More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former union president in northwest Iowa has pleaded guilty to embezzling from his union local. Court records say Curtis Lang entered the plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. His trial had been scheduled to begin June 5.

The records say Lang stole more than $45,000 from United Dairy Workers of Le Mars while serving as president from 2012 to June 2015.

Officials with the Creston Police Department say they received three separate theft reports, Monday. A resident in the 200 block of N. Oak Street reported Monday morning, that his silver, 1999 Ford Taurus was stolen from his residence sometime after 8-p.m., Sunday. The loss was estimated at $2,500.

A person residing in the 600 block of N. Oak Street reported Monday night, that sometime between May 3rd and the 8th, someone broke into a garage on her property and took several items, include two bicycles and three tool boxes. The loss was estimate at $200.

And, a Creston resident living in the 600 block of S. Elm Street reported to police Monday night, that at around 8:30-p.m., someone entered his residence and took a purse/wallet containing $1,100 in cash, and a wallet containing $200 in cash.

No arrests have been reported.

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

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CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a Ventura man was accidentally killed while working on a trailer in Clear Lake. The accident was reported around 7:55 p.m. Friday. Police and medics sent to the scene found the body of 64-year-old Dale Kjellsen.

Police say he’d been working alone on the trailer and was crushed between the bed and wheel frame when trailer parts shifted. A preliminary autopsy report says Kjellsen died of head trauma. His death was ruled an accident.

A Job Fair will be held next week at Iowa Western Community College in Atlantic, for employees affected by the loss of jobs announced late last month at Plastic Professionals in Atlantic. Officials with Iowa WorkForce Development say job seekers are encouraged to attend the Job Fair, which runs from Noon until 3-p.m. May 18th.  Veterans will be given preference and will be allowed in from 11-a.m. until Noon only, prior to any other job seekers.

Tables will be available for you to complete applications, but if you have paper applications already in your hands, bring them with you. In addition to representatives from various companies on-hand to provide information and possibly conduct interviews, job seekers will have access to the IowaWORKS lab to complete online applications.

Businesses wishing to participate in the Job Fair and related advertising, need to register by Friday, May 12th. The registration fee for those businesses is $30, and includes a table along with two chairs. Booth displays are encouraged. Drinks and lunch will be provided to businesses participating in the event. Businesses that have questions or wish to register, may contact Liz Carlson at 712-352-3480, extension 45140.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County said Monday, two people were arrested on Union County warrants over the past few days. At around 8:30-p.m. Friday, 24-year old Joseph Charles Cosenza-Weaver, of Lenox, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a warrant for failure to serve his jail sentence on charge of possession of controlled substance.  Cosenza-Weaver was later released after serving the remainder of his jail sentence.

And, 40-year old Melissa Joann Wilson, of Murray, was arrested Sunday night at the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, on a Union County warrant for failure to appear on a charge of Theft in the 3rd degree.  Wilson is being held for Union County in the Ringgold County jail on $2000 bond.

A traffic stop at around 7:15-p.m. Monday in Adams County resulted in the arrest of a man on a drug charge. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports 18-year old Jackson Soll, of Corning, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/marijuana – 1st offense. The charge stems from an incident that took place Feb. 25th. Soll was being held in the Adams County Jail on $1,000 bond.

A northwest Iowa woman, blamed for a 2015 traffic crash that injured two others, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison. Thirty-year-old Melissa Ebert of Cherokee pleaded guilty in April to felony charges of reckless driving. As part of a plea deal, attempted murder and second-offense OWI charges were dropped. Police said Ebert was slightly over the legal limit of .08 percent. Ebert was allowed to give her account of the events that led up to the crash. She said her boyfriend, Damian Johnson, was drunk when she picked him up in Sioux City. He insisted on meeting a friend at a bar.

“They continued to drink, they tried to get me to drink and I said ‘no’ because I was driving. Then, we went to his friend’s house and he kept yelling at me and calling me all sorts of names.” According to Ebert, Johnson continued to push her to drink. “So, I’d take a little sip to try and make him happy. He’d grab the end of the glass and push it up, so it was either going to go on me or in my mouth,” Ebert said.

Eventually, the friend told Ebert and Johnson to leave. Ebert said she repeatedly tried to convince Johnson that they should catch a ride with a sober driver. “And he said, ‘no, you’re going to get in the car or I’m going to hurt you. I’m going to kill you.’ So, he pretty much put me in the car,” Ebert said.

Ebert was behind the wheel when her car slammed into another vehicle southeast of Le Mars. Ebert and Johnson were injured, as was the driver of the other car, Dustin Boll of Le Mars. At her sentencing hearing, Ebert apologized to Bull’s family. Ebert has a daughter with Damian Johnson. “I just want to be back with my daughter as soon as I can,” Ebert said. “I love her to death, she’s everything to me.”

District Judge Duane Hoffmeyer sentenced Ebert to 10 years in prison.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa State Patrol reports a man from southeastern Iowa died during a tractor rollover accident Monday evening in Keokuk County. 21-year old Christian Little, of Hedrick, was operating a 1983 International Series 1954 tractor eastbound on Highway 22 just east of South English, when the tractor left the road and entered the south ditch. The tractor then rolled over and came to rest in the south ditch.

Little was ejected from the machine and also came to rest in the ditch. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The accident happened a little after 5-p.m.