The Iowa State Patrol is investigating a crash between two vehicles Saturday night in Union County that killed one of the drivers and injured the other. Officials say for reasons unknown, a 2001 Chevy Impala driven by 61-year old Donna Jo Spare, of Afton, crossed the center line of Highway 34 at around 9:10-p.m. Saturday, and collided head-on with a 1997 Buick LeSabre driven by 49-year old Deanne Lee Hoffman, of Creston. The accident happened about 2.5-miles east of Creston, near the intersection of Jaguar Avenue.

Following the collision, Spare was transported by ambulance to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, while Hoffman was transported to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, where she died from her injuries.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — For a second straight weekend, frigid temperatures will combine with winds to make for some dangerously low wind chills in Iowa and Nebraska. In northern Iowa, where a wind chill warning has been issued, residents could see wind chills as low as 35-below. Weather officials warn that wind chills that low can lead to frostbite within minutes for any exposed skin.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — A Muscatine preschool shut down by a damaging water leak is hoping to reopen next week. The Muscatine Journal reports that Happy Time Preschool had been set resume classes on January 5th after closing for Christmas break. Preschool director Natalie Lothspeich now says classes will likely resume Tuesday.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa authorities are investigating after at least one law enforcement official shot a suspected car thief when police say the man rammed a marked law enforcement cruiser in Muscatine. An Iowa Department of Public Safety news release says the incident began Friday night after a large SUV was stolen from a Muscatine restaurant parking lot.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — A northwestern Iowa woman accused of intentionally crashing the car she was driving into another vehicle has been charged with attempted murder and other counts. The Sioux City Journal reports that 28-year-old Melissa Ebert was charged Thursday with two counts each of attempted murder, willful injury and causing serious injury by vehicle. She’s also charged with one count of driving while intoxicated, second offense.

Three legislative coffees have been scheduled in Cass County for the 2016 session. The coffees will be held in February, March and April. Officials with PRIDE (Progressive Rural Iowa Development Enterprise), have announced the first coffee takes place 10 a.m. Saturday, February 6th, at the Cumberland Fire Station, 216 Main Street, Cumberland.

Marne is the second host Saturday, March 5th, 10 a.m. at the Community Center, 403 Washington, Street, Marne. The final coffee of this session will take place Saturday, April 2nd, 10 a.m. at the Lewis Community Library, 506 West Main Street, Lewis.

Clarke Gerlock, vice-president of PRIDE, said “The greatest thing about these coffees is our ability to talk with our elected leaders like they are our friends and neighbors, because they are. Cass County legislators have appreciated for years the tremendous turnout from citizens in our area.”

Gerlock says “This year, we welcome back Senators Tom Shipley and Jake Chapman, and Rep. Clel Baudler.” And, “We welcome new legislator, Rep. Tom Moore, who won the election to fill the open seat from the passing of Rep. Jack Drake in the fall of 2015.”

P.R.I.D.E. is the sponsoring the legislative coffees. The economic development organization that works on behalf of communities, businesses, and citizens for Southwest Iowa development. For additional information, contact Clarke Gerlock at 712-774-5476, or Kenner Baxter, president, at 781-2395.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — A northwestern Iowa woman accused of intentionally crashing the car she was driving into another vehicle has been charged with attempted murder and other counts. The Sioux City Journal reports that 28-year-old Melissa Ebert was charged Thursday with two counts each of attempted murder, willful injury and causing serious injury by vehicle. She’s also charged with one count of driving while intoxicated, second offense.

Her attorneys, F. Montgomery Brown and Thomas Miller, say she will plead not guilty when she’s arraigned on Feb. 1st. Prosecutors say Ebert threatened to kill herself and her passenger before purposely veering her car into the path of an oncoming car on Sept. 9. The collision severely injured Ebert, her passenger and the driver of the other car.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — For a second straight weekend, frigid temperatures will combine with winds to make for some dangerously low wind chills in Iowa and Nebraska. The National Weather service says temperatures dip into the single digits Saturday and will hover around zero for much of Sunday in northeastern Nebraska and much of Iowa.

