SKYSCAN FORECAST Saturday April 28, 2012 Chris Parks
Today: Scattered Showers early. Mostly Cloudy. NNW @ 5-15. H 62.
Tonight: Mostly Cloudy. ENE @ 10. L 42.
Sunday: Slight chance showers in afternoon. Partly Sunny. Light winds changing to E @ 10-15. H 59.
Monday: Partly Sunny. H 70. NNW @ 5-10
Tuesday: Mostly Cloudy and breezy. H 76.
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Officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation said Friday they’ll be working across the state this summer to determine how many cars, trucks and other vehicles are using the state’s roadways.
This year’s efforts are concentrated in southwestern Iowa, but occasionally crews will work elsewhere in the state.
Many employees will spend peak hours between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. at one location counting the morning, noon and evening traffic. They will count and classify vehicles, record vehicle turning movements, tally helmet usage by motorcyclists, and gather other data necessary to plan the future of Iowa’s roadway systems. During off-peak hours when they are not counting vehicles, those same employees may be seen around the community.
The DOT says other employees will be placing and checking portable traffic recorders in the same general areas. When the recorders are set, they usually record data for one or two days and are checked periodically. Employees responsible for the recorders work various shifts, so their vehicles may be seen at local motels while most of us are going about our regular daytime activities.
Another data collection method involves capturing images of the state highways. The program covers half of the state yearly and utilizes a van with two mounted cameras that collect 200 images per mile. At the same time, precise location information is collected through a global positioning system. That data is stored along with the images on the van’s onboard computer system. The van may be seen operating on the state’s highways in the southern half of Iowa as well as all the interstates this year. Other statewide work scheduled for this summer includes the installation, upgrading and maintenance of permanent, automatic traffic recorders and weigh-in-motion equipment.
Officials say all of the work is critical to the future of the state’s transportation system. The information gathered allows transportation officials to better predict traffic trends, and allows them to plan improvements that they say will give Iowans the most benefit for each dollar spent.
IOWA CITY (AP) — Iowa economic development officials are reviewing whether to continue a $2.5 million investment in a startup company pitching a groundbreaking fertilizer technology in Menlo, after learning jurors once found its chairman had misused investor money in another energy project. Court records reviewed by The Associated Press show SynGest Chairman Serge Randhava was found in 2008 by a jury in Illinois to have committed civil racketeering and fraud with associates in connection with $500,000 invested to develop a fertilizer technology. A judge vacated the verdict in 2009 when the case was settled. Randhava denied wrongdoing and said the case was one part of a messy, high-stakes business litigation. Two Iowa Power Fund Board members who voted to invest in SynGest say they were unaware of the case and would have investigated the details.
In January, Iowa economic development leaders notified Syngest that it won’t get a $2.5 million grant unless it successfully lands investors in a proposed $130 million biomass-to-ammonia plant to be located in Menlo. The company seeks to make fertilizer using corn cobs and other corn residue. Company leaders promised huge returns: hundreds of jobs in Menlo, a new revenue source for farmers selling corn cobs and cheaper, more sustainable fertilizer. Eventually, they envisioned 20 such plants in Iowa.
The California-based company had pledged to attract $3.5 million in investment in the plant by Oct. 1st, 2011 in the plant, but by Jan. 17th, 2012, had failed to do so. The company cited difficulties attracting investors amid a slow economy. In January, state officials gave SynGest 30 days to raise the money or lose the aid. SynGest soon said it had the funds, and provided proof of their deposit in a bank account. SynGest says it will soon begin engineering and design work and start asking for reimbursement from its state aid, although it hasn’t yet.
COUNCIL BLUFFS (AP) — An undercover operation has netted more than a dozen arrests for prostitution in Council Bluffs and Omaha, Neb., and officials say the investigation isn’t over. Authorities say those arrested include both prostitutes and their customers. They were taken to the Pottawattamie County jail in Council Bluffs. Police in both cities are assisting the FBI in the investigation. Last week, federal authorities indicted four people who prosecutors say used spas as fronts for a prostitution operation in Omaha.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press
COUNCIL BLUFFS (AP) — An undercover operation has netted more than a dozen arrests for prostitution in Council Bluffs and Omaha, Nebraska. Authorities say those arrested include both prostitutes and their customers. They were taken to the Pottawattamie County jail in Council Bluffs.
