Des Moines Register: A state board approved a plan on Wednesday that will bring hundreds of acres into Ankeny's city limits over the objections of rural homeowners who want to keep their land outside of the surging suburb. After a 100-minute public hearing, the city development board unanimously signed off on the plan, which will add 585 acres of prime real estate to Ankeny's northeast side in an area about to burst with residential and commercial development. Most of the land, which is near Interstate 35, is owned by developers, who agreed to become part of Ankeny alongside residential owners with smaller properties.