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Lewis Central School bus overturns Thu., minor injuries reported

News

May 4th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Three western Iowa students and an adult suffered minor injuries, including scrapes and bruises, when the bus they were in rolled over Thursday afternoon. A Lewis Township school bus carrying students with the Lewis Central School District  toppled onto its side into a ditch at around 3:15-p.m., after the driver of the bus apparently swerved to avoid another vehicle. The accident happened on Applewood Road in rural Pottawattamie County, near the Mills County line.  

The driver of the bus and one child, were taken to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs. Two other children were transported to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The accident remains under investigation.

Nat’l. Weather Service forecast for Atlantic & the area: May 4th, 2012

Weather

May 4th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Today: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7am, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Calm wind becoming south southeast between 6 and 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tonight: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. South southeast wind between 5 and 9 mph. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Southeast wind between 7 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Saturday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Southeast wind between 7 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Sunday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. Breezy, with a east wind 5 to 8 mph becoming north between 13 and 16 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Sunday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70.

HAROLD “WALLY” WALLACE, 84, of Greenfield (Svcs. 5-7-12)

Obituaries

May 4th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

HAROLD “WALLY” WALLACE, 84, of Greenfield, died Thu., May 3rd, at the Winterset Care Center North in Winterset. Celebration of Life services for “WALLY” WALLACE will be held 10:30-a.m. Mon., May 7th, at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Greenfield. Steen Funeral Home in Greenfield has the arrangements.

Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Sunday, from Noon until 6-p.m., with the family greeting friends from 4-6pm.  Online condolences may be left to the family at www.steenfunerals.com.

Full military rites will be held after the service at the church by the Fontanelle American Legion Carlson Post No. 247 and Greenfield American Legion Head-Endres Post No. 265 and V.F.W. Post No. 5357.

Memorials may be directed to the Harold Wallace Memorial fund to be established by the family.

Burial at the Old Union Cemetery in rural Orient will be held at a later date.

WALLY WALLACE is survived by:

His wife – Mary Wallace of Greenfield

His sons – Doug Wallace and wife Jenice of Greenfield, Ted Wallace and wife Becky of Greenfield, Mark Wallace and wife Lori of Greenfield; and Kurt Wallace and wife Lynne of Mt. Ayr.

His brothers – Harvey Wallace and wife Joann of Fontanelle and Herschel Wallace of West Fork, Arkansas.

9 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren, other relatives and friends.

ESTHER DOROTHY PIERCE, 89, of Atlantic (formerly of Hancock) (Svcs. 5-7-12)

Obituaries

May 4th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

ESTHER DOROTHY PIERCE, 89, of Atlantic (& formely of Hancock), died Thu., May 3rd, at the Heritage House in Atlantic. Funeral services for DOROTHY PIERCE will be held 1:30-p.m.  Monday, May 7th, at the Rieken Vieth Funeral Home in Oakland.

Visitation with the family will be held at the Rieken Vieth Funeral Home from 4-6 PM on Sunday.

Interment will be at the Oaklawn Cemetery at Oakland.

ESTHER PIERCE is survived by:

Her children: Roger Pierce and wife Connie of Hancock, and Arlue Briggs and husband Michael of St. Louis, MO.

Her sister: Elnor Whitsitt of San Antonio, TX

Her brother- and sister-in law’s, and other relatives.

Hitchcock responds to Danker’s claims of “Baseless allegations”

News

May 4th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

A candidate for Sheriff in Pottawattamie County has issued a press release responding to Sheriff Jeff Jeff Danker’s claims his opponent made “Baseless allegations” against him.

John W. Hitchcock, (R) candidate for Sheriff/ Pott. Co., IA

Republican John Hitchcock says he took it upon himself to look into several complaints that he thought required additional information and scrutiny. Hitchcock says after announcing his political campaign to run for Sheriff of Pottawattamie County, members of the public began to bring numerous complaints to his attention regarding incumbent Sheriff Danker’s Office.

Hitchcock, who’s from Council Bluffs, is a Senior Trooper with the Iowa State Patrol. He says after reviewing the complaints on his off-duty time, making and paying for open records request under the open records laws under the Code of Iowa, many of the complaints were discarded or found to have no factual basis. But some of the complaints, in his opinion, required additional scrutiny.

He says since it would be a huge conflict of interest for him to conduct an investigation against Danker, a law enforcement officer, he made the decision to turn the information  over to a non-biased third party. He says on his personnel time, he made “The ethical and moral choice,” and turned the information over to his direct supervisor, with the understanding the Iowa State Patrol turned over the information for review to the Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber. Wilber claimed a conflict of interest and turned it over to Dallas County Attorney Wayne Reisetter for review.

