MAYSVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Investigators say speed appears to have been a factor in a fatal crash that sent a Ferrari plowing into a Maysville home and sparked an explosion and fire that destroyed the home. Scott County Sheriff Time Lane tells the Quad-City Times that the late Tuesday night crash killed the sports car’s driver, 58-year-old Kelly Phillip Dewulf, of Wheatland. One person was in the home at the time of the crash, but was able to escape unharmed.

Investigators say skid marks leading from Maysville Road through a ditch and into the home mark the path of the runaway car. Parts of the vehicle littered the front and back yards, including tires and the rear hood. When firefighters arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames.

A deadly school bus fire Tuesday morning in western Iowa may’ve involved a bus that was subject to a recall. Pete Kotowski, with the National Transportation Safety Board, spoke at a news conference this morning in Council Bluffs. “At the present time, we are aware of a safety recall issued by NHTSA for school buses similar to the one involved in this incident,” Kotowski said. NHTSA (pronounced ‘NIT-suh’) is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“That recall involved an issue with the electrical circuitry,” Kotowski said. “Whether that has any involvement in (the fire), that’s an area we are going to continue to examine and make sure that recall actually involves this particular vehicle.” The accident near Oakland claimed the lives of the only two people on board — the bus driver, 74-year-old Donnie Hendricks, and 16-year-old Megan Klindt. The bus, from the Riverside Community School District, was backing out of the driveway of the Klindt family’s farm, went into a ditch and caught on fire.

(Radio Iowa)

A Cass County man walked into the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday morning, and turned himself-in. The Sheriff’s Office said 41-year old Jason Aaron Watson, of Atlantic, was wanted on a Pott. County warrant for Trespass. After the warrant was confirmed, Watson was taken into custody and transported to the Pott. County Jail. He posted a $300 cash bond that same day and was released.

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — The trial has begun for a former boarding school director who is accused of sexually and physically abusing several children who attended the now-defunct school in southeast Iowa. The Hawk Eye reports that testimonies began Wednesday at South Lee County District Court in the trial of Benjamin Trane, who owned and operated Midwest Academy in Keokuk. Trane has pleaded not guilty to sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and child endangerment charges.

A state prosecutor told the jury that while Trane didn’t directly abuse all the children, he set policies in which students were given prolonged detention in small isolation chambers, denied healthy food and forced to sleep on the floor. Trane’s attorney will begin presenting the defense’s case Tuesday. Trane faces a sentence of 17 years if convicted of all charges.

Walnut, the Antique City, is planning to preserve part of the past by converting the former school building located at 415 Antique City Dr. into a new community center. Mayor Gene Larson says they had some options on what to do with the 77-thousand square-foot building once it no longer served as a school. The consensus was to make it useful. After an Ad Hoc Committee was formed, they made a deal with the School Board in Avoca  to have them spend some money on the building before the City would accept it.

With the addition to the old school building having been removed, a new HVAC system is being installed in the middle part of the school. Larsen says that part of the project is nearly complete. The idea is those newly air conditioned areas could be used for many purposes.The High School will also, eventually be air conditioned and improvements made, with the hopes of offering the space to businesses looking toward locating in Walnut. To assist with fundraising efforts and sustain the community center well into the future, the City of Walnut recently established an endowment fund with the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation (PCCF).

Funds from the endowment, named the Walnut Community Center Fund, will be used to preserve, renovate, improve and operate the new Walnut Community Center. All donations will be met with a 10-percent contribution from PCCF . Donating is easy:

1. Visit www.ourpccf.org
2. Select “Donate to a Charitable Fund”

3. Print and complete the Walnut Community Center Fund donation form

4. Mail the form along with payment to the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation

Officials say Walnut has the opportunity to show its children that even when a door closes, another one opens.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A residential counselor at a Davenport juvenile group home faces charges after being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old resident and giving the boy drugs and money. The Quad-City Times reports that police say 25-year-old Danielle Puls, of Rock Island, Illinois, gave the boy marijuana, as well as money to buy a handgun. Police say she had inappropriate contact with the teen and had a sexual relationship with another resident at Family Resources’ Annie Wittenmyer juvenile facility.

She is charged with drug distribution to a person under 18, possession of a firearm, sexual misconduct with an offender and lascivious conduct with a minor. Puls was arrested Wednesday and remained in the Scott County Jail on $33,000 bond.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A criminal case has been suspended against a northwestern Iowa man charged with attempted murder in a stabbing last summer so his mental competency can be evaluated. The Sioux City Journal reports that a judge on Tuesday granted a request for a psychiatric evaluation of 30-year-old Nicholas Thompson.

Thompson is charged in Dickinson County with attempted murder, willful injury resulting in serious injury, going armed with intent and assault with a dangerous weapon. He is accused of repeatedly stabbing a man on June 22 at a home in Spirit Lake and punching woman during the same incident.

BRITT, Iowa (AP) — Officials in northern Iowa say high winds have blown the roof off a grain bin in Britt, causing the bin to collapse onto power lines and knocking out power to the area. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that no one was injured in the collapse Wednesday morning at Hancock County grain elevator. North Central Co-op site manager Tom Grant says 10,000 to 15,000 bushels of grain spilled onto the ground when the bin collapsed. Alliant Energy said power remained out Wednesday afternoon for a dozen customers in the Hutchins area west of Britt.

The National Weather Service says gusts in the area on Wednesday topped 50 mph.