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Injuries reported after accident occurs near Oakland

News

January 20th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Authorities say one person was injured during an accident over the Noon hour Thursday, in rural Pottawattamie County.  The crash happened on Highway 59, north of Oakland. According to reports, the driver of a car tried to pass a truck carrying a wind turbine part, and clipped it in the process. The 58-year-old driver of the vehicle lost control of the car, which rolled over before coming to rest in a ditch. A 28-year-old female passenger in the car was ejected in the crash. Her injuries were not believed to be life threatening. Officials say she wasn’t wearing a seat belt. The driver of the car was not injured. No names have been released as of early this (Friday) morning.

Hastings, IA man arrested in Montgomery County

News

January 20th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a Hastings man was arrested Thursday, on a valid warrant for Failure to Pay Child Support. 49-year old John Michael Hudson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.

2 men to be sentenced for attack at Boswell’s farm

News

January 20th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two men who pleaded guilty in last summer’s attack at U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell’s southern Iowa farmhouse are scheduled to be sentenced Friday. David Dewberry pleaded guilty last month to first-degree robbery and faces a mandatory sentence of 25-years in prison. Cody Rollins pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting an attempted burglary and faces up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors say Dewberry, of Fremont, Neb., entered Boswell’s farmhouse near Leon on July 19 armed with a bb gun and attacked Boswell’s daughter. While Boswell fought with Dewberry, his 22-old grandson got a shotgun and pointed it at the 20-year-old Dewberry, chasing him off. Boswell suffered minor injuries in the scuffle. Prosecutors say the 20-year-old Rollins, who lives in Lamoni, helped plan the burglary and drove Dewberry to Boswell’s house.

Fatal, fiery crash reported in Shelby County

News

January 20th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Sheriff’s Officials in Shelby County are expected to release information later this morning about a fatal, fiery crash which occurred last night (Thursday), in Irwin. While no official report has been released as of early this (Friday) morning, according to scanner traffic, Irwin and Defiance Fire and Rescue were dispatched to a location near 300 Front Street, following a report of a motor vehicle accident, with the vehicle fully engulfed in flames. It apparently had come to rest against a pole. The accident was reported at 11:50-p.m., and within about one-half hour layer, officials on the scene had requested a Medical Examiner. We’ll have additional details as they become available.

Families of 4 motorcyclists killed in I-29 crash settle lawsuit

News

January 20th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The families of four motorcyclists who died in a crash with a drunken driver on Interstate 29 near Little Sioux in 2010, have settled a combined lawsuit with the man who was convicted on four counts of vehicular homicide. According to the Omaha World-Herald, the families accepted an offer made late last year by 23-year old Andrew Schlichtemeier. Barring any late developments, the settlement essentially ends the civil case against the man, who was 21-years old when his pickup crossed the center line of I-29 in a construction zone, and collided with four men on motorcycles who were returning home from Sturgis, S.D. The August 9th, 2010, crash claimed the lives of: Jay Bock of Omaha; Steven Benscoter of Pacific Junction, Iowa; and Dale Aspedon and Dennis Chaney, both of Glenwood, Iowa,

Authorities tested Schlichtemeier’s blood and recorded a blood-alcohol content of more than 4½ times the legal limit. The test also turned up traces of the chemical in marijuana. Investigators found two baggies containing marijuana, eight 12-ounce cans of beer, all unopened, along with an empty 40-ounce bottle of beer in the wreckage of Schlichtemeier’s vehicle, which ended-up on its side after the crash. Schlichtemeier pleaded guilty to four counts of motor vehicle homicide in February 2011. He was later sentenced to 50 years. When he pleaded guilty, Schlichtemeier admitted responsibility in court, with many of the motorcyclists’ loved ones in attendance.

The families of the motorcyclists filed separate lawsuits against Schlichtemeier in the months following the crash, but their cases were later combined. It was settled with mediation last Friday, to divide the amount of proceeds from Schlichtemeier’s car insurance policies he carried at the time. Attorneys would not say how much money the estates of the motorcyclists are dividing, citing conditions of the settlement. District Judge Greg Steensland will oversee the mediation in Council Bluffs.

