(Radio Iowa)  — The Highway 20 Corridor Association has been fighting to get the highway made into a four-lane roadway from the east all the way to the west side of the state for decades — and with that task nearing completion in western Iowa — the group held their final regular meeting Friday. Ann Trimble-Ray has been an officer of the association for several years and says with the celebration of the completion of their goal in October, they voted to set a date to end their work.

“As we think about what’s coming, that celebration on October 19th is a real big deal for us of course. But then we know we need to conclude our business in a manner full of integrity and doing the right thing. So, a motion was made and a vote taken that the Highway 20 Association will be dissolved as of December 31st,” she says. Trimble-Ray says the mood was both celebratory and melancholy — as several past members didn’t live to see their efforts successfully completed.

She says they do plan to acknowledge those who have served on the board and passed on with a display at the ribbon cutting celebrating the completion of the final segment of the highway. There is some historical significance attached to the date chosen of the event in Holstein to celebrate the completion of the four lanes. “The first four-lane segment of Highway 20 in Iowa — it was three miles east of Moville — opened on October 19th, 1958” Trimble-Ray says. “So, on October 19th 2018 we are going to be celebrating the completion statewide Highway 20.”

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The third trial in the 1990 killing of a 9-year-old girl has ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict after three days of deliberations.

The Quad-City Times reports a judge Monday declared the mistrial in the trial of Stanley Liggins. He’d twice been convicted of murder in the killing of 9-year-old Jennifer Lewis, of Rock Island, Illinois. Her burned remains were found Sept. 17, 1990, in a field in Davenport.

She had been sexually abused, strangled to death and then doused with gasoline and set on fire. Liggins knew Jennifer’s mother and investigators focused on him as a suspect. He was twice convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but both convictions were overturned.

The third trial was moved to Black Hawk County from Scott County because of pretrial publicity.

FESTUS, Mo. (AP) — Authorities have identified the men killed in an eastern Missouri plane crash as an American Airlines pilot and his son. Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak on Monday said the victims were veteran pilot 56-year-old Michael Metzger of Hillsboro and 20-year-old Jacob Metzger of the state of Iowa.

The plane crashed about 2 a.m. Friday just a few hundred yards from the unlit airport in Festus, even as the pilot’s fiancee tried to guide it in with a flashlight. Michael Metzger was piloting the plane back from New York and reported electrical problems that prevented him from remotely activating the runway lights, which are turned off after working hours.

Marshak says the fiancee responded to the pilot’s texts and stood along the runway with a flashlight, but the plane crashed.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Bernie Sanders’ home state are putting their ice cream expertise to work to support seven congressional candidates in the midterm elections who they call progressive.
Vermont’s Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, known for their clever marketing and quirky flavors, are working with political action committee MoveOn to create ice cream flavors that reflect the values of each of the candidates. They are seeking the public’s help in naming the flavors. After picking winners, Cohen says he will make about 40 pints of each flavor by hand in his kitchen to be raffled off to support the candidates.

The candidates are Jess King in Pennsylvania, Lauren Underwood in Illinois, Aftab Pureval in Ohio, J.D. Scholten in Iowa, Ammar Campa Najjar in California, Stephany Rose Spaulding in Colorado and James Thompson in Kansas.

The flavors will be announced on a rolling basis starting on Oct. 7 at Iowa State University in Ames, according to a consultant working with Cohen and Greenfield. People can sign up starting Oct. 1 to enter the raffle to win the limited edition pints. Winners will be announced Nov. 1 and the ice cream will be shipped by mid-November.

Scholten’s campaign in Iowa wasn’t notified of the ice cream challenge. “It’s fantastic,” said Irene Lin, his campaign manager. “We’re very, very grateful,” she said, adding that supporters are having fun trying to come up with flavor names and ingredients.

It’s not the first time the ice cream makers have tried to sweeten a candidate’s campaign. Cohen created “Bernie’s Yearning” in 2016, during Sen. Sanders’ run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. The ice creams are not associated with the company, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported when a canoe came loose from a trailer and landed in the traveled portion of Highway 34, last Thursday morning, where it was hit by a semi. The canoe was one of eight canoes being hauled on a trailer, and pulled by a 2018 Chevy, driven by 32-year old Dessa Montgomery, of Emerson.

