SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials of a city in western Iowa have agreed to spend more than $100,000 on a project to silence train horns that now frequently blare through downtown.  The Sioux City Journal reports that Sioux City Council voted on Sept. 18 to approve a contract with Twin Cities-based SRF Consulting Group Inc. to create a “quiet zone” at multiple BNSF Railway train crossings downtown. Quiet zones are areas which meet specific safety guidelines that allow trains to pass through a crossing without sounding their horns.

Mayor Bob Scott was the lone dissenting vote. He says he voted against the project because the contract was being given to an out-of-state company instead of a local business. The city created another quiet zone in the downtown area seven years ago.

SLOAN, Iowa (AP) – The Winnebago Tribe is hoping to reclaim land in Iowa that was once part of its reservation in northeast Nebraska, but local hunters are concerned they might lose access. The Sioux City Journal reports the 1,643 acres of land is owned by the federal government and attracts hundreds of hunters each year. The land, which is near the tribe’s WinnaVegas Casino, was part of the Winnebago reservation when it was created in 1865. But the eastern border of the reservation was the Missouri River, which changed course over the years.

U.S. Rep. Steve King introduced a bill earlier this month to transfer the land to the Bureau of Indian Affairs where it would be held in trust for the tribe.

What started off as a single vehicle accident resulted in one person dead and two others injured early Saturday morning, in eastern Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened at around 1:40-a.m., when a 2007 Freightliner semi tractor-trailer driven by 37-year old Destom M. Kidane, of Tyler, TX., entered the ditch off Interstate 80 eastbound in Iowa County, near mile marker 209. The semi came back onto the road and overturned, coming to rest partially on the road and in the median. A passenger in a passing vehicle, 43-year old Stanislow Gruszka, of Palinfield, IL., stopped to assist. As Gruszka was going back to his vehicle, a secondary collision occurred between a 2017 Chevy Malibu driven by 56-year old Gregg Robert Vigna, of Plymouth, MI, and a 2005 Ford Freestyle SUV driven by 62-year old Donal Pirkl, of Victor, Iowa. 

The impact resulted in one of those vehicle striking Gruszka, causing fatal injuries. Kidane (The driver of the tractor-trailer), and Vigna, were transported by ambulance to the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics in Iowa City. The crash remains under investigation.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Mason City man has been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says 47-year-old Jeffery Landheer was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Cedar Rapids to 121 months.

He had pleaded guilty May 19 to one count of possession of child pornography, admitting that between 2009 and 2016, he knowingly possessed child pornography on a computer hard drive. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers will not return to the state Capitol for a special session, but Iowa’s finances remain on shaky ground. Staff for Gov. Kim Reynolds announced last week a projected shortfall for the roughly $7.2 billion budget that ended in June was drastically smaller than expected. Final accounting turned up more than $70 million in additional revenue. The Republican governor will borrow $13 million from emergency reserves to offset the shortfall.

Iowa has borrowed about $144 million from such reserves this year, and lawmakers plan to repay that money in the next two years. There are also unknown costs tied to the privatized Medicaid health care program for poor and disabled people.

This will impact the current budget, though it’s unclear by how much. It could lead to additional agency budget reductions, or complicate a Republican priority next year to cut taxes.

The Adams County Auditor’s Office late this past week provided KJAN News with a list of candidates for the Nov. 7th City Elections across the County. The individuals whose names will appear on the ballot, had submitted their petition papers by the required deadline.

In the City of Carbon, Larry E. Johnson is running unopposed in his bid for Mayor, and there are five candidates running for five open seats on the City Council in Carbon. They include Incumbents Vicky L. Haley, Michael Kempton, and Donna Rochau, along with newcomers Helen Hickman and Harold Mitchell.

In Corning, Incumbent Mayor Janice Mercer Leonard is running unopposed in her bid for re-election, as is Jerry Peckham in Ward 2 of the Corning City Council. And, no one is challenging Judy Beckett in her run for the At Large seat on the Council. Residents of Corning also have two Public Measures to vote on. Public Measure A says “Shall the City of Corning…be authorized to impose a hotel and motel tax…at the rate of 7%, beginning January 1st, 2018?”  Public Measure B asks “Shall the Board of Trustees of Corning Municipal Utilities, consisting of three members, be discontinued as of January 1st, 2018, and shall a Board of Trustees of {CMU} consisting of FIVE members be established as of January 1st, 2018?”

In the City of Nodaway, in Adams County, Mayor Patricia Shipley is running for re-election with no opposition. And, there are five people running for five seats on the Nodaway City Council, all five are incumbents: Gene Dixson; Brenda Dunn; Christine Dunn; Becky Poen, and Gary Poen.

