(Orange City) — Sioux County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Iowa Highway Patrol and the Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement have finished the fourth and final joint Saturation Project for 2011.
Saturation Project was completed last Friday. 17 officers from the three agencies patroled the southern half of Sioux County during the one-day event. The total number of citations during the fourth phase of Saturation Project equaled 92, including 41 for speeding and 24 seat belt violations. The combined total citations from all four stages of Saturation Project came to 374.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – An interchange on Interstate 29 in Sioux
City has reopened for the first time in nearly three months. The
Iowa Department of Transportation says the I-29 and Hamilton
Boulevard interchange is fully open again to traffic. The ramps had
been closed since early June because of Missouri River flooding.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency
has approved Iowa’s request for more time to appeal the agency’s
rejection of flood aid for five counties along the Missouri River.
Governor Terry Branstad says he received word yesterday that his
request was granted to extend the deadline to October 7th.
SIOUX CITY – Briar Cliff University formally broke ground for a $10.75 million addition and renovation of Heelan Hall. Yesterday’s ceremony marks the official start of construction for the project, which is slated for completion in September 2013.
The transformation of Heelan Hall, the first building to be constructed on campus in 1930, will involve the addition of a three-floor wing with state-of-the-art science laboratories, a business case room and general classrooms.
Heelan Hall will be the home of new and inviting spaces conducive to learning and gathering, including a four-story atrium with clerestory windows on the top floor, bringing in natural light from the North.
The project also will include new heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems along with renovation of various classrooms and labs in the existing structure.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a brutally hot July and a relatively dry summer have caused a moderate to severe drought in about a third of Iowa and have lowered expectations for the state’s corn crop. Crop yield predictions are down, and some lawns, particularly in southeast Iowa, have yellowed without adequate rain. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted early last month that Iowa would average 177 bushels of corn per acre, down from 182 bushels in 2009 but higher than the 165 bushels per acre last year. But the continued lack of rain has prompted some private forecasters to drop the projection for Iowa’s corn yields to as low as 164 bushels per acre.
CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa City woman is accused of using her 6-year-old daughter in a Coralville heroin transaction. Authorities say 33-year-old Lacrecia White has been charged with using a minor in drug trade, child endangerment (no injury) and a felony controlled-substance violation. Police say White drover a gram of heroin and her daughter to a Coralville fast-food restaurant about 4 p.m. Wednesday. Police say White sent her daughter inside to tell the customer to come out to White’s car. The customer came out to make the purchase, but it turns out the customer was a confidential informant who was working for police. A Johnson County jailer said White remained in custody on Friday, pending $22,500 bond. Online court records don’t list the name of White’s attorney.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A man is charged with vehicular homicide in a fiery crash that killed a teenager in Des Moines. Michael Lomax, of Des Moines, was arrested when he released from the hospital on Thursday. He’s charged in an Aug. 28 crash that killed 17-year-old Jennifer Garcia, also of Des Moines, and injured three others in her SUV. Lomax and his passenger were injured. Police say he speeded through a red light and hit Garcia’s SUV, causing one of the vehicles to catch on fire. Lomax is charged with vehicular homicide by recklessness and running a red light. Lomax was in the Polk County jail Thursday evening on more than $25,000 bond. His case is not listed on the online court system, and it’s not known whether he has an attorney.
