COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A man accused of killing his mother and grandmother says he didn’t do it. The Daily Nonpareil reports that 30-year-old Michael Dieckmann denied the two first-degree murder charges Thursday in a Pottawattamie County court hearing. Dieckmann is being held on $1 million bond. He is accused of killing his mother, 63-year-old Jacqueline Dieckmann, and grandmother, 91-year-old Illa Pfeiffer, Wednesday morning at the trio’s Council Bluffs home.

Police say another daughter of Pfeiffer’s found the bodies around 10 a.m. Wednesday. Police say one of the women was stabbed, but the cause of the other’s death awaits more investigation. Some of Dieckmann’s family members say he is mentally ill.

HINTON, Iowa (AP) – Central Valley Ag says two of its workers injured in a northwest Iowa grain elevator explosion this week are now in stable condition. The Sioux City Journal reports that the company released the information on Friday. The explosion occurred just after 1 p.m. Thursday at Central Valley Ag in Hinton. The two injured workers were taken to a Sioux City hospital in serious condition, and then transferred to a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.

The cause of the explosion hasn’t been determined, but engineering and insurance experts, as well as the Iowa State Fire Marshall, were on site the Friday to try to determine the cause.

Police in Red Oak say one person was injured during a rollover accident Saturday morning. 38-year old Brian Russell McCleary, of Villisca, suffered minor injuries after his vehicle was struck by a car and left the road before rolling over one and a-half times, coming to rest on its top. McCleary, who was not wearing a seat belt, was transported by ambulance to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Police say the accident happened at around 8-a.m., when a 2001 Honda Accord driven by 17-year old Anna Marie Aufdenberg, of Red Oak, slowed, but did not stop, as she was approaching the intersection of Highway 34 and N. 8th Street, in Red Oak. The northbound Honda struck McCleary’s westbound 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee, causing the SUV to flip over.

Aufdenberg, who was wearing her seat belt, was not injured. Police cited the teen for Failure to Obey a Stop sign. Damage from the crash amounted to $5,000. Red Oak Police were assisted at the scene by personnel with the Red Oak Fire Department, and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) – Efforts to increase speed limits on Iowa freeways and rural roads failed in the Legislature this year amid safety concerns, but officials acknowledged such moves are popular with drivers and likely will come before lawmakers again.

Several bills were introduced in the state House this session, but all died before votes by a full committee. One measure would have allowed speed limits of 75 mph on some stretches of interstate freeways, up from the current 70 mph. Two other bills aimed to raise speed limits on some rural, two-lane roads from the current 55 mph limit.

Lawmakers on the House Transportation Committee ended up having more questions than answers, including concerns about safety and cost.  But some truckers seemed ready for the higher speeds allowed in states neighboring Iowa.