Icy roads contributed to an injury accident Saturday morning near Minden, in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 23-year old William James Andrew Sidzyik, of Council Bluffs, was transported to Myrtue Memorial Hospital in Harlan, after he lost control and crashed the 2001 Oldsmobile Alero he was driving.

The accident happened at around 8:30-a.m., on Interstate 80 westbound, near the Minden exit. The Patrol says Sidzyik’s car went out of control on the ice covered road and entered the gore between I-80 and the westbound on-ramp from Minden. The vehicle continued over the on-ramp and struck two linear posts before coming to rest in the north ditch.

Sidzyik, who had been wearing his seat belt, complained of pain and was transported by private vehicle to the hospital, where he was located by the State Patrol during the accident investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Ankeny man whose baby died after becoming wedged between a mattress and a wall has pleaded guilty to child endangerment and other counts.

The Des Moines Register reports that 48-year-old Matthew Cohara recently pleaded guilty to child endangerment and possession of marijuana and cocaine in a deal with prosecutors. In exchange, Cohara must attend substance abuse evaluation and treatment and may get deferred judgment.

Police were called to the Ankeny home of Cohara and 33-year-old Michelle Atwell on Aug. 26 after the 7-month-old baby was found not breathing. Police say the baby became wedged between the bed and wall and suffocated after Atwell left her on the bed for hours after breast-feeding her. An autopsy found a cocaine byproduct in the baby’s system.

Atwell has pleaded not guilty to child endangerment causing substantial risk and several drug charges. Her trial is set to begin April 30.

DANVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A county prosecutor has dropped charges against a southeastern Iowa nursing home operator. The Des Moines Register reports that Des Moines County Attorney Amy Beavers dropped the felony dependent adult abuse-exploitation charge against 47-year-old Marc Johnson, Hamilton, Illinois, whose company runs the Danville Care Center in southeast Iowa.

Beavers says if Johnson were prosecuted, the facility might be forced to close, displacing its three-dozen residents. Authorities had said Johnson took about $1,700 from a center resident to buy a television and other items for the facility.

Dean Lerner, who once ran the Iowa agency that inspects nursing homes, was critical of Beavers’ decision, saying that to “leave this man in a position of authority so the business can remain open just seems absurd.”

Johnson’s attorney, Aaron Hamrock, says the care center maintains there were “no improprieties or irregularities” involving resident trust accounts.

A central Iowa woman will be in Washington D-C Monday, to lobby one of the state’s key elected leaders about ending global poverty. Megan Berberich, of Urbandale, is in the nation’s capital representing the ONE campaign and she’ll be meeting with Senator Joni Ernst. “We’re going to be asking her to fully fund the International Affairs budget which makes up only less than 1% of the overall budget,” Berberich says. “Cuts to these programs would be devastating to life-saving programs that have had proposed cuts of up to 30%.”

ONE was co-founded by U-2 singer Bono as a campaigning and advocacy organization with the goal of ending extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Berberich says she wants to shed light on this critical budget issue that’s been largely overlooked.  “It goes to make sure these poverty-fighting programs exist,” Berberich says. “It can go anywhere from making sure vaccines get on the ground to making sure the infrastructure’s okay.”

She says untold numbers of children and families are dying globally from preventable diseases and unimaginable conditions. “Because we have the opportunity to advocate for these people living in extreme poverty who usually don’t have any way to advocate for themselves and advocate for issues and education and health care and all kinds of things like that,” Berberich says, “we have the duty and obligation as Americans and Iowans to do it for them.”

(Radio Iowa)

State tourism officials are offering Iowans and visitors alike a new service — recommendations on the best places to eat statewide. Jessica O’Riley, with the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s tourism office, says it’s all online, with “99 Counties, 99 Restaurants.”

“Travelers like to eat where the locals eat,” O’Riley says, “so we thought we’d make it easier for travelers to find those locations by picking one restaurant in each county that they should try.” O’Riley explains how the 99 eateries were picked for the list.  “We looked at places that served a unique dish or had a unique atmosphere, maybe they’d won an award for the best burger or best tenderloin,” she says. “Also, we travel and find restaurants we enjoy. We also looked to Yelp for some positive reviews there.”

The list of 99 restaurants includes stops in Fairfield, Ogden, Orient, Le Claire and Prairie City.  “It’s a very diverse menu and there should be something for everyone’s tastes,” she says. “We encourage everyone to get out and try a bunch of places.”

Find the complete listing on the web at traveliowa.com/99restaurants.

(Radio Iowa)