Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say no injuries were reported following two separate accidents Friday, in Villisca. Just after 11-a.m., a pickup driven by 16-year old Blake Michael Haidsiak-Riggle, of Villisca, collided with a car driven by 16-year old Whitney Joyce Bales, of Prescott. The accident happened as Haidsiak-Riggle was traveling west on Depot Street, and was unable to make the turn due to the road conditions. The 1995 Ford F-150 he was driving slid into a southbound 2002 Chevy Impala driven by Bales, causing a total of $2,000 damage. No citations were issued, due to the road conditions.

The second accident happened at around 1:45-p.m., Friday in the 2900 block of 265th Street, in Villisca. Sheriff’s officials say a 2007 Kenworth semi tractor-trailer driven by 57-year old Ricky Charles Lukehart, of Red Oak, had been been pulling away from a stop sign and didn’t see a 2002 Chevy 1500 pickup being operated by 61-year old Allan Ernest Olson, of Griswold. The semi hit the right rear side of Olson’s eastbound truck, causing a total of $2,100 damage. Authorities say Lukehart was cited for Failure to Obey a Stop sign.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Videos and photos taken by the public and posted online show the extensive damage wrought by tornadoes in northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa.

The images show a number of businesses, including a farm implement showroom and a grain elevator at Wayne, Neb., destroyed. Many other businesses and homes stretching from Wayne to Cherokee, Iowa, are missing roofs and sections of walls. Windows in buildings and vehicles have been smashed. A semitrailer and tractor can be seen overturned in some photos.

The National Weather Service says at least six, but as many as nine tornadoes ravaged the region as a powerful storm cell moved through the area Friday night. No deaths were reported, but 15 people in and around Wayne were treated for injuries.

“The talk” about the birds and the bees isn’t something most parents look forward to having with their kids, but October is the month when parents are urged to have conversations with their teens about pregnancy prevention. Bobbie Jo Sheridan is a training and education coordinator at Eyes Open Iowa, an advocacy and education group based in Des Moines. Sheridan explains the goals of “Let’s Talk Month.”

“To encourage parents and their children to talk about healthy relationships, family values and sexual health,” Sheridan says. “We often find that kids want to hear this information from their moms and dads but moms and dads are uncomfortable sharing this information with their kids.”

Sheridan says communication is the name of the game in these important conversations. “We always encourage parents to just give the facts,” she says. “There’s lots of websites, EyesOpenIowa.org is one of them, where parents can find tons of information so they can provide medically-accurate information for their kid.” Sheridan says there is good news as a result of pregnancy prevention efforts.

“We are very fortunate in Iowa that we have a low teen pregnancy rate, but when we look at high school kids, about 43.9% of high school kids have had sexual intercourse, so that number is still quite high and we’d like to see it lowered.” Learn more at www.eyesopeniowa.org.

(Radio Iowa)

An on-air recording of the News w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson (technical issues – I apologize for the poor quality sound)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

A Council Bluffs man was charged Friday with two felony counts of Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer, following an alleged “Suicide by Cop” incident last August, during which he reported lunged at a pair of Council Bluffs Police Officers. According to the Daily NonPareil, 52-year old Michael Hannum faces up to 10-years in prison, if convicted. He’s currently being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Hannum escaped from a federal halfway house when he left the Council Bluffs facility the morning of August 2nd. He was serving the remaining months of a conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said Federal charges for the escape are pending in connection with that incident.

Officer Aaron Gutierrez shot Hannum twice, in the abdomen and hip, on Aug. 4th at the Walmart construction site on North 16th Street. The Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office said Hannum admitted he had used methamphetamine earlier in the day, and he was depressed when he charged at the officers with the idea of getting himself shot. Authorities found that Hannum had deep self-inflicted cuts to his wrists suffered prior to the shooting.

After a lengthy investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation into the matter, Wilber said he believes the officers acted appropriately during the incident. Gutierrez and fellow officer Jason Burleigh will not be charged.

(information compiled by the National Weather Service)

8:00-p.m. Montgomery County Emergency Management reports trees were down in Red Oak due to high winds, and a lightening strike started a structure fire west of Red Oak.

6:40-p.m. Amateur radio operator reports 1-inch diameter (quarter-size) hail fell in the Rolling Hills area, east of Council Bluffs.

6:28-p.m. Law enforcement in Mills County report baseball-size hail fell along I-29 at the rest area and punched through a vehicle’s windshield. At that same time, quarter-size hail was reported to have fallen in Glenwood.

6:24-p.m. Golf ball-size hail was reported 3-miles west of Pacific Junction in Mills County.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Homeland Security says a tornado touched down near the town of Cherokee, but officials haven’t yet reported whether it caused major damage. Officials said the mile-wide tornado touched traveled about 1 mile south of Cherokee.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa State University student has died after being hit by a vehicle near Jack Trice Stadium soon after the Cyclones loss to Texas. KCCI-TV reports the crash happened just after 11 p.m. Thursday on Highway 30. The Iowa State Patrol says 23-year-old Austin Wonderlich, of Pleasant Hill, was killed after he moved off the highway median.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Big 12 Conference says there was no indisputable video evidence showing game officials made a mistake in ruling a Texas running back was down before the ball came loose late in the fourth quarter of the Longhorns’ 31-30 win over Iowa State. The Cyclones appeared to strip the ball from Texas’ Johnathan Gray with about 1 minute to play. The call on the field was that Gray was down and that was upheld by the replay official.

WAPELLO, Iowa (AP) — City officials in Wapello understand the enthusiasm generated at high school football games and have decided to exempt the local high school football field from following the city’s noise ordinance. The Muscatine Journal reports the City Council at its meeting Thursday agreed to allow the stadium to be noisy but asked school officials to try to keep it down.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Homeland Security says a tornado touched down Friday evening near the town of Cherokee, but officials haven’t yet reported whether it caused major damage. Officials said the mile-wide tornado touched down about 1 mile south of Cherokee. It cut a 2- to 3-mile path through farmland but didn’t hit any population centers.

Another mile-wide tornado caused major damage just before 7-p.m. about 5-miles east of Moville, in Woodbury County, according to the National Weather Service. Twisters were also reported north and west of Hinton. A funnel cloud was reported near Anthon at around 6:45-p.m.

About 2,700 homes and business in the Sioux City area were without power Friday night. More than 500 of them were around Sloan, near where the mile-wide tornado touched down. The National Weather Serivce says homes were damaged just west/northwest of North Sioux City, and near the northwest Iowa towns of Pierson and Quimby. The twister near Quimby was reported to have caused major damage, at around 7:30-p.m.