CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — Officials say an eastern Iowa power plant will be closed six years earlier than scheduled. Alliant Energy said in a news release its M.L. Kapp Generating Station in Clinton will stop operation June 1. The plant was converted from a coal facility to natural gas in 2015. Its 2024 closing date was announced at that time.

Company spokesman Mike Wagner says the plant was being used only during peak energy demand. Last year it generated power for just 11 days. He says two reviews showed it was in the customers’ best interest to move up the closing date. Wagner says the plant’s 21 workers were informed Wednesday of Alliant’s decision.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man at around 7:25-p.m. Thursday, for Public Intoxication and Urinating in Public. 56-year old Tony Joe Christensen, of Red Oak, was taken into custody in the 1300 block of N. Broadway, in Red Oak, and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $300.

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among kids between the ages of 10 and 14. It’s the second-leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 34. Representative Tom Moore of Griswold, a retired teacher, says “We have got to do a better job of recognizing when we have children or adults…in crisis.”

A bill that cleared the legislature this week directs Iowa schools to adopt suicide prevention strategies. Teachers and other school staff are to undergo at least one hour of training every year so they may better recognize “toxic stress” and other signs of depression that may lead to suicide. “The only people who see our kids as much or more than we do as parents are our teachers,” Moore says. “This bill provides our teachers with necessary training to recognize signs of suicide in their students.”

The bill emphasizes that educators should be trained to identify a traumatic event in a student’s life that may have a lasting, negative effect on the student’s well-being. Representative Ras Smith of Waterloo says helping teachers recognize toxic stress in their students is a great step forward. “This is showing that once we know better, we choose to do better.” Representative Moore says teachers aren’t being called upon to be counselors, just to be on the look-out for signs their students may need help from a health care professional.

“This one hour annual training is a great start to a better informed public and will lead to lives being saved,” Moore says. Representative Timi Brown-Powers of Waterloo says 433 people died of suicide in Iowa last year. “On average, one person dies by suicide every 20 hours in Iowa,” Brown-Powers said. “This bill will help our teachers. It will help our students and it will save lives in Iowa.” The bill won unanimous approval in both the House and Senate and the governor is expected to sign the bill into law.

(Radio Iowa)

The Adams County Sheriff’s Department reports a man from Union County was arrested by Adams County Deputies a little before midnight, Thursday, following a traffic stop on Highway 25, near 272nd Street. Vincent Brown, of Kent, was taken into custody at around 11:58-p.m., for OWI/1st offense, and transported to the Adams County Jail.