Hitchcock says Reisetter did not contact him regarding any of the information that was released Thursday, for review, prior to issuing his opinion. He says it appears Reistter’s opinion was reached only by using the information provided by Hitchcock, and to his knowledge, no further investigation was conducted Reisetter. In his press release, Hitchcock said Danker released only “Small portions” of Reisetter’s letter, and he scolded the media for not requesting “All documents related to this information, instead of sound bites chosen by the Jeff Danker campaign during this primary election.” He suggested the citizens of Pottawattamie County request a copy of the letter and review it themselves.

He also blamed Danker for the situation, claiming he “Has not released a platform as to his plans for the next four years,” and instead chose to create a press release about Hitchcock’s allegations. Hitchcock said it was Danker’s campaign that “Has chosen to expose the questionable activities by his administration,” and questions if the long-time Sheriff has any plans for the next four-years, “Or is he only relying on his name to get him elected?”

Lillian Musial, Wife of Hall of Famer, Dies at 91

Sports

May 4th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The wife of St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan Musial has died. Lillian Musial passed away on Thursday. She was 91. Lillian Labash was one of eight children whose parents owned a grocery store in McKean, Pa. Lillian and Stan Musial were high school sweethearts who married in 1940. Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said in a statement that the organization has lost a member of its family and that Lil Musial was the love of Stan Musial’s life. Stan Musial, who is 91, has been in poor health the last few years.

Big 12 Hires Stanford AD Bowlsby as Commissioner

Sports

May 4th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

LAS COLINAS, Texas (AP) — The Big 12 Conference has made it official, announcing the hiring of Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby as its new commissioner. The North Texas-based league announced the hire on Thursday, a few hours after Bowlsby broke the news to his staff and coaches at Stanford. He will take over from interim Commissioner Chuck Neinas on June 15th. The 60-year-old Bowlsby spent the past six years at Stanford, helping it rebuild its football program into a national power. He was hired away from Iowa in 2006, following 15 years running the Hawkeyes’ athletic department. Bowlsby will now take over a BCS conference that seems to have found some stability after losing four schools over the past two years. The league will head into this fall with 10 members, including new additions TCU and West Virginia.

Iowa early News Headlines: Friday, May 4th 2012

News

May 4th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Waterloo police have arrested a suspect in a shooting that left a woman dead and her daughter wounded. Police arrested 33-year-old Kevin Ambrose during a raid on a Waterloo apartment building yesterday. Authorities say Ambrose is a suspect in Wednesday’s night shooting that killed 59-year-old Kay Straw and wounded her daughter, 33-year-old Marlene Buss.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa City has ordered a bar to tear down a platform where a student says she was told she was too overweight to dance. The city’s housing and inspection services department has sent a formal violation to The Union Bar, demanding the platform be removed by today. The platform, which is 4-feet square and 4-feet tall, overlooks the dance floor.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad has approved a measure to create a state Public Information Board to ensure Iowa’s open records and meetings laws are enforced. The Republican governor signed the bill into law yesterday at a signing ceremony. The event capped a six-year effort to improve access to government meetings and records.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials in Des Moines are considering opening a dog park at a downtown spot along the Des Moines River. The City Council will consider the proposal on Monday. Plans call for a fenced off-leash area, a dog waste station and portable restrooms for people.

Bedard, Pirates Beat Cardinals 6-3 to Avoid Sweep

Sports

May 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Erik Bedard struck out a season-high 11, including seven straight batters, and Pedro Alvarez hit a go-ahead home run as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep. Bedard (2-4) was pulled after five innings. Alvarez hit his two-run drive in the sixth. Clint Barmes had a pair of RBI doubles for the Pirates, who completed a 3-4 trip and will have 18 of the next 25 at home to end May. Jose Tabata, a career .343 hitter against St. Louis, had three hits and a steal. Jake Westbrook (3-2) lost to Pittsburgh for the second time in three starts, giving up four runs in 6 1-3 innings.

TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 1-A.M. FOR CASS, ADAIR & ADAMS COUNTIES

Weather

May 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 710 PM CDT THU MAY 3 2012

TORNADO WATCH 234 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 AM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:

IOWA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE ADAIR ADAMS APPANOOSE CASS CLARKE DAVIS DECATUR DES MOINES HENRY JEFFERSON KEOKUK LEE LOUISA LUCAS MADISON MAHASKA MARION MONROE RINGGOLD TAYLOR UNION VAN BUREN WAPELLO WARREN WASHINGTON WAYNE.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dmx/