Three people were hurt when a semi and a pickup collided Tuesday afternoon on Highway 71, in Montgomery County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 1995 Chevy 1500 pickup driven by 41-year old Dannie Runyon, of Red Oak, was traveling north on Highway 71 at around 4:45-p.m.. A 2012 Kenworth semi driven by 41-year old Keith Steen, of Queen City, MO., was also traveling northbound behind the pickup, when Steen tried to pass at the intersection with Highway 34.

The semi clipped the left rear corner of the pickup, which went off the road to the northeast after the impact, and entered a ditch. The pickup came to rest after striking a tree. Runyon, and two passengers in the pickup, 36-year old Kevin Houchin, and 42-year old Robert Denny, both of Red Oak, were transported to area hospitals.

Runyon and Houchin, who were wearing their seat belts, were both flown by LifeNet to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, while Denny, who was not belted-in, was transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital by Red Oak Rescue.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and Villisca Fire and Rescue personnel assisted at the scene.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley blasts the Obama administration for not telling state officials about dozens of Central American children being placed in Iowa after entering the U-S illegally. Grassley, a Republican, says the feds were wrong to put the 139 children in Iowa homes without giving the state a heads-up to provide health care, mental health care and other state services. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat, disagrees.

“My colleague is just wrong in saying that somehow we ought to let everyone know where these kids are, who they are,” Harkin says. “That is wrong.” Harkin says the operation was kept secret for a reason as there have been angry protests in other U-S cities along the Mexican border which likely traumatized the already-frightened children. “These kids need to be protected, housed and kept safe,” Harkin says. “They don’t need to be made public objects where perhaps people can go out and picket a house. Maybe some family has taken in two or three of these kids to feed them and keep them safe. This is a humanitarian gesture.”

Reports say as many as 57-thousand children from Central American nations have entered the U-S, undocumented and unaccompanied, since last fall. Earlier this week, Governor Branstad said he didn’t want the children brought to Iowa, calling them “lawbreakers.” Again, Harkin disagrees: “There’s a reason for the privacy, there’s a reason to protect these kids,” Harkin says. “Keep in mind, these kids are not criminals, they’re refugees. They’re kids that are escaping murder and violence and rape and all kinds of bad things.” The children deserve due process, Harkin says, and it needs to be determined if they qualify for asylum.

“I just met yesterday with the ambassadors of all three countries, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala,” Harkin says. “Things are now being put in place to help stem the exodus of these kids from those three countries.” Grassley is quoted as saying the cost to taxpayers to care for the children could be as much as one-thousand dollars per day.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Police Department has released details about an accident that occurred Wednesday afternoon at 7th and Laurel Streets. Officials say a SWITA bus driven by Dalton Christoffersen, of Atlantic, was traveling south on Laurel Street at around 3:48-p.m., and stopped at the intersection with 7th Street, but then proceeded to cross 7th. Before the bus could completely get across the street, it was hit by an eastbound car driven by Thea Sherman, of Atlantic.

Jason Prescott, of Atlantic, a passenger in bus, and Sherman, were transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Christoffersen was cited for Failure to Yield upon entering a thru Highway. Damage from the crash amounted to $13,500.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – The city council in Burlington has voted down an ordinance that would have required people to use carrying cases to take toy or replica guns out in public. The Hawk Eye reports the proposal drew a huge outcry from people, many outside Burlington, who wrongly believed it would ban toy guns altogether. Still, council members voted down the ordinance 4-1, saying it was too vague.

Police Chief Doug Beaird (bayrd) suggested the ordinance because he said the department is getting more calls reporting young people carrying pistols or assault rifles. He’s concerned that police officers or adults may not be able to tell whether a gun is real or fake.

He says the situation is a disaster waiting to happen.