And finally, in the City of Prescott, Mayor Greg Wilkinson is unopposed for re-election. Three positions are open on the City Council. The candidates include Glen Hickman, Incumbent Brenda Robison and Kevin Ray Schafer. There’s also on seat on the Council to fill a vacancy, with Ann R. Lydic running for that position.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 7:08 p.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One of Iowa’s biggest health systems says the state is improperly barring all of its hospitals, clinics and health care providers from participating in a new family planning program because of a few abortions performed within the system. The Des Moines Register says UnityPoint Health says it should be allowed to offer publicly-financed birth control services to moderate-income Iowans. But state administrators say a new state law passed earlier strictly bans any system that allows any abortion.

ELKADER, Iowa (AP) — Iowa prosecutors have charged two nurses, accusing them of abusing a resident at a northeastern Iowa nursing home. Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports that Nichole Buckley and Heidi Mueller are each charged with dependent adult abuse, wanton neglect of a resident of a health care facility and tampering with records. Prosecutors say the charges are related to the abuse of a patient at Elkader Care Center in March.

WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa (AP) — Three teens have died and one person has been seriously injured in a crash in eastern Iowa. Investigators say 18-year-old Chad Owens, of North English, was driving the truck on a dirt road about nine miles west of Williamsburg when he lost control and overturned into a creek. Killed were Owens and two passengers, 19-year-old Michael Dudley Galyon, of Williamsburg, and 19-year-old Kaitlyn Jolene Cook, of Deep River. A 21-year-old woman was injured in the wreckage discovered Friday afternoon.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A West Des Moines record store owner has been charged with invasion of privacy after police say he hid a camera in the business’ bathroom and recorded an underage girl. Police say 48-year-old Robert Kuhn, of Des Moines, was arrested Friday morning. In late August, a girl who had worked for Kuhn at Wayback Records told police that she found a camera hidden on a shelf in the bathroom after Kuhn had asked her to try on dresses because he wanted to post the clothes on social media.

Two people died in separate central Iowa crashes, Saturday.  The Iowa State Patrol reports one of the accidents happened in Jasper County at around 2:50-a.m., Saturday. Authorities say a 1997 Infinity driven by 25-year old Michael David Roney, of Altoona, was traveling north on Highway 117 just south of Mingo, when the vehicle went off the road to the right within a curve, and struck a gravel road intersection at West 108th Street North.  The car went out of control and rolled over multiple times before coming to rest on the driver’s side in the cornfield. A passenger in the vehicle, 27-year old Jeremy Charles O’Conner, of Colfax, was ejected during the rollover and died at the scene. Roney was transported by Fire and Rescue to Methodist Hospital. The crash remains under investigation.

The second fatal accident happened in Clarke County, at around 11:15-a.m., as a 1990 Chevy Corsica driven by 72-year old Virginia Ruth Brown, of Osceola, was traveling east on Highway 152. When Brown failed to stop at the intersection with Highway 59, her car was struck broadside on the passenger side, by a northbound 2003 Chevy S-10 pickup driven by 56-year old Michael Joseph Obermeier, of Weldon.  Brown was transported by ambulance to the Clarke County Hospital, where she died. Officials say Obermeier was not injured in the crash.

Red Oak Police arrested a man on a Theft charge, Saturday. Officials say 32-year old Kyle William Chase, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 12:15-p.m. in the 200 block of N. 2nd Street, in connection with an incident that occurred earlier in the day. Chase was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and charged with Theft in the 5th Degree (Less than $200 value). He was also issued a citation for Trespassing. Chase was being held in the jail on a $300 bond.

No injuries were reported following an accident that happened Friday afternoon in Montgomery County. The Sheriff’s Office reports as a 2012 Dodge Avenger driven by 16-year old Easton Hultman, of rural Red Oak, was making a left turn while cresting a hill from 220th Street onto L Avenue southbound, it was struck by a 2004 Honda Odyssey minivan that was traveling north on L Avenue. The driver of the Honda was identified as 40-year old Justin L. Toews, of Stanton. The Honda struck the Dodge on the left rear side, causing the wheel studs on the Dodge to shear-off, and resulted in the vehicle coming to rest in the southbound lane, facing southeast.The Honda sustained minor damage to the left front, and the left front tire was ruined.

Toews pulled the mini-van off to the side of the road to prevent another accident. Authorities say the hillcrest location in proximity to the intersection is believed to have impaired Hultman’s ability to see oncoming traffic. There were no citations issued. Damage from the collision amounted to $2,700.