OTTUMWA — A combination of dangerously cold air and icy roads led most area schools to cancel classes Thursday as winter blasted southern Iowa.

OTTUMWA — Southeast Iowa is getting ready for a late-week plunge in temperatures, but forecasters say the cold won’t last long.

Activities centered around Valentine’s Day start to fill the calendar this weekend, and bull riding action takes center stage at Bridge View Center. Here’s a look at what’s going on in and around Ottumwa this weekend.

The name of a famous Centerville native will adorn a music hall at Iowa State University.

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has issued a notice that it intends to deny a permit application to withdraw water from Iowa’s Jordan Aquifer by a company that planned to ship 2 billion gallons a year to drought-stricken western states.

FAIRFIELD — A man convicted of robbing a bank in Jefferson County will spend at least 17 years in prison after being sentenced for aiding or abetting first-degree robbery and ongoing criminal conduct.

BLOOMFIELD — The Davis County woman accused of knowingly leaving a 6-year-old child with a man she knew had sexually abused her has reached a plea agreement that would spare her prison time.

OSKALOOSA—Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness, and Ryan Parker and his family know a lot about gratitude.

UPDATED 1/23/20 at 12:25 p.m.

OTTUMWA — Opioids have been the focus of much of the federal effort to fight drug abuse in recent years, raising concerns for some that the effort deprived states with serious meth problems the funding to continue that fight.

OTTUMWA — Temperatures will improve this week with highs getting back to near normal for late January. But multiple rounds of rain and snow are also on the way.

FAIRFIELD — Pete Buttigieg will return to the area as he campaigns for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination with two stops in the area.

OTTUMWA — It would be easy to make assumptions about Courtney Reyes’ story. She knows it, too. There are several that would seemingly fit. Small town to big city. Misfit to success. Tropes that have been made into scores of plots for film, television and books.

SEYMOUR — Two years, 10 months and nine days ago the community began picking up the pieces of an EF-2 tornado that impacted the lone school building in Seymour. On Wednesday, the culmination of the efforts that followed the devastating 2017 tornado were presented to that same community.

As the temperatures drop this weekend, activities are picking up. There’s a full slate of events at Bridge View Center this weekend, plus opportunities to help keep yourself or your pet a bit safer.

After sitting abandoned for 10 years, local officials announced the Knoxville Veterans Administration campus is now owned and controlled by the local government.

OTTUMWA — A Davis County woman accused by prosecutors of neglect and child endangerment has waived her right to a jury trial.

DES MOINES — Despite a minor glitch with some of their microphones, Iowa legislative leaders were loud and clear about their priorities as they opened the 2020 legislative session on Monday.

There are a wide variety of events going on this weekend, ranging from community promotions to arena rock, agriculture and exploring past life experiences.

KNOXVILLE — An Eddyville man will be under government supervision for the rest of his life after being convicted of third-degree sexual abuse.