In an update to our reports over the weekend, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says four people suffered minor injuries during a collision Saturday evening, south of Elk Horn. Officials say vehicles driven by 71-year old Susan Andersen, of Elk Horn, and 21-year old Dustin Goodridge, of Henderson, collided at the intersection of Highway 173 and 400th Street, when Anderson tried to turn left onto 400th Street, as she was traveling north on Highway 173.

Her 2007 Ford Freestar van was hit by Goodridge’ southbound 2001 Ford Taurus. Anderson, and her passenger, 82-year old Charles Anderson, of Elk Horn, were transported to Myrtue Hospital, in Harlan. Goodridge, and his passenger, 21-year old Karlee Reeves, of Carroll, were transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital. All of their injuries were described as minor.

Officials say Susan Anderson was cited for Failure to Yield upon making a left turn. Both vehicles were totaled in the crash.

(12:40-p.m. News)

SCHLESWIG, Iowa (AP) – A Minnesota man has pleaded not guilty to shooting at two Iowa deputies during a standoff.  The Sioux City Journal reports 45-year-old James Champion, of Mankato, Minnesota, entered his written plea Monday. He’s charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer with a dangerous weapon in a March 9 standoff in Schleswig.

Crawford County sheriff’s deputies say Champion pointed a rifle at them and threatened to shoot after authorities went to check on him. He later opened his door and pointed a rifle toward officers and fired once.

Lt. Corey Utech returned fire, hitting Champion twice in the torso. Champion was flown to an Omaha hospital for treatment and released. Utech was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The Cass County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees announced today (Monday), it has terminated the contract of Chief Executive Officer Todd Hudspeth, effective immediately. Ned Brown, Board Chairman, said in a statement, “After thorough consideration of Mr. Hudspeth’s actions and his judgment in several recent situations, we are concerned about his ongoing ability to be an effective leader for our organization.”

Brown said also, “We will begin the search for a new CEO immediately.  In the interim, we have complete confidence in our current Administrative Team, medical providers and staff to continue providing outstanding care for our communities during this time of transition.”

CCHS CEO Todd Hudspeth

Over the weekend, it was learned that Hudspeth’s attorney, last Thursday, entered a written Alford Plea for Hudspeth, with regard to Hudspeth’s felony Forgery charge in Buena Vista County. An Alford Plea is a guilty plea by a defendant who proclaims he is innocent of the crime, and admits that the prosecution has enough evidence to prove that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It is entered when the accused, together with his attorney, has made the calculated decision to plead guilty because the evidence against him is so strong that it will likely lead to conviction. Typically, it results in a guilty plea of a lesser crime

Last month, Hudspeth had entered a written plea of Not Guilty to the Forgery charge filed against him in Buena Vista County Court. Storm Lake Police had earlier arrested Hudspeth after he allegedly presented a $10,000 check with a forged signature at Storm Lake MetaBank. Hudspeth has said the check was deposited into a checking account to pay for his son’s college expenses. Hudspeth later acknowledged he had made a poor decision in endorsing a disbursement check that included his name, and that of his ex-wife. Hudspeth admitted that he took “A foolish shortcut to expedite” the process of transferring funds for his son’s expenses. He faces a similar felony charge in Cass County, filed in May.

A jury trial was set to begin in Hudspeth’s Buena Vista Coutny case on July 12th, but with his plea, a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) will now take place August 1st, during what’s called a “Plea taking.” Hudspeth was hired as the CEO for the Cass County Health System in November, 2013. He took over in January 2014 from former CEO Pat Markham, who retired after more than 29-years of service.

A chase that began early this (Monday) morning in Cass County ended with one person injured and two others taken into custody. Cass County Sheriff Darby McClaren told KJAN News the chase began at around 1-a.m., when Deputy Ben Bartholomew tried to stop a vehicle on Highway 6 by State Radio (North of Lewis) and continued eastbound into Atlantic.

The vehicle turned onto Poplar Street and continued north to Highway 83. The pursuit continued through Marne and into Walnut. The chase, which also involved Cass County Deputies Josh McLaren and Kyle Quist, ended after a deputy performed a PIT Maneuver (Precision Immobilization Technique). The measure was necessary, he says, because the driver of the suspect vehicle was beginning to travel the wrong direction on the Interstate 80 exit ramp to Walnut.

Two of the vehicles’ occupants, a man and a women, tried to flee, but were taken into custody. The male driver of the vehicle was injured and transported to a hospital in Omaha. He’ll be taken into custody once he’s released from the hospital. The Sheriff says two of the men in the car had warrants for their arrest out of Pottawattamie County. The names of the suspects had not been released as of mid-day.

