At least two area Board’s of Supervisors will hold (separate) meetings Monday morning, beginning at 9-a.m.  In Greenfield, the Adair County Board of Supervisors will hold a FY 24 Special Budget Work Session. No action is scheduled.

And, in Harlan, the Shelby County Board will meet to take action on approving ICIT IT System inspection/Analysis.

The Shelby County Board will also discuss and act on* Setting Stipend position pay for: FY 2024 for Dam Inspections* ($3,500); GIS Coordinator ($2,500); IT Coordinator ($2,500) and Zoning Director ($7,500)*.

(Creston, Iowa) – Authorities in Union County report two recent, non-injury accidents. At around 4:15-p.m. Saturday in Creston, a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 64-year-old Ricky Lee Hoadley, of Red Oak, was struck by a 2014 Buick LaCrosse SUV, driven by 19-year-old Maria Alexandra Groumoutis, of Creston. Creston Police say the accident happened at the intersection of Spruce and Howard Streets, when Hoadley stopped, but then continued into the intersection. His SUV was hit on the passenger side by the westbound Buick SUV, which did not have a stop sign.

The impact caused the side air bags to go off on the Jeep, which came to rest on the curb on the west side of Spruce Street. Damage from the crash amounted to $2,000. There were no citations.

The second accident happened Friday afternoon at 185th Street and U-S Highway 169, in Union County. The Sheriff’s Office reports a 2019 Ford Expedition driven by 45-year-old Vanissa Lynn Spencer, of Thayer, was slowing to turn into a private drive. The driver of a 2013 Dodge Avenger – 15-year-old Abigail Sue Neisemier, of Thayer – wasn’t paying attention, and was looking down to grab her phone. She failed to see the SUV was slowing, which caused her car to hit the SUV from behind.

Damage from the accident amounted to $5,000. No citations were issued.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Democratic Party’s state central committee has elected a former state senator who lost a 2020 congressional race by six votes as its chairwoman. Rita Hart was also the party’s 2018 nominee for lieutenant governor. “My focus is squarely on helping our party begin winning elections again,” Hart said. “…I’m under no illusions that this
will be easy and I know that it will take time.” Hart has been the leader of Clinton County Democrats for the past year. She says county parties need more support to be effective.

“Serving as IDP chair has never been an ambition of mine, but I do care deeply about the success of Iowa Democrats,” Hart said. “…I’ve seen time and time again how the policies that our leaders implement affect everyday Iowans.” Hart takes over as Iowa Republicans hold firm majorities in the state legislature and all six seats in Iowa’s federal delegation. Hart, a former teacher in two small school districts, won two state senate races in a predominantly rural district.

“I’ve won two races in a state senate district that Donald Trump carried twice,” Hart said, “and in my 2020 congressional race, we raised $5 million and outperformed Joe Biden by more than any of the other Iowa congressional races.” Hart’s election came in hour four of a sometimes turbulent meeting of the Iowa Democratic Party’s state central committee. Some members tried to delay considering changes in the party’s governing structure and questioned who was allowed by party rules to vote in the race for chair.

Brittany Ruland, one of the other two candidates who sought the job of party chair, said the meeting had been a bit more heated than everyone might have been prepared for.  “Whatever differences we might have, you know they really pale in comparison to what we’re looking towards what the Iowa GOP is doing right now,” she said. Ruland ran a key 2022 race that saw a Democrat defeat the Republican who was president of the state senate.

Democrats held their meeting virtually and it took more than an hour to tally the electronic ballots in the race for chair, which Hart won with 69 percent support.

(Wellsburg, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol has released the names of the four people (1 adult and three children) who died and nine others (Most of whom are from Dehli, Iowa) who were injured during a rollover accident involving a van, Friday morning in northern Iowa. Authorities had said previously, the 15 passenger van, a 2002 Chevy Express, went out of control on the 100% snow/ice covered roads at around 6:49-a.m, and crashed near Wellsburg.

The incident happened as the van was heading westbound on US Highway 20.  The driver of the van, 33-year-old Sara E. Werner, of Hopkinton (IA), lost control of the vehicle, which entered the median and rolled. Four people were ejected from the van, which came to rest in the eastbound lanes of Highway 20. None of the vehicle’s occupants were wearing a seat belt, and the children were not in a child restraint seat.

