Highway 20 is cruising to final completion of making the highway from two lanes to four lanes.

The highway has finally reached the stretch of 40 miles left to complete. The project has been ongoing since 1958, where it had to take break during the 1990’s. The project resumed in the year of 2000, according to KTIV.

With more than 50 years of work put into this project, as stated in the Sioux City Journal, $300 million of work is left to complete between Moville, IA and Early, IA.

Sioux City, IA – The Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, IA is currently considering a bid from United Airlines for federal funding to be Sioux City’s sole airline.

The Sioux Gateway Airport board of directors is deciding between United Airlines and American Airlines for their one airline airport, according to KTIV.

United airlines has put in a bid significantly lower than American Airlines. United’s bid of $324,159 is nearly $1-million less than the American bid of $1.26-million.

Sioux City, IA- With the recent terror attacks in Paris, Syrian refugees coming to the United States have been an issue.

According to KTIV, 31 governors across the country have expressed their feelings toward bringing the refugees into the states.

“We don’t want to make the mistake the Europeans did of bringing a bunch of refugees with embedded Islamic militants among them that are going to do damage in our country,” said Iowa Governor Terry Branstad.

Mary J. Treglia Community House, in Sioux City, helps immigrants that come from other nations to adapt to the communities around the Siouxland area. They are willing to help any Syrian refugee that comes for assistance.

According to the Press-Citizen out of Iowa City, 30 students of UI had been diagnosed with mumps by October. At the time, 50 cases of mumps had been reported in the entire state of Iowa,  as stated by KCGR-TV9. There are now more than 100 students that have been diagnosed with the virus, reports the Gazette.

The University of Iowa requires two doses of the MMR  vaccine, but are now also offering a free booster shot to students, as released on their Student Health and Wellness web page.

The CDC states the most common symptoms of mumps are fever, muscle aches, tiredness, and swollen salivary glands. The virus is spread easily through saliva and mucus, so hygiene is very important.

LYTTON, IOWA | An explosion at a protein plant in Lytton, Iowa, sent three people to a hospital in serious condition on Tuesday.

According to The Sioux City Journal, the accident happened at around 6 pm. Authorities said that the three men were welding in a storage tank when the explosion happened.

Lytton is about 83 miles east of Sioux City.

Sioux Falls, SD – Avera Health and DAKOTACARE have signed a letter of intent in which Avera Health will purchase DAKOTACARE. The announcement was made Thursday.

This new merger will create the second-largest health insurance provider in the state of South Dakota with nearly 200,000 members. Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Dakota is the largest with Sanford Health Plan being the third largest according Argus Leader Media.

Avera Health and DAKOTACARE will still operate as two separate companies. There are no plans at this time to cut staff according to Rob Bates, president of Avera Health. KELO-TV

(Sioux City, IA) — Dustin Suppi, a 29-year-old Nebraska resident, pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter this past Tuesday (KCAU). Suppi was involved in a hit and run in August, when 52-year-old Troy Ford and his wife went to help Suppi while he was slumped over on his steering wheel, according to authorities (Sioux City Journal). When Ford made contact with Suppi, he woke up and abruptly sped off, fatally injuring Ford. Suppi was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

There are talks among some Sioux City leaders to ban the selling of single-serve beer for off-site construction to help stop the problem of public intoxication.

According to the Sioux City Journal, a local Native American activist and some local law enforcement officials came up with the idea after a round table discussion. The talk was about potential solutions to the increasing issue of homelessness and alcohol addiction.

Roughly 48% of arrests for public intoxication in Sioux City are made up of Native Americans.