A Pottawattamie County man facing a first degree murder charge is set to appear in court early this afternoon, for his arraignment hearing. The hearing for 63-year old Robert Arthur Reynolds, Jr., is set to begin at 1:30-p.m. in Pottawattamie County District Court.  His jury trial is scheduled to start July 1st.

Reynolds Jr., is accused of fatally shooting 64-year old rural Cass County resident Patricia Kinkade-Dorsey during the early morning hours of April 8th. The incident occurred in Reynolds’ Oakland home.
Reynolds later admitted to authorities he had a verbal confrontation with Kinkade-Dorsey and later to shooting the unarmed woman multiple times, causing her death.

(With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson)

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One person was killed during a single-vehicle accident early this (Monday) morning, in the 1700 block of North 16th Street, in Council Bluffs. Police in Council Bluffs say 72-year old Willie Donald, of Council Bluffs, died at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Authorities say Donald was traveling south in the northbound lanes of North 16th Street at around 12:40-a.m., when his vehicle entered a construction area and collided with a heavy construction vehicle.

The accident remains under investigation.

Damage assessment teams were scheduled to arrive in Guthrie and Dallas Counties this (Monday) morning, to try and determine whether extensive storm damage was caused by straight-line winds or a tornado.

Buildings were damaged by a storm that roared through the Lake Panorama area near Panora, in Guthrie County. Authorities say at least eight condominiums at the lake were damaged Sunday night, but no injuries were reported. One man who took shelter in a condo bathroom was found unharmed. If it’s determined a tornado resulted in the damage, the twister will be given a rating based on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

The severe thunderstorms that impacted western Iowa late Sunday evening and overnight, began Sunday afternoon in south-central Nebraska. They took about three-hours to move into the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro area, but during that time frame they brought several tornadoes, hail and heavy rain, and left thousands without power. Homes and businesses were damaged in at least four Nebraska towns. The storms also left nearly 17,000 Nebraska utility customers without electricity Sunday evening. By the time the initial storms reached Omaha, the storms still produced winds over 70 mph and heavy winds, with radar indicated but no official sightings of tornadoes.

The storms crossed into western Iowa by 7-p.m., resulted in the first warnings for severe weather in Pottawattamie and Mills Counties. As they spread across southwest and western Iowa, the storms left baseball-sized hail in Fremont County, and brought 60-mile per hour winds to an area just east of Marne. The storms also dumped rain ranging from just under 1.5-inches in Shenandoah to as much as 3.5-to 4-inches in the Avoca and Lewis areas.

The area last storm warning was for Flash Flooding in Adair County. It was issued today (Monday) at 12:30-a.m.

Here’s a list of the damage and storm reports in the chronological order they took place, as received by the NWS.:

11:05-p.m. Thunderstorm wind damage 2 miles nw of Panora: Outbuilding destroyed, roof thrown 40-yards.

10:38-p.m. 3-miles NE of Yale in Guthrie County: Large tree snapped in-half.

10:30-p.m. 2 miles s of Red Oak, golf ball-sized hail.

10:22-p.m. Rainfall in Atlantic since 7-a.m Sunday 1.6-inches. (24-hour total as of 7-am Monday was 2.18″.)

10:10-p.m. Thunderstorm wind damage in Panora: structural damage to a home at Lake Panorama & possible damage between Yale and Panora.

10:00-p.m. Half-dollar sized hail in Randolph (Fremont County)

9:55-p.m. T-storm wind damage 2 miles w/nw of Panora: 2 1/2′ diameter trees uprooted; dock destroyed; numerous trees down.; funnel cloud spotted 3 miles nw of Panora at the same time.

9:45-p.m.  Baseball-sized hail 2 miles west of Thurman in Fremont County

9:42-p.m. Golf ball-sized hail 2 miles west of Thurman

9:40-p.m. Quarter-sized hail 6 miles w/sw of Thurman.

9:26-p.m. Street flooding reported in Atlantic

8:58-p.m. 60-mph thunderstorm wind gust 1 mile w/nw of Marne in Cass County.

8:15-p.m.  4.10″ of rain reported by a trained weather service spotter in Griswold.

Two people were arrested early this (Monday) morning on separate charges, in Red Oak. Police officials say at around 12:30-a.m., officers with the Red Oak P-D arrested 33-year old Luke Daniel Rinehart, of Red Oak. Rinehart was taken into custody on a charge of Breach of Peace in the 300 block of 2nd Avenue. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 cash bond.

And at around 12:35-a.m., officers with the Red Oak P-D arrested 21-year old Bradina Sky Gary, of Red Oak, on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault. The woman was taken into custody at an apartment in the 1800 block of East Summit Street. Bradina Gary was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Authorities say an investigation is underway into a property damage accident that happened Saturday night in Adair County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 1999 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 23-year old Stephen Mages, of Panama, was traveling east on Interstate 80 near the Stuart exit, when a 2008 Toyota SUV operated by 35-year old Dax Wedeneyer, of West Des Moines, that parked on the shoulder, attempted to make a U-turn and struck the pickup.

No injuries were reported. The accident happened at around 10:35-p.m.

TORNADO WATCH 145 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 300 AM CDT MONDAY, MAY 12th FOR THE
FOLLOWING IOWA COUNTIES in the KJAN listening area:

ADAIR ADAMS AUDUBON CASS CRAWFORD DALLAS GUTHRIE MADISON RINGGOLD SAC TAYLOR UNION.

305 PM CDT SUN MAY 11 2014

CASS- AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-ADAIR-ADAMS-CARROLL-CRAWFORD- MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-UNION-PAGE COUNTIES…

…FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH 7-A.M. MONDAY…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF IOWA AND NEBRASKA  THROUGH MONDAY MORNING.

* HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL MOISTURE CONTENT COMBINED WITH OCCASIONAL PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS WILL RESULT IN AREAS OF FLASH FLOODING INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION

SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.

NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK; 220 PM CDT SUN MAY 11 2014

TORNADO WATCH 142 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

IOWA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE:

ADAIR ADAMS AUDUBON CASS FREMONT HARRISON MILLS MONTGOMERY PAGE POTTAWATTAMIE RINGGOLD SHELBY TAYLOR UNION