IOWA CITY (AP) — Iowa economic development officials are reviewing whether to continue a $2.5 million investment in a startup company pitching a groundbreaking fertilizer technology. The Associated Press reports Illinois jurors found its chairman had misused investor money in another energy project. Two Iowa Power Fund Board members who voted to invest in SynGest say today they were unaware of the 2008 case against SynGest Chairman Serge Randhava and want more details.
HINTON (AP) — The Iowa attorney general’s office is investigating a natural gas pipeline explosion near Hinton to see if workers followed a state law requiring utility companies to be notified before digging begins. The One Call law requires workers to call a hotline 48 hours before digging so utility companies can mark the location of underground lines or pipes. Violators face a $10,000 fine per day of digging if they fail to call.
ONAWA, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa woman charged with drowning her 15-month-old son has been formally charged with first-degree murder. The Monona County attorney’s office filed the charge against 24-year-old Ashley Cameron, of Onawa, on Thursday. She’s scheduled to be arraigned May 14th. Cameron is charged in the Feb. 11 death of Markis Dahms. She was arrested on April 18. Police say Cameron held the toddler under a running faucet in the bathtub in their home until he drowned. The boy was found dead after officers responded to an emergency call about a child who wasn’t breathing. An autopsy later determined the boy had drowned and his death was a homicide. Cameron is represented by the state public defender’s office in Sioux City.
DONALD C ALLEN, 75, of Yale, IA died on Tuesday, April 10 at his winter home in Mesa , AZ. Funeral services for DONALD ALLEN will be held on Saturday, May 26 at 10:00 AM at the Twigg Funeral Home in Panora.
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Visitation will be held on Saturday, May 26 one hour prior to the funeral service.
Burial of the cremains will be in the Richland Township Cemetery in rural Bagley.
AMITA ELIZABETH (BETH) BATSCHELET, 89, of Guthrie Center died on Thursday, April 26 at the New Homestead in Guthrie Center. Funeral services for AMITA BETH BATSCHELET will be held on Monday, April 30 at 10:00 AM at the First Christian Church in Guthrie Center. Twigg Funeral Home in Guthrie Center has the arrangements.
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Visitation will be held on Sunday, April 29 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at the Twigg Funeral Home in Guthrie Center.
Interment will be at West Cemetery in Panora.
A STRENGTHENING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL APPROACH FROM THE SOUTHWEST THIS EVENING, MAINTAINING A STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT THAT WILL RESULT IN PERSISTENTLY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS ACROSS THE AREA UNTIL AFTER DARK. WINDS AND GUSTS WILL BE PARTICULARLY HIGH IN AND NEAR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
COUNTIES: EMMET-KOSSUTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-WRIGHT-SAC- CALHOUN-WEBSTER-HAMILTON-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE-BOONE-AUDUBON- GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD– 341 PM CDT FRI APR 27 2012 …WIND ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING…
EAST SOUTHEAST WINDS OF AROUND 30 MPH ARE EXPECTED… WITH GUSTS TO 40 TO 45 MPH AT TIMES. WINDS WILL BE STRONGER IN AND NEAR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WHERE GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.
STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS WILL CAUSE LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND…AND POSSIBLY SMALL BRANCHES TO COME DOWN. IN ADDITION…MANY FIELDS ARE STILL BARE AND THE WINDS WILL LIFT LARGE AMOUNTS OF DUST IN SOME AREAS. THE COMBINATION OF GUSTY CROSSWINDS AND LOCALLY REDUCED VISIBILITY WILL MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT…ESPECIALLY ON NORTH SOUTH ROADS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINDS OF 30 MPH ARE EXPECTED. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT…ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.
SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-CASS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SAC CITY...DENISON...CARROLL... AUDUBON...ATLANTIC 350 PM CDT FRI APR 27 2012 ...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS... STRONG WINDS OF AROUND 30 MPH WITH GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WILL PERSIST THROUGH THIS EVENING. IN ADDITION...A CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS THE AREA PRODUCING EVEN STRONGER WINDS AT TIMES. WINDS COULD LOCALLY GUST TO NEAR 60 MPH IN AND NEAR THE SHOWERS AND STORMS...PRODUCING MINOR DAMAGE AND MAKING DRIVING HAZARDOUS.
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