One person was injured in a semi rollover accident on Interstate 80 Saturday morning, in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol say 35-year old Isaac Johnson, of Washington, GA, was attempting to re-enter the interstate off the rest area near mile marker 32 (about 2-miles west of the Shelby exit) at around 8:20-a.m., when the 2012 semi he was driving got to far off the right and slipped onto the shoulder. 

Johnson told deputies that as he was leaving the rest area, he was checking his mirrors and the semi was sucked off the shoulder and rolled on its side. The co-driver Darrell Henry, age and location was not given, was trapped inside the sleeper section of the semi. Henry was extricated by mechanical means before being transported by Life-Net Helicopter to the Creighton University Medical Center with what were described as incapacitating injuries. Johnson was uninjured in the crash. 

The truck, registered to USA Truck Inc., out of Burns Harbor, IN was totaled in the crash, with the damage estimated at $80,000.

An Atlantic teen was injured during a single-vehicle rollover accident northwest of Atlantic, this (Tuesday) morning.

Ford Ranger with extensive cab damage following rollover accident

The Iowa State Patrol reports 18-year old Branden M. Ballinger was traveling west on Highway 83 (the Marne Road) just before 10-a.m., when he lost control of the 1999 Ford Ranger pickup he was driving. Officials say the young man was putting a drink in a cup holder when the accident occurred.  When the truck drifted onto the shoulder, Ballinger overcorrected, sending the vehicle into the south ditch, where it rolled and came to rest on its wheels. The accident happened about one-quarter of a mile northwest of Glacier Road. Ballinger was transported by Medivac Ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital, for treatment of minor injuries, which included shoulder pain.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing during their meeting Wednesday morning in Atlantic, on a proposed Illegal Dumping Ordinance. The ordinance, if adopted after the second reading, calls for a $100 fine on the 1st offense if the items illegally dumped weighed less than 10-pounds, or up to 15-cubic feet in volume, and up to $250 for the second and subsequent offenses. The fines increase from $250 to $500 respectively, for trash that exceeds 10-pounds, or 15-cubic feet in volume. A vote on approving the 1st reading will follow the hearing. A second public hearing on the matter will take place June 20th.

w/ Ric Hanson

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ONAWA, Iowa (AP) – An Onawa man charged with shooting his boss as part of a faked burglary has been given two years of probation.  Twenty-four-year-old Bradley Chapman pleaded guilty on Monday to a firearms charge. In return, prosecutors dropped two other charges. Chapman also received a deferred judgment, which means that the crime will be removed from his record if he successfully completes the probation. Chapman was charged in the Feb. 5 shooting of 32-year old Darren Hieber, of Mapleton. Hieber is accused of having Chapman shoot him in a leg as part of their story that they’d interrupted a burglary at Hieber’s business.  Hieber has pleaded not guilty to eight charges in the case and is scheduled for trial on July 31st.

The latest area news (podcast) from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson….

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Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County are investigating the theft of yet another utility trailer. Authorities this morning report a utility trailer, loaded with a green 2005 Polaris Sportsman 500 4×4 equipped with a yellow boom sprayer on the back, was stolen from a property on Ginkgo Avenue, south of Red Oak. The theft was reported at around 3:30-a.m.

Yesterday (Monday),the Sheriff’s Department reported a trailer was stolen over the weekend from a residence in rural Red Oak. The owner reported to authorities the 2004, red H&H two-wheel trailer was missing from their property on Ironwood Avenue, at around 3:10-p.m., Sunday. They believe it was taken sometime between the hours of 10:30-a.m. and 3-p.m. If you have any information about either crime, call the Montgomery County Sherif’f’s Office or Montgomery County Crimestoppers. Those numbers are 712-623-5107, or 1-800-432-1001.

Authorities in Montgomery County are investigating the theft of copper wire from a shed in Red Oak. Sheriff’s Officials say they received word from a resident late Monday morning, that someone had stolen a large pile of copper wire from a shed on his property on 207th Street. The loss was estimated at $500. The theft is thought to have occurred sometime between 11:30-p.m. Sunday and 11-a.m., Monday. Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 712-623-5107, or Montgomery County Crimestoppers at 1-800-432-1001.

The group Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (C-C-I) is celebrating a victory in what it calls an escalating fight against requests to build large-scale livestock operations in the state. The Union County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday to recommend that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources deny permits for two proposed five-thousand head hog farms. C-C-I state policy director, Adam Mason, says the Union County vote is one step toward keeping the operations from being built. “Now that the Union County supervisors have recommended denial of this site, the D-N-R will have 30 days to take their recommendation into consideration, review the factory farm construction permit and master matrix, and make their final decision. For us here at C-C-I, we’ll monitor that process, our members in Union County will monitor that process,” Mason says.

In the larger picture, Mason says they get calls daily about proposed livestock operations. He says the group has recently gotten the plans changed for facilities in Dallas, Floyd, Jefferson, and Story counties. There are ongoing fights against facilities in Poweshiek, Union, and Wright counties.  “What we look for here at C-C-I is a deep sense of commitment amongst the community, basically of the community coming together in opposition to this,” Mason explains. “If one person calls C-C-I, we don’t just automatically go out and meet with folks, there has to be a significant number of community members who want to do something about this. What we can do is go out and meet with folks and let them know what has worked in the past to stand up for family farmers and fight back against factory farms.”

The vote by the supervisors does not guarantee the D-N-R will follow its recommendation. “County supervisors and local folks don’t really have much of a say, and that’s something the legislature did back in 2002 when they created the master matrix. That provides public input, but doesn’t give those local folks or the county supervisors final authority, which we would call local control,” Mason says. He says the supervisors’ vote is a positive for residents trying to keep the facilities from being built. Mason says,”But what that means for folks in Union County today is the D-N-R staff will look at this permit application a little bit stronger than they would. But what is comes down to is the D-N-R is underfunded and understaffed as well.”

Mason says the dramatic increase in requests to build large livestock facilities is due to higher prices for hogs and the “lax regulatory environment of the Branstad administration.” Governor Branstad’s spokesman responded with this statement: “Agriculture is the strength behind Iowa’s economic success, and we welcome job-creating pork producers to locate in our state. Governor Branstad believes we must safeguard our environment with commonsense regulations. The regulatory environment remains the same as when Governor Branstad took office, but with the skyrocketing pork prices, it should come as no surprise that producers would expand their operations. Governor Branstad will continue his efforts for cleaner air and water, and believes Iowa’s laws should be enforced.”

(Radio Iowa)