SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials in northwest Iowa’s Woodbury County are considering creating a collections department to go after nearly $12 million in unpaid court fines.  The Sioux City Journal reports part of the money would go to the county, so improving collections would help Woodbury County’s budget.

Several other Iowa counties – including Linn, Polk and Plymouth counties – have already established successful collections programs for unpaid court fines. Usually the job is handled either by the county attorney or sheriff.  Woodbury County Attorney P.J. Jennings says he plans to propose creating a collections department later this year.

The Linn County Sheriff’s office has had a collections program in place since 2003. Major Doug Riniker oversees the effort and says the office collected $807,000 in 2012-13.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A western Iowa couple married for 79 years is being honored for having the longest marriage in the state.  The Daily Nonpareil reports Alvin and Eula Blankenship‘s marriage will be celebrated at a reception today (Sunday).  One-hundred-year-old Eula Blankenship says she and her 99-year-old husband have always loved to dance and travel. And Eula Blankenship says it helps that Alvin is a pretty good guy.

The retired farming couple was surprised when the Worldwide Marriage Encounter group told them they had the longest marriage in Iowa. The couple married in Magnolia on June 12, 1934 – not far from where they grew up in Woodbine and Logan. They honeymooned in Omaha.

Since then, they have visited all 48 lower United States by car or bus.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Thousands of people holding flickering candles marched through Springfield, Missouri, to remember a 10-year-old girl who was kidnapped and killed less than a week ago. The Springfield (Missouri) News-Leader reports family members of Hailey Owens led the procession Saturday night while onlookers filled sidewalks.

Hailey was abducted Tuesday while she walked in her quiet Springfield neighborhood. Police believe her captor killed her in the few hours before he was caught.  Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Seifried spoke briefly to the crowd at the end of the march, saying there were no words to express the pain the community is feeling.

Craig Michael Wood is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and armed criminal action in the fourth-grader’s death. The 45-year-old is being held without bond in Greene County Jail. Hailey is the daughter of Markus and Stacey Owens, of Springfield, MO., and granddaughter of Mark Scanlan, of Red Oak. Hailey’s great-grandmother, Connie Sparr, also lives in Red Oak.

Police in Red Oak report the arrest early Sunday morning of a man on a Disorderly Conduct charge. 37-year old James Lee Clark, Jr., of Red Oak, was arrested at around 2:15-a.m. Sunday, at 410 East Reed Street. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held, on $300 cash bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad is seeking re-election, but his current focus is on the legislative session, not campaign rhetoric. Since lawmakers returned to the Capitol in January, the Republican Branstad has largely kept his attention on his legislative agenda and budget, which must be approved by lawmakers this spring. Even Branstad’s balloon-festooned re-election announcement last month was light on detailed campaign promises.

For now, Branstad is keeping his eye on a modest set of legislative priorities — increasing benefits for veterans, combatting bullying and adding broadband Internet around the state. All three goals have bipartisan support. Branstad campaign manager Jake Ketzner says that will change after adjournment, as the governor outlines his plans if re-elected.

Sen. Jack Hatch, of Des Moines, is in the lead position for the Democratic nomination.

Officials with the Iowa State Patrol say an Atlantic woman has died in a crash that occurred Saturday afternoon, north of town. In an update provided late Saturday night, the Patrol identified the victim as 65-year old Linda S. Shea.  We were first to report online at kjan.com Saturday evening, that the accident happened on County Road N-16 (Olive Street), about one-half-mile south of Boston Road, or about a mile south of Interstate 80.

The accident scene

The vehicle is not visible from the road, but is near where the rescue worker in yellow is standing. (Ric Hanson/Photos)

Shea was traveling southbound at around 4:10-p.m., when for reasons unknown, the 2005 Jaguar SK8 she was driving spun out of control and slid sideways into a metal guard rail. The impact spun the car into the west ditch, where it came to rest in a small ravine. Shea died at the scene. Officials say she was not wearing a seat belt.

Atlantic Fire and Rescue, Medivac Ambulance, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies and Atlantic Police all responded to the scene.

Authorities say one person was killed during a single vehicle accident Saturday evening, north of Atlantic. Atlantic Police Officer Matt Staiert told KJAN News there was a fatality resulting from the crash on North Olive Street, about one-half-mile south of Boston Road, or about a mile south of Interstate 80.

The accident scene

The vehicle is not visible from the road, but is near where the rescue worker in yellow is standing. (Ric Hanson/Photos)

Atlantic Fire and Rescue, Medivac Ambulance, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies and Atlantic Police responded to the scene shortly after the 9-1-1 call was received at around 4:10-p.m.  The vehicle, which nearby residents said appeared to be a convertible-style, hit the guardrail and rolled down the west embankment before coming to rest on its wheels facing north in the ditch near a small creek.

The victim, who was said to be female, was trapped in her vehicle when rescuers arrived. The Iowa State Patrol was investigating the scene. The victim’s name and other details were being withheld, pending notification of family.

Atlantic Fire and Rescue and Medivac Ambulance responded to a single-vehicle accident on Olive Street, a little south of Interstate 80, near Boston Road. According to the initial dispatch report, the vehicle hit a guardrail and rolled down an embankment near 51586 Olive Street. The accident happened at around 4:10-p.m.

No other details are currently available.

ONAWA, Iowa (AP) – The Omaha Tribe, based in Macy, Neb., has christened its new Blackbird Bend Casino in Onawa, Iowa, and is now looking to expand the $12 million complex with amenities such as a hotel, bowling alley, marina and golf course.  The Sioux City Journal reports that the tribe revealed those plans Friday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the casino.

The new casino was built next to the former Casino Omaha, which had been shut down by historic flooding along the Missouri River in 2011. The casino reopened early last year in a portion of the old casino building that formerly served as the restaurant.

The new structure sits 6 feet higher than the old building to prevent future flooding of the facility.

w/ Ric Hanson

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