TIPTON, Iowa (AP) — A 61-year-old Illinois man has been given 25 years in an Iowa prison for shooting at vehicles along Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa. Cedar County District Court records say Charles Johnston, of Belvidere, Illinois, was sentenced Friday in Tipton. He’d pleaded guilty to assault on an officer and four counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors dropped charges of operating while intoxicated and attempted murder in return for his pleas.

Authorities say Johnston fired several shots on Jan. 11, 2018, at a rest area and at a semitrailer at a gas station and then at an Iowa state trooper. A court document says Johnston had become obsessed over a family supposedly killed in a collision with a semi and that he wanted to retaliate against a truck driver or truck drivers.

Johnston had been a teaching psychology at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois.

A man from Red Oak was transported to the Clarinda Regional Health Center following a crash early Sunday morning, that resulted from one vehicle chasing another. Police Chief Keith Brothers reports Officers were called to 13th and Nishna Streets at around 2:20-a.m. for a report of an accident. Upon investigation, it was determined a 1999 Ford F-250 pickup driven by 30-year old Charles Andrew Welch, of Clarinda, was chasing at a high rate of speed, a 2003 Saturn Ion, driven by 34-year old Craig Allen Williams, of Red Oak.

When Williams attempted to make a turn onto 13th Street, Welch allegedly rammed the back of the Ion. The car went out of control and went airborne after driving up an embankment. The vehicle proceeded to land on the front porch and partially through the living room of a residence at 723 North 13th Street. Williams suffered suspected serious/incapacitating injuries and was transported by Clarinda EMS to the hospital. A passenger in Williams’ car 23-year old Dylan Elwood Taylor, of Clarinda, suffered suspected minor injuries when an airbag deployed, and was also transported to the Clarinda Hospital by EMS

Williams and Welch were cited for Reckless Driving. Welch was also cited for Failure to Maintain Control. Damage to the truck and car amounted to $12,000. The home, owned by Lee Ann Blair, sustained an estimated $25,000 damage.

The City of Atlantic’s Planning and Zoning Commission will meet 5:30-p.m. Tuesday in the City Council’s Chambers, at City Hall. On their agenda, is a review of the Washington Elementary School Parking Lot site plan, which is actually an amendment to the original site plan. And, the Commission will review and discuss their preferred street entrance for a possible, future housing subdivision near Teresa Drive.

The abutting property owners have been invited to attend the meeting, as they would be most affected by a proposal from Jim Comes to have a residential housing subdivision on 28.56 acres of land he owns immediately west of Teresa Drive. The favored option, according to Zoning Administrator John Lund, would be to take the lot at 1511 Teresa Drive, which Comes owns, and dedicate it to the street right-of-way. That would connect Teresa Drive with the new street that would serve the Comes’ in the new subdivision.

It would also increase daily traffic flow, and effectively turn the properties to the north and south into street corner lots, instead of interior lots. Interior side yard setbacks would become street yard setbacks, with more restrictive development standards.

(Radio Iowa) — An Iowa State University professor says research shows there are ways doctors can work with patients to better ensure they are taking all their medications. I-S-U’s Alison Phillips says doctors can prescribe the medication, but don’t often know if the patient is really taking it. “At most, maybe the intake nurse will say ‘Are you still on these medications?’ but a doctor rarely asks ‘Have you been taking your pills?’ If they do ask they tend to ask directly, which is, ‘In the past week how many pills have you missed?’,” Phillips says.

She is an associate professor of psychology and says the direct approach isn’t the best way to get a good answer. “By research we know that that doesn’t work very well for a couple of reasons,” Phillips says. “It’s an uncomfortable question for doctors to ask, but it’s also an uncomfortable one for patients to answer. They might overestimate their adherence due to something we call social desirability bias. They want to look better.” Phillips suggests doctors use routine questions to learn more about whether someone is taking their pills. “Instead doctors could ask, tell me about your medication routine, your habits around taking medication, and from a very brief description could be able to estimate how adherent they are,” according to Phillips.

Her research indicates this type of question gives a better idea of what a patient is doing and she says the results are a concern. “The really rough estimate is about 50 percent of patients are non-adherent to their pretty simple medication regimens. There’s some controversy about exactly what percentage — but it’s enough to be concerned about for sure,” Phillips says.

Phillips says doctors are better at finding out if the patient is taking medication by considering their routines. And she says getting the patients to establish a routine for taking medication is a way to improve their usage. “People are much more adherent, not only to the day, but to the specific time. And for most medications we want the blood level of that drug to be pretty consistent across the day,” Phillips says. “And so if you take it at the same hour every day it is optimal, for some things it’s actually necessary. Having a habit tied to an existing every day routine is really beneficial.”

Phillips says she plans to build upon the research by designing and testing interventions for doctors to share with patients they identify as less likely to adhere.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Police in Creston report there were several arrests over the past few days. On Sunday, 33-year old Tashina Martwick, of Redding, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Offense and possession of Paraphernalia. Martwick was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $5300 bond. And, 32-year old Brodie Pingree, of Creston, was arrested on a Union County Warrant for the charge of Failure to Appear on the charge of Criminal Mischief 3rd. He is being held in the Union County Jail on a $2000 bond.

On Saturday:  40-year old Dustin Seley, of Creston, was arrested for Trespass. He was cited and released on scene.; Gregory Kaufman, of Creston, was arrested for Public Intox./2nd offense. He was released from the Union County Jail charges dismissed; 44-year old Hyvis O. Thacher, of Creston, was arrested at her residence Saturday, on a Madison County Warrant for the charge of Theft 5th. She was released from the Union County Jail on a $300 bond.

