(Radio Iowa – Des Moines) The State of Iowa has built a new website that will be used if federal officials approve a new approach to helping about 72-thousand Iowans buy new individual health insurance policies. Chance McElhaney, a spokesman for the Iowa Insurance Commissioner, says if the feds approve Iowa’s waiver, those Iowans will use a new STATE website to see if they’re eligible to buy insurance from one of the two companies that have agreed to sell 2018 policies.  “That is online now,” McElhaney says. “The eligibility portal will flip once open enrollment hits November 1st.”

However, those 72-thousand Iowans won’t be able to BUY insurance on that website on November 1st. McElhaney says a consumer will answer a number of questions there to determine if they are eligible to buy an individual health insurance policy through the process set up by the state. “They will get a letter in the mail once eligibility is determined,” McElhaney says. “That letter will have the amount of their premium credit and it will have an eligibility code.”

That means — if Iowa gets the federal waiver to set up this system — those 72-thousand Iowans will have to wait for delivery of the letter and use the code in that letter to buy policies from either Medica or Wellmark. McElhaney says his agency has “marketing ready to go” if Iowa gets the federal waiver — to help the 72-thousand Iowans navigate the new system. “We’ve done about everything that we possibly can and have been working tirelessly on this,” McElhaney says. “…We’re going to get this over the goal line.”

On Tuesday, Governor Kim Reynolds told reporters that if Iowa gets the go-ahead to launch its alternative plan for individual insurance policies, she’s confident the state website will handle all the traffic from those 72-thousand Iowans. Go to https://stopgap.iowa.gov/ to find a link to the new state website that’s been created for this project.

Three people were hurt Wednesday afternoon when three trucks collided in Harrison County. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 12:23-p.m. near the intersection of Highway 30 and Redwood Avenue, or about half-way between Logan and Woodbine.

Officials said a 2000 Freightliner straight truck driven by 58-year old Robert Clay White, of Woodbine, was traveling south on Highway 30 and slowing to turn left onto Redwood Avenue, when the truck was struck from behind by 2017 Peterbilt semi. The impact forced the straight truck into the path of a 2016 Peterbilt semi, which was traveling north on Highway 30.

The straight truck hit the trailer of the northbound semi, causing it to go out of control and roll onto the passenger side on the highway. Highway 30 was completely blocked for a few hours.

The driver of the first semi, 25-year old Tamra Bonny, of Omaha, was transported by LifeNet helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha. The driver of the second semi, 49-year old Timothy Watson, of Sweetwater, TN., was transported by Logan Rescue to the hospital in Missouri Valley, while the straight truck driver, Robert White, was taken to the Missouri Valley Hospital by Woodbine Rescue. All three drivers were wearing their seat belts.

The accident remained under investigation.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

RED OAK, Iowa (AP) — Red Oak police have charged a man in the death of another man whose body was found near a street in the southwest Iowa city. Police found the body of 27-year-old Devin Alexander Davis about 4:15 a.m. Wednesday. They later determined he’d been killed by a single gunshot. Red Oak police say in a news release that investigators determined 39-year-old Kevin Duane Staley and Davis had a confrontation earlier Wednesday, leading to the shooting. Police charged Staley with voluntary manslaughter.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s prisons agency has fired a judge over a ruling in which she dismissed sanctions against an inmate because the meaning of a two-letter acronym was unclear to her in a report. The firing of Administrative Law Judge Renee Sneitzer has prompted her to allege retaliation and discrimination, and renewed questions about the independence of judges who work for the Department of Corrections. The department says she should have sent the report back for clarification rather than dismissing the case.

NASHUA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an 8-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet while visiting an apple orchard with his parents in northeast Iowa. The sheriff in Chickasaw County says the boy is hospitalized in stable condition, though details about his condition haven’t been released. The sheriff says the bullet was fired Sunday at a shooting range less than a mile from the orchard. He tells the Charles City Press the shooting was a “freak accident” and isn’t being investigated as a crime.

CORRECTIONVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a woman has died after her vehicle was rear-ended on a northwest Iowa road and pushed into the path of a school bus. The Sioux City Journal reports 68-year-old Linda Zahnley, of Correctionville, died in the Tuesday afternoon crash on state Highway 31. The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says Zahnley was stopped, waiting to turn east when her sports utility vehicle was rear-ended by a pickup truck. The crash pushed the SUV into the path of an oncoming River Valley school bus.

Water levels on the Missouri River are gradually falling as releases from Gavins Point Dam near Yankton have been cut back in the past several days. Dave Becker, operations manager for the U-S Army Corps of Engineers at Gavins Point, says it’s in response to high water and flooding in communities further south along the river basin.

“We cut our flows initially from 31,000 down to 29,000 cubic feet per second and now they’re down to 26,000 to help the folks out,” Becker says. “We just had some really heavy fall rains the last ten days downstream.”

River levels have dropped about three feet below the dam. Becker says releases are being reduced upstream as well so more water will be retained in the reservoirs. Becker says, “Our hydrologists really have to time the releases correctly between Fort Randall and us because it takes about a day for their water to get to us.”

Becker says all of the extra water being held back may mean a longer navigation season from Sioux City downstream. “Because we had a little wetter year than normal, we had about an additional 12% of water in the Missouri basin,” Becker says. “Our navigation season may even go a little beyond Thanksgiving.”

Higher-than-normal releases may be needed later this year to draw down the reservoirs to winter levels.

(Radio Iowa)

A central Iowa man is dead following the crash of a semi tractor-trailer on Interstate 80 this (Wednesday) morning, in Adair County. The Iowa State Patrol says 62-year old Michael Byers, of Des Moines, died after he was flown from the scene of the crash of Methodist Hospital in Des Moines.

Authorities say Byers was westbound on I-80 at around 6:45-a.m., when the 2018 Freightliner semi he was driving left the road at the Stuart exit and entered the north ditch before it rolled over. Byers, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected during the crash.

The semi’s tanker trailer contained hazardous materials. HAZ MAT crews were called to unload it. The accident remains under investigation. Several agencies assisted the Patrol at the accident scene.

(Updated 8:20-p.m.) The Red Oak Police Department has released details on the investigation of a deceased male found in Red Oak early this (Wednesday) morning. Officers were called to the 200 block of East Grimes Street at 4:17am Wednesday morning for a reported deceased body.  After investigation it was determined the deceased male was 27-year-old Devin Alexander Davis of Villisca.  Davis was found to have suffered from an apparent single gunshot wound.

After further investigation it was discovered that a confrontation had occurred earlier that morning between Davis and 39-year-old Kevin Duane Staley of Red Oak.  During that confrontation Staley allegedly shot Davis.  Law enforcement officials then obtained a search warrant for Staley’s residence at 502 W Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak and then found Staley inside the home. He was taken into custody without incident around 12:40pm by the Red Oak Police and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Staley was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $100,000 cash bond.  He has been charged with Voluntary Manslaughter, a Class C Felony. It is believed that this is an isolated incident and there is no threat to the rest of the community.   The investigation is ongoing.

Red Oak Police are being assisted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Red Oak Fire and Rescue, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and Montgomery County Attorney’s Office.