More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The area’s top news at 7:07-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A car whose driver apparently swerved to miss a rabbit on the road, ended-up in a lake this morning, on the south side of Council Bluffs. According to KETV in Omaha, the accident happened on the west side of Lake Manawa near Pelican Drive, at around 5:30-a.m. The driver, and only occupant of the vehicle, escaped unharmed.

Two women from Creston were arrested on drug charges early this (Tuesday) morning, in Creston. Creston Police says 40-year old Amy Crispin was arrested at around 2:25-a.m., for Possession of a Controlled Substance/3^rd or subsequent offense. And, 21-year old Kami Hilton was arrested at around 2:15-a.m. for Possession of a Controlled Substance, with the Intent to Deliver. Both women were taken into custody at 702 S. Poplar Street, in Creston, and brought to the Ringgold County Jail, where they were being held on $5,000 bond, each.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The nation’s largest health insurance carrier says it will leave the Iowa marketplace for subsidized insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
Iowa regulator said Monday that UnitedHealthcare‘s decision will affect about 9,000 consumers. The company says it’s lost millions of dollars by selling on the marketplaces.

The Des Moines Register reports that people who bought UnitedHealthcare policies on the Iowa exchange will be covered through 2016. And they will have a new option for 2017: Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield. Wellmark is the state’s dominant insurance carrier but had previously opted not to become part of the Care Act exchange for Iowa. It announced in October that it would be joining the exchange for the 2017 calendar year, however.

No injuries were reported following a two vehicle accident that happened at around 5:09-a.m. today on Interstate 80, between the Anita and Wiota exits. The collision occurred near the 68 mile marker eastbound. One vehicle was partially blocking the road on the westbound side, the other was in  the median.

No other details are currently available.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says a woman from Adair was arrested on a drug charge Monday evening following a traffic stop, west of Red Oak. 20-year old Anna Esperanza Plank was pulled over near the intersection of Highway 34 and Evergreen Avenue, at around 6:25-p.m.  Plank was subsequently charged with Possession of Marijuana. She was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

And, Red Oak Police arrested 45-year old Joshua Norman Fuller, of Red Oak, early this (Tuesday) morning, on a Driving While Suspended charge. Fuller was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

Trial for a Harrison County man charged in connection with a fatal crash on Interstate 80 in Cass County last year, is set to begin today with jury selection, here in Atlantic.The trial for 50-year old Paul Marshall, of Modale, is expected to last at least a couple of days. Marshall is charged with Vehicular Homicide by Operating Under the Influence, in connection with a crash that happened in May 2015 on I-80 near the 54-mile marker off-ramp, in Cass County.

Authorities said Marshall was driving his pickup westbound in the eastbound lane when the vehicle collided with an eastbound car driven by University of Nebraska/Lincoln Women’s soccer coach Peter Underwood, of Lincoln, NE., who was traveling on a recruiting trip. Marshall faces up to 25-years in prison if convicted.

On Friday, 4th District Court Judge Susan Christensen sustained an objection by am attorney for the Underwood family to have testimony from a female member of the family excluded from expanded media coverage of the case.

A long-standing surcharge on gasoline may end January 1st. The penny-per-gallon fee was established in 1989 to finance clean up of underground storage tanks that were leaking gasoline, diesel or oil. Representative Walt Rogers, a Republican from Cedar Falls, says the clean-up of all those pre-1990 tanks is done, but lawmakers are leaving 42 million dollars in a fund for any tanks that may start leaking again.

“Or they might find what they call an orphaned tank somewhere,” Rogers says, “like a Dairy Queen somewhere, there was a tank underneath that they didn’t know about, that was pre-1990, so those potentially have to be taken care of.” The fee was charged to petroleum wholesalers, but Rogers and other legislators hope consumers see a tiny dip at the gas pump.

“You hopefully will save a penny January 1,” he says. Three separate House committees unanimously approved the bill. It cleared the full, 100-member House last night on a 94 to zero vote. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

(Radio Iowa)