Here’s the latest area news, from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson…

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Thunderstorms bringing winds gusting up to 60-miles per hour may have been responsible for a power outage in Elk Horn Friday night, and an accident on Interstate 80 near Avoca. The Elk Horn Fire and Rescue Department reported on its Facebook page at around 11-p.m. Friday, a large part of the community was without power. Officials with Mid-American Energy were working to restore power to the community, and as of early this (Saturday) morning, there was only one customer in Shelby County who was reported to be without electricity.

Elk Horn Fire officials said at the time also, that there were no immediate signs of damage from the storms that passed through the area, other than a few trees branches down.

Severe storm warnings were issued at around 9-p.m., Friday, for southeastern Harrison, northern Pottawattamie and southwestern Shelby Counties. At 9:32-p.m., a 60-mile per hour gust of wind was recorded in Shelby. The Iowa Department of Transportation reported, that at about that same time, a semi jack-knifed on Interstate 80 westbound, at the Avoca exit. A detour was established and the road reopened to traffic about 90-minutes later. There were no reports of injuries.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued as well, for Audubon, Carroll, northwestern Greene and southwestern Guthrie Counties, at around 9:40-p.m. The National Weather Service said a 60-mile per hour wind gust occurred just before 11-p.m., two-miles northeast of Guthrie Center, as the storms maintained their intense winds, having moved northeast out of Cass and Audubon Counties.

The state’s Latino population grew by nearly 84 percent in the past decade. The U.S. Census Bureau has released a variety of detailed information about Latinos in Iowa. A county-by-county analysis shows 24 percent of the residents in Crawford County are Latino. Denison is the largest city in Crawford County and the Census shows 42 percent of the city’s residents are Latino.  There were other Iowa cities with a larger percentage of Latinos.

Sixty-three percent of the people living in the small, southeast Iowa community Conesville are Latinos. More than 52 percent of the residents of West Liberty are Latino. About 42 percent of the population of Columbus Junction is Latino. In northwest Iowa’s Buena Vista County — the Storm Lake area — nearly 23 percent of that county’s population is Latino according to the 2010 Census survey.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – An attorney for a Sioux City man charged in a deadly fight wants to keep statements his client allegedly made to police about a previous fight out of court. Bradley Gregg is charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault. He’s accused of punching Joseph McDonald, of Ida Grove, outside a bar in October 2010. McDonald was knocked out and later died. Gregg’s trial is to start Tuesday in Woodbury County District Court.

Defense attorney Michael Williams plans to use self-defense and intoxication as his defenses. Williams has asked a judge to prevent prosecutors from mentioning an alleged altercation Gregg had a week before the incident involving McDonald. The judge didn’t issue an immediate ruling on the matter.

A Corning man was killed Friday evening when the car he was driving was hit broadside by a semi, in Adams County. The Iowa State Patrol says 91-year old Harold Muschamp died at the scene of the crash, located at the intersection of Highways 34 and 148, just south of Corning.

Officials said Muschamp was traveling north on 148 and had stopped at the intersection before pulling out into the path of an eastbound semi driven by 64-year old Billie McCaughey, of Milan, MO. The accident happened at around 5:10-p.m.

After the impact, the car and semi stayed together and came to rest in the eastbound lanes of Highway 34, blocking the traveled portion of the roadway, for a little more than 4 hours. The semi driver was not injured in the crash.

AMES, Iowa – Sept. 2, 2011 – The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) has set a proactive course to get traffic moving again in western Iowa just as quickly as possible now that the Missouri River flood waters are beginning to recede. A multitude of activities are underway, some are behind the scenes and others are already visible. For instance, contractors started this week removing tons of debris and power washing the sticky layer of muck from sections of Interstate 29 in Fremont and Pottawattamie counties. Yesterday, the I-29 and Hamilton Boulevard in Woodbury County was fully reopened to travel.

Because there is a lot a work ahead, the Iowa DOT will be providing regular updates to the public regarding damage assessments and progress being made to restore travel. Communications will be provided via news releases, posting of progress updates and photos on the Iowa DOT’s flood information website (http://www.iowadot.gov/floods/index.html), and by other means. The Iowa DOT is examining a wide range of options and innovative approaches to expedite the recovery process. Timetables and cost estimates will be provided when that information becomes available.

Each highway segment impacted by the flooding has unique characteristics and challenges, so the Iowa DOT’s public information efforts will frequently focus on specific sites and activities underway in those areas. Due to safety concerns and reconstruction activities involving heavy equipment, public access beyond the road closure barricades and to the damaged sites is restricted.

Officials with the Iowa DOT say road construction work on Interstate 680 between I-29 (exit 71) near Loveland and I-80 (exit 27) north of Neola will cause intermittent lane closures in both directions beginning Tuesday, Sept. 27th, weather permitting.  The project is expected to be completed by mid-October.

The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Council Bluffs construction office reports bridge construction work on Interstate 80 between Pottawattamie County Road M-16 (exit 34) near Shelby and U.S. 59 (exit 40) near Avoca will cause lane closures in the outside lane beginning Monday, Sept. 12th, weather permitting . The project is expected to be completed by early October.

A pickup truck was totaled and its driver suffered possible, minor injuries, after the vehicle collided with a semi this (Friday) morning, in Montgomery County. Sheriff’s officials say 41-year old Ronald Paul Lyons, Jr., of Beaumont, TX, was transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital by Red Oak Rescue, following the crash at around 8-a.m. about half-way between Red Oak and Emerson.

Authorities said Lyons pulled his 2002 Ford F-150 pickup off of the traveled portion of Highway 34 in a turning lane, that would allow a vehicle to turn right off of the highway, without impeding the flow of traffic. As Lyons attempted to conduct a left hand turn, his truck collided with the center portion of a westbound, passing semi-tractor trailer. Following the impact, the pickup ricocheted off of the semi, and came to rest in the ditch at the intersection of Highway 34 and County Road M-37 (Boxelder Avenue).

The driver of the semi, 47-year old Jeffrey Arnold, of Kahoka, MO., locked up the brakes on the cab and trailer. The tractor-trailer slid across the intersection and came to rest on the pavement, facing westbound. Arnold was not injured in the crash, but the 1997 Peterbilt semi he was driving sustained $5,000 damage to a drive axle and fuel tank assembly.

The pickup, valued at $12,000, was a total loss. The sheriff’s report did not indicate if any citations were issued.

The Atlantic Fire Department responded to a report of a possible vehicle explosion this (Friday) morning, at the local scrap metal recycling plant. The call about a fire at Frederiksen Iron Recycling at 607 Sunnyside Lane, came in just after 11-a.m.

Fire department  officials say workers at the facility were working on a car that was being scrapped, when a fire broke out. There were reports a small explosion, possibly related to a fuel tank rupture, could be heard across the street from the business. Workers at the recycling facility typically punch holes in a fuel tank before a vehicle is crushed or recycled, to prevent such a incident.

The fire was quickly extinguished, and no injuries were reported.