COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A Spanish teacher accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a student at his Council Bluffs high school has been charged with a crime, but is now free on bail.
 
     Thirty-year-old Daniel Pantoja, of Omaha, Neb., turned himself in to Pottawattamie County authorities on Friday. He is charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee and lascivious conduct with a minor.
 
     A female student told authorities that Pantoja sent her a picture of a nude man whose genitals were covered. She says he also asked the girl to send him a picture of her wearing shorts and a sports bra.  Pantoja resigned from his teaching job when confronted.
 
 A public phone listing for Pantoja couldn’t be found.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democrats plan to push for a $122 million boost in spending on local schools, but Republicans warn they won’t agree to a budget until legislators overhaul the school finance system.
 
     Democrats argue that local school officials need quick action so they can plan for hiring teachers and setting curriculum. Republicans counter that voters are willing to spend more on schools but want district administrators held accountable and for spending to be targeted.
 
     The stakes are high because school spending amounts to about 60 percent of the state’s $6 billion budget.
 
     Democrats say they’ll vote on a budget Tuesday, noting a law that calls for school funding decisions to be made in the first 30 days of a legislative session. Republicans say other school funding issues must be resolved first.

w/ Chris Parks

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Two people were killed Friday during a single-vehicle crash east of Emerson, in Montgomery County. The Iowa State Patrol reports the driver of the car, 78-year old Gladys Bowen, of Imogene, and a passenger in the vehicle, 87-year old Hazel Hinkle, of Emerson, died in the crash which occurred on 200th Street (Old Highway 34), about three-quarters of a mile east of Emerson, near Avenue A.

Officials say the women were traveling eastbound, when for reasons unknown, the 1999 Lincoln Towncar they were in went out of control, entered a ditch and struck a concrete culvert and creek bank. The impact caused both women to be ejected out the right front door of the car. Neither was wearing a seat belt. Both women died at the scene. It’s not clear what time the crash occurred. The accident remains under investigation.

URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA

409 AM CST SAT FEB 4 2012

…HEAVY SNOW EXPECTED TO EXPAND ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST IOWA TODAY…

A POWERFUL WINTER STORM WILL AFFECT THE AREA TODAY AND BRING MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL TO THE REGION. A PERIOD OF SNOW WITH THUNDER IS POSSIBLE THIS MORNING. IF THE THUNDER SNOW OCCURS…SNOWFALL RATES WILL APPROACH 2 INCHES PER HOUR. THE SNOWFALL WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH FROM NORTH TO SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON.

CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE-BOONE-STORY-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-POLK-

CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS & UNION COUNTIES, INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…DENISON…CARROLL…JEFFERSON…BOONE…AMES…AUDUBON…GUTHRIE CENTER…ADEL…DES MOINES…ATLANTIC…GREENFIELD…WINTERSET…CORNING…CRESTON

…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST SUNDAY…

* SHORT TERM TRENDS...PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND AND TRANSITION TO ALL SNOW EARLY THIS MORNING. EXPECT THE HEAVIEST SNOW TO OCCUR BETWEEN 6 AM AND NOON TODAY.

* STORM TOTAL SNOW…SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FROM 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE FORECAST FOR THE AREA. LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE WARNED AREA. A SHARP CUTOFF IS EXPECTED ALONG A WEST TO EAST LINE FROM NORTHERN CRAWFORD THROUGH NORTHERN STORY COUNTIES.

* WINDS/VISIBILITY…NORTHEAST WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH A FEW HIGHER GUSTS WILL CAUSE VISIBILITY RESTRICTIONS AND DRIFTING OF SNOW TODAY AND TONIGHT.

* IMPACTS…HEAVY SNOW WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS DURING THE PERIOD. THE FALLING SNOW…COMBINED WITH STRONG WINDS… WILL LEAD TO REDUCED VISIBILITIES. UNTREATED SURFACES WILL BECOME ICY AS THE SNOW FREEZES TO THE PAVEMENT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL…KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT… FOOD…AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE YOU BECOME STRANDED.

Police in Glenwood reported Friday, a Pacific Junction man was arrested Thursday, on drug charges. 27-year-old Bradley Ott was taken into custody on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Ott was brought to the Mills County Jail and later released on bond.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County say a Pacific Junction man is facing a burglary charge. 61-year old Daniel Lee Wick was arrested Thursday night on charges of burglary and public intoxication  Wick was being held in the Mills County Jail on $5,300 bond.

The Cass County Communications Center in Atlantic says no serious injuries were reported following a rollover accident Friday night, west of Wiota. According to the dispatch reports, the accident happened near 67404 Hamburg Road, at around 10:15-p.m.  A vehicle collided with a bridge guardrail and overturned. The male driver was not injured. A dog was reportedly traveling with him in the vehicle, as well. The accident was investigated by the Iowa State Patrol. Anita Rescue and Wiota 1st Responders were called to the scene. No other details are currently available.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press (3:31-a.m.)

(Source: Severe Storms Predication Center/Norman, OK 3:28-A.M. cst)

AREAS AFFECTED…Eastern NE & Western IA

CONCERNING…HEAVY SNOW….

INCH AN HOUR SNOWFALL RATES /GREATER IN THUNDERSNOW/ WILL GRADUALLY TAPER OFF LATER THIS MORNING. CESSATION OF HEAVIER RATES IS ALREADY ONGOING ACROSS CENTRAL NEB.  HEAVY SNOWFALL HAS DEVELOPED IN THE FAVORED LEFT EXIT REGION OF A MID-UPPER LEVEL JET…NOW QUICKLY PROGRESSING NORTHEASTWARD.

WITH THE LESSENING OF MORE SUPPORTIVE VERTICAL MOTION…RATES SHOULD GRADUALLY BEGIN TO TAPER OFF THIS MORNING. UNTIL THEN…WEAK MID-LEVEL INSTABILITY HAS SUPPORTED THE OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING STRIKE ACROSS SOUTHERN NEB. THIS AREA OF ENHANCED CONVECTIVE SNOWFALL POTENTIAL WILL SHIFT INTO SOUTHERN IA OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. BRIEF BURSTS OF HEAVIER SNOW REMAIN POSSIBLE IN THUNDERSNOW.

A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until Midnight for Fremont & Page Counties, where 1-3 inches of snow are expected.

WINTER STORM WARNING…

MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY COUNTIES...

…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT…

* TIMING…SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF DAY. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL WILL OCCUR THROUGH THE LATE MORNING HOURS WITH SNOW TAPERING OFF BY LATE AFTERNOON. * ACCUMULATIONS…A BAND OF SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 11 INCHES IS EXPECTED TO EXTEND FROM SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA ROUGHLY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE 80 CORRIDOR AND INTO WEST CENTRAL IOWA. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS UP TO OVER A FOOT ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THAT BAND OF HEAVY SNOW. * IMPACTS…TRAVEL WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT THROUGH THE DAY DUE TO HEAVY WET SNOW AND SOME BLOWING SNOW IS POSSIBLE. THE COMBINATION OF SNOWFALL AND WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO A HALF MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.