LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A webinar offered to farmers in five states will explain what government resources are available to help them recover from Missouri River flooding. The Dec. 14 webinar will feature two producers who are repairing their farmland and representatives from the U.S.  Department of Agriculture and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The information will be available at 20 sites in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota.  For a list of locations, go online to http://flood.unl.edu/crops. The webinar is sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Iowa State extension offices. It’s the second in a series. The corps released massive amounts of water from the dams along the Missouri River this year to deal with heavy rains and above-average snowmelt, causing record flooding in several states.

Icy roads were to blame for a non-injury accident Sunday morning, about two-miles east of Red Oak. According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, vehicles driven by 56-year old Colleen Rae Brown, of Stanton, and 24-year old Jessica Gail McCuen, of Villisca, collided on Highway 34 at the intersection with 200th Street. Officials say a 2008 Dodge Caliber driven by Brown and a 2002 GMC Denali driven by McCuen, were both traveling westbound when Brown began to slow down. McCuen was unable to get stopped in time due to the icy roadway. The right rear of the Denali clipped the left rear of the Dodge, causing $3,000 damage to each vehicle. The accident happened at around 11:20-a.m.  No citations were issued due to the icy road condition.

And, an accident early Saturday morning nearly four-miles northeast of Red Oak was also attributed to a wet and muddy road. Sheriff’s officials say 36-year old Kelly Jon Stites, of Red Oak, was traveling north on M Avenue at around 5:45-a.m., when his 2005 Chevy pickup began to slide on the roadway, near 200th Street. The truck entered a ditch and struck a culvert, sustaining about $2,500 damage. No injuries were reported.

Three women suffered unknown injuries during a rollover accident late this (Sunday) morning in Montgomery County. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the driver of the vehicle, 73-year old Goldie Ann Adams, and two passengers in her vehicle, 81-year old Mamie Cathern Forward, and 58-year old Cathern Marie Forward, all of Red Oak, were injured in the crash and transported to the Montgomery County Hospital.

The accident happened just before Noon, Sunday, on Highway 34, about one-half mile west of Red Oak. Officials say a Adams’ 2008 Mercury Milan was traveling west on the highway and crossing the East Nishnabotna River bridge, when the car hit a patch of ice. Adams lost control of the vehicle, which slid into the south ditch and flipped once, before coming to rest on its wheels.

The injured were transported to the hospital by Red Oak Rescue. The extent of their injuries was not known at the time of the press release.

The first major snowstorm of the season left motorists trying to remember their Winter driving skills. Here in the Atlantic area, the snow started falling late in the afternoon, but we only picked up three-tenths of an inch of snowfall. Heavier amounts were reported off to the north of Interstate 80 and points west and northwest, including Vail, in Crawford County, which had received 6.5-inches of snow by 6-p.m., Saturday. Late Saturday afternoon, a weather spotter in Carroll had reported 3.5-inches to 4-inches of snow on the ground.

The story in our immediate listening area, was the amount of rain. We picked up a total of 1.04-inches of precipitation from 7-a.m. Saturday through early this morning, including the melted snowfall. Other locations around the state reported record rainfall for December 3rd, including Ottumwa, which received 1.09-inches. The National Weather Service says Des Moines received 1.38-inches of precipitation, which broke the previous record of 0.92-inches in 1990. It was the wettest December day in Des Moines since 1994, and the fourth wettest December on record for that date, since records began in 1878.

Rain that fell during the day Saturday left roads in slippery condition, as the temperature slipped to 32 degrees and below by 8-p.m. Accidents were reported on Interstate 80 last night, but none resulted in any serious injuries.  Meteorologist Dave Eastlack with the National Weather Service in Valley, Neb., said a wintry mix quickly becoming snow Saturday morning in parts of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. In all, about 3 to 6 inches of snow fell throughout the day, depending on where you were. The snow began to pile up, and so did the accident reports.

