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

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Red Oak, IA – Eight middle school Montgomery County youth are asking for your help to collect non-perishable and canned food items for the upcoming holiday season. The Montgomery County Ricochet Leadership group will be collecting the previously mentioned food items until November 7^th when the items will be sorted and donated to each of the three food pantry organizations in the Red Oak community. Items will be collected at the Montgomery County Extension Office, the Montgomery County YMCA and the Red Oak Hy-Vee.

Ricochet Participants, minus 1

The Montgomery County Ricochet Leadership group is comprised of eight, sixth through eighth-grade youth, from both Red Oak and Stanton. Ricochet: An Extreme Leadership Adventure is a leadership development program created by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach youth specialists, where youth learn about the skills and attitudes needed to become a leader within their school and their communities.

Although the youth spend a large portion of the program participating in activities that emulate the five different dimensions of leadership, participants are also challenged to complete a Community Leadership project to help better the communities in which they are living. The youth work together with adult leaders to identify a need, or needs, within their communities. Once a need is identified, the youth develop goals and an action plan to complete their project.

To learn more about the Ricochet – Community Food Drive or the Ricochet Program, please contact Celine Beggs, County Youth Coordinator, at the Montgomery County Extension Office by emailing cmbeggs@iastate.edu or by calling (712) 623 – 2592.

Just eight days remain until Election Day, so candidates and their supporters spent the weekend chasing down absentee ballots — and claiming momentum is on their side. A crowd at the Scott County Republican Party headquarters in Davenport greeted Governor Kim Reynolds Saturday morning and she asked if they were ready to “finish strong.” “We’ve had great turn-out, great energy, great momentum and you can feel it,” Reynolds said. “You can sense it, so we just have to keep that going.” About 60 miles to the west, rival Fred Hubbell met with a group of Democrats in a Coralville home before they departed for door-to-door work. Later, on a residential street in Iowa City, Hubbell spoke with reporters. “We are very optimistic about what’s going on. We’ve got a lot of people all across the state we’re meeting with and talking to,” Hubbell said. “But we’re going to keep working every single county.”

Reynolds, in the campaign’s closing days, touts the tax cuts she approved and accuses Hubbell of making promises that will require tax increases. “More money, more money, more money,” Reynolds said, repeating a line from her recent debates with Hubbell. “…That’s your money he’s coming after.” Republican U.S. Senator Joni Ernst was with Reynolds in Davenport and echoed those sentiments. “We don’t want to see a Democrat moving into the governor’s office because everything that we have worked for will be taken away,” Ernst said.

Hubbell is suggesting Reynolds has unfulfilled promises that will require more money. “Governor Reynolds, when you really think about it, Future Ready Iowa is 90 percent unfunded, STEM has almost no funding. Her mental health has no funding. You know, Medicaid privatization keeps going up in costs,” Hubbell said. “If she’s going to do anything, she’s going to have to raise taxes.”

This past Saturday at 5 p.m. was the deadline for getting your name on the voter registration list for this year’s election. Iowans may register to vote at their precinct ON ELECTION DAY, but must show a form of I-D, like a driver’s license or passport, as well as proof of residence, like a utility bill.

The Griswold Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a work session today at 5:30-p.m.  The meeting will be held in the Central Office at the Middle School/High School Building, and is for the purpose of Goal Setting. No action will be taken.

Authorities say at least one-person was injured during a collision between two vehicles a little before 2-p.m. Sunday, in Guthrie County. Guthrie County Deputies and the Iowa State Patrol responded to the scene at the intersection of Highway 141 and Victory Avenue, southwest of Jamaica. Panora EMS transported one person to the Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson. The Iowa State Patrol was investigating the crash. No names have been released.

The Yale-Jamaica-Bagley Fire Department assisted at the scene.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines man has been imprisoned for his role in a fatal gang gunbattle. Polk County court records say 19-year-old Jahmar Mustin pleaded guilty Friday to intimidation with a weapon, criminal gang participation and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was given 10 to 30 years in prison. He’d been charged with murder and other crimes before making a plea deal.

The Des Moines Register reports that 23-year-old Choice Elliston was sitting next to Mustin in a vehicle on May 9, 2017, when Mustin fired a gun in the shootout with a rival gang. Authorities say one of Mustin’s shots fatally struck Elliston in the head.

Police say Elliston was shot outside Monroe Elementary in northwest Des Moines, causing the school to be locked down briefly.

An accident in Creston Saturday night caused $2,300 damage and resulted in an OWI charge. Creston Police says a 2016 Chevy Sonic driven by 37-year old Brian Clair Smith, of Creston, was traveling on Swigart Street at around 8:15-p.m., when his car struck legally parked  vehicles, including a1995 Dodge Dakota pickup, a 1998 Ford Escort, and a 1999 Dodge Dakota pickup. All of the parked vehicles were registered to the same owner.

Smith left the scene in his vehicle. Officers found him in his driveway on the corner of Vine and Harsh Street. Authorities say he was intoxicated, processed and charged with OWI/1st offense. No injuries were reported.

Two men, one from Cass, the other from Shelby County, were injured during a collision Sunday night on Interstate 80 near Menlo, in Adair County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 28-year old Nicholas Kern, of Atlantic, and 48-year old Mark Vandenberg, of Harlan, were transported to area hospitals following the crash that happened on I-80 westbound at mile marker 89 at around 8:37-p.m.

The Patrol says Vandenberg’s 2007 Chevy Impala had previously struck the cable guard barrier in the median, and was partially blocking the left westbound lane. Kern was in the left lane driving a 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer. He wasn’t able to change lanes and hit the Impala before both vehicles were spun into the cable barriers.

Both drivers were wearing their seat belts and suffered from non-life threatening injuries. Vandenberg was transported to the Guthrie County Hospital. Kern was taken to the Adair County Memorial Hospital in Greenfield, by Menlo Rescue. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:15 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The co-owner of a Manhattan deli where someone purchased a jackpot-winning Powerball ticket says he has no idea who purchased the lucky ticket. Jose Espinosa and his father own the West Harlem Deli in New York City. The 41-year-old joked Sunday that he knows he sold the winning ticket because he’s always working. The other ticket for the $688 million jackpot was sold at a convenience store in the small town of Redfield, Iowa. There was no immediate word on who purchased either ticket.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa conservation groups are working together to turn a 506-acre site into a natural area that will be transferred to the state to manage and allow for public use. The Daily Nonpareil reports that the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and The Nature Conservancy in Iowa purchased the Green Hill Ranch just south of Council Bluffs in 2017. The groups have raised about two-thirds of the $3 million needed to fund the project through grant funding and private donations.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man is facing charges after another man died during a weekend altercation. The Sioux City Journal reports the incident was reported around 3 a.m. Sunday in a downtown Sioux City apartment complex. Officers found one man on the floor with several stab wounds when they arrived.The injured man died later at a hospital.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Buses in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids will offer free rides to people headed to the polls on Election Day. The cities issued releases saying leaders decided to offer the free rides on Nov. 6 to give as many voters access to the polls as possible. Rides will be free on the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids Transits all day, with no proof of voter registration or destination required.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man is facing charges after another man died during a weekend altercation. The Sioux City Journal reports the incident was reported around 3 a.m. Sunday in a downtown Sioux City apartment complex. Officers found one man on the floor with several stab wounds when they arrived. The injured man died later at a hospital. Police arrested a 38-year-old man as a suspect.