Authorities in Pottawattamie County say there were no serious injuries reported after a pickup truck struck an Underwood Community School District bus Monday morning. The accident happened at around 9:40-a.m. at the intersection of 270th Street and Elmtree Road. Sheriff Jeff Danker told the Daily NonPareil says the bus driven by 46-year old Joel Phillips, of McClelland, was carrying students to Underwood Community Schools, when an eastbound black Chevy pickup driven by 16-year old  Austin Hiers, of Council Bluffs, allegedly ran a stop sign. Hiers’ truck was struck on its right side by the bus. The pickup then left the roadway and went down an embankment into a yard.

Underwood schools, like many in the area, were starting two hours late Monday, due to the bitterly cold conditions.

Officials with the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha say a former police officer who accidentally shot himself outside a Glenwood elementary school last week, is in good condition. The Daily NonPareil reports Douglas Trent Good, the parent of a student at West Elementary School, was taken to the hospital on Friday, after he accidentally shot himself in the leg with a .9-mm handgun while waiting inside of his car. The incident happened about 3:30 p.m. in the lower playground parking lot.

Another candidate for the Iowa 3rd Congressional District is set to announce he’s running for office.

Sen. Brad Zaun (R), of Urbandale.

Republican Brad Zaun, of Urbandale, is expected to announce his intentions this afternoon in Clive, to run for the seat being vacated by Tom Latham. The announcement will take place beginning at 1-p.m. at the Auto Jet Muffler Corporation.

Zaun is a former council member and seven year Mayor of Urbandale. Currently he’s a State Senator representing all of Urbandale and portions of northwest Des Moines. Brad’s business experience includes 18 years as the owner of a hardware store in Urbandale. He is married and the father of five children.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — After a second day of deliberations, jurors haven’t reached a verdict at the trial of an Iowa man charged in the 1974 slaying of a 17-year-old girl. Wapello County jurors left yesterday after meeting all day to consider the case against Robert “Gene” Pilcher. Deliberations resume today.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have captured an Iowa inmate accused of walking away from a work release center. The U.S. Marshals Service say in a news release that 25-year-old Derrick Dejuan Hoover was arrested Thursday after Des Moines police located him during a traffic stop. Authorities say Hoover cut off his monitoring device and walked away from the Fort Des Moines Work Release Center on January 7. He had been ordered to live at the center as a condition of release for federal convictions.

LOGAN, Iowa (AP) — Residents in the western Iowa city of Logan have been asked to conserve water as officials investigate a possible leak in the distribution system. The Department of Natural Resources says the amount of water coming into the city from four wells has been gradually decreasing over several weeks. Workers spent the weekend looking for a break in a line but have been unsuccessful.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrats who hold the majority in the Iowa Senate want to boost state education funding for the 2015 school year. But the Republican governor and Republicans controlling the state House have shown little interest in considering the proposal this year. Under state law, the General Assembly is supposed to establish funding levels more than a year in advance. Legislators have not always followed that law.

A standing-room only crowd attending Monday night’s meeting of the Audubon City Council, hoping to get answers to questions they had about the Council’s decision not to re-appoint Lora Hansen as City Clerk during their meeting on January 13th, but they received very few answers that weren’t hidden behind the cloak of the law. After a lengthy and sometimes contentious session, the Council tabled action on appointing an interim City Clerk, pending talks with interim City Attorney David Wiederstein, who was appointed to fill the position of Lance Levis. Levis turned in his resignation last Thursday. Hansen has agreed to remain City Clerk in the interim, until the matter is taken up again in two weeks.

During the session, it was pointed out the Council may have broken the law with regard to what transpired during the last session and the events which led up to it. Dawn Rohe, a citizen of Audubon and City Administrator in Manning, said they violated Iowa Code at the previous meeting by not having the appointment of a City Clerk on the agenda 24-hours in advance of the meeting. She said each member of the Council could face financial damages for knowingly violating the rule. She said Mayor Clark “Sam” Kauffman could have vetoed the Council’s vote not to re-appoint Hansen, but he chose not to do so.

Rohe also made a request under the Iowa Open Records law, for documents pertaining to actions leading up to the Jan. 13th meeting, and any other pertinent information. The main question the 100 or so people who were in attendance at the meeting had, was why the Council thought it was necessary to replace Hansen — who has served the City for more than 30-years — with Janet Nelson (who subsequently withdrew her name from consideration). Councilman John Wetzel said that was something they couldn’t discuss.  He said that was one the advice of the City Attorney. He did say Hansen was supposed to be on a two-year appointment, and it was not performance-based. Wetzel says “If some day, if we can talk about more things, then we will.”

Wetzel also denied allegations Nelson was chosen in behind the scenes activities that would have been illegal under the Iowa Code. He said there was no interview. Instead, she was referred to him by a citizen. He saw Nelson and examined her resumed, but he denied he had an interview with her. Newly elected Councilman Jason Hocker was asked why, since he’d never worked with Hansen, would he make a motion to “get rid of her.” Hocker side-stepped the answer by saying he’s already spoken about the matter in area newspapers. That didn’t sit well with the man who asked the question. He said he the citizens would never have voted for Hocker they knew he intended to make a motion not to re-appoint Hansen.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrats who hold the majority in the Iowa Senate want to boost state education funding for the 2015 school year, but the Republican governor and Republicans controlling the state House have shown little interest in considering the proposal this year.

Legislation to increase state funding for the school year that starts in the fall of 2015 was approved by a Senate subcommittee Monday. Under state law, the General Assembly is supposed to establish funding levels for kindergarten through 12th grade education over a year in advance.

Lawmakers have not always followed that law. Gov. Terry Branstad called the rule “outmoded” Monday. He also said the state could not afford the 6 percent budget increase that Democrats are seeking. Democratic leaders have said it’s important to abide by the law.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa legislative panel has unanimously approved a measure that would let active duty members of the military buy handguns without going through the usual permit process. A three-member House subcommittee approved the bill Monday and it now will go to the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Currently, any person buying a handgun must first obtain a permit, meet certain requirements and pay an annual fee. The bill would allow active duty members of the military to skip this process. Republican Rep. Dwayne Alons, of Hull, says the bill would align Iowa’s law with 37 other states that let active duty members of the military buy firearms without permits.