LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — A northwestern Iowa woman accused of intentionally crashing the car she was driving into another vehicle has been charged with attempted murder and other counts. The Sioux City Journal reports that 28-year-old Melissa Ebert was charged Thursday with two counts each of attempted murder, willful injury and causing serious injury by vehicle. She’s also charged with one count of driving while intoxicated, second offense.

Her attorneys, F. Montgomery Brown and Thomas Miller, say she will plead not guilty when she’s arraigned on Feb. 1st. Prosecutors say Ebert threatened to kill herself and her passenger before purposely veering her car into the path of an oncoming car on Sept. 9. The collision severely injured Ebert, her passenger and the driver of the other car.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — For a second straight weekend, frigid temperatures will combine with winds to make for some dangerously low wind chills in Iowa and Nebraska. The National Weather service says temperatures dip into the single digits Saturday and will hover around zero for much of Sunday in northeastern Nebraska and much of Iowa.

Winds of 10 to 20 mph will produce wind chills of between 5-below zero to as low as 30-below in northeastern Nebraska overnight. In northern Iowa, where a wind chill warning has been issued, residents could see wind chills as low as 35-below.

Weather officials warn that wind chills that low can lead to frostbite within minutes for any exposed skin. Residents are asked to stay in heated areas and bundle up if they must head outside.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa law enforcement officials say they’re searching for an escaped sex offender who did not return from his job in Gutherie County to the Fort Des Moines Work Release Facility in Des Moines. The Iowa Department of Corrections declared 26-year-old Ross Clouse an escaped inmate on Friday night.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says Clouse cut-off his GPS tracking bracelet. It was located Friday in a road ditch southeast, of Guthrie Center. He is believed to be driving a 05′ white Ford F-150 with Iowa license plate BPN384.

Clouse was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2014 after being found guilty of third-degree sexual abuse and indecent contact with a child. He is listed on Iowa’s sex offender registry and is serving a lifetime special supervision sentence.

Ross M. Clouse

Following the recent Fox Business debate in South Carolina, New Jersey Governor Christie returns to Iowa for a four day trip across the state. The Republican presidential candidate will host 5 town halls and visit Urbandale, Ames, Fort Dodge, Milford, Le Mars, Sioux City, and Council Bluffs.

Christie will be in Council Bluffs for a Town Hall meeting 8:30-a.m. Monday at the Village Inn, located at 2935 W. Broadway.

NJ Gov. Chris Christie

w/ Chris Parks

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A trio of area school board meetings are set to take place Monday evening. In Anita, the CAM School Board will hold a special meeting 5:30-p.m. Monday, to discuss the upcoming Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) vote. Last October, the CAM School Board passed a resolution to submit to the voters a PPEL, and in December, Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman announced the vote would be held Feb. 2nd.

In summary, Public Measure A that will be on the ballot, asks voters if the “Board of Directors of the CAM Community School District in the Counties of Cass, Adair, Adams and Audubon,”…be authorized for a period of ten (10) years, to levy annually, as determined by the Board, a voter-approved physical plant and equipment property tax levy (PPEL), not to exceed $1.34 per $1,000 of the assessed property valuation within the school district. The levy, if approved, could be used for a number of purposes, including, but not limited to: The purchase and improvement of grounds; the construction of schoolhouses or buildings and opening roads to schoolhouses or buildings the purchase, lease, or lease-purchase of a single unit of equipment or technology exceeding $500 in value.

After the Special Meeting, the CAM School Board will adjourn and enter into a Regular Session, at 6:30. During the session, they will discuss the PPEL election, conference realignment, and take possible action on an Early Retirement/Resignation Policy.

The Griswold School Board will meet at 5:30-p.m. Monday, in the Central Office at the Middle School/High School building. During the meeting, the Board will act on an APEX agreement with Glenwood, and the appointment of a New Board Director. They will also hold a Closed Session prior to adjourning, to discuss and possibly act on a Personnel matter.

In Audubon, the School Board meeting gets underway at 7-p.m. Monday in the High School Boardroom. The Board will hold the first reading of policies dealing with, among other things, Transporting Students in Private Vehicles, Purchasing and Bidding, and the care, maintenance and disposal of School District Records. They’ll also discuss the Fiscal Year 2017 School Calendar and receive information concerning Early Retirement.

One person was transported to a hospital in Omaha following a single-vehicle crash Friday afternoon in Fremont County. The Sheriff’s Office says 65-year old Jolene Fuller, of Sidney, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered incapacitating injuries and was flown to Nebraska Medicine for treatment.

The accident happened at around 3:50-p.m. in the 2000 block of 220th Street, near Percival, Iowa. Deputies discovered a 2000 Saturn SL1 was westbound on 220th Street, when Fuller to negotiate the curve and her vehicle left the roadway. The car then struck a roadside utility pole. Deputies believe a medical condition led to the crash.

Percival Fire and Rescue, Sidney Fire and Rescue, and Lifenet assisted the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office with the accident. The vehicle was a total loss.

MOORHEAD, Iowa (AP) — A teenager has died after being involved in a rollover car crash in western Iowa. The Sioux City Journal reports 16-year-old Shelby Montange was pronounced dead at the scene of the Friday morning crash outside of Moorhead. The driver, 15-year-old driver Sidney Solberg, tells the Monona County Sheriff’s Office she lost control of the car on black ice and went into a ditch off a county road.

Officials say Solberg and another 12-year-old passenger, Braiden Solberg, were both injured and taken to Burgess Hospital in nearby Onawa for treatment. The two passengers were reportedly not wearing seatbelts when they were thrown from the vehicle. Officials with the sheriff’s office say they don’t know the extent of the injuries.

Authorities are still investigating the crash.

A Red Oak woman was arrested on Friday by Montgomery County Sheriff’s Officials on a warrant for Forgery.  At 2:14pm Friday Sheriff’s Officials arrested 24-year-old Desiree Pauline Willis in the 500 block of Coolbaugh Street.  Willis is being held on $5,000 bond.  While in custody she was charged with another Forgery charge.  The investigation is ongoing.

The Creston Police Department reports a search warrant executed in Creston on Friday resulted in one arrest.  In the morning hours on Friday Creston Police K9 Unit, Drug Task Force and Department of Narcotics Enforcement executed a valid search warrant at 920 West Mills Street in Creston that resulted in the arrest of Cody Lee Vandel for a Union County Warrant for Delivery of Methamphetamine under 5 grams (A Class C Felony).  Vandel is being held on a $50,000 cash only bond.

Evidence seized during the search warrant will result in other pending drug charges.  A large amount of US currency was recovered during the search and is beleived to be drug related and was seized.