The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports no one was injured, but a Creston man received multiple citations following a crash Thursday afternoon, about 6-miles south of Atlantic. At around 2:25 p.m., Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report of a two-vehicle accident on 630^th Street near Oxford Road. Officials say a 2007 Ford F-250 pickup owned and driven by 76-year old Richard Leo Knapp, of Denison, TX, was southbound on Highway 71 when it was hit in the front driver’s side corner by a northbound 1987 Ford F-250 pickup owned and driven by 50-year old Kevin Floyd Edwards, of Creston. The accident happened when Edwards fell asleep at the wheel.

The collision forced Knapp’s pickup onto the east side of Highway 71, and caused Edwards’ pickup and the vehicle it was towing to roll onto their roofs in the west ditch, where they struck a DOT road sign and post. Damages from the crash amounted to $18,000.  The Sheriff’s Department says Edwards was cited for No Valid Driver’s License, Failure to Yield Half of Roadway, No Proof of Insurance, Operating Non-Registered Vehicle, Open Container, and Failure to Acquire Title of Purchased Vehicle.

A southwest Iowa couple is traveling across the state this summer to raise money for historic preservation projects and to highlight the music of legendary songwriter and folk singer Woody Guthrie.

Bob & Sheila Everhart

Bob Everhart, of Anita, and his wife Sheila, are making appearances starting this weekend to honor the late Guthrie, who wrote more than a thousand songs during his long career. “July the 14th would actually have been his 100th birthday but we’re spending the whole summer doing some fundraisers for museums and opera houses in Iowa,” Everhart says. “It looks like we’re still on the A-list to do the final program at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in October.” He says the show pays tribute to a true American icon.

Everhart says, “For those people who are fans of Woody Guthrie or people who like older styles of music, this is especially fun for people who would like to remember some songs that they have not heard in a very, very long time.” Guthrie sang about the Great Depression and the problems faced by many thousands of farmers during the Dust Bowl era. Guthrie’s list of famous songs includes, “This Land Is Your Land”, “Mail Myself To You”, “This Train”, “Bound For Glory”, and “Hobo’s Lullaby”. Guthrie died in 1967, but Everhard says Guthrie made several stops in Iowa during his career.

Everhart’s first shows are Saturday at the Blairsburg Opera House and Sunday at Fort Dodge High School to benefit the Webster County Museum. Both are at 7 PM. For a complete schedule of the Iowa concerts, visit: www.ntcma.net.

(Radio Iowa)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Mitt Romney says President Barack Obama’s statement that the “private sector is doing fine” will “go down in history” as an extraordinary miscalculation by an out-of-touch president.  Speaking in Council Bluffs today (Friday), Romney pounced on the comments Obama made during this (Friday) morning’s White House news conference. Romney says Obama’s remarks led him to ask: “Is he really that out of touch?” Romney says Obama is “defining what it means to be detached and out of touch with the American people.” Romney’s aides say his campaign will continue to give Obama grief on the matter. The comment revived memories of a statement Republican nominee John McCain made in 2008, during the economic turmoil, that the economy’s fundamentals were sound.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court is giving the green light to a major wind energy expansion by the state’s largest public utility. The court today (Friday) upheld a 2009 decision by the Iowa Utilities Board that guaranteed MidAmerican Energy could raise customers’ rates in the future to pay for a huge wind energy project set to be completed this year. The court rejected a challenge by NextEra Energy Resources, a rival who argued MidAmerican didn’t demonstrate a need for extra capacity and didn’t properly consider other alternatives. In a 5-0 ruling, the court says the board’s decision was based on “substantial evidence” the expansion would reduce emissions, diversify the fuel supply, promote economic development and maintain reasonable prices for customers. MidAmerican spokeswoman Ann Thelen says the company is pleased with the ruling.
 
MidAmerican says it owns the most wind-powered capacity among the nation’s rate-regulated utilities. Among its area projects, are: The Adair Project in Cass and Adair Counties, producing 174.8-megawatts (MW) of power; The Eclipse Project in Audubon and Guthrie Counties, producing 200.1 -mw; The Morning Light Project in Adair County, which produces more than 101.2-mw of power; The Rolling Hills Wind Energy Project in Adair, Adams & Cass Counties, which generates 443.9-mw of power; and the Carroll Project, which can produce up to 150-mw of power.

All together, there are 56 wind turbines which have been built or are in the process of being erected, in those counties. The total amount of energy generated by those turbines amounts to slightly more than 1,070-megawatts. Mid-American says by the end of 2012, all of their wind energy projects, when completed, will have the capacity to generate more then 2,284-megawatts of power. According to the American Wind Energy Association, 1 Megawatt of wind-generated power can provide electricity for anywhere from 240-to 300-households, per year.

For more information: http://www.midamericanenergy.com/wind/include/pdf/facts_iowa_wind.pdf