DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Charges of election misconduct filed against three Council Bluffs residents have been dismissed.  Albert Harte-Maxwell and his wife, Linda, were charged in September after prosecutors alleged they registered to vote even though they aren’t U.S. citizens.  They hold Canadian citizenship. Their attorney, David Richter, says prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges last week. Court records entered on Thursday indicate a judge approved the motion.

Richter has argued that Iowa’s voter registration form violates state law because the size and color of the printing isn’t consistent. Before a judge could rule on whether the form is legal, prosecutors dismissed the charges.

Similar charges against Maria Ayon-Fernandez, a citizen of Mexico, also were dismissed.   The charges were filed amid Secretary of State Matt Schultz’s effort to fight voter fraud.

Officials in Crawford County report three people were injured during a single-vehicle, rollover accident, Saturday afternoon, near Vail. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Department says 17 year old Lacey Wyckoff, of Ames, was traveling in an SUV eastbound on Highway 30. When she reached for her cell phone and the vehicle went off the roadway onto the right shoulder. Wyckoff over corrected, causing the 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer to skid out of control and into the south ditch. The SUV slide through the ditch, and hit the railroad tracks before rolling numerous times. The vehicle finally came to rest facing west to east and landed on its wheels.

Injured in the crash was: 17 year old Hailey Bockholt and 15 year old Hannah Bockholt, both of Yankton, SD and 12 year old Lyra Wyckoff of Ames. All three were transported to the Crawford County Memorial Hospital in Denison by ambulance for what were described as minor injuries. Lacey Wyckoff was cited for failure to maintain control. The accident happened around 3:12pm Saturday.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

A woman from Oakland died and another person was injured during a single-vehicle accident Saturday, in Pottawattamie County. Sheriff Jeff Danker says 21-year old Nicolla Emge died from injuries she suffered during the crash that occurred about three-miles east of McClelland. Danker says deputies were dispatched to the scene near 290th and Idlewood, at around 6:50-a.m.  When they arrived, they determined a 2002 Ford Taurus had gone out of control and rolled into a ditch. It’s not clear when the accident actually occurred.

Emge was ejected from the car. She was flown to Creighton University Hospital in Omaha by Lifeflight helicopter, and later died. A second person in the car, 21-year old Newberry Wright, of Oakland, was injured and also flown to Creighton Hospital. His injuries were serious, but not believed to be life threatening. It’s not clear which person was driving the vehicle.

The accident remains under investigation.

Around 150 postal workers and supporters held a protest in the snow on Sunday, rallying against the planned shutdown of Saturday mail service later this year. In front of the Des Moines Main Post Office, the crowd lined the streets, urging passing cars to honk in support, part of a nationwide effort. Jerry Stake works at the Pleasant Hill branch of the post office and says they’re busier than ever.

“Six days a week, we hardly have enough time to even catch up,” Stake say. “I don’t know how they expect to move the mail in five days. We can’t hardly keep up with six days delivery.” Stake says the plan to end most service on Saturdays would back up delivery for days, while having a negative impact on rural Iowans and the elderly.

Thomas Dawlins, a letter carrier from De Soto, says he’s protesting proposed cuts to his own hours and wages, in addition to cutting services to those who depend on it.”My folks live out in the country and if you stop delivery out there, there’s nobody else that’s going to take that stuff out to the country because UPS and the Fed Ex guys don’t deliver out there,” he says.

Dawlins says it isn’t just about paper mail, either. “I deliver to the south side to a lot of veterans in the trailer parks over there and they absolutely rely on the post office to give them their medications,” Dawlins says. “I call it my medical route, because every time I go over there, there’s 30-to-40 parcels of medication going out to those folks on a daily basis.”

Along with the well-publicized end of Saturday delivery in August and consolidating major mail centers, another move that’s hitting home in rural America is the plan to cut staff and hours at about 13-thousand post offices.

(Radio Iowa)

Legislators are considering a bill that would help Iowans who are a bit competitive about the beer they brew in their own home. It is illegal for Iowans to enter their home brews in exhibitions or competitions because state law says beer brewed at home is for personal consumption only. Senator Liz Mathis , a Democrat from Robins, says that means the judges in a competition can’t sample home brews made in Iowa. “What the new bill shows is that you could be able to take some of your home-brewed beer and leave your home and take it to this exhibition or festival and allow judges to sample it,” Mathis says. “What it doesn’t allow for is for that home-brewed beer to be sold in mass quantities.”

Alabama is the only state in the union where brewing beer at home is illegal. Home brewing is a growing hobby in the United States. Membership in the American Homebrewers Association has quadrupled in the past seven years. “I think even President Obama has talked about home brew beer,” Mathis says. The White House chefs have bottled an ale and a porter, using honey harvested from the White House garden. A long time ago, Mathis wanted to try her hand at beer brewing.

“Back in 1976, there were five of us in a bio chem class and we were wondering if we might be able to try something like that, but were deterred by our teacher saying, ‘You probably shouldn’t try that.’ You know the drinking age was 18 back then,” Mathis says, laughing, “so we were very inquisitive and curious but, no, we didn’t go ahead with the plans.”

The bill to let home brewers enter their beers in competitions has unanimously passed both the Iowa House and the Senate, but senators made a slight change that must be approved by the House before the legislation can go to Governor Branstad for his signature.

(Radio Iowa)

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports one person was injured during an accident last week, near Shenandoah. Eligah Newkirk, of Red Oak, was transported to the Shenandoah Hospital, after the 1993 Ford Explorer he was driving went out of control and left Highway 59 south of Shenandoah, before hitting a tree. The accident happened March 19th, as Newkirk was traveling southbound.

Sheriff’s officials in Fremont County report the arrest last week of a Nebraska man on drug charges. 33-year old Derrick Edward Traub, of Stella, NE, was arrested March 19th on Possession with the Intent to Deliver/Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Interference with Official Acts charges, along with a charge of Failure to affix a drug tax stamp and No Valid ID.

That same day, 22-year old Andrew Ryan Lemrick, of Hamburg, was arrested for allegedly violating his probation associated with a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 3rd degree. And, on March 21st, 38-year old Azure Lee Miller, of Sidney, IA, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension, and on a Red Oak Police Department warrant for a parking violation during a snow emergency.

w/ Ric Hanson

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U.S. Democrat Senator Tom Harkin,  Friday, announced that three council of governments in Iowa have received a total of $166,500 from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to provide continued support for their economic development planning within their regions. The Region XII (12) Council of Governments (COG’s) received $54,900 to serve the  counties of Audubon, Carroll and Crawford, along with Greene, Guthrie and SAC.

The other two entities were Mid-Iowa Development Association Council of Governments and Southern Iowa Council of Governments, Inc which serves Adair and other counties. Harkin is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee that funds the initiatives.  Harkin  said he hopes the funds will help those Council of Governments “Continue their economic development efforts, giving a boost their communities.

w/ Ric Hanson

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