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

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The Creston Police Department reports a woman from Lenox was arrested Tuesday night on a simple assault charge. 26-year old Makinze Reed was taken into custody at around 6:40-p.m. and subsequently released on a Promise to Appear later, in court.

Creston Police said also, 46-year old Randy Overholtzer, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday night for Driving While Revoked. He was later released on $1,000 bond. And, 30-year old Daman Wells, of Creston, was arrested early this (Wednesday) morning, for OWI/2nd offense. Wells was later released on $2,000 bond.

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

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The head of the Iowa DNR’s State Forest section is predicting an “average” year for fall colors. Jeff Goerndt is hoping he’s wrong, but says recent wet and cool conditions may not result in the best and brightest show for leaf watchers. “We’re really keeping an eye on northeast Iowa, where we typically have our best fall color. We’ve had some really heavy rain, storm events and flooding in that area. There’s more cooler and wet weather forecast for that area and that’s not necessarily the best recipe for good fall color,” Goerndt says.

Northeast Iowa has an abundance of hard maple trees, which supply bright red and orange colors. Goerndt suggests the Loess Hills in western Iowa offer a completely different, yet equally stunning, fall look.

Photo from the Iowa River, Coralville, Iowa City CVB via Radio IA

“There are a lot of cedar trees, which give you sort of green colors, mixed in with a lot of yellow colors from some of the ash and cottonwood trees,” Goerndt says. “It’s sort of a different fall color look than what you’re going to see around the rest of the state.”

Leaves typically change first across northern Iowa between the last week of September to the second week of October. Central and southern Iowa generally change color between mid to late October. The annual fall color show is a big tourist attraction for many cities and towns around the state. “Folks like to visit our state parks and state forest areas, especially the areas around the larger reservoirs with a lot of trees. Also, if you get out there and drive those scenic byways around the state, those are great places to view fall color,” Goerndt says.

Weekly updates on fall color information can be found at iowadnr.gov/fallcolor.

(Radio Iowa)

Fall arrives Thursday and the Iowa Department of Transportation is already looking ahead to winter by signing farmers up for the Standing Corn Program. Scott Suhr,  the D-O-T’s district transportation planner, based in Atlantic, explains how it works: “We actually have this program where we pay farmers to leave corn in their field. The corn that’s left in the field in drifting areas holds the snow back from the roadway and has a benefit to the DOT and to the motorist by keeping the snow off the road.”

The program has been around some 15 years. The agency also pays farmers five-dollars for each bushel of corn left in the field. Once spring arrives, farmers are free to harvest the corn. There is a second installment of the program that involves installing snow fences. Suhr says, “If we have drifting areas along certain highways, you can put up snow fence and we’ll pay the farmers to put that fence up, I think it’s a dollar a foot that we pay out for that.”

The program makes the D-O-T’s work more efficient. “Some of the winters we have in Iowa, you can get a lot of blowing snow and if you have this eight or ten rows of corn that’s holding that snow that’s drifting back from the roadway, then, motorists don’t have to deal with it or our maintenance crews,” Suhr says. “It also helps us clean up these winter storms a lot quicker.”

To qualify, the unpicked corn rows must be nearest to the road and the D-O-T will only compensate farmers for up to 16 rows. There’s no official deadline date for farmers to join, but he says they like to have all the information ready by the time harvest starts — by the first or second week of October.

(Radio Iowa)

A chase in Pottawattamie County early this (Wednesday) morning ended with one person hospitalized for a head injury. Council Bluffs Police says at around 3:12-a.m., Officers observed three people on dirt bikes driving reckless in the area of 10th and 8th Ave. The individuals also saw the Officers and took off west bound down the alley way.

One of the subjects dropped the dirt bike and fled on foot. The other two subjects fled west bound on dirt bikes through the alley. Officers searching the area located a male subject lying next to a wrecked dirt bike in the 1200 block Alley way between 7th and
8th Ave.

Council Bluffs PD Shield

The driver of the dirt bike was identified as 19-year old Khadin Theisen, of Pacific Junction. Theisen had struck the railroad tracks with the dirt bike, lost control and fell to the ground suffering a head injury. He was transported by the Council Bluffs Fire Department in to University Nebraska Medical Center for treatment. A report on his condition was not immediately available.

The dirt bike was confirmed stolen.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Drake University in Des Moines is guaranteeing that next fall’s incoming students will pay the same tuition each year until they graduate. The Des Moines Register reports Drake officials think their Drake Tuition Guarantee program is the first of its kind in the state and also among the private university’s official peer institutions.

