A single-vehicle accident Tuesday morning in Montgomery County caused $5,000 damage to the vehicle, but no one was injured. The Sheriff’s Office says 63-year old Jonette Otte, of Henderson, was traveling east on 150th Street at around 7:30-a.m., when the tires on the passenger side of her 2005 Dodge Stratus left the pavement and entered a very minimal shoulder area. When Otte attempted to prevent the car from entering the ditch, she over-corrected, and went into the south ditch and came to rest in the ditch. Otte was checked at the scene for injuries by Red Oak Fire and Rescue, but did not require transport to the hospital.

No citations were issued.

The driver of a dump truck was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Omaha Tuesday, after the vehicle he was driving rear-ended another dump truck, in Fremont County. Sheriff’s Officials say 47-year old John Everett Miner, of Emerson, was flown from the scene near the intersection of 150th Street and 380th Avenue to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, for treatment of serious injuries. The driver of the other truck, 24-year old Jacob Ryan Miner, of Red Oak, was transported by Shenandoah Rescue to the Shenandoah Medical Center, for treatment of minor injuries.

Authorities say a 1996 Peterbilt dump truck driven by Jacob Miner was rear-ended by a 1994 Peterbilt dump truck driven by John Miner, as Jacob was slowing down to turn north onto 380th Avenue from eastbound 150th Street. The accident remains under investigation.

The author of a book that was the basis for the “Mean Girls” movie told an Iowa audience the nation’s democracy will suffer if the epidemic of bullying isn’t stopped. Rosalind Wiseman wrote “Queen Bees” as a guidebook for parents trying to help their child navigate cliques and gossip from their peers. Wiseman offered this challenge during yesterday’s statewide bullying prevention summit: “Put aside the word bullying. It’s about social justice and dignity and our children wanting to feel like they belong and are participating members of our democracy, that they count, that we value them.”

Wiseman urged teachers and administrators in the audience to become the “personification of ethical leadership” in their schools — making it clear what kind of language and behavior is not acceptable. “These children are our sacred responsibilities,” she said, “not only their brains, but their hearts and their bodies.” Wiseman, who spoke for about an hour, offered some examples of how to confront bullies — all of it directed to the educators and parents in the room.

“What school has always been about — always — is about young people understanding, for better and for worse, the social contract,” Wiseman said. “It has always been about what democracy really looks like and how they learn what we stand for on a very concrete, day-to-day basis.” Wiseman also cautioned adults not to “bully back” when they confront a kid who’s said or done something objectionable, as she said it’s often the “second hit” that gets noticed rather than the first. Over a thousand students, parents and educators gathered for yesterday’s statewide bullying prevention summit in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa)