Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say no injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident Wednesday evening, west of Elliott. Authorities say 49-year old Christopher Lee Anderson, of Portsmouth, was traveling west on Highway 48 in a 2008 GMC pickup at around 6:55-p.m., when the flatbed trailer hauling a 1965 Farmall Tractor being pulled by the truck began to fishtail. The fishtailing action caused the truck spin 180 degrees, and resulted in the trailer entering the north ditch, where it overturned along with the tractor.

The pickup, which sustained $8,000 damage, remained upright in the westbound lane. The tractor sustained $4,000 damage, while the trailer damage was estimated at $1,000. No citations were issued.

Sheriff’s deputies were assisted at the scene by Elliott Fire and Elliott 1st Responders, Richter and Son Towing, and Miller Farm Supply, in Elliott.

The Iowa House and Senate have voted to modify the program that lets gambling addicts sign onto a list that prevents them from entering an Iowa casino. Senator Roby Smith of Davenport said “Iowa’s program only offers a permanent lifetime ban, which can scare people away from taking this important first step towards treatment.”

The bill would give problem gamblers the option of a five-year ban from the casinos and it could be renewed every five years. Smith says counselors tell him many problem gamblers have recently been divorced, are dealing with the recent death of a loved one or the loss of a job. “This bill supports our goal of helping susceptible Iowans when they need it the most,” Smith says.

In 2013, Governor Branstad vetoed a similar bill, saying a gambling addiction lasts a lifetime and the voluntary lifetime exclusion from gambling facilities is the appropriate step. This year, an association that represents the professionals who help treat gambling addicts. The five-year casino exclusion option got the approval of all but two senators. It cleared the House last week on a 75 to 20 vote.

(Radio Iowa)

A bill that could dramatically expand the use of medical marijuana in Iowa is NEARLY ready for debate in the Iowa Senate, but it appears the bill as currently written has little chance of winning approval in the House. Representative Clel Baudler, a Republican from Greenfield, said “Three days after hell freezes over that bill will pass in the House.”

Baudler tried but failed to pass legislation out of a HOUSE committee earlier this year that would have set up growing and dispensing operations for cannabis oil in Iowa. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, is a nurse. Upmeyer says the Senate bill goes farther than House Republicans want, but she’s not ruling out SOME action this year.

“There’s an opportunity to do more,” Upmeyer says. “I’m just not sure that’s the bill.” Upmeyer says one flaw in the Senate bill is there’s no limit on the amount of T-H-C that could be included in medical marijuana products sold in Iowa. T-H-C is the chemical compound in the plant responsible for most of the “high” associated with pot. Senators, meanwhile, are pressing ahead with their bill. It cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday and will be considered in the Senate Ways and Means Committee today (Thursday).

Senator Tom Greene, a Republican from Burlington, is a retired pharmacist.”There are so many Iowans who have really kind of been left behind on treatment,” Greene says. “This is a pathway that we can provide for them an alternative use that has been approved in 28 other states, so it’s not a new idea.”

In 2014, the legislature legalized POSSESSION of cannabis oil as treatment for one condition: chronic epilepsy. That legal protection expires July 1st. Legislators say, at the least, they will vote to extend the law so patients who’ve been taking cannabis oil can continue the treatment, which many say has dramatically reduced the number of seizures.

(Radio Iowa)