fire officials say about a dozen construction workers were in the 200,000-square-foot at the time of the fire, but all were able to escape safely.

The facility, west of Jordan Creek Town Center, had been set to open in the fall. City Fire Marshal Mike Whitsell says winds gusting up to 45 mph, Monday, drove the fire and put neighboring buildings in the area at risk.