A woman from DeWitt, in eastern Iowa, was injured during a two-vehicle accident Sunday afternoon on Interstate 80, here in Cass County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 20-year old Melanie Burke was transported by Medivac Ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic for treatment of minor injuries. Officials say Burke, who was wearing her seat belt,  was a passenger in a 2006 Chevy Impala driven by 56-year old Robert Hinner, of Merrill, WI.

The Impala, and a 2006 Chevy Malibu driven by 20-year old Breea Cook, of Davenport, were both traveling east on I-80 near the 59-mile marker at around 12:33-p.m., when Cook hit the brakes to avoid a non-contact vehicle. When Hinner wasn’t able to slow down in-time, his Impala rear-ended the Malibu. Both drivers pulled their vehicles over to the inside shoulder of the eastbound lanes of travel. Atlantic Fire and Rescue assisted the State Patrol and Medivac at the scene.

The Audubon Police Department reported Sunday, the arrest on Saturday of a 29-year old man on child abuse and other charges. Officials say Joseph Michael Hartl, of Audubon, was charged with (3) counts of Child Endangerment, Disorderly Conduct and Reckless Driving. Hartl was transported and held at the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office.

The Audubon P-D reports also, 39 year old Carrie June Schwab, of Audubon, was arrested May 18th, for Disturbing the Peace. Schwab was cited and released on promise to appear.

Des Moines, IOWA — The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner with the assistance of the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation have confirmed the identification of the body discovered in Boone County on Friday, June 7th, 2013, as that of Kathlynn Shepard.

Following an autopsy on June 8th, 2013, Dr. Julia Goodin, Chief State Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be multiple sharp and  blunt forced injuries. The manner of death will be certified as homicide.

(Updated) A central Iowa woman was killed and two Adair County residents were injured during a head-on crash early this (Sunday) morning in Dallas County. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2007 Chevy Aveo driven by 24-year old Megan Wakeham, of West Des Moines was traveling east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 one-mile east of Earlham at around Midnight, when it collided head-on with a 1994 Pontiac Firebird driven by 20-year old Jessie Leeper, of Adair. A 2010 GMC Terrain, driven by 49-year old Lori Wallace, of Greenfield, then collided with the rear of Leeper’s car.

Wakeham died from her injuries.Wallace and Leeper were transported by Stuart E-M-S and Dallas County E-M-S to Methodist and Mercy Hospital’s in Des Moines, respectively.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A bill designed to crack down on cyberbullying failed to advance in the Legislature this year, but Gov. Terry Branstad says he plans to keep working to toughen Iowa’s anti-bullying laws.  Branstad promised Thursday that he would hold another state summit on bullying, as he did last fall, and will work to get a bill passed next year. Branstad says he “wants kids to feel safe.”
 
The bullying bill offered by Branstad this year would have updated state guidelines for school districts to include bullying that occurs outside school on social media websites like Facebook. It received subcommittee approval in the state House, but never moved forward. 
 
Matt Carver, of the group School Administrators of Iowa, says he thinks the Legislature will approve the bill once lawmakers have more information.

Two young people were cited early this (Sunday) morning for public intoxication and given a warning for being in violation of curfew. According to Red Oak Police, 16-year old Jacob Ryan Ballard, of Clarinda, and 17-year old Todd Micheal H. Rensch, of Red Oak, were cited just after 2-a.m. near the intersection of Coolbaugh Street and Highland Avenue. Both teens were released to the cutody of a parent or adult guardian.