The proposed tower would go on the north end of American Heroes Park. Estimated to cost over $1 million, it would be the project’s most expensive component. Council members expect private grants to fund the tower.
The overall project also includes a research station to monitor water quality, an interpretive center to attract students, an observation deck over the river and a landscaped garden.
GRAETTINGER, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say three tanker cars containing ethanol remain in a rural creek, three days after a fiery train derailment in northwestern Iowa.
Environmental specialist Amber Wolf with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Monday that the fire finally went out midday Sunday.
The blaze erupted after the derailment around 1 a.m. Friday on a trestle bridge spanning Jack Creek near Graettinger, about 160 miles northwest of Des Moines. Federal safety officials say 20 tanker cars filled with ethanol left the tracks, with five plunging into the creek.
Wolf says two of the five cars have been pulled out, but three remained in the creek Sunday after recovery work was suspended because of a snowstorm.
The department says creek water checks downstream found no obvious signs of a spill.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas, Tom Beall, is not among federal prosecutors who were asked to resign.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports Beall will stay in office for the time being.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week asked 46 prosecutors who were holdovers from the Obama administration to resign.
Beall took over the job in April 2016 after Barry Grissom resigned. Grissom was appointed by President Barack Obama but Beall was not a political appointee.
Beall joined the office in April 2011 and was named first assistant U.S. attorney two years later. After becoming acting U.S. attorney when Grissom resigned, the Justice Department later promoted him to his current position.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska state senators are once again in a standoff over a bill that would repeal a law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets.
Supporters of the bill sponsored by Sen. John Lowe of Kearney said Monday that motorcyclists should have the freedom to ride without helmets. They contend Nebraska’s helmet law costs the state tourism dollars because motorcyclists avoid it.
Sen. Robert Hilkemann, a retired Omaha podiatrist leading a filibuster against the bill, says helmets help protect motorcyclists from death or serious brain injuries. He and other conservatives who oppose the bill argue motorcycle accidents cost taxpayers who end up paying for disabled riders’ health care.
Nebraska is one of 19 states that require helmets for all riders.
Greitens says she heard that there might be some children’s books left over from past events at the mansion. She hoped to find enough to hand out at an Easter egg event next month.
But when she arrived in the storage locker, Greitens says she was “blown away” to find a mountain of about 20 boxes full of hundreds of children’s books from Scholastic.
The first lady said she plans to donate the books, mostly to foster care facilities in Missouri.
During their short time in office, Greitens and her husband, Gov. Eric Greitens, have championed foster care in the state.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s House budget leader says lawmakers might not have changed corporate tax law if they’d known what it would actually cost.
Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick told The Associated Press that lawmakers had poor information when the 2015 bill came up for a vote.
The measure was estimated to cost about $15 million annually. Corporate tax revenues dropped more than $155 million the first fiscal year it was implemented, though it’s not clear whether that was all from the tax change.
Democratic Auditor Nicole Galloway says that’s not acceptable. She’s auditing corporate income tax law as part of a review of policies that have contributed to budget crunches.
It’s unclear whether lawmakers can undo their action. Fitzpatrick says a repeal could be interpreted as an unconstitutional tax hike.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas recorded a 22 percent increase in traffic fatalities in 2016 compared with the previous year, and one state trooper says distracted driving is the main reason.
The Kansas Department of Transportation says 432 people died in traffic accidents in 2016.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the National Safety Council says traffic fatalities increased 6 percent nationwide in 2016.
Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Chad Crittenden says distracted driving is the key reason for the increase. He says he recently watched 14 drivers while he was stopped at a busy Wichita intersection — and 11 of the drivers went through the intersection either talking or texting on their phones.
Others say lower gas prices also are a factor, because more drivers are on the roads.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tammy Dickinson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, has resigned.
Dickson is one of 46 U.S. attorneys who were holdovers from the Obama administration asked to resign Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The Kansas City Star reports Dickinson’s resignation was effective Friday at midnight.
President Barack Obama appointed Dickinson, a former Jackson County prosecutor, to the office in January 2013.
Tom Larson, a longtime assistant in the office, will be acting U.S. attorney for the district until President Donald Trump chooses a replacement.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The governors of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and New Mexico are seeking temporary suspension of grazing restrictions for farmers and ranchers because of wildfires.
The fires have burned more than 2,300 square miles in the four states, forcing farmers and ranchers to move their livestock.
The letter from the governors to acting Secretary of Agriculture Mike Young asks that the restrictions in the Conservation Reserve Program be lifted to provide more land for grazing.
The program is a voluntary land conservation program of the Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help agricultural producers protect environmentally sensitive land.
According to the agency, emergency grazing of CRP land is authorized under certain conditions to provide relief to livestock producers due to some natural disasters.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s time to change time again. Daylight saving time returns this weekend in the United States.
The short-term pain: Lose an hour of sleep Saturday night. The long-term gain: Enjoy more evening light in the months ahead, when the weather warms and you want to be outdoors.
Advance your clocks by 60 minutes before tucking in, so you’re not caught off-guard Sunday morning. For most of the U.S., the change officially starts Sunday at 2 a.m. local time.
You may want to install fresh batteries in smoke detectors and radios, and repeat that when standard time returns Nov. 5.
No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