Montgomery was traveling east on Highway 34 just east of 305th Street at around 11:05-a.m., when the canoe became detached. The semi, driven by 38-year old Michael Christiansen, of Elliott, struck the errant canoe as the semi was traveling westbound.

The semi sustained damage to the front and driver’s side during the collision. No citations were issued.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports also, 56-year old Brian Jeffrey Combs, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Saturday evening, for Violation of a No Contact Order, and Interference with official acts. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

ATLANTIC- Cass County Health System is hosting an open house for local mental health resources in the CCHS atrium from 10 am to 2 pm on Tuesday, September 25th.

The public is invited to stop by to pick up information and talk to representatives from local mental health resources including Behavioral Health and Senior Life Solutions at Cass County Memorial Hospital, Southwest Iowa Mental Health Center, and Zion Recovery Services.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office released details on a couple of weekend arrests.

On Friday, September 21st at 11:05am Deputies were called to an assault that had occurred at the Loves Travel Stop in Shelby. Upon investigation it was determined that a verbal altercation had occurred between two males and one of the men pushed a vehicle door on the other man’s foot. 46-year-old Brian Keith Frampton of Schererville, IN was cited for Simple Assault and released from the scene. The victim was identified as 39-year-old Ahmed Hassan Liban of Burnsville, MN.

The second arrest occurred at 8:15pm on Friday at the Hy-Vee Drug Store on West Broadway Street in Council Bluffs. A Deputy was working off duty security at the store when he was informed that a man that was on the ban and bar list for the store had entered. 44-year-old Shawn P Dolezal was informed he was trespassing and that he would be cited. He was placed on the ban and bar list from the store after shop lifting in July. Dolezal was cited for criminal trespassing and escorted out of the store without incident.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Council Bluffs man after a check on a car in the ditch of Interstate 80 on Sunday. At 8:07am officers were called to check on a silver car in the east ditch of I-80 at the 24-mile-marker.

When a Deputy arrived he observed an adult male sitting in the driver’s seat slumped over into the passenger seat. He woke up the driver and the deputy observed signs of impairment. After field sobriety tests the driver, 33-year-old Stephanos Samuel Ono of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody.

Ono was booked in to the Pottawattamie County Jail for OWI 3rd Offense and Driving While Barred, habitual offender. Ono was also issued two citations for Failure to Maintain Control and Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability.

Ono also had a non-extraditable warrant out of Carroll County for OWI 2nd Offense. The vehicle was marked for tow before officers left the scene.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of 36-year-old Katie Loraine Campbell of Lorimor on Saturday at 3:00pm. She was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Campbell was later released from the Union County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Union County Sheriff’s Officials also received a report on Friday from a Lorimor man that items were taken from his truck while at his residence. Items stolen were a tool box with miscellaneous tools, two Husky chainsaws, a generator, weld drill, and DeWalt drill. The estimated value of the stolen items was $2,400.

Audubon Police Chief Matt Starmer released details on multiple recent arrests on Monday.

Most recently on September 17th Audubon Police arrested 30-year-old Jay Robert Edwin Pedrin of Audubon for Willful Injury.  Pedrin is currently being held in the Audubon County Jail on $10,000 bond.

On September 15th Officers arrested 24-year-old Joseph Ray Perkins of Audubon.  Perkins was arrested for Domestic Abuse Causing Injury and Disorderly Conduct.  Perkins is currently in the Audubon County Jail on $5300 bond.

Also on September 15th Officers arrested 43-year-old Patrick David Perkins of Ames. Perkins was arrested on an active Story County warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order.  He was released to Story County authorities.

On September 12th Audubon Police arrested 22-year-old Tyler Ian Rumley of Des Moines. Rumley was charged Sexual Abuse – Third Degree. He remains in the Audubon County Jail on bond.