The Story County Sheriff’s Office will be offering their first annual Junior Citizen’s Academy beginning on June 23rd.

The City of Ames has scheduled two separate construction projects to begin on Monday May 14th.

You can get into several area attractions for free Friday, May 11th. It’s National Public Gardens Day and the goal is to help you get into gardening.

Five central Iowa gardens are participating in the national movement sponsored by Better Homes and Gardens. You can get into The Des Moines Botanical Center, the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden, Reiman Gardens in Ames, The Iowa Arboretum in Madrid and the Brenton Arboretum in Dallas Center.

The gardens will also offer tours and educational programs to provide ideas on how to plant gardens in your own backyard. This is the fourth year for the national movement. Organizers say the goal is to stress the importance of gardens.

Des Moines Botanical Center Operations Manager Dawn Goodrich says, “It’s a great opportunity to educate your children about being green, and eating healthy. So, there’s just a lot of great opportunities for people who want to get involved in gardening.”