According to the Omaha World Herald, a wreck on Highway 92 in Pottawattamie County, near 270th Street, west of Treynor, led to another accident. While Sheriff’s Deputies responded to one accident scene, at another location, a passing vehicle struck a tow-truck driver who’d arrived to help with vehicle removals.  Sgt. Chris Weber with the Sheriff’s Office confirmed rescue personnel transported the tow-truck driver to Alegent Health Mercy Hospital. The man was conscious and breathing when transported. The incident occurred around 3 p.m. Weber didn’t have the man’s name or any further information.

The Carroll County Attorney says a Carroll woman was sentenced to prison this past week, nearly 14 months after bringing her 9-month-old infant to a local hospital with several bone fractures in multiple stages of healing.  Attorney John Werden told the Omaha World-Herald 21-year old Jasmine T. Scott faces up to 10 years in prison on two counts of child endangerment causing serious injury to which she had previously pleaded guilty.

Werden says Scott was pregnant with her third child when she brought the infant, her second, to the hospital. He wouldn’t specify the two children’s genders or other information, but he added they have since been placed in foster care. Werden said they waited until she had the baby before charging the woman, and took her newborn into foster care.

According to court documents, Scott’s first child died “in circumstances of inadequate medical care.”

It’s possible slick roads were responsible for a rollover accident reported just after 6-p.m. (Saturday), northwest of Atlantic. According to the Cass County Communications Center, a vehicle rolled over off the I-80 eastbound off ramp to Highway 173, at Exit 54. No word on if there were any injuries.

For the latest road condition report: www.511ia.org. , call 511 in Iowa, 1-800-288-1047 outside of Iowa.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A kindergartener at a Council Bluffs school has tested positive for meningitis. Longfellow Elementary spokeswoman Diane Ostrowksi says that the girl felt ill when she came to school Wednesday and was soon sent home.

Council Bluffs Health Department director Donn Dierks says families of students in the girl’s class were notified Friday by letter after tests confirmed she had meningitis. Dierks says the illness isn’t highly contagious but parents were urged to seek antibiotics from their doctors.

Symptoms of meningitis include high fever, headaches, vomiting and stiff neck. If untreated, it can cause death.

The school has since been cleaned to limit further illnesses.

AMES, Iowa – Dec. 3, 2011– The Iowa Department of Transportation is reminding commercial motor carriers that movement of permitted oversize loads is only allowed when the roadways are clear of ice and snow, and visibility is at least 1/4 mile.

Presently, roadways in the western part of the state are partially or completely covered with a mix of slush, snow and ice. A wintery mix of freezing rain, freezing drizzle and snow is possible across the northwest part of the state through the day and evening.

For the latest road conditions, visit: www.511ia.org or call 511 (within Iowa) or 800-288-1047 (nationwide).  For oversize, fuel and trip permit information, call: 515-237-3264.

Rural Iowans may hear the distant pop of shotgun blasts from the forests and fields this (Saturday) morning as the state’s shotgun deer hunting season opens. Iowa D-N-R deer biologist Tom Litchfield says he’s expecting about 60-thousand hunters for this first season. Litchfield says the two shotgun seasons on deer are Iowa’s most popular hunting seasons, when the most hunters are hunting and when the majority of deer are harvested. Up to 60-percent of the state’s deer are harvested in the two seasons. The first season runs today (Saturday) through December 7th and again from December 10th through the 18th. Litchfield says there will be plenty of targets.

He says the deer population was around 450-thousand pre-season while this spring, the numbers were around 290-thousand post-season. Litchfield says there will be no changes in hunting regulations for this deer season and he says the hunting will be good or more challenging, depending on where you go in the state.

He says hunters in northwest and north-central Iowa should see similar deer numbers compared to last year, though populations elsewhere may be down. Overall, Litchfield says the Iowa deer population has fallen about 12-percent compared to a year ago. Learn more at: “www.iowadnr.gov”.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new tool available to Nebraska and Iowa veterans will help speed communication with health care providers. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System says its “secure messaging” feature allows veterans to communicate electronically with their doctors. It can be used to ask about appointments, prescriptions and non-urgent health issues.

The VA Department says the tool will help veterans avoid long waits to speak with providers over the phone. The tool is available through an online account at http://www.myhealth.va.gov/