No injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident Sunday evening, in Montgomery County. Sheriff’s officials say the accident happened near Elliott at around 7:45-p.m., on Highway 48 at Kirkwood Avenue. Officials say for reasons unknown, a 1986 Mercury Cougar driven by 58-year old Elaine Alexander, of Elliott, entered the north ditch. Alexander was subsequently charged with OWI and held on bond. There was no damage to her vehicle.

Two accidents over the weekend in Atlantic resulted in over $12,000 worth of damage, and injuries to one person. Officials with the Atlantic Police Department say a vehicle registered to Bill Baily, of Oakland, was legally parked in the Hy-Vee parking lot. As the passenger door of Bailey’s car was opened, a gust of wind took the door, causing it to hit a vehicle driven by Michael Pellett, of Atlantic, as he was pulling into an adjacent parking stall.  Damage to both vehicles amounted to $2700. No injuries were reported.

That same day, an accident took place in the Atlantic Wal-Mart parking lot, at around 1-p.m. Officials say a vehicle driven by Lester Auerbach, of Atlantic, was backing out of a parking stall, when he hit a vehicle registered to James Schweiss, of Atlantic, that was parked in another stall. The force of the impact pushed Schweiss’ vehicle into a parked vehicle registered to John Watson, of Griswold.

Following the initial collision, Auerbach’s vehicle turned west after getting past all the parking stalls, and proceeded west over the curb and down the hill, where it hit a tree before coming to rest. A passenger in Schweiss’ vehicle was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by personal vehicle, for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. The total damage to all vehicles was estimated at $9,600.

Two people were arrested recently in Atlantic, on drug-related charges. Atlantic Police report 27-year old Samuel Hoffman, of Lewis, was arrested Friday, for Possession of drug paraphernalia and on a Cass County warrant for Theft 5th degree. That same day, 30-year old Daniel Duranceau, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Delivery of Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine). Both men were brought to the Cass County Jail and booked in.

Governor Terry Branstad is not giving many hints about whether he’ll approve or veto two high-profile bills that cleared the legislature in the past week. Both the Senate and House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would legalize possession of an oil derived from the marijuana plant, as treatment for severe epilepsy. Branstad says he’s against allowing patients to smoke marijuana as treatment for ailments like glaucoma, arthritis or post traumatic stress, but this bill only deals with a non-intoxicating oil.

“A lot of work went into this in the closing weeks of the session and I have talked to both the governors of Alabama and Utah that passed similar, very limited pieces of legislation,” Branstad says. Another bill, with millions of dollars at stake, would see the casinos in Council Bluffs and Dubuque pay 72 million dollars to get out of the greyhound racing business. The track in Council Bluffs will close if Branstad signs the bill, but Iowa’s greyhound industry can either tap into that pot of money to retire from greyhound racing or use it to run the Dubuque track on their own.

“Obviously, this is something that’s been negotiated between the different groups and I feel my responsibility is to protect the prople of Iowa and the intregrity of the state,” Branstad says. “I will carefully review and consider it. I’ve not made any decision on this.” The cash comes from the casinos. No taxpayer dollars are involved, but Branstad says it’s a “huge” pay-out for the Iowa greyhound industry. “There was very little discussion on this during the legislative process,” Branstad says. “I also believe that Racing and Gaming Commission wil have an important role to play in how these huge amounts of resources are allocated.” The casinos in Council Bluffs and Dubuque have complained they’re providing an annual subsidy of 13-million dollars to keep greyhound racing going at the two tracks, while few patrons wager on or attend the races.

(Radio Iowa)