A Cass County teen suffered minor injuries during a rollover accident this (Monday) morning, west of Atlantic. Cass County Deputy Bill Ayers told KJAN News 16-year old Jacob Steffen, of rural Griswold, complained of neck pain following the accident, and was transported by Medivac Ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital.

Photos courtesy Cass County Dep. Bill Ayers

Ayers said the teen was traveling south on Highway 6 at around 7:45-a.m., when he fell asleep at the wheel of the 2006 Pontiac G6 he was driving. The car left the road on the A-T&T curve and traveled into the south ditch, where it came to rest in the tall grass.

The vehicle sustained $1,500 damage. No citations were issued. Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted at the scene by Lewis Fire and Rescue personnel, Atlantic Fire and Rescue, an Iowa Dept. of Motor Vehicle Enforcement officer, and the Cass County Emergency Management Agency.

Authorities are investigating a death in Denison. Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety said Monday (Today), that at around 11:30-a.m. Thursday, the Denison Police Department received a 911 call and responded to 1519 2nd Ave North in Denison to a report of a deceased person.

Officer’s located 38-year old Shelly Snavely deceased inside her residence.  An autopsy was performed at the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny Iowa on Friday.  The autopsy revealed no signs of inflicted trauma. Toxicology results are currently pending.

The investigation remains on-going and is being conducted by the Denison Police Department, the Crawford County Attorney’s Office, the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Iowa Office of State Medical Examiner.

Iowans who want to vote absentee in tomorrow’s (Tuesday) Democratic or Republican primaries have until the end of the day today (Monday) to get their ballots in the mail or drop them off at their county auditor’s office. Secretary of State Paul Pate says the auditor’s offices in all 99 counties will be open today for eight hours. “Absentee ballots seem to be a trend where people are using it at higher and higher volumes,” Pate says. “In fact, we’re probably going to see 60 to 70% of those people who vote will vote by mail. When you start mailing it on a Saturday or Sunday, there’s a good chance we may not receive it time, so we want to make sure we get their vote counted.”

So far, the Secretary of State’s office says more than 25-thousand absentee ballots have been hand-delivered and many more will be carried in today — by voters themselves and by mail. Ballots must be postmarked on or before today’s date of June 6th. “And there are ways we can check that,” Pate says. “Obviously, you all know about the postmarking, you have on an envelope, but they also have barcodes they run on the envelopes now, which we monitor that to help assure us that we’re counting every ballot that was cast in time.”

Iowa also has same-day voter registration. The polls will be open from 7 a-m until 9 p-m tomorrow for those who wish to vote in person.

(Radio Iowa)

Voters in Adair County won’t have any contested races to follow after the polls close Tuesday night. On the Republican ticket, County Auditor Mindy Schaefer and Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, both incumbents, along with incumbent Board of Supervisors candidates David L. Homan (In District 3SW), John A. Twombly (In District 5GF), and Matt Wedemeyer (In District 1NW), are all unopposed, and no Democrats filed to run for any of those positions.

There are also no contested races in Adams County.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – An Iowa woman who was badly injured in a Nebraska car accident has found the man who helped her 24 years ago. Jennifer Hardie-Fehrer, now a nurse in Chariton, Iowa, has thought often about the man she could remember only as Chris. He’d stopped after seeing the June 4, 1992, Interstate 80 accident.

Hardie-Fehrer was 12 and her 23-year-old sister was driving them from Colorado to spend time with their father in Iowa. Her sister lost control of the car and it rolled just west of Hershey. Chris gave her some first aid, keeping her stable until medics could arrive.

They lost touch, but she didn’t forget him. With the help of a North Platte Telegraph reporter, Hardie-Fehrer talked Saturday with Chris Scaff, who now lives in Pennsylvania.

The Glenwood Police Department reports the driver of a car was arrested early Sunday morning, following an accident that caused $3,000 damage. Officials say 41-year old Michael Charles, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 2:30-a.m. after he missed a curve on Green Street. His 1996 Honda Civic left the road and hit a MediaCom relay box, which was dragged under the car. The vehicle also hit some bushes and a small tree before coming to rest. Officials say Charles was arrested for OWI/1st offense and cited for Failure to Maintain Control. His bond was set at $1,000.

And, 21-year old Kendra Felos, of Glenwood, was arrested Saturday, for OWI/1st offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Contraband in a correctional facility. Her bond was set at $7,000.