A total of five people were hurt in two separate ATV accidents over the weekend, in Pottawattamie and Union Counties. Lt. Rob Ambrose, with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, told KJAN News a child’s ATV driven by 24-year old MacKenzie Belnap, of Council Bluffs, and his passenger, 31-year old Jessica Grogan, of Audubon, veered off the road at around 11-p.m. Sunday and went into a ditch before hitting or sideswiping a barbed-wire fence. Belnap and Grogran rode the machine back to Walnut before calling for help. They were transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic for treatment. A report on their conditions was not available.

Belnap was cited for Operating an ATV with more persons than it was designed to carry, operating an ATV on a Highway, and Failure to Maintain Control. The accident happened near 500th and Western Avenue, on the northwest side of Walnut.

The other accident happened at around 2:45-p.m. Saturday, in Union County. The Sheriff’s Office says a Polaris Razor ATV/UTV driven by 17-year old Quinton Scadden, of Creston, was traveling across a bridge on 245th Street, when the vehicle went out of control. The UTV rolled over and came to rest on its wheels facing east, on the north side of the road. Scadden, who was wearing a shoulder & lap belt, suffered minor injuries. He was transported to the Greater  Regional Medical Center in Creston, by ambulance. 21-year old Kaytlynn Scadden, of Creston, was riding in the unenclosed passenger/cargo area, and ejected from the UTV when it rolled. She was flown by helicopter to the Creston Hospital/ A third passenger, 14-year old Jack Frey, of Creston, who was belted into a passenger seat, suffered minor injuries and was transported by ambulance to the hospital.

Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency say the light rains in the forecast today will not be enough to stop the potential for fire to spread rapidly. The Fire Danger category will remain “HIGH” until at least Thursday morning, when the next update is expected.

After today and tomorrow, winds and very low relative humidity will combine with the sunshine to rapidly dry the dead vegetation, again, making for dangerous fire conditions.

The National Weather Service is forecasting very dry and very high fire condition for later this week.
The Shelby County EMA says you should remember to call your controlled burns in to the EMA Communications center at (712)- 755—2124, and, contact your local Fire Chief.

ST. ANSGAR, Iowa (AP) – A new deer crossing warning sign in northern Iowa is attracting attention and mixed reactions. “Suicidal deer” says the sign just outside of St. Ansgar, with another sign underneath that says, ‘Next 2 mi.” The signs along Iowa Highway 105 sit near Sally Hertel’s land. She says she found the deer sign a little insensitive. But Becky Dodson, who also lives near the sign, says she thought it was funny. Mitchell County officials got the idea after seeing postings about a similar sign in central Illinois.

Mitchell County Supervisor Stan Walk in Iowa says the county didn’t intend to offend anyone in its effort to prevent accidents caused by the numerous deer in the area. He says officials wanted the sign to be an attention-getter, and it has been.

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

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

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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says some 10-thousand boat owners are running out of time to register the hull identification number of their boats. D-N-R Boating Law Administrator, Susan Stocker, says the U-S Coast Guard found the numbers from the manufacturers did not meet regulations. “Recently the states have been tasked with making sure and verifying that these boats to have the 12-digit hull identification numbers, H-I-N’s. And so, we’re just trying to give a heads up to the boat owners that still need to register their HINS before they want to register it,”

Stocker says. She says boat owners should have gotten notice. “We’ve sent them an affidavit,” Stocker says, “and so what they do is they fill it out and either do a pencil rubbing or take a photography of their hull identification number to verify it. And then they can either mail it in, email it in or fax it in, and then we’ll process it.” Boat owners will need to verify the H-I-N prior to April 30th in order to renew their boat registration.

Stocker says any boat owner has to register their boat by the deadline or they face a five dollar penalty. Stocker says many boaters are probably getting the itch to get out on the water, and need to get the verification and registration complete. “As the weather does get warmer and everybody will want to get out on the water, we want to be sure they are able to do that by doing a little bit of paperwork before it gets too nice,” Stocker says.

Stocker says there are around 235-thousand boats registered in the state. for more information on the boat registration, go to the D-N-R’s website at: www.iowadnr.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports early this (Monday) morning, deputies conducted an investigation into illegal drug activity. As a result of that investigation 35- year old Joshua Martin of Riverton, IA, was arrested for Possession of Methamphetamine with the intent to deliver.

The arrest happened after undercover deputies conducted a drug transaction with Martin. Martin was arrested with incident at the scene, following the transaction. He was transported to the Fremont County Jail being held on a $100,000 cash bond. Other drug charges are pending following conclusion of the investigation.

Joshua Martin

Deputies in Montgomery County arrested 32-year old Scott James Wiese, of Red Oak, Sunday afternoon. Wiese was charged with providing tobacco to a person or persons  under the age of 18. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

Deputies in Montgomery County arrested two people on alcohol-related charges, Sunday, with the assistance of Red Oak Police. At around 4:26-a.m., 28-year old Trenton Lee Murry, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/2nd offense, and on a valid Iowa State Patrol warrant for OWI/1st offense. Murry was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $3,000 cash bond.

And, at around 10-p.m., Sunday, deputies arrested 60-year old Fidel Ramos-Leon, of Red Oak, for Public Intoxication. Ramos-Leon was taken into custody in the 700 block of E. Joy Street and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $300.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs officials are making plans to document the history of an historic former elementary school before it is demolished. The Daily Nonpareil reports the city council will decide Monday whether to support an agreement with the Iowa State Historic Preservation about the former Walnut Grove Elementary School. The 1926 building is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, so the city must take additional steps before demolition.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Local emergency managers are practicing tweeting and updating their statuses to make sure they will be prepared to use social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to share information in a disaster. Dubuque County Emergency Management Director Tom Berger tells the Telegraph Herald he is looking at setting up social media pages for his agency.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Crews continue working to clean up a spill of roughly 30,000 gallons of gasoline in northwest Iowa. The Sioux City Journal reports workers from Magellan Pipeline and contractors hired to help with the cleanup have been working since the spill happened Friday morning.

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Tyonna Snow recorded her second straight double-double with 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and Number 3 seed Missouri State won its 10th Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a 71-58 victory over top-seeded Northern Iowa on Sunday to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Regular-season MVC champion Northern Iowa was led by Madison Weekly with 17 points and Sharnae Lamar’s 16.