Congressman King reacts to the XL pipeline decision

News

January 19th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Iowa Congressman Steve King is among the Republicans upset with Democrat President Barack Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone X-L oil pipeline project.  “Well, it’s just a completely illogical decision when you look at a country that needs jobs that needs energy, the price that gas is today compared to the day that Barack Obama took office. All of these things scream for us to build the pipeline down from the oil sands region in Northern Alberta down into the United States,” King says. The president issued a statement saying the decision to reject the pipeline was based on the need to gather more information on the safety of the pipeline. King says the decision is simply politics.

“The president has had difficulty making a decision between his environmental extremist base and his labor union base, he’s decided to side with the environmental extremist base,” King says. “It is not I don’t think, an analytical decision, it’s a political decision on his part. And the American people are going to have to make a political decision next November. If we can have jobs and energy blocked like this, we pretty well know that politics trumps the American people’s best interests.” King says he believes Obama made the decision now so it wouldn’t be hanging over his head before he gives his State of the Union address. The pipeline would extend from Canada to Texas, covering six states. Nebraska is the closest state to Iowa that would be on the pipeline route.

(Dar Danielson/Radio Iowa)

King Awards Medals to Vietnam War Veteran David Napier

News

January 19th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Iowa 5th District Congressman Steve King presented six Air Force medals to Iowa resident and Vietnam War Veteran David Napier today (Thursday).

Vietnam Vet David Napier receives his medals from Congressman Steve King (R-IA)

Napier never received the medals he earned while serving over forty years ago, but he received the medals today after seeing a flyer about retrieving unclaimed medals from the Republican Congressman’s office.

Napier served in the U.S. Air Force from 1961 to 1969 and was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant. He served 1 year in Da Nang, Vietnam as a musician in a special entertainment unit in the Air Force called the Black Patches. He was acquainted with many famous civilian entertainers who volunteered their services during the war including Martha Ray, Hank Snow, James Garner, Nancy Sinatra and Robert Mitchum. He is a well known local musician who plays saxophone for Rockestra and other local music groups.

Survey at 4-year high, but shows signs of trouble

News

January 19th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A monthly survey of bankers in 10 Midwest and Great Plains states puts the report’s overall index at a 4 1/2-year high, but other indicators show trouble ahead for the rural economy. The Rural Mainstreet Index released Thursday rose from 59.7 last month to 59.8 for January, the highest since June 2007. Anytime the index, which ranges from 1 to 100, is above 50, it suggests the economy will grow. But indexes tied to bankers’ responses to questions about farmland prices, loan volume, rural housing and hiring all dropped from last month. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey, says the results indicate a “leveling off” in the rural economy’s growth. The survey covers Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

House education panel bans nicotine use in schools

News

January 19th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The House Education Committee has unanimously approved a bill banning the use of all nicotine products on school property, amid fears new smokeless and dissolvable tobacco products are easier for students to use. State law already allows school boards to suspend or expel a student for the use or possession of tobacco, alcohol or controlled substances on school grounds. The bill approved Thursday expands those rules to include all nicotine products. Products used to help someone quit smoking are excluded. Committee Chairman Republican Greg Forristall, of Macedonia, says nicotine products resembling toothpicks, mints or breath strips are being marketed to young people. Under the bill, school boards may also remove other people that violate the law and ban them from school grounds. The bill now goes before the full House.

Mourning dove hunting still not settled at Capitol

Ag/Outdoor, News, Sports

January 19th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Hunting mourning doves has been legal in Iowa for nearly a year, but the issue still isn’t settled at the Capitol.  A Senate subcommittee on Thursday discussed using lead shot ammunition in hunting the birds.  The state’s Natural Resources Commission last year unanimously voted to ban the practice, but a legislative committee put the ban on hold.
 
Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, says the commission overstepped its bounds in banning lead shot. A resolution he backs to overturn that ban advanced out of the meeting.  Environmental advocates told committee members Thursday that lead shot is toxic and can harm animals when eaten. Hunting advocates say the harm is minor and no good alternatives to lead shot exists. The measure now goes to the full Senate Natural Resources Committee.