And, last Friday: 22-year old Keegan Williams, of Jefferson, was arrested in Creston for Interference with Official Acts, and on two counts of Contempt of Court. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $1300 bond; 62-year old Gregory Kaufman, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/2nd offense. He was released from the Union County Jail on a $2000 bond; And, 37-year old Lacie Davis, of Lakewood, WA, was arrested Friday in Creston, for Theft in the 5th Degree. She was cited and released from the scene.

Police in Creston say the Creston True Value reported on Friday, that sometime between 7:30-p.m. Thursday and 7-a.m. Friday, someone hooked up to two trailers containing two Case Skid Loaders, and stole them from the property. One of the trailers was a R&W Flat Bed Trailer, black in color. The second was an H&H flatbed trailer black in color. One of the Skidloaders was a yellow, Case 430. The other was a yellow, Case TR320. The loss was estimated $80,200. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Creston Police Department.

Saturday morning, a man living in the 500 block of S. Birch Street, in Creston, reported to police that sometime between 11-p.m. Friday and 6:30-a.m. Saturday, someone stole his Yamaha 2 stroke boat engine off his trailer. The loss was estimated at $550. Later that same morning, a man residing in the 800 block of W. Adams Street, in Creston, reported that sometime Saturday, a window was broken at the residence. No damage estimate was immediately available.

Four separate accidents in the eastern half of Iowa, Sunday, claimed a total of five lives. Authorities say a collision killed two people in southeast Iowa’s Lee County. The Iowa State Patrol says the collision occurred around 1:15 a.m. Sunday on Iowa Highway 2, about 4 miles west of Donnellson. Troopers say 28-year-old Robert Boyd, of Kahoka, Missouri, was headed west when he failed to negotiate a curve, overcorrected and crossed the center line. His vehicle struck a sport utility vehicle being driven by 63-year-old Laverne Faulkner. The patrol says Faulkner and his passenger, 39-year-old Michael Faulkner were killed. They lived in Farmington. Boyd was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City for treatment.

56-year old Brenda L. Houf, of Bloomfield, died at around 7:15-a.m. Sunday in a Van Buren County crash. Houf was driving a 2005 Saturn Vue westbound on Highway 2 when the SUV went out of control and entered the south ditch before rolling several times. Houf was not wearing her seat belt. She died at the scene.

55-year old Susan E. Slaney, of Hedrick, died at the scene of a single-vehicle crash that happened at around 4-p.m. Sunday, in Wapello County. The Patrol reports Slaney’s 2005 Ford truck was traveling east on 142nd Street, when it left the road to the right and vaulted a driveway before rolling several times and coming to rest on its top in the south ditch. The woman was wearing her seat belt. The accident remains under investigation.

And, at around 9:30-p.m.  Sunday, 75-year old Larry Goodwin,  of Fredericksburg, died on a single-vehicle crash in Bremer County. Goodwin was driving a 2017 Ford pickup westbound on Highway 93, when the vehicle crossed the center line and entered the south ditch. The pickup traveled a short distance before hitting an embankment located at Lifeline Drive and went airborne before landing in the parking lot of a Dollar General Store. The truck rolled and came to rest against a light pole. Goodwin, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. His passenger, 67-year old Audrey Goodwin, also of Fredericksburg, and who was wearing a seat belt, was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Waterloo.

(Radio Iowa) — Spencer Police and city zoning officials continue to investigate after more than four dozen cats were removed from an apartment last Wednesday. Information released Friday afternoon says the discovery of 51 unvaccinated cats was made during the execution of a search warrant at an apartment in the 100 block of West 1st Street in Spencer which was occupied by 51-year-old Richard Peterson and 45-year-old Randy Peterson.

During the search, agents are said to found deplorable conditions with a large amount of cat and human feces present. Veterinarians were brought to the residence and deemed the animals to be threatened before they were removed from the apartment and properly vaccinated.

Spencer Zoning Officials declared the residence uninhabitable until the property is brought back into compliance. The Spencer Police Department says future charges are expected in the case.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency is facing an unexpected challenge in meeting the needs of the many people affected by this spring’s widespread flooding and violent storms: a strong economy. Tasked with responding to natural disasters that seem ever more frequent and destructive, the agency finds itself further challenged by the robust job market and an inability to match what the private sector can offer.

AUBURN, Neb. (AP) — Some residents are unhappy that Interstate 29 across the Missouri River in Iowa is closed again due to flooding, sending more drivers through their small Nebraska town. College student Maggie Kreifels says U.S. Highway 75, which passes straight through Auburn, is busier than ever before. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that other residents complain that drivers eager to avoid 75 are clogging up residential streets. Business owners, however, are enjoying the boost in passing trade.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — California Sen. Kamala Harris says she is “fully committed” to the state of Iowa and that it will be “a very important part” of winning the nomination. When asked about her Iowa campaign, she said she is fully committed to competing in Iowa and working hard to earn the support of the people of the state. Harris said that her visits to Iowa had been helpful to her campaign, by giving her insight into issues affecting voters not just in Iowa but nationwide

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — Officials at a chicken processing plant in northeastern Iowa announced the plant will close in August, taking 500 jobs with it. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that the Simply Essentials chicken processing plant in Charles City closes on Aug. 5. Employees were told Thursday in a letter that 479 plant workers, 22 administrators and 12 field operations workers would be laid off. The letter says the layoffs are expected to be permanent.