Two separate accidents Thursday in western Iowa claimed the lives of two  people. The Iowa State Patrol reports an accident in a construction zone on Interstate 80 in Cass County Thursday afternoon resulted in the death of a motorcyclist from Pennsylvania. 39-year old Andrew Joseph Engle, of Pittsburgh died at the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic from injuries he suffered when he was struck by a tire that flew off of a trailer.

The accident happened 40-year old Scott Edward Farmer, of Cheyenne, WY, was driving a Ford F-350 pickup that was pulling the trailer westbound. When the tire broke free of the trailer, it bounced into the eastbound lane of I-80 and struck Engle in the upper body and head area, as he was driving a 2001 Harley Davidson. The accident happened as traffic was in a head-to-head pattern on I-80 on a bridge over Indian Creek, about a half-mile west of the exit to Marne (Exit 51), at around 4:20-p.m.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by personnel with the Atlantic Fire and Rescue Dept., Marne 1st Responders, Iowa Dept. of Motor Vehicle Enforcement, and Iowa DNR and Medivac Ambulance.

The second accident happened at around 8:10-p.m. on Highway 30, in Harrison County. The Patrol says a 2003 Chevy Tahoe driven by 19-year old Connor James Hemer, of Odebolt, was traveling east on  at around 8:10-p.m., when the vehicle crossed the center line of the road and collided with a westbound 2007 Dodge Nitro, driven by 45-year old Jody Lynn Hustak, of Logan.

Following the crash, the car came to rest in the north ditch. Hustak, who was wearing her seat belt, died at the scene. Hemer, who was also wearing his seat belt, was freed from his vehicle by mechanical means and flown from the scene by LifeNet helicopter to Creighton University Medical Center, in Omaha. A report on his condition was not available early Friday morning. The accident remains under investigation.

Assisting the Iowa State Patrol as the scene, were deputies with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Dept., Personnel from the Logan Police Dept. & Logan Fire and Rescue, Logan Ambulance and the Harrison County Medical Examiner.

Officials with SIRWA report that as of 4:42-p.m. Thursday (Aug. 14th), the Boil Water Advisory was lifted for customers in NW Adams, Montgomery, SE Cass Counties and the Cities of Grant, Carbon, Brooks, Bridgewater and Lyman; account numbers beginning with 047, 048, 081, 082, 084 and 005. You may now resume normal water consumption.

SIRWA says they will continue to flush their service lines in order to increase the chlorine residual and will continue testing over the next few days. If you have questions, please call the SIRWA office.
If you have a water outage, be sure and check your meter for a possible leak. Or call our office to see if there is a emergency outage, or to report an outage, at (641) 782-5744.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz is a candidate for Madison County attorney in November. The county auditor’s office confirmed that Schultz is on the ballot as the Republican candidate running against current County Attorney Julie Forsyth, a Democrat.

Schultz decided not to run for a second term as secretary of state. Instead he launched a campaign for Iowa’s 3rd District congressional seat but the Republican Party chose David Young from the field of six candidates in June.

The Des Moines Register quotes Schultz as saying he’s had a lot of encouragement to run for county attorney. Schultz’s biography on the secretary’s website says he’s a graduate of the Law School at Creighton University and practiced law in Council Bluffs before being elected secretary of state in 2010.

Atlantic Fire and Rescue, Marne 1st Responders and Medivac Ambulance were called to the scene of an SUV versus motorcycle personal-injury accident on Interstate 80 eastbound, at mile marker 50 (about a mile west of the Marne exit). The accident, which took place on the river bridge over Indian Creek, has traffic is in the head-to-head portion of the construction zone, was reported at around 4:25-p.m.

No other details are immediately available.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office Thursday (8/14) reports the arrest on Wednesday, of 27-year old Timothy Brent Talmage, of Glenwood. Talmage was arrested at around 8:10-p.m. on a warrant for Contempt-any other act or Omission Declared a Contempt. Bond was set at $1,000.

The S/O also say two incidents of Theft were reported on Tuesday. David Graham, of Silver City, reported a Theft 2nd degree, and the Malvern Public Library reported an incident of Burglary 3rd. No other details were provided.

Authorities in Fremont County report one-person died during a single-vehicle accident this (Thursday) morning. The Sheriff’s Office says 25-year-old Travis Andrew Hoyt, of Shenandoah, died at the scene of the crash at around 9:30-a.m., about three-miles west of Shenandoah, on 195th Street.Officials say Hoyt’s 1979 Jeep went out of control as it traveled eastbound. The SUV entered the ditch and rolled over before coming to rest on its wheels. Hoyt, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle.

The State Medical Examiner’s Office is scheduled to conduct an autopsy. Shenandoah Fire and Rescue and the Fremont County medical examiner assisted the sheriff’s office at the scene.

Authorities in Fremont County are expected to release later this afternoon, details on a fatal accident that happened this morning, on a gravel road. At least one person died in the crash.

No other details are currently available.