Police in Red Oak say one person was arrested Thursday afternoon following an alleged assault. Officials say 24-year old Michael James Johnson, Jr., of Red Oak,  was taken into custody at around 3:15-p.m. in the 2300 block of Northeastern Avenue. Johnson was charged with Serious Assault. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

Officers with the Red Oak P-D also arrested 29-year-old Gavin Lee Jackson-Weaver. He was taken into custody at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, on a Possession of Marijuana charge. Jackson-Weaver was being held in the Montgomery County jail on $2,000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials say snow plow operators will be out this (Friday) morning continuing to clear roads affected by a major storm this week.  The state Department of Transportation says nearly 450 snow plows and other removal equipment is helping clear crash scenes and vehicles blocking roadways on the interstate system. The agency says travel is not expected to significantly improve until later today.

At least 80 crashes were reported Thursday throughout the state. Officials also say drivers on a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 80 were stuck Thursday night. A 25-car pileup on Interstate 35 in northern Iowa killed two people and injured seven.

A major snow storm hit most of Iowa Wednesday night into Thursday. The National Weather Service says more than a foot of snow hit the Des Moines area.

The Iowa State Patrol reports two Nebraska men were injured during an accident Thursday afternoon in Pottawattamie County. Officials say the driver of the 2007 Mistubishi truck, 26-year old Miles Pappan, and his passenger, 25-year old Frank King, Jr., both of Omaha, were transported by Underwood Rescue to Mercy Hospital following the crash, which happened on Interstate 80, at around 2:35-p.m.

The Patrol says the truck was traveling westbound about six-miles south of the Underwood exit, went it went out of control on the ice-covered road. The vehicle spun-out into the median and rolled onto its right side.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new survey of rural bankers shows that rising commodity prices and lower energy costs are helping businesses in Midwestern states and the northern Plains. The Rural Mainstreet Index released Thursday climbed in December, the fourth straight month of growth. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey from Omaha, Nebraska says the reading is the healthiest recorded since June 2007. The survey showed increases in bank borrowing to purchase farmland and equipment, and rising farmland prices. The December hiring index rose half a point, to 53.5. The home-sales index slipped in December, to 61.3 from November’s 62.0.

The index ranges from 0 to 100, with 50 representing “growth neutral.” It’s based on a survey of rural bankers in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota.