The Iowa State Patrol, Sunday, identified three people injured in a crash late Saturday night on Interstate 80, west of Avoca. A fourth person died in the crash. Officials say a 1996 Honda Passport driven by 26-year old Jesus German was traveling east on I-80 at around 9-p.m., when the car went out of control and entered the median, where it rolled over several times. The person who died was ejected from the car. Their name was withheld, pending notification of family.

Jesus German, and his passengers, 20-year old Steven Baney, and 26-year old Antonio Aguilar, all of Talmage, NE., were injured in the crash. Baney was not wearing a seat belt. The Patrol says the other two men were buckled-up. Authorities say alcohol and speed were considered to be factors in the crash, which remained under investigation.

German was transported by helicopter in serious condition, to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Baney and Aguilar were taken to Myrtue Memorial Hospital in Harlan, by Avoca Rescue. Authorities say charges are pending against Jesus German, while they awaiting the results of a toxicology report.

Baney and Aguilar were later released from the hospital, but Aguilar was being held in the Shelby County Jail, while awaiting extradition to Nebraska, where a felony warrant had been issued for his arrest from Otoe County.

Sheriff’s Deputies from Pottawattamie and Shelby County assisted at the scene, along with rescue personnel from the Avoca and Walnut Fire and Rescue Departments.

Five MILLION Americans have already voted in this year’s election. The latest data shows more than a quarter of a million Iowans had voted by absentee ballot by the close of business on Friday. Secretary of State Paul Pate says the pace is “not as high” as it was in the last presidential election year. “The political parties drive that because of what they do,” Pate says. “I think the Democratic Party has done probably at least three, maybe four mailings. The Republicans, I know, have done one.” Linn County Auditor Joel Miller says the absentee ballots that are being mailed to county auditors’ offices are placed in secure storage. “We count them on Election Day,” Miller says. “They are the first results that are reported at 9 p.m. on Election Night.”

In 2012, 43 percent of the ballots cast in Iowa were “early” votes cast BEFORE Election Day. The state’s top election official is predicting around 40 percent of the votes in Iowa for the 2016 General Election will be cast before November 8th. “It is a little slower than what we had four years ago,” Pate says. “…Let’s watch this week’s numbers.”

Secretary of State Pate and the Linn County auditor made their comments Friday during an appearance on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program.

(Radio Iowa)

The two major party candidates in Iowa’s third congressional district answered 18 questions in an hour-long radio debate Sunday night. Republican Congressman David Young expressed support for the T-P-P. “There’s a unique opportunity with the Trans Pacific Parternship, just that Asian ring out there of 12 countries, right? We need to get our goods there. We need to get our services there. We need to get our values there and also strategically China is right there in the background, o.k.?” Young said. “We need to get there before China does.”

Jim Mowrer of Des Moines, Young’s Democratic challenger, called the T-P-P a “bad deal. “We need to have trade deals that have environmental standards, that have labor standards and will pay off for the American economy in a big way,” Mowrer said. “…Even people like Donald Trump know that the TPP is bad for our country.”

Last (Sunday) night’s debate was held in the K-M-A studios in Shenandoah and broadcast live. The two candidates will debate again this Wednesday in Council Bluffs.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The nation’s smallest nuclear power plant is set to permanently shut down today (Monday). The Omaha Public Power District’s board decided earlier this year that the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant is no longer financially sustainable. But the shutdown is only one of the first steps of a decommissioning process that could stretch on for as many as 60 years and cost more than $1 billion.

During that process, the utility will have to decontaminate and disassemble elements of the power plant. The nuclear plant sits on the Missouri River across from Iowa and is about 15 miles north of Omaha.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) — Businesses in northwest Iowa are getting a boost when construction workers building the Dakota Access oil pipeline arrive in town. Local officials have noticed an increase in activity at hotels and restaurants near the oil pipeline. It’s hard to quantify the economic benefit to communities, but local businesses have noticed the increase in sales.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa school districts are holding more than $145 million in their accounts, but superintendents say restrictions on that money is making it hard to spend. The Des Moines Register reports the money in dozens of different funds has grown since 2013 when the total was about $130 million, so school officials are lobbying for more flexibility.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Number of flood insurance policies sold in Iowa declines 22 percent in recent years to 13,872, but the reason for the decline wasn’t immediately clear. Officials say some homeowners may have dropped coverage when premiums increased, and people who paid off their homes might have dropped the insurance. Buyouts of homes in flood-prone areas may have also contributed to the declining number of policies.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Labor union officials are criticizing staffing levels at Iowa Medical and Classification Center prison, but the state defends its hiring and says prison is filling its vacancies. Union president Danny Homan says the reduced staffing contributed to a recent incident where four inmates tested positive for methamphetamine.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa school districts are holding more than $145 million in their accounts, but superintendents say restrictions on that money is making it hard to spend. The Des Moines Register reports the money in dozens of different funds has grown since 2013 when the total was about $130 million, so school officials are lobbying for more flexibility.

Iowa State Board of Education member Mary Ellen Miller says the legislature should look at the rules on this money, so it’s not just sitting in bank accounts. But some lawmakers say the districts should just spend the money for the purpose it was intended. Democratic state Senator Brian Schoenjahn says the spending rules are there for a purpose.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Top executives at Goodwill Omaha receive higher salaries than peers at area nonprofits and at other Goodwills nationwide. The Omaha World-Herald reports Goodwill Omaha CEO Frank McGree received total compensation of $933,444 in 2014. More than half of that was a $519,000 one-time retention bonus, but even without that McGree’s pay was higher than many nonprofit executives.

Thirteen of the nonprofit’s executives were paid more than $100,000 salaries in 2014, so a significant portion of the $4 million generated from Goodwill’s stores in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa went to administrative costs instead of Goodwill’s job training programs.

McGree’s compensation sits in the top tier among 150 independent Goodwill affiliates nationwide. Only two dozen Goodwill leaders make over $400,000 a year and two receive pay over $1 million.

Officials with the Cass County Health System say the next session of “Healthy U,” will be on Thursday, October 27th at noon at Cass County Memorial Hospital, Conference Room 2. The presentation this month will be given by Bruce E. Lundak, M.D. and is entitled, “Relief: Treatment Options for Men with an Enlarged Prostate.”

Dr. Lundak is a physician at Adult & Pediatric Urology and Urogynecology in Omaha, Nebraska, and he is one of the visiting physicians in the CCMH Outpatient Clinics.  Dr. Lundak received his medical degree from the University of Kansas, and he completed his internship and residency in urology at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan. Dr. Lundak has been practicing urology since 1999. He is board-certified in urology and a member of the American Urological Association and Nebraska Urological Association.

Healthy U is a free, educational session that is open to the public, and it is held at noon in Conference Room 2 at Cass County Health System. Reservations are needed, as box lunches are provided. To reserve your spot, please call 712-243-7479.

Police in Red Oak have arrested a man on drug charges. 34-year old Jesse Donald Trost, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 2:25-a.m. today (Sunday), for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Trost was arrested near the intersection of N. 6th and E. Joy Streets, in Red Oak, and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $300.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5:30 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — It took more than six decades, but the first black student to be named Miss State University of Iowa in 1955 has received official recognition _ and an apology _ from the university. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that 78-year-old Dora Martin Berry was 17 when her fellow students elected her in the annual contest. But university officials at the time denied Berry representation as Miss SUI at official school events, including that year’s Rose Bowl parade.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The family of a Des Moines woman who died of a prescription-drug overdose is appealing a judge’s rejection of their motion seeking to name the doctor’s former health system as defendants. The Des Moines Register reports that Brandy Stoutenberg’s relatives originally blamed Dr. Daniel Baldi for her 2010 death, but their lawsuit against him dismissed last month, nearly two years after Baldi was acquitted of criminal charges in Stoutenberg’s and others’ deaths.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A Harlan man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. The Daily Nonpareil reports that 55-year-old Michael Charles Garreans pleaded guilty to the charge on June 9. Prosecutors say a site monitored by law enforcement identified Garreans before a search of his home in Harlan was conducted. U.S. Attorney Kevin VanderSchel says officers found a computer in Garreans’ home that contained ‘hundreds of images of child pornography.’

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A former Nebraska jail employee has been found guilty in western Iowa of child sex and pornography counts. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that a Pottawattamie County jury found Shawn Beu guilty Friday on all 10 counts related his sexual abuse and video recording of young girls. Beu, who lives in Council Bluffs, was a corrections sergeant at the Douglas County Jail in Omaha when he was arrested in March.