A case of alleged voter fraud in western Iowa has been dismissed. The Omaha World-Herald reports the case against 39-year old Maria Isabel Lopez, of Denison, was dismissed last week, at the request of  Carroll County Attorney John Werden, who said Lopez has entered into a diversion program.

Lopez was arrested in late July, on suspicion of voter registration fraud. Authorities had alleged that she committed perjury on Sept. 11th, 2010, in Carroll, by falsifying a voter registration application.

Officers responding to a domestic incident at around 3:15-a.m. today (Wednesday), ended-up arresting 30-year old Stephen Ray Adams, of Red Oak. Adams was taken into custody in the 900 block of North 7th Street in Red Oak, on a charge of Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault. He was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

(Updated 7:34-a.m.) One person suffered what were described as “Moderately critical” injuries early this (Wednesday) morning, after a semi reportedly rear-ended a delivery truck on Interstate 80, near the Elk Horn exit, in Cass County.

Photo courtesy Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon

According to scanner traffic, the accident happened just before the 54-mile marker, where the vehicle ended-up in a ditch near the Highway 173/Elk Horn exit, off I-80 westbound. The accident happened at around 5:06-a.m.

The male driver of the vehicle was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic by Medivac Ambulance before being flown to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, by  Mercy 3 helicopter.

Marne Fire and Rescue also responded to the scene. No other details are currently available.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report two arrests Tuesday evening. At around 4:45-p.m., 38-year old Jason N. Beacham, of Coburg, was arrested for Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault. His bond was set at $300. And, at around 4:20-p.m., 41-year old Michelle M. Neville, of Red Oak, was arrested on a valid Montgomery County District Court warrant for violation of probation. Her bond was set at $5,000.

Police in Red Oak report the arrest Tuesday night of 60-year old John Keith Locke, of Red Oak. Locke was taken into custody at around 9:30-p.m. in the 100 block of West Coolbaugh Street, on a charge of Public Intoxication. Locke was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

A man in Red Oak who was arrested early Tuesday morning on a harassment charge apparently didn’t learn his lesson. Red Oak Police report 53-year old Victor Audie Stephens, of Red Oak, was arrested again at around 3:40-p.m. Tuesday at a residence on North 8th Street.  Stephens was also arrested just after 1-a.m. Tuesday, in the 100 block of East Walnut Street in Red Oak.  Both times he was charged with Harassment in the 3rd degree. Stephens was booked into the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center for the afternoon offense, and held on a $300 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican Julian Garrett has defeated former Democratic lawmaker Mark Davitt in a special election for state Senate. Garrett received about 60 percent of the vote in the election for Iowa Senate District 13. The seat was vacated when former Sen. Kent Sorenson resigned after an independent investigator found he likely broke ethics rules by taking money from presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s political action committee and presidential campaign.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The McCaughey septuplets say they don’t mind that they’re taking a lower profile these days. The now-16-year-olds gained international fame when they became the world’s first surviving septuplets in 1997. But Nathan McCaughey tells the Des Moines Register it’s nice to live a more normal life. He says the attention was fun, but at the same time he never really liked cameras following the family around everywhere.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former Des Moines doctor accused of improperly prescribing painkillers to patients won’t go on trial until next year. The Des Moines Register reports the trial of Dr. Daniel Baldi has been pushed back from Dec. 2 to Feb. 3. Prosecutors say Baldi prescribed large amounts of narcotic painkillers to patients including Paul Gray, founder of the band Slipknot, who died in 2010. Baldi’s lawyers say his patients either took more medication than prescribed or also took other drugs.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A jury has found a man guilty of first-degree murder in the 2012 shooting of a man in Iowa City. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that a Johnson County jury returned the verdict Tuesday in the trial of Brandon D. Brown. Brown pleaded not guilty in connection to the June 2012 shooting of 30-year-old Donelle Derrell Lindsey in Iowa City. Witnesses testified that the men got into an argument before Brown shot Lindsey several times.

Twelve Iowa FFA chapters have been awarded $2,500 “Be The Seed” grants to spur innovation and progress in their communities while promoting the importance of farming. The “Be The Seed” Grant Program, providing $35,000 in community funding, is sponsored by the Iowa Food & Family Project (Iowa FFP) in cooperation with DuPont Pioneer and the Iowa Soybean Association. Among the grant recipients was the Guthrie Center and West Central Valley FFA’s.

The Guthrie Center FFA plans to establish a community orchard, working with the school’s Family and Consumer Sciences department. The chapter is inspired by the long-term potential of such a project. Establishing a community orchard creates an opportunity to teach students and the area about the importance of agriculture and how people can grow their own food. As the populations continue to grow, food production is going to become increasingly important, and the chapter would like to foster a community-focused interest in food production for local students and area food banks.

West Central Valley FFA in Stuart, will work with the Stuart Public Library to create a community reading garden. The reading garden will encourage people to become more active outdoors and to learn about plants. The reading garden will be used as a way to engage the public by providing a place for them to learn about annuals, perennials, as well as garden crops. FFA members will tend to the garden throughout the summers and will be available to the public as a resource for information.

Grant recipients will be recognized in April at the Iowa FFA State Leadership Conference in Ames. One chapter determined to have conducted the most successful activity in partnership with its community will be recognized with a $5,000 Award of Achievement. More than 40 FFA chapters applied for grant funding.

(For more information, go to: http://www.iasoybeans.com/whatnew/release/275)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forestry Bureau, in cooperation with U.S. Forest Service – State and Private Forestry, has awarded $194,820 in 50 percent cost-share grants to 90 Iowa rural fire departments to aid their efforts in protecting Iowan’s and their property from wildfires. The grants offer valuable funding assistance for wildfire suppression equipment, personal protective equipment and communications equipment. Among the fire departments had their 2013 VFA grant requests approved were those in: Avoca, Creston, Elk Horn, Elliott, Harlan,Irwin, Manilla, Onawa, Pacific Junction, Sidney and Templeton.

Gail Kantak, fire supervisor with the DNR’s Forestry Bureau, said it is important for all fire departments to submit Wildland Fire Reports whenever they respond to a wildland fire or provide assistance to a prescribed or controlled wildland fire. Wildland fire reports are compiled locally and nationally and are reported to Congress. Wildland Fire reporting forms are available at www.iowadnr.gov/fire. Departments actively returning these reports receive priority points when the Volunteer Fire Assistance grant applications are scored.

The topic of estate planning and evaluation will be an all-day workshop next month in Pottawattamie County. East Pottawattamie County Extension is hosting “Evaluating Your Estate Plan, a Workshop for Farm Families” in southwest Iowa on December 9th, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Community Center in Carson. Topics include the language of estate planning, needed information, setting goals, and gift, estate, and inheritance taxes.

The program gives participants tools and the chance to use those tools to help them prepare or revise an estate plan, and has been highly successful throughout Iowa. According to evaluations within one year 69% of participants had held a family meeting. 64% of participants met with their attorney to review their estate plan within one year of the program.

Presenters are Melissa O’Rourke and Kelvin Leibold, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Farm and Agribusiness Management Specialists. O’Rourke is an attorney who has experience in agricultural law and estate and succession planning. Leibold has been helping farmers with management and business decisions for decades.

The cost is $50 per person, which includes resource materials and lunch. Advance registration by December 6 is required because the program is limited to 40 people. To register, call East Pottawattamie County Extension at 712-482-6449.