SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man found guilty last month of second-degree murder for the stabbing death of another man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. Sioux City television station KTIV reports 48-year-old Elias Wanatee was sentenced Thursday in Pottawattamie County for the February 2016 death of 50-year-old Vernon Mace, his girlfriend’s uncle. Officials say Wanatee will be eligible for parole in 35 years.

The sentence followed the second trial for Wanatee in the case. His first ended in a mistrial in December after Woodbury County jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. Wanatee’s second trial was moved to Council Bluffs to avoid pretrial publicity.

Wanatee had argued that he acted in self-defense, saying Mace had threatened him with a gun weeks before.

An accident late this (Thursday) morning in Mills County resulted in two people being injured. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2017 Ford pickup driven by 62-year old Allan J. Garrow, of Broughton, IL., was eastbound on Highway 34 at around 11:10-a.m., just east of 330th Street, when for reasons unknown, the vehicle crossed the centerline and struck a 2006 Freightliner semi driven by 29-year old Michael William Stamp, of Neola.

After the impact, the pickup continued into the south ditch, while the semi rolled onto its side and blocked the road. Garrow, who was not wearing a seat belt, was flown from the scene by LifeNet helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha. Stamp, who was wearing a seat belt, was transported by private vehicle to Mercy Hospital.

The accident remains under investigation. The Iowa State Patrol was assisted at the scene by Malvern Rescue and LifeNet.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports an Exira man, 28-year old Juston Phillip Travis, was arrested Thursday morning on a felony charge. Travis was taken into custody at around 8:30-a.m. for Failure to Comply with Iowa Sex Offender Registry requirements/2nd offense. The charge is the result of an investigation into where Travis was reportedly residing.

Travis was booked into the Audubon County Jail and held on a $5,000 bond. The incident remains under investigation, with additional charges pending.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa City man has claimed the $2 million Powerball prize he won during a drawing in July. Iowa Lottery officials say Jeff Wolf turned in his winning ticket Thursday morning at lottery headquarters in Clive. He’d bought the ticket at a Hawkeye convenience store in Cedar Rapids. The ticket matched five of the numbers drawn July 16 but missed the Powerball number. Because Wolf also bought the Power Play option, the $1 million prize was multiplied to $2 million.

He told lottery officials that he knew shortly after the drawing that he’d won, but he waited to claim the money while working through estate issues following the death of his parents.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Former ‘Bachelor’ Chris Soules has hired a high-profile law firm to defend him after he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident that killed another Iowa farmer. Alfredo Parrish and two colleagues from Parrish’s Des Moines firm informed the court Thursday they are representing the reality TV star. The firm plans to issue a statement later Thursday, which would be the first word from Soules’ defense since the crash Monday night in northern Iowa.

Authorities say Soules’ truck rear-ended a tractor driven by 66-year-old Kenneth Mosher on a road near Aurora, causing Mosher’s death. They say Soules called 911 to report the accident and seek help for Mosher before leaving the scene in another vehicle. Soules was arrested at his Arlington home hours later.

A Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy was injured during an attempt to arrest a man Wednesday evening. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Ryan Johnson suffered minor injuries when he attempted to subdue 41-year old Jeremy Ronald Peterson, of Lewis. Dispatch reports had indicated Peterson was attempting to break into a home in Lewis and may have been intoxicated or under the influence. Deputy Johnson deployed his Taser before arresting Peterson for felony Assault on a Peace Officer, Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, and Interference with Official Acts CAUSING BODILY INJURY. The latter charges are serious misdemeanors. Peterson remained in the Cass County Jail today (Thursday), on $5,000 bond.

And, on Tuesday, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 59-year old Raymond Richard Frost,  of Altoona, on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Harassment in the 1st Degree. Frost was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $7,000 bond.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County say a rural Cass County woman was cited for “Disorderly House,” following a disturbance Wednesday morning. Deputies were dispatched to a home southwest of Griswold a little after 6:30-a.m. following a complaint. Before they arrived on the scene, the incident turned into a “disturbance.” 48-year old Katherine Eden, of Griswold, was cited for the offense.

Authorities said also, a traffic stop Wednesday morning on vehicle whose registered owner had an arrest warrant, resulted in 23-year old Destiny Fredette, of Council Bluffs being taken into custody for Making a False Report. Bond was set at $600.

And, a man from Tennessee was arrested Wednesday night following a traffic stop in Pottawattamie County. A back seat passenger in the vehicle, 25-year old Andrew James Carr, of Cowan, TN., was arrested for carrying/concealing an automatic handgun.

Filming starts this weekend in Iowa on a documentary that tackles the topic of how society viewed unplanned pregnancies a century ago. Filmmaker Colleen Bradford Krantz, of Des Moines, says the documentary will be called, “Unintended 1900: Unlocking Myrtle’s Century-Old Secret.” “The main story I’m anchoring the documentary with is the story of a girl in 1913 in Hopkinton, Iowa,” Bradford Krantz says. “I’d heard her story probably three years ago when I was filming ‘West By Orphan Train’ and it stayed on my mind and I finally decided I’d better do some research and see if there was a film there.”

The director says she’ll be using a large cast of Iowa actors and they’ll shoot both in northeast and north-central Iowa. Bradford Krantz says, “We’ll be filming this coming weekend in Hopkinton and also in Webster City and a couple of other locations where we could find the right settings to recreate that time period.”

One of those locations will be the former Hamilton County Courthouse in Webster City as it has many features that’ll allow it to stand in for the Floyd County Courthouse in Charles City, which burned down decades ago. “This girl from eastern Iowa had died after her parents arranged an abortion, which would have been illegal at the time,” Bradford Krantz says. “The surgery ended up causing her death. The doctor was charged with murder and I was trying to recreate some scenes from the criminal trial.”

She hopes to finish filming by the end of this summer and may have the documentary ready for the screen by year’s end. Bradford Krantz also wrote and co-produced the documentary “Train to Nowhere” about the deaths of 11 undocumented immigrants in Denison in October of 2002.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Legislature approved a medical marijuana oil program in the final hours of the session, but advocates remain skeptical the expansion of an existing program will have a large impact. The Republican-controlled chambers approved a bill that would allow the oil to treat nine conditions, including cancer and multiple sclerosis. The expansion builds off an existing program for epilepsy patients.

Some medical marijuana advocates say a cap on the strength of the oil used is arbitrary and limits the benefit. Rep. Jared Klein, the bill’s manager, says lawmakers may consider broadening the program in future sessions if medical professionals advise it.

The program would continue to prohibit smoking, vaporizing or eating food containing marijuana. Despite questions raised about the program, some argue that small steps are better than none.

PEOSTA, Iowa (AP) – An eastern Iowa man accused of padlocking a weighted chain around his 14-year-old nephew’s waist has pleaded not guilty. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports Jeffrey Merfeld and the boy’s parents are charged with child endangerment causing injury. Merfeld’s plea was submitted Tuesday.

Court records don’t show whether Michael and Cynthia Kobusch have submitted pleas. All three defendants live in Peosta. Court documents say Cynthia Kobusch told an investigator that she had been searching for a way to attach a GPS to her son – a frequent runaway – and had asked her brother to “make a chain” and fashion it so the boy couldn’t cut it off.