(Radio Iowa) – An employee of the Starmont Community School District in northeast Iowa is charged with assaulting a student. The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office says they were called to investigate a report by school officials of an alleged assault by a teacher against a student on March 16th. The criminal complaint filed in Fayette County District Court says 49-year old Anita Smith of Edgewood allegedly grabbed a 16-year-old student’s arm during class and bit it. The bite left a red mark, some bruising and teeth marks. Smith told investigators that she was role-playing when the incident occurred. Smith had been placed on administrative leave during the investigation. She will appear in court on the assault charge at a later date.

Two arrests took place in Mills County, Thursday. According to the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, 22-year-old Tristan Michael Herrera, of Hastings, was arrested at around 3:55-p.m., for Driving While Barred. And, 20-year-old Monica Nicole Price, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 10-p.m., on a warrant for Contempt. She was taken into custody at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, where she was being held without bond. Bond for Herrera was set at $2,000.

And, one person was injured during a single-vehicle accident Wednesday morning, in Mills County. Authorities say 44-year-old Lee Hauschild, of Tabor, was traveling west on Lambert Avenue in a 2006 Jeep, when at around 5:20-a.m., he saw a brown animal entering the roadway. When Hauschild took evasive action to avoid hitting the animal, his Jeep went out of control and began to enter the south ditch, striking a guardrail and coming to rest fully submerged in the creek. Hauschild suffered minor injuries, but he managed to make it out the SUV on his own.

AMES, Iowa – March 26, 2021 – The Iowa Department of Transportation is requesting public input for the proposed replacement of the U.S. 59 bridge over the East Nishnabotna River, one mile north of Iowa 48, on the Page and Fremont County line.  The project includes replacing the existing 372’ x 28’ continuous I-beam bridge with a 541’ x 44’ pretensioned prestressed concrete beam bridge. New bridge approaches and guardrails will be constructed as part of this project.  Construction of the project is anticipated to begin in 2023.

File photo: Pretensioned/prestressed concrete beam bridge

The DOT notes the proposed detour route has been updated: Through traffic on U.S. 59 would be detoured during construction using Iowa 48 to Page County Road M-41 (D Avenue), north to Page County Road J-14, and west to U.S. 59. There will be temporary traffic signals installed at the bridge over the Nishnabotna River on Page County Road M-41.  It is anticipated that the detour would be in place for approximately 120 days.

The East Nishnabotna River is a recreational paddling route and will be closed temporarily during construction.  Signs will be posted during construction that will direct users to a safe place to land a small boat or innertube.  It will be maintained on the upstream side, and a safe place to launch downstream is to be maintained on the downstream side. Information will be posted during construction on the Iowa DNR’s interactive river mapping system.

For general information regarding the proposed improvements please view the information online at www.iowadot.gov/pim

(Radio Iowa) – This is National Donate Life Month and Iowans are being reminded to check the organ donor box when they first get or renew their drivers licenses. Registered Nurse Deb Thielan, at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, says this month is designed to educate people about the importance of organ, eye and tissue donations. “There are 565 Iowans on the list needing organs at this time,” Thielan says. “Every 10 minutes, a new person is added to the national organ transplant waiting list.”

From that national waiting list, there are 20 deaths every day. Thielan also notes, some 74-hundred lives are saved across the country every year through what are called “living donations.” “It’s an alternative type of donation for individuals waiting for an organ transplant from a deceased donor,” Thielan says. “It takes place when a living person donates an organ or part of an organ for transplantation to another person. That’s something to think about. It usually involves a single kidney, part of a liver, a lobe of a lung.”

She encourages everyone to sign up to be donors. “Don’t rule yourself out based on your age or what your current medical conditions may be,” Thielan says. “At the time of death, a medical assessment is completed and they will review all of the past medical history, factors that led up to the death, and they are the ones who will determine eligibility.”

The Iowa Donor Network partners with more than 120 hospitals and hundreds of E-M-S, medical examiners, hospice, and long-term care facilities to maximize the number of lives saved through organ and tissue donation.

iowadonornetwork.org

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled against a 74-year-old Audubon man who was convicted of 3rd Degree Sexual Abuse of a female child. In their decision filed today (Friday), the High Court denied a judgement appeal and sentence for John Charles Donahue, who contended the district court erred by prohibiting his trial counsel from cross-examining the complaining witness about another allegation of abuse made by the witness. Donahue also claimed the district court submitted an erroneous jury instruction, and the verdict was not supported by sufficient evidence. When the court of appeals decision was affirmed, Donahue asked the State Supreme Court to review the case.

Donahue’s first trial ended with a hung jury and a mistrial. According to court records, Prosecutors in Iowa alleged Donahue committed third-degree sexual abuse against a person referred to in documents as “T.G.”   The incidents took place from July 31, 2014 through August 26, 2016, in Audubon County. After reviewing the case, the SUPCO concluded the district court did not abuse its discretion when it prohibited Donahue from questioning the victim about an incident in Carroll, and that the district court was not in error, when it submitted certain instructions to a jury. The Justices said also, “Based upon our review of the record, we conclude there is sufficient evidence to support Donahue’s conviction of sexual abuse in the third degree. As a result, we see no basis to disturb [his] conviction.”