DRAKESVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A judge has imprisoned a man who fled after his pickup truck struck and killed a 9-year-old boy and injured his 12-year-old brother in southeast Iowa. Davis County District Court records say 42-year-old Terry Petary, of Drakesville, was sentenced Monday to 25 years. He’d pleaded guilty in June to four felony charges: vehicular homicide, causing serious injury by vehicle, failure to stop at the accident scene and possession of methamphetamine.

The Iowa State Patrol says Petary’s pickup struck the boys a little before 10 p.m. June 24 last year as they walked on a rural road west of Drakesville. The patrol identified the dead boy as 9-year-old Merlin Beechy and his brother as 12-year-old Nathan Beechy, of rural Drakesville.

(Radio Iowa) — Two people died in a fatal wrong-way crash on Highway 30 Sunday night in Cedar Rapids — making it seven deaths from wrong-way crashes in eastern Iowa since 2016. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Bob Conrad tells K-C-R-G T-V there are many issues that lead to someone getting onto the highway and going the wrong way. “Sometimes it’s someone who is an elderly person after dark and they got confused and went the wrong way. Sometimes it’s a medical situation, a lot of times it’s an impaired situation,” Conrad says.

He says flashing your headlights at the other driver might help, but honking your horn at them won’t work as they don’t hear it. Conrad says if you are driving and see a car going the wrong way toward you — you should move to the right-hand lane and shoulder as quickly as possible while hitting the brakes. He tells K-C-R-G T-V that just by slowing down, drivers are reducing the chance someone is hurt, even if they are hit. “When you have two vehicles coming at such a high rate of speed, when they hit, the potential for that fatality crash is huge,” he says.

Conrad said to never assume the wrong-way driver will pass you. “If I see someone coming at me with headlights in my lane, I’m going to get over to the side of the shoulder as far as I can and stop my vehicle,” Conrad says. Most importantly, he says drivers need to always pay attention, especially at night. “If you’re distracted, you’re not seeing danger coming at you at 70 miles-an-hour,” according to Conrad.

The trooper says you should call 9-1-1 as soon as you can if you see a wrong-way driver.

(Radio Iowa) Authorities in the central Iowa town of Nevada are investigating the cause of a house fire early this (Tuesday) morning that claimed the life of one person. The Nevada Fire Department received the call after 3 A-M to the home on 10th Street. The structure was fully engulfed when they arrived. The fire was extinguished within a short period of time. As fire fighters sifted through the remains, a body was discovered along with a dead dog. The name of the person is being withheld until notification is made. The state medical examiner and fire marshal have been called in to investigate.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A northeast Iowa man has pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography. Prosecutors say 31-year-old Derek Clemens, of Evansdale, entered the plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. He admitted that, between March 2018 and October 2018, he knowingly received child pornography. Clemens faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment. His sentencing hearing hasn’t been scheduled.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report a Council Bluffs man turned himself-in to the Sheriff’s Office, Monday afternoon. 27-year old Skyler Ian Goodwin was wanted on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Once the warrant was confirmed, Goodwin was transported to the Pott. County Jail, and booked-in.