Supporters working to get highway renamed for slain trooper
Sgt. Jim Smith (photo from Iowa State Patrol)
Northeast Iowa county officials are showing their support to an effort to honor a slain Iowa state trooper by renaming part of Highway 150.
The Independence City Council recently was one of several entities that approved a resolution in support of renaming the stretch of Highway 150 that runs from West Union to Vinton as the “Sergeant Jim Smith Memorial Highway,” in honor of Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Jim Smith, who was killed in the line of duty during a standoff with a barricaded suspect in Grundy Center on April 9, 2021.
Smith lived in Independence prior to his death. Highway 150 runs from Vinton in Benton County, north to Calmar in Winneshiek County. Major junctions include near Urbana, Independence and West Union.
Smith served on the Iowa State Patrol for 27 years. Michael Lang was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison after shooting and killing Smith while barricaded in a Grundy Center house following a brief police chase.
Mid-America Publishing’s Michael Hohenbrink contributed to this report.
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The Grundy Register
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