Winds of 10 to 20 mph will produce wind chills of between 5-below zero to as low as 30-below in northeastern Nebraska overnight. In northern Iowa, where a wind chill warning has been issued, residents could see wind chills as low as 35-below.

Weather officials warn that wind chills that low can lead to frostbite within minutes for any exposed skin. Residents are asked to stay in heated areas and bundle up if they must head outside.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa law enforcement officials say they’re searching for an escaped sex offender who did not return from his job in Gutherie County to the Fort Des Moines Work Release Facility in Des Moines. The Iowa Department of Corrections declared 26-year-old Ross Clouse an escaped inmate on Friday night.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says Clouse cut-off his GPS tracking bracelet. It was located Friday in a road ditch southeast, of Guthrie Center. He is believed to be driving a 05′ white Ford F-150 with Iowa license plate BPN384.

Clouse was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2014 after being found guilty of third-degree sexual abuse and indecent contact with a child. He is listed on Iowa’s sex offender registry and is serving a lifetime special supervision sentence.

Ross M. Clouse

Following the recent Fox Business debate in South Carolina, New Jersey Governor Christie returns to Iowa for a four day trip across the state. The Republican presidential candidate will host 5 town halls and visit Urbandale, Ames, Fort Dodge, Milford, Le Mars, Sioux City, and Council Bluffs.

Christie will be in Council Bluffs for a Town Hall meeting 8:30-a.m. Monday at the Village Inn, located at 2935 W. Broadway.

NJ Gov. Chris Christie

w/ Chris Parks

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A trio of area school board meetings are set to take place Monday evening. In Anita, the CAM School Board will hold a special meeting 5:30-p.m. Monday, to discuss the upcoming Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) vote. Last October, the CAM School Board passed a resolution to submit to the voters a PPEL, and in December, Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman announced the vote would be held Feb. 2nd.

In summary, Public Measure A that will be on the ballot, asks voters if the “Board of Directors of the CAM Community School District in the Counties of Cass, Adair, Adams and Audubon,”…be authorized for a period of ten (10) years, to levy annually, as determined by the Board, a voter-approved physical plant and equipment property tax levy (PPEL), not to exceed $1.34 per $1,000 of the assessed property valuation within the school district. The levy, if approved, could be used for a number of purposes, including, but not limited to: The purchase and improvement of grounds; the construction of schoolhouses or buildings and opening roads to schoolhouses or buildings the purchase, lease, or lease-purchase of a single unit of equipment or technology exceeding $500 in value.

After the Special Meeting, the CAM School Board will adjourn and enter into a Regular Session, at 6:30. During the session, they will discuss the PPEL election, conference realignment, and take possible action on an Early Retirement/Resignation Policy.

The Griswold School Board will meet at 5:30-p.m. Monday, in the Central Office at the Middle School/High School building. During the meeting, the Board will act on an APEX agreement with Glenwood, and the appointment of a New Board Director. They will also hold a Closed Session prior to adjourning, to discuss and possibly act on a Personnel matter.

In Audubon, the School Board meeting gets underway at 7-p.m. Monday in the High School Boardroom. The Board will hold the first reading of policies dealing with, among other things, Transporting Students in Private Vehicles, Purchasing and Bidding, and the care, maintenance and disposal of School District Records. They’ll also discuss the Fiscal Year 2017 School Calendar and receive information concerning Early Retirement.

One person was transported to a hospital in Omaha following a single-vehicle crash Friday afternoon in Fremont County. The Sheriff’s Office says 65-year old Jolene Fuller, of Sidney, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered incapacitating injuries and was flown to Nebraska Medicine for treatment.

The accident happened at around 3:50-p.m. in the 2000 block of 220th Street, near Percival, Iowa. Deputies discovered a 2000 Saturn SL1 was westbound on 220th Street, when Fuller to negotiate the curve and her vehicle left the roadway. The car then struck a roadside utility pole. Deputies believe a medical condition led to the crash.

Percival Fire and Rescue, Sidney Fire and Rescue, and Lifenet assisted the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office with the accident. The vehicle was a total loss.