A large crack has formed on Highway 92 west of Massena. The crack located near the intersection of 720th Street has caused drivers to nearly lose control of their vehicles, according to dispatch reports, as of 7:30-p.m., Friday. Massena Fire was called out to provide traffic control while the problem is being addressed. That section of road was recently under construction.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Page County man was sentenced Friday to 16-years in prison on a drug charge. 31-year old  James Paul Davis, of Shenandoah, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner to serve 192 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Davis was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release following the period of imprisonment.

Davis plead guilty to the charge on March 11th.  His plea was the result of a year-long investigation that showed large quantities of methamphetamine were transported to Southwestern Iowa from the border region in Texas for distribution across Southwestern Iowa and into Eastern Nebraska from September of 2013 to June of 2014.

The investigation was conducted by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Page County Sheriff’s Office, Shenandoah, Iowa, Police Department, Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Omaha, Nebraska, Police Department, Metro Area Fugitive Task Force, and the United States Marshal’s Service for the Southern District of Iowa.

The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

A Red Oak man with a history of run-in’s with the law was arrested again Friday afternoon. Police say 27-year old Jason Rolfe Aherns was taken into custody at around 4:30-p.m. in Red Oak, for Violation of his probation, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, 2nd offense. Aherns was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond.

A man who fell asleep at the wheel of his pickup early this (Friday) morning, in Page County, suffered minor injuries when the vehicle did a nose-dive into an embankment. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says 30-year old Cole Curtis Johnson, of rural Clarinda, was taken by private vehicle to the Clarinda Regional Health Center following the crash that happened at around 2-a.m..

Deputies investigated after authorities received word at around 6:45-a.m. about a pickup that was in a field drive at Highway 48 and 170th Street – or about half-way between Shenandoah and Essex — and that the vehicle appeared to have been in a rollover accident. Personnel from the Sheriff’s Office found a maroon 2004 Dodge standard cab pickup in a field drive in the southeast corner of the intersection that had severe damage. No one was around the vehicle.

During the investigation, it was determined that Johnson was operating the 2004 Dodge pickup westbound on 170th, when he fell asleep. The vehicle ran the stop sign at the “T” intersection, went into the ditch on the west side of Highway 48 and hit the ditch. Johnson said he woke up while the vehicle was in the air travelling across the Railroad tracks. The pickup landed on the west side of the railroad tracks, west of the intersection with the front end digging into the embankment.

It came to rest in some trees on the west side of the tracks. Johnson told authorities he then drove the vehicle out and parked on 170th just east of the intersection to assess the damage to the vehicle and him self. The man parked the vehicle in a field drive, and called someone for a ride to the hospital, where he was treated and released.

Page County Sheriff’s Deputies responding to a domestic situation east of Blanchard early Thursday morning, arrested a man on an assault charge. 41-year old Michael Leo Pickens, of Blanchard, was taken into custody shortly after 12:30-a.m., for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond in the Page County Jail until making an appearance before a magistrate.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest this (Friday) afternoon, of a Stanton man on a 2nd Degree theft charge. 39-year old Michael Lafollette was taken into custody at around 12:05-p.m., after he allegedly took a 2009 Hyundai belonging to Lucinda Lafollette. The incident occurred following an alleged verbal altercation with the woman.

Michael Lafollette was apprehended in Red Oak and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond. The vehicle was returned to its owner without damage. Red Oak Police and Red Oak Rescue personnel assisted in handling the incident.

Five cars of a Burlington-Northern-Sante Fe Rail train went off the tracks this (Friday) afternoon, in Earling. Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert told KJAN News the cars, which were hauling grain, slipped off the tracks across Highway 37 at around 3:20-p.m., but they apparently did not topple over. Crews had the rail cars back on the tracks and the road re-opened within about 20-to 30-minutes. No injuries were reported.It’s not clear what caused the derailment.