The Patrol identified those who died as: 22-year-old Ervin J. Borntreger, 1-year old Marlin Borntreger, 4-year-old Emma Borntreger, and 2-year-old Rebecca Borntreger, all of Dehli (IA).

Those injured were identified as:

• 21-year Edna Borntreger, 1-year-old Jacob Borntreger, 29-year-old Mary Herschberger, 26-year-old Jacob “Jake” Herschberger; 27-year-old Mahlon Borntreger, 25-year-old Fannie Borntreger, 3-year-old Ervin Borntreger, 1-year-old Joseph Borntreger, all of Dehli.
• 30-year-old Almer Yoder, of Hopkinton.

The crash is still under investigation.

(Storm Lake, Iowa) – A collision Friday evening between an SUV and a pickup truck in Storm Lake, resulted in one person being flown to a hospital. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2022 GMC Terrain SUV driven by 40-year-old Ann M. Krummen, of Storm Lake, was eastbound on 600th Street at around 6:20-p.m., and approaching a stop sign at the intersection with Highway 71 on the city’s southeastern side.

A 2021 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 37-year-old Michael L. Sly, of Dallas Center, was traveling south on Highway 71. When Krummen failed to yield the right-of-way from the stop sign, her vehicle collided with the pickup in the middle of the intersection. The Patrol says alcohol is a suspected factor in the crash.

Krummen – who was wearing her seat belt -was flown by air ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Sioux City. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Office and Storm Lake Police.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of 39-year-old Johna Christine Dolph of Red Oak on Friday evening. Dolph was arrested at 7:42 p.m. in the 400 block of East Valley Street on a valid warrant for Violation of Parole. Dolph was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on no bond.

(rural Griswold, Iowa) – Rescue crews were dispatched to a rollover accident with injuries this (Friday) afternoon. The crash on Richland Road just east of 550th Street (Highway 48) north of Griswold, was reported at around 4:30-p.m. Two persons were trapped. One had a head injury.

A helicopter was requested, and was enroute to the scene as of 4:51-p.m. (UPDATE: Helicopter cancelled – injuries not as severe as first thought, according to officials on the scene.)

2 people were transported by ambulance to Cass Health (CCMH) in Atlantic. No other details are currently available.

(Radio Iowa) – Two Iowa casinos were fined Thursday for violations involving self-ban regulations. Racing and Gaming administrator Brian Ohorilko, says the Diamond Jo Dubuque Casino was late in uploading the new list of those who banned themselves from gambling. “The facility uploaded that information to the state system — but they did so after eight days. The grace period is seven — and so this one came in one day late,” he says.

Ohorilko says casinos can be fined up to 20-thousand dollars for these violations. “Diamond Joe has had a really good track record of compliance and no prior incidents. And so the fine was issued at that minimum level at five-thousand dollars,” Ohorilko says. He says the Wild Rose Casino in Emmetsburg had a similar self-exclusion violation. “This particular situation, Wild Rose had uploaded that information 11 days after receiving it, so it was four days after the grace period,” he says. He says the commissioners also took into account the history of the facility.

“Wild Rose has a very good track record in terms of compliance with these self-exclusion rules and regulations and it was the first incident they’ve had in the last 365 days,” Ohorilko says. The commissioners agreed on the minimum fine of five-thousand dollars for Wild Rose.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Council Bluffs Fire Department have identified a man found inside a home that caught fire, Wednesday night (January 25th). The victim located at 114 Blackhawk Street was 70-year-old Gary Edison. At this time, officials say, the investigation remains ongoing.

Firefighters were called to the scene near Black Hawk Street and Huron Circle, at around 8:50-p.m. As they were responding, crews were notified that there was possibly a person trapped inside the home. Fire crews arrived finding smoke and fire coming from the house. Fire crews quickly made entry into the house to conduct search and rescue and extinguished the fire.

Edison was located during the search of the house and found to be deceased. A black, wiener dog named “Thumper,” also died.