An accident in Creston at around 9:30-a.m. Thursday, happened because a driver wasn’t paying attention. According to Creston Police, 47-year old Brian Edward Nelson, of Blockton, was cited for Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device, after the 2012 Ford F-150 he was driving went through a red light and struck a car driven by 19-year old Keigan Eugene Armstrong, of Fontanelle. The accident happened at the intersection of Adams and Sumner Streets, in Creston. Damage from the collision amounted to an estimated $1,500. Nelson told Police he had the red light, and “Just was not paying attention.”

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Police in Council Bluffs this (Friday) morning, arrested a Nebraska man following the chase of a Ford Escape (an SUV) that had been reported stolen from Lincoln, Nebraska back on Nov. 27th.  Authorities say 25-year old Bukjiok Dobuony, of Lincoln, NE., was apprehended after the vehicle crashed, and a short foot pursuit began. Dobuony was charged with Theft 2nd, Eluding, Possession of Controlled Substance (Marijuana) and No Driver’s License.

Dobuony

According to the Council Bluffs Police Department, at around 2:30-a.m. today (Friday), Bluffs Police responded to the area of Highway 92 (Veteran’s Highway) after a broadcast was made Nebraska law enforcement officers had just terminated a pursuit of a stolen vehicle at the state line on Veteran’s Bridge. The vehicle was observed by a Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy in the area of Highway 92 and Harry Langdon Blvd.

When the Deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, it fled westbound on Veterans. As the deputy followed the SUV, Council Bluffs Police joined in the pursuit. The stolen vehicle, after striking a set of Stop Sticks, eventually stopped after went out of control, drove over a curb, and struck a small tree in the parking lot of ECHO Electric (4325 Gifford Rd).

The driver (Dobuony) fled on foot and was apprehended by officers.

SWAN, Iowa (AP) — A man has been accused of using a cattle prod to discipline two children in south-central Iowa. Court records say 36-year-old Travis Coker, of rural Swan in Marion County, pleaded not guilty Thursday to two counts of felony child endangerment causing injury. The records don’t show a trial date. Criminal complaints say the girls reported that Coker used the prod to shock them as a “form of discipline.”

Marion County Sheriff Jason Sandholdt says the 11- and 13-year-old girls weren’t doing their chores fast enough on the family farm, so Coker decided to use the prod — a hand-held rod that delivers an electric shock to control livestock. The court records also say Coker and his wife corroborated the girls’ statements.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Montgomery County report a man was arrested on a trio of charges a little after 1-a.m. today (Friday). 48-year old Mark Douglas Berggren, of Red Oak, was pulled over near the intersection of 215th Street and K Avenue in Montgomery County. He faces charges that include Eluding, Driving While Revoked and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Berggren was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held an $2,000 bond.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports that at around 11:45-p.m. Thursday, Deputies were called to a residence near the intersection of 130^th Street and 380^th Avenue, for a report of dog that had been shot. Upon arrival, deputies were advised by the home owner that he let his dogs outside around 11:05-p.m., and heard several gunshots outside his residence a short time later. The homeowner advised he found blood near the front door of his residence and after a search of the surrounding area, he discovered his dog with a fatal gunshot wound in a field near his residence.

Deputies discovered several spent firearm casings near the scene.Deputies are looking to speak to the owner of a dark green Ford Ranger, extended cab pickup, with side steps and large tires, that was possibly seen in the area at the time of the shooting. Anyone with information, please contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424.

The Republican leader in the Iowa Senate says legislators should make eliminating the state income tax a “big picture goal.” In the meantime, Bill Dix says lawmakers should CUT taxes AND cut state spending next year. “As a state, we need to challenge ourselves in how much it costs to run state government,” Dix says.

Kansas lawmakers dramatically cut state income taxes in 2012 and 2013, but Dix says that experiment failed because officials in Kansas did not make deep enough cuts in that state’s budget.  “We have to redouble our efforts to really reanalyze what our priorities are and how we use your money and what impact that has on the overall economy and growth,” Dix says.

Seven U.S. states do not have an income tax and Dix says the economy in neighboring South Dakota is booming because there’s no income tax in South Dakota. “The other 11 Midwestern states have all seen a loss in the last decade of wealth, real wealth, in their states,” Dix says.

Dix made his comments during a forum sponsored by the Iowa Chamber Alliance, a group that represents the state’s largest chambers of commerce. Critics of eliminating the state income tax altogether say Iowans will wind up paying more in other taxes.

Texas residents do not pay an income tax, but face steep property taxes, for example. Washington state residents don’t have an income tax, but that state’s gas tax is highest in the country.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa teenager testified that his mother forced him and his two sisters to sleep on their bedroom floor in their own waste for months and that she refused to feed one sister in the days before she starved to death. The Des Moines Register reports that the 16-year-old told the Polk County jury on Wednesday that his sister Natalie had become too weak to get up to eat, but their mother told her she wouldn’t help her. Nicole Finn is charged with murder, kidnapping and child endangerment.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa City men have been charged in a violent home invasion in which two men were beaten and a woman sexually assaulted. Television station KGAN reports that 25-year-old Sullivan Smith-Berry and 28-year-old Earl Riley each have been charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and second-degree sexual abuse. Police say the armed men broke into an Iowa City apartment on Nov. 3 and beat two other men inside. Police say the sister of one of the victims was also sexually assaulted.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Cedar Rapids police have made an arrest in a shooting last week that injured a woman. Police say 42-year-old Marc Anthony Campbell shot his 28-year-old wife on Dec. 2 while they were in a Cedar Rapids apartment. She is expected to recover. Police say Campbell was found suffering from a traumatic, self-inflicted stab wound. He was hospitalized until Wednesday, when he was released and taken to the Linn County Jail. He’s been charged with attempted murder, willful injury and a weapons count.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Davenport woman faces felony charges after police say she helped bilk more than $35,000 out of the grandparent of a prison inmate by pretending to be an employee of a law firm representing the inmate. The Quad-City Times reports that 30-year-old Audrey Slyter was arrested Wednesday and charged with theft, ongoing criminal activity and conspiracy to commit a felony.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa teenager testified at his mother’s murder trial that she forced him and his two sisters to sleep on their bedroom floor in their own waste for months and that she refused to feed one sister in the days before she starved to death.

The Des Moines Register reports that the 16-year-old told the Polk County jury on Wednesday that his sister Natalie had become too weak to get up to eat, but their mother told her she wouldn’t help her.

Nicole Finn was charged with murder, kidnapping and child endangerment after Natalie Finn died in October 2016 at the age of 16. She’s also accused of abusing the son who testified and her younger daughter. Investigators say they were severely malnourished and living in squalor in the family’s West Des Moines home.

A man from rural Clarinda was arrested Wednesday morning, following a traffic stop just north of College Springs. The license plates on the vehicle were registered to a  Ford F-150 that was registered to a person who died earlier this year. The driver, 46-year old David Allen Holste, was cited for improper use of registration and arrested for Driving while License is barred.

Holste was transported to the Page County Jail and held on a $2,000 bond.