Drake President Early “Marty” Martin says the plan is designed to help increase enrollment and improve student retention. Martin says Drake students have seen an annual average increase of 4.5 percent over the past five years.

Tuition for next fall will increase 11 percent, to nearly $39,000 for incoming students and remain the same until those students are awarded their undergraduate degrees.

Authorities in Montgomery County said Tuesday a central Iowa man thought to be armed and dangerous, and allegedly involved in an assault and the theft of a vehicle, was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon, following an incident that began nearly 12 hours earlier in southwest Iowa. 30-year old Nicholas Allen Cannon, of Des Moines, was arrested at around 3:30-p.m.

Early Tuesday morning, Cannon was involved in a high-speed pursuit that began in Adams County, and ended with a crash in Red Oak. The incident began at around 3:15-a.m., when Adams County Deputies, who had stopped a separate vehicle for a traffic offense 3 miles east of the Adams/Montgomery County line, saw a vehicle drive by at about 85-miles per hour. The deputies engaged in a pursuit of the speeding car, with speeds approaching 110-miles per hour on Highway 34, as the vehicle entered Montgomery County.

As the pursuit entered Red Oak city limits, Cannon’s vehicle hit a deer. The accident resulted in the vehicle entering a ditch near the intersection of Highway 34 and Eastern Avenue. The vehicle continued westbound in the ditch and barely missed a light pole and stop sign. Cannon jumped out of the vehicle as it crossed over Eastern Avenue going about 40-to 45-miles per hour, and continued to flee on foot. The vehicle continued west across Eastern Avenue, down into the ditch and came to rest about 150-yards southwest of the intersection.

Sheriff’s K9 Units from Montgomery and Cass Counties searched for the suspect for a considerable amount of time before their efforts were called-off. At around 8-a.m., Tuesday, the Montgomery County’s Communication Center received a call regarding a theft of a cell phone from a residence located on 200th Street, about three-quarters of a mile east of Cannon’s last known location. Authorities searched the area but came up empty. They think Cannon used the stolen cell phone to contact an ex-girlfriend in the Des Moines area.

Agencies involved in the search for Cannon included Deputies with the Adams, Montgomery and Cass County Sheriff’s Offices, Cass and Montgomery County K9 Units, and Red Oak Police.

The Iowa State Patrol says a Cass County Sheriff’s Office car was struck by a passing vehicle Tuesday afternoon, but no injuries were reported. Authorities say 51-year old Cass County Chief Deputy Sheriff John Westering was stopped in a construction transition area on Highway 83 at 655th Street and waiting for the pilot car, when he observed driving a maroon SUV pass the 2014 Dodge Charger Westering was driving. Westering knew the driver of the car had a revoked license.

When Westering attempted a “boot leg” turn around, his car was hit in the rear driver’s door in the eastbound lane, by a 2014 Chevy Impala driven by 40-year old Daniel Schwarte, of Wiota. The accident happened at around 12:30-p.m., Tuesday.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The third top official of Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Des Moines for conspiring to cover up campaign payments to a former Iowa state senator. Deputy campaign manager Dimitri Kesari was convicted of conspiracy and three charges related to false campaign reporting, the same charges for which a jury convicted the campaign’s chairman Jesse Benton and its manager John Tate.

WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines suburb of Windsor Heights has adopted changes to its sidewalk ordinance, even as it prepares to make controversial changes to the way its sidewalks are laid out. The City Council approved an ordinance Monday night that sets up sidewalk maintenance schedules and ensures compliance with federal disabilities access. The council did not adopt a contentious sidewalk plan unpopular with many longtime residents.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former legislative clerk has been sentenced to more than a year in prison after he admitted to writing a threatening letter to a state lawmaker and bringing a white powder to the Capitol. U. S. Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel says 28-year-old Michael Dekota McRae was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison for writing the letter in 2012 to his boss, Democratic Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad. McRae pleaded guilty in December to conveying false information concerning a biological weapon.

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court chose an appropriate setting for legal arguments about the Field of Dreams movie site _ a theater. The court frequently holds oral arguments around the state and on Monday night took up a zoning dispute at the Grand Theatre in Keokuk. The case involved whether the Dyersville City Council acted properly when it rezoned property made famous by the 1989 movie starring Kevin Costner.