The Iowa State Patrol reports two people were injured during an accident Tuesday afternoon in Pottawattamie County. Authorities say 23-year old Dalton Jones and 38-year old Jordan Sollazo, both of Council Bluffs, were transported by Crescent Rescue to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs. Both were wearing their seat belts.

The accident happened at around 4:30-p.m. on Old Lincoln Highway, north of Council Bluffs.  Officials say a 2012 Honda Pilot driven by Sollazo was nearly stopped heading northbound and intending to turn west into a private drive, when the Honda was struck from behind by a northbound 1997 Saturn, driven by 23-year old Tammi Pickett, of Council Bluffs.

The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by deputies with the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office and Crescent Rescue.

The Cass County Auditor’s Office, Tuesday, released a statement with regard to concerns some may have over “Election rigging.” The statement said “Iowa’s county auditors, Republican, Democratic, and Independent, are proud of their reputation for fair and honest elections. They follow the many provisions of Iowa election law that:
• ensure full bipartisan involvement in the testing of voting equipment and the operation of polling places.
• secure voting systems against cyber threats and ballot tampering.
• protect the right of all eligible citizens to vote.”

The Auditor’s Office says “If you have questions or concerns about any aspect of voting in Iowa, contact your county auditor via http://www.iowaauditors.org/.” Monday afternoon, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate (The Commissioner of Elections), said he and Iowa’s 99 county auditors take the “integrity” of voting seriously and Pate said “It is not helpful” to have Donald Trump tweeting that there is “large scale voter fraud” happening in America.

Earlier in the day, Monday, Governor Branstad said he has confidence in Iowa’s election system, but Branstad warned there may be some cheating, plus Branstad says people believe the election is “rigged” because of the way the national media is covering the candidates. Pate responded by saying “We have the checks and balances. We work on a bipartisan basis and our office as well as the county offices are open to anyone who sees any potential problem to make sure the integrity is maintained.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa crime lab analyst fired after posting a rant against black people on Facebook has to pay back $3,800 in unemployment benefits. An administrative law judge has ruled that former Division of Criminal Investigation criminalist Amy Pollpeter was fired for work-related misconduct and therefore was ineligible to collect unemployment insurance.

The Department of Public Safety fired Pollpeter in July after she blasted the Black Lives Matter movement and African-Americans on her publicly-accessible Facebook page. In a post prompted by the killings of police officers in Dallas, Pollpeter wrote that she no longer felt safe around black people. She said that African-Americans have brought hatred upon themselves by “rioting, looting stores, and shooting cops” and by demanding “special rights.”

State officials said the post demonstrated bias and violated department policies.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities arrested 26 men and 15 women in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa as part of an annual nationwide operation targeting human trafficking. The Omaha World-Herald reports the FBI led a task force of law enforcement agencies in the three-day operation that ended on Sunday.

Police in Omaha, Lincoln, La Vista, Council Bluffs, Iowa and Glenwood, Iowa, all took part in the operation locally. The names of the people arrested were not immediately available Tuesday. The FBI says 82 sexually exploited children were recovered nationwide and 239 people were arrested in the operation.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a Nebraska man was arrested this (Tuesday) morning at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a warrant for Failure to Appear in court on two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance. Bond for 26-year old Dale John Kraft, Jr, of Omaha, was set at $2,000.