STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A Storm Lake woman faces a child endangerment charge after authorities allege she hit a child in the head with a cellphone. The Sioux City Journal reports that police arrested the 38-year-old woman after being called to home in Storm Lake by the Iowa Department of Human Services, which reported possible child abuse involving a 7-year-old girl.

Police and agency personnel say they found the girl suffering from a head injury. After an investigation, officials determined that the woman had hit the girl with a cellphone as a form of discipline.

One person died in a crash involving a car and a semi in Dallas County early this (Saturday) morning. The Iowa State Patrol says 28-year old Danny Lynn Dunton, of Van Meter, who was wearing his seat belt, died in the crash that happened at around 1:35-a.m. just off the Van Meter exit from Interstate 80 westbound.

Officials say Dunton had begun to exit the interstate, when the 2014 VW he was driving came into contact with a 2016 tractor-trailer that was parked on the shoulder of the exit ramp. Following the collision, the VW came to rest on its top in the ditch. The operator of the semi, 52-year old James Ronald Renshaw, of Council Bluffs, was not hurt.

The accident remains under investigation.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say two men from California have been arrested after nearly 400 pounds of marijuana was found in a recreational vehicle in Omaha.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says the men, from Fontana, California, were taken into custody early Friday after a traffic stop in the city’s south side.

Authorities say a deputy’s dog indicated the odor of drugs in the RV. Twelve large boxes containing nearly 400 pounds of packaged marijuana was later discovered in various areas of the vehicle. The Omaha World-Herald reports a third man in the vehicle fled during the traffic stop. Authorities have been unable to find him.

About 12-hundred school board members and superintendents from across Iowa, including those from Atlantic, will be attending the Iowa Association of School Boards state convention next week. Luann Gvist is organizing the 70th annual meeting at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. Gvist says the three-day conference will feature several great keynote speakers. “One of the gentlemen is a school superintendent from Georgia who is doing a lot of innovative things in their public school district,” Gvist says. “Also, we’re excited to have one of our own teachers from Iowa who was the National Teacher of the Year in 2010, Sarah Brown-Wessling.”

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds will be speaking at the convention on Thursday about the state of education in Iowa. A workshop on school finances will be very helpful, Gvist says, especially since the elections were just held a few weeks ago. “We’re welcoming a whole host of brand new school board members to our convention and we can provide them with in-depth learning on topics such as that and also board-superintendent relationships,” Gvist says, “and we also offer break-out sessions on a wide variety of topics.”

The convention runs next Wednesday through Friday. Learn more at the Iowa Association of School Boards website: www.ia-sb.org

(Radio Iowa)