AMES, Iowa – May 20, 2024 – The Iowa Department of Transportation is working across the state this spring and summer to determine how many cars, trucks, and other vehicles are using the state, county, and city roadways. The information gathered allows transportation officials to better predict traffic volume and weight trends, allowing them to plan improvements that will give Iowans the most benefit for each dollar spent.

This year’s efforts are concentrated in southwest Iowa, but occasionally crews will work elsewhere in the state. Some employees will spend peak hours between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. at a location counting the morning, noon, and evening traffic. They count and classify vehicles, record vehicle turning movements, and gather other data necessary to assist in planning the future of Iowa’s roadway system.

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, including hours outside of a traditional business day.

Additional statewide work scheduled for this summer includes the installation, upgrading, and maintenance of permanent traffic recorders and weigh-in-motion equipment at continuous count locations. Other data collection activities include taking inventory on railroad crossing characteristics such as number of tracks and the types of warning devices present, including signs, lights, horns, and control gates. This information is then used for rail crossing planning, engineering, and safety improvements.

People in the area can expect to see Iowa DOT employees and vehicles in their communities all hours of the day. All of this work is important to support Iowa’s transportation system.

DES MOINES, Iowa — [WHO-TV] – The Des Moines Police Department announced Sunday morning that the victim of the homicide on May 18 was a 51-year-old female resident of Des Moines. At 11:37 a.m. on Saturday officers responded to the 1400 block of 4th Street with reports of a deceased person in a home. According to Des Moines police, officers arrived and discovered a deceased female within the home. Officers on scene reported an apparent traumatic injury and requested detectives to the scene, which is when it was determined a homicide investigation.
The name of the 51-year-old female victim is being held while family members are being notified. The cause of death will be confirmed with a forensic autopsy. The Des Moines Police Department continues to investigate the incident and more details will become available at a later date. This is the fourth homicide in Des Moines in 2024.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa— Family, friends and co-workers of a Iowa Department of Transportation worker from Neola who was killed on the job last Thursday, will honor 36-year-old Matthew Dickerson, later this week. Funeral services for Matt Dickerson will be held 10-a.m. Thursday, May 23rd, at the Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home in Council Bluffs. The Iowa State Patrol says Dickerson was hit and killed last week while working on Interstate 80, northeast of Council Bluffs.

According to troopers, a UPS driver from Pennsylvania hit Dickerson while trying to pass a semi in a construction zone. In a statement posted online, the Iowa DOT says it was “heartbroken and shocked” by Dickerson’s death.

Matthew Dickerson

Officials say it’s a reminder of the risks workers face, and they urge all drivers to prioritize safety on the roads, especially in work zones.

FORT DODGE, Iowa [KCCI] – An Eagle Grove man is facing felony homicide charges six months after police say he blew through a stop sign in rural Webster County, slamming into another car, killing a 13-year-old passenger. 38-year-old Logan A. Christensen, of Eagle Grove, is charged with homicide by vehicle – operating under the influence, a Class B felony; serious injury by vehicle – OWI, a Class C felony; and failure to obey a stop sign, an aggravated misdemeanor.

According to court documents, around 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2023, Christensen was driving a 2015 Dodge Ram when he failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of 110th Street and Union Avenue in far northeast Webster County. A 2014 Toyota Camry driven by Sara Sanga, of Hardy, was northbound on Union Avenue when Christensen’s truck struck the passenger side, landing both vehicles in the ditch, where the Camry hit a utility pole and rolled. The driver of the vehicle, Sara Sanga, sustained serious injuries and was taken to a Des Moines hospital by air ambulance. Sanga’s 13-year-old son, Kyle Hilbert, died at the scene.

A search warrant application shows the Iowa State Patrol troopers on the scene observed Christensen have slurred, mumbled speech, and an odor of alcohol coming from both Christensen and the inside of his vehicle. According to the criminal complaint, a blood sample showed Christensen’s blood alcohol content was .041%, below the legal limit of .08% to drive a motor vehicle. However, Christensen’s sample also tested positive for both cocaine and THC, the psychoactive component in the cannabis plant.

Court records show charges were filed on April 18 and Christensen posted $30,000 cash bail on May 10. It is not clear when, exactly, Christensen was arrested. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 5. According to court records, Christensen told Iowa State Patrol troopers at the scene that he had two “Captain and Cokes” earlier in the day and that he was driving to pick up his daughter. Christensen has two previous OWI convictions, one from 2004 and one from 2013, records show.

(Radio Iowa) – As Waterloo residents work to revitalize old industrial areas, concerns are mounting about the safety of those sites, like the Chamberlain ammunition plant which was abandoned some 40 years. Residents want to tear it down and put affordable housing in its place, but the E-P-A has said the soil is toxic. Margo Collins-Draine, who’s lived in the neighborhood since the late ’60s, wants to see more help from the agency beyond just a warning sign. “They’re coming in and they’re giving consultations, but they’re not putting their money where their mouth is,” Collins-Draine says. “They need to do more as far as funding sources to help the city out.”

Collins-Draine says Chamberlain and other factories left Waterloo nearly 50 years ago, and the city was left with few options. “HUD didn’t come in, EPA didn’t come in. Nothing was ever treated. The groundwater wasn’t treated,” she says. “Most of them were along either the Cedar River or tributaries to the Cedar River, so there’s contamination.”

The E-P-A named the Chamberlain compound a “brownfield” site several years ago, preventing any immediate development of the property. The site is currently fenced off without signage indicating the danger.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports two arrests. On Sunday, 19-year-old Trevor Brant, of Glenwood, was arrested on two-counts each of; Criminal Mischief; Burglary in the 3rd Degree, and Assault. Brant was being held in the Mills County Jail on a $12,000 cash-only bond.

And, on Saturday, Glenwood Police arrested 34-year-old Salman Elias, of Lincoln, NE, for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.  Elias posted bond and was released.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports five recent arrests. Two people were arrested on drug charges: 28-year-old Blake Alan McDole, of Creston, was arrested Friday for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense. McDole was later released on a $1,300 bond. And, 19-year-old Zai Land Amarion Glover, of Johnston, was arrested Sunday night for PCS/Marijuana – 1st offense.  Glover was released on a $1,000 bond.

Two people were arrested on an OWI charge this past week, in Creston: 71-year-old Charles Thomas Franklin Brown, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense at around 1:47-a.m., Saturday. And, 38-year-old Dulce Estrella Pantoja, of Lenox, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. Bonds for both individuals was set at $1,000.

And, last Thursday evening, Creston Police arrested 40-year-old Abel Olivera Martinez, of Creston, at his residence. Martinez was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault [on a] Resident Household Member. He was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on a $1,000 bond.