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Employees at the Johnson County courthouse are speaking out about space and safety concerns ahead of an upcoming vote on a proposed justice center.  Last month the Board of Supervisors informally approved a plan to place the issue on the November ballot. “It’s safety, it’s security and it’s space,” said County Attorney Janet Lyness.  “All three things [...]

The USS Iowa is just days away from a historic tow into Los Angeles.  Since October the ship has been docked for restoration work in Richmond, California.  In July the battleship will officially open to the public as an interactive museum in the San Pedro Bay area.  The ship is expected to attract millions of [...]

Loop closures at the Interstate 80/380 interchange started increasing commutes this morning for thousands of Eastern Iowa drivers.  Thursday night the Department of Transportation will have all four loops at the interchange closed until mid July as part of a bridge repair project. Ramps on the Interstate will remain open to allow for detours.  The new routes [...]

An Eastern Iowa mother says her son may not have survived a “horrific accident” had it not been for the University of Iowa’s AirCare program.  Roberta Abernathy’s son, Trevor, was injured in a construction accident in Tama County in January. “If he had to go by ground he probably would not have survived,” Roberta Abernathy [...]

A crash in a construction zone has slowed westbound traffic on Interstate 80 through Iowa City.  Police and rescue crews responded to the crash at mile-marker 245, near the Prairie Du Chien overpass, shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday. The crash happened in the same area as several others in recent weeks. Traffic has been reduced to [...]

Iowa City police say a person of interest in a double murder in Manchester made a stop at the Iowa City police station early Sunday morning. According to police sergeant Denise Brotherson, Isaiah Sweet, 17, was charged for driving with a suspended license around 3 a.m. Sunday morning.  Brotherton said Sweet triggered an alarm at [...]

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek confirmed Monday morning that an overnight search of a field yielded nothing.  Sheriff’s deputies from Linn and Johnson County as well as members of the Iowa State Patrol began searching an area in northern Johnson County around 9 p.m. Sunday night. According to an email from Pulkrabek authorities were looking for [...]

Multiple law enforcement agencies are searching a field in northern Johnson County.  It is not clear what they are looking for and deputies are not giving any information to the media. Sheriff’s deputies from Linn and Johnson County as well as State Patrol officers have formed a perimeter around a field between Greencastle Ave. NW and L [...]

The Riverside city council voted 3-2 to install panic buttons at city hall offices and council chambers this week after the city clerk says she received a threatening phone call. “He started yelling and telling me that I better watch my back,” said city clerk Missy Carter.  “(He said) he’s my boss and he’ll decide if I [...]

The city of Coralville appears to be ready to allow indoor firing ranges within city limits.  City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said Tuesday that he knows of plans to build at least one facility, pending the city council’s approval. “There is a regulation that you have to be a certain distance from schools, churches, all of those different [...]

A Washington County father said he “hunkered (his three children) down in a corner on two interior walls” while a tornado passed over the home he rents Thursday night.  Jeremiah Nelson said the tornado came upon the house, 3229 Spruce Avenue in rural Washington County, so fast that he didn’t have time to get his family to the [...]

A second crash on Highway 218 near the Hills exit has closed southbound lanes.  The crash involved two vehicles, one which sustained heavy damage to the back. Drivers going Southbound are being forced off the highway at the Hills exit. This is the second crash to occur within the same one mile stretch of the highway.  [...]

A car drove off Highway 218 and into a creek about one mile south of Hills late Friday afternoon.  Around 6:15 a wrecker pulled the car out of the creek.  The car appeared to be moderately damaged with damp greenery on its hood. A witness said a helicopter had been on the scene and left the [...]

Students from several schools pitched in Friday to help cleanup damage left behind by an EF2 tornado Thursday night.  The tornado touched down around 8:45  just south of Wayland, and stayed down for over four miles until lifting off the ground near Crawfordsville. “The pressure built up and I could feel it in our ears, and the rest [...]

Wayland Police Chief Ron Roth said he saw a tornado around nine o’clock Thursday night bearing down on the area. “Damage to the surrounding areas (of Wayland) is moderate to heavy,” Roth said.  “But (downtown) Wayland seems alright.”   Roth said he only saw the tornado for about two seconds during a large lightning strike.  No injuries have been reported at this time, Roth said. [...]

A recently completed fourth fire station in Iowa City has drastically cut down on response times to the northeast side of town.  Fire station no. 4 opened last October, along North Dubuque Rd. near Dodge St. “At Iowa City Fire we have a goal of getting our first unit on the scene in six minutes or [...]

An unseasonably warm, then cold, spring may be just what the doctor ordered for some farmers ahead of the annual farmers market season.  “Everything at this point looks good, it’s about one month sooner than it has been in the past, so we’re getting a good jump start,” said Ed Greazel, a Johnson County Farmer.  ”It [...]

Cases of pertussis, more commonly known as ‘whooping cough,’ are on the rise in Eastern Iowa, according to the Johnson County Public Health department.  Officials in Johnson County have reported nine cases of the bacterial disease so far this year. “In Iowa there has been an 83 percent increase this year over the five year [...]

  One person is dead following a messy night on Interstate 80.  The state patrol confirmed Sunday night that one person was killed in a crash at the Interstate 80/380 interchange. According to troopers, the driver of a car was killed while entering eastbound lanes on Interstate 80.  A semi slammed into the car, troopers said. The [...]

Interstate 80 eastbound has reopened after an earlier crash involving a semi.  The semi appeared to be driving in the outside lane, and slid off the roadway into the ditch near the Prairie Du Chien overpass in Iowa City. The crash closed both eastbound lanes of traffic on the interstate for over an hour. Shortly after [...]