An accident just outside of Boone Saturday afternoon claimed the lives of two elderly Boone residents, and injured two other people. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 1996 GMC Jimmy driven by 15-year old Daniel Peter, of Ames, was traveling west on Highway 30 and changing lanes to make a left hand turn, when the SUV was hit by a  2003 Humvee Limousine driven by 43-year old John Barker, Jr., of Des Moines. The accident happened at around 3:15-p.m., Saturday.

Following the impact, the SUV left the road and rolled over, ejecting one passenger. The limo came to rest in the median. The Patrol says 77-year old Dorothy Peter, of Boone, died at the scene. 80-year old Delbert Peter, of Boone, was flown by helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, where died from his injuries. Officials say he was not wearing a seat belt.

Injured in the crash, was 28-year old Danielle Snook, of Davenport, and 24-year old Loyd Hise, of Guthrie Center. Both were flown by Mercy One helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. The Des Moines Register said Sunday that Snook was in Fair condition, while Hise was listed in critical condition. The accidednt remains under investigation.

The Cass County Community Center is the planned location for a night of dancing and music on June 23rd,  as local musicians return to the bandstand for a big band dance. The jazz band “Popcorn Button” will bring their second dance of the summer to the community.The Community Center is a new venue for the band, which means they’ll be able to accommodate more dancers and listeners. The band is comprised of a diverse group of talented volunteer musicians from Atlantic High School, the community, and several universities. Some return from colleges and internships as far away as Iowa City and Kansas City to play at the dances.

Dance instructor Jake Auerbach and his mother Pam will once again be offering a guide to getting started with ballroom and swing dancing at the event from 7:30-8 pm. Event organizers are also working out the scheduling of a potential visit from a member of the Iowa State University Cyclone Swing Society. This will provide the opportunity for all involved to learn some new moves in addition to the basics of waltz, swing, two step, and polka.

The dance is a free public event. A free will donation will be accepted at the door to help defray costs of the event. All ages and dancing abilities are invited and encouraged to attend from 7-10 pm on Saturday, June 23rd at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic.  For more information, contact Curtis Ullerich at info@popcornbutton.org or at 712-249-2588, or visit the band’s website at www.popcornbutton.org.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A veterans’ health care network that serves Nebraska and western Iowa is planning to expand its mental-health services.  The Lincoln Journal Star reports the Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System is planning to add more staff in Lincoln, Omaha and other locations.  The 10 percent increase in staff comes as the Veterans Administration prepares to deal with more cases of post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems. The region’s health care system currently has 106 employees.
 
Chief psychologist Todd Fleischer says officials have not yet decided where all the new hires will be based. But he says the request for mental-health providers is being fast-tracked. The hiring move will add 1,600 people nationwide.

 The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports four Red Oak residents were arrested on underage drinking charges.

The Sheriff’s Office received a report of a minor beer party taking place in Coburg early Saturday morning.  When deputies arrived they arrested on alcohol underage charges 18-year-old Chloey Elizabeth Major, 19-year-old Colby William Wise, 20-year-old Justin Lewis Marsden, and 19-year-old Hillary Jo Jackson who are all from Red Oak.  No other details are currently available.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate is holding steady, despite the loss of more than 3,000 jobs. The number of unemployed people in Iowa was estimated at 85,200 in May. The number released yesterday was up from 85,000 in April. A year ago, there were over 99,000 unemployed in Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Larry Noble is retiring as commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety. Branstad has named the department’s executive officer, Steve Ponsetto, as interim commissioner effective July 5th. Noble is a former Republican state senator from Ankeny and a retired Iowa State Patrol trooper.

BOSTON (AP) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says the Obama administration is smothering “small-town dreams.” In remarks prepared for delivery before he began a six-state bus tour yesterday, Romney says President Barack Obama isn’t giving middle-class America “a fair shot.” Romney’s campaign stops next week include Iowa and other states that Obama won in 2008.

MILFORD, N.H. (AP) – Softening his rhetoric on immigration, likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said yesterday that the status of people brought illegally into the U.S. as minors was important. But Romney says the issue must be addressed through legislation, not executive orders. Romney would not say yesterday whether he would reverse President Barack Obama’s decision announced yesterday to stop deporting illegal immigrants under thirty years of age who came to the U.S. as children.

The Cass County Memorial Hospital began caring for its patients in the new Emergency Department (ED) effective 2:00 pm, Friday, June 15th. Officials say patients coming to the new Emergency Department will still use the south ambulance drive.  The new ED Garage doors will open automatically when a vehicle approaches.  Patients may park outside the ED and enter on foot through the new ED entrance, which is to the right of the temporary ED entrance that has been in use for the past year.

The Same Day Surgery and Surgery Departments also moved into the new facility on June 15^th.  Beginning Monday, June 18^th, all scheduled surgery patients will register in the new ED Admissions, just inside the ED entrance, and utilize the new Same Day Surgery Department and operating rooms.

Patients or visitors who are unsure about how to access any hospital services during this transition are encouraged to call ahead for clarification, or ask any hospital staff member for assistance.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says a rural Hancock man suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries during a single-vehicle accident Thursday night. Danker says 46-year old Darren Jacobsen was transported by Oakland Rescue to Mercy Medical Center in Council Bluffs following the crash, which happened at around 10:20-p.m. at the Hancock Cemetery.

The Sheriff says Jacobsen was driving a 2011 Ford F-250 pickup that missed a curve on southbound Highway 59 near the intersection of Mahogany Road, and went off into a ditch. The pickup continued up a steep embankment, through a fence and into the Hancock Cemetery. The vehicle went through the cemetery southbound, crashed through the south fence and came to rest in the north ditch. None of the headstones in the cemetery were damaged.

Danker says tests were being conducted to determine if alcohol was involved. The only charge that has been filed for now, is Failure to Maintain Control.

w/ Ric Hanson

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One of two plans chosen by the public for a recreational trail in Pottawattamie County will be unveiled during a special meeting Saturday morning, of the Pott County Board of Supervisors. According to the Omaha World-Herald, a committee of 55 members have been working on the plans, and have held meetings in four Pott. County communities to gather public input.

The paper says a majority of those who attended the meetings favored a trail which parallels Railroad Highway (Iowa Highway 191) on the eastern edge of Council Bluffs. The trail continues northward through Underwood and Neola, before turning east along Highway 83, and passing near Minden, Avoca and Walnut.

The system could eventually connect to the American Discoveries Trail, which is part of a coast-to-coast route across the country. The other plan which gained favor among the meeting attendees, hooks up with North Broadway in Council Bluffs, and meanders through Crescent and the Hitchcock Nature Center. It may eventually connect with the Lewis & Clark Trail.

Saturday’s route unveiling will take place beginning at 9-a.m., at Arrowhead park near Neola, following an event designed to raise funds for the Phoenix Theater, in Neola. Additional plans call for ways to find money for the project, and finding land for the trails. It will likely take a few years, before any major progress is made, however, on making the trails a reality.

A 46-year old Council Bluffs female suffered what were thought to be non-life threatening facial injuries Thursday morning, after becoming entangled in a wood chipper. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker told KJAN News Angela Davis, an employee of Kathy’s Tree and Stump Removal Service in Council Bluffs, was trying to untangle a rope from a branch that got caught in the chipper, when she was pulled into the machine. The incident happened at around 10-a.m., at 21686 Greenview Road, in rural Council Bluffs. Danker says Davis suffered lacerations to her face and leg. She was transported to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, for treatment of her injuries.