This (Monday) morning’s wet snow created slippery driving conditions for many motorists, and resulted in numerous accidents. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says one of the crashes occurred at around 7:10-a.m. on Highway 34.  Officials report a van driven by 60-year old Patricia Roberts, of Afton, was traveling westbound in the north lane, when her vehicle slid on the ice/snow covered road in front of a Honda Civic driven by 48-year old Keith Hardy, of Villisca, that was in the south lane, also traveling west bound.

The Honda hit the drivers side middle section of the van, causing the van to slide up against a concrete bridge railing. The car continued west before stopping. Neither driver was injured, and no citations were issued, due to the weather/road conditions. Damage from the crash amounted to $11,100.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports one arrest over the past week. An Iowa State Patrol Trooper stopped a vehicle for speeding last Friday morning on Interstate 80 in Adair County, and determined the driver, 36-year old Jasin Carnel Cooks, of Omaha, was allegedly intoxicated. The Trooper noted Cooks had an open container of alcohol in the vehicle, a strong odor of alcohol emitting from him, slurred speech and bloodshot eyes.

The man failed a Field Sobriety Test and was brought to the Adair County Jail in Greenfield, where he tested .176 on the breath test. Cook was charged with OWI/1st offense and released later that day on $1,000 bond.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), as part of a cooperative project with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has released its first report of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Survey (PRAMS). Iowa joined the PRAMS project in 2011 and began collecting data in February of 2013. Since that time, more than 5,000 Iowa mothers have been asked to provide information on their experiences and behaviors before, during and after pregnancy.

The first annual PRAMS Data Book is based on births to Iowa women in calendar year 2013. IDPH PRAMS Coordinator Sarah Mauch said “The purpose of PRAMS is to find out why some babies are born healthy and others are not.” Findings can then be used to guide program and policy development to better serve Iowa women who are at-risk for poor outcomes.

The overall response rate for Iowa PRAMS was 72 percent in 2013, well above the 60 percent minimum for PRAMS data to be considered valid. In 2013, there were 39,013 live births in Iowa. According to the PRAMS Data Book:

20,667 mothers reported their pregnancy was planned.
29,074 mothers reported ever breastfeeding their babies.
30,833 mothers said they primarily put their baby to sleep on his or her back – the safest position for infant sleep.
2,252 mothers reported some form of intimate partner violence.

Because this is the first publication of PRAMS data, there is only one year of data and trends won’t be identified until coming years of data are analyzed. To see the entire inaugural PRAMS Data Book, visit http://bit.ly/1lRVcvB. To learn more about PRAMS, visit http://idph.iowa.gov/prams.

DENISON, Iowa (AP) – A woman has died as the result of a house fire in Denison.
Sioux City television station KTIV reports that the fire occurred early Saturday morning along First Avenue North in Denison. Authorities say 56-year-old Craig Streck and 37-year-old Wendy Waldemar were in the home at the time of the fire and were transported to Crawford County Memorial Hospital. Waldemar died from injuries she sustained in the fire. Streck suffered minor injuries.

Firefighters from from Denison, Vail and Manilla were on the scene at around 6:30-a.m., Saturday. Mutual aid was soon requested and provided by crews from Westside, Schleswig, Dow City, and Kiron. The fire was brought under control in approximately 15 minutes and units remained on scene until 2:30 pm.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the fire. It remains under investigation by the Denison Police Department, Denison Fire department and Iowa State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating a black, full-size extended cab pick up truck. The vehicle left the scene of an accident this morning near Highway 25 and Monteith Road, south of Guthrie Center. The truck should have front end damage. No other information is immediately available.

Send the Sheriff’s Office a message via Facebook or call them at (641) 747-2214, if you have any information on this vehicle.

MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT-PAGE COUNTIES..
853 AM CST MON DEC 14 2015

…SLIPPERY ROADS ARE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING…

A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING…BUT SHOULD
BE ENDING ACROSS THE AREA BY NOON. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN IN
THE MID 30S…SO SOME MELTING OF SNOW WILL OCCUR…BUT AN INCH OR
TWO OF SLUSHY ACCUMULATION CAN BE EXPECTED…ESPECIALLY ACROSS
WESTERN IOWA.

ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR MORNING DESTINATION. USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING DUE TO THE POTENTIAL FOR SLIPPERY OR ICY ROADS…AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN SNOW OR FROM ROAD SPRAY.

One person is dead following a residential structure fire in Denison. Authorities say at around 6:30-a.m. Saturday, firefighters from Denison, Vail and Manilla, along with the Denison P-D and Crawford County Memorial Hospital Ambulance were dispatched to 1528 1st Avenue North for a reported house fire with an occupant trapped.

Initial arriving units reported heavy smoke with fire showing from two sides of the single story residential structure. Witnesses reported the occupant to be “12 feet inside the front door. With heavy smoke and flames showing, a 2nd alarm was requested, with units from Westside, Schleswig, Dow City, and Kiron called-in for mutual aid.

Photos by Cory Snowgren via Denison P-D Facebook page.

Firefighters made their way into the home and located the victim in a bedroom. The victim was removed from the structure and transported to Crawford County Memorial Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. fire was brought under control in approximately 15 minutes and units remained on scene until 2:30 pm. The cause is still under investigation by the Iowa State Fire Marshal Office.

The name of the victim has not yet been released.

Red Oak Police are asking for the public’s help in solving a burglary. Officials say sometime between 8-p.m. Sunday and 6-a.m. today (Monday), someone entered a vehicle in the 700 block of E. Nuckols Street in Red Oak, and took several mini-racing drones, Go Pro camera chargers, batteries, antennas, cables and Fat Shark goggles. The loss was estimated at more than $3,400.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Red Oak Police or your local law enforcement agency.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The latest America’s Health Rankings report released last week showed Iowa moved up two spots to 22nd among the 50 states. One area of improvement was a decrease in adults who smoke. Health consultant, Garin Buttermore, from the Department of Public Health, says the smoking rate dropped by one percent. It was at 19-and-half percent in 2014 and then in 2015 it was at 18-and-a-half percent. Now that puts up from 28th to 26th in the nation as far as the ranking of adults who smoke — so we are almost on the good side of halfway,” Buttermore says.

While it wasn’t a huge drop, the number of adult smokers did drop. “It just shows improvement and it’s a trend that Iowa is moving in the rankings. Adult smoking rates just in general all over America are going down and we are excited that that’s happening,” Buttermore says. He says there are a lot of resources put into helping people quit smoking.

“Call 800-QUITNOW to receive free services there and in all 99 counties we have contracts with local providers to do tobacco control and prevention,” Buttermore explains. “Whether that’s helping to establish smoke-free policies or talking with people in schools about not using tobacco. It just helps that our work is paying off and the state is getting healthier.”

Buttermore says the numbers also show that more people are seeing the downside to smoking. “The money, the health, the smell, the inconvenience, there’s just every reason to quit using traditional tobacco, and no reason to start,” according to Buttermore. The results are for smokers who are 18 years and older, and does not include the use of electronic cigarettes.

(Radio Iowa)