One person was injured during a collision Thursday afternoon between two pickup trucks in Adams County. The Iowa State Patrol says 72-year old Donald Hardisty, of Corning, who was wearing a seat belt, was transported by Adams County Rescue to Alegent Creighton Health/Mercy Hospital in Corning, after the 1993 Ford Ranger he was driving crashed into a 1993 Ford F-350, driven by 21-year old Shayne Larson, of Red Oak. The accident happened just before 3-p.m., at the intersection of 150th Street and Corning-Carl Road.

The Patrol says Larson was traveling west on 150th and had come to a complete stop at the intersection, before pulling out into the path of Hardisty’s pickup. Hardistry swerved to avoid a collision but his smaller truck was struck by Larson’s larger pickup. Hardisty’s vehicle entered the west ditch and rolled over before coming to rest.

Corning Fire and Rescue and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.

One Nebraska resident was killed and another injured during a crash Thursday between a van and a semi northwest of the Lewis and Clark State Park, in Monona County. The Iowa State Patrol said the driver of the van, 26-year old Raetahne Thomas, of Walthill, NE, died following the crash that happened on Cherry Avenue, just south of County road K-42. Authorities say she was not wearing a seat belt. The driver of the semi, 43-year old Ricky Kellog, of Tekamah, NE, was transported by Onawa Rescue to Burgess Hospital, where he was treated and released.

The Patrol says Thomas’ 2001 Oldsmobile van was traveling north on Cherry Avenue at around 2:50-p.m., as a 1985 Mack semi driven by Kellog, was traveling south. The vehicles sideswiped each other as they rounded a curve. Thomas’ van came to rest in the ditch, while the semi rolled over and came to rest on the road. Thomas was transported to Burgess Hospital, where she died from her injuries.

The Iowa Department of Transportation is seeking public input into the development of a new statewide plan for bicycle and pedestrian transportation at six public input meetings and online. One of the meetings will be held in Atlantic. The Iowa DOT says it is committed to expanding opportunities and further improving conditions for bicycling and walking across the state. Officials say the new Bicycle and Pedestrian Long-Range Plan is a major step forward for the effort.

The plan will build upon the Iowa DOT’s long-range strategy for multimodal transportation over the next three decades, Iowa in Motion – Planning Ahead 2040. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Long-Range Plan has three key objectives: • Align with national best practices, including the federal transportation funding bill called Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) and national guidelines for trail development. • Develop a list of priorities to expand the trails system between and within cities. Help state and local agencies to put the plan in place by providing tools for funding and design.

Upon its completion, the plan will serve as the primary guide for statewide decision-making regarding bicycle and pedestrian programs and facilities, including sidewalks, trails, bike lanes, paved shoulders, and other trail elements. It will also help achieve a better level of statewide coordination and continuity for all levels of bicycle and pedestrian mobility through regional, county, and city plans and programs.

In addition, the plan will serve an important role in improving safety for all road users, reducing crashes, and bringing Iowa closer to achieving the goal of zero fatalities on Iowa’s roadways. A primary goal of the project is to engage citizens during the development of the plan. If you would like to be involved, plan to attend one of the initial public meetings. In southwest Iowa, a meeting will be held Monday, Nov. 25th, from 5 to 7 p.m.  at the Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 4 Office 2210 E. Seventh St., in  Atlantic.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Sioux City are investigating reports of a man who allegedly posed as a law enforcement officer and fondled a girl. Sioux City police say a man approached two girls as they were leaving a neighborhood store on Sunday. The girls say the man displayed a police badge and identified himself as an officer.

Police say the man told the girls that they were suspects in a store theft. He then allegedly reached out and fondled one of the girls before they ran away. Investigators are treating the incident as an attempted abduction. They believe there may be more victims because of the nature of the case.

The only woman running for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat routinely talks about her pistol and her past experience in castrating farm animals, part of what a University of Iowa political science professor calls a “subtle effort” from Joni Ernst to prove she can go toe-to-toe with the power brokers in D.C.

Joni Ernst of Red Oak stresses her experiences as a soldier in the National Guard. “As someone who has commanded brave Iowans in a combat zone, I know the demands we place upon our men and women in uniform,” Ernst tells Iowa audiences. She touts her status as a member of the Iowa Senate. “I am the only one here on this stage who has stood up against ObamaCare. I voted no,” Ernst said this past Thursday during a forum with the five other male candidate. “…I want to continue that fight in Washington, D.C.” And Ernst talks about being a mother and grandmother. “And as a farmer’s daughter who grew up in southwest Iowa castrating pigs with her dad, I can go to Washington and cut pork,” Ernst says during appearances on the campaign trail.

University of Iowa political science professor Tim Hagle says as a farm kid himself, he laughs “pretty hard” at that, but Hagle sees the serious message behind the comment, too. “Saying, ‘Hey, I’m not some frilly kind of a person. I can hang tough with the boys in congress,'” Hagle says. Dianne Bystrom, the director of the Iowa State University Center for Women and Politics, has done research on the campaign ads of U.S. Senate candidates from 1992 to 2012. Bystrom found the “tough, but caring” strategy was common among female candidates.

“Survey research shows that voters’ question about women candidates is: ‘Are they tough enough for the job?’ Bystrom says, “so you very often see women trying to prove in various ways how tough they are.” In states like Iowa with rural populations, Bystrom has found female candidates for the U.S. Senate have emphasized farm and ranching experience and their comfort with guns to illustrate their toughness. “It’s a strategy that we’ve seen not only with Republican candidates, but also with Democratic candidates,” Bystrom says.

In Iowa, Democrats nominated women candidates for the U.S. Senate in 1992 and 2012. The University of Iowa’s Hagle says Democrats in Iowa have been more likely to tout the idea of electing a woman to congress, so Ernst seems to be taking the “subtle” approach. “By and large, women Republican candidates probably don’t want to make that gender-based argument as directly,” Hagle says, “and so, in a sense, maybe this is a way to do that and kind of let people know that, ‘Hey, I’m running and I want to get out there and mix it up with the guys in the senate.” Men far outnumber women in the U.S. Senate. Eighty senators are male and 20 are female.

(Radio Iowa)

The court case involving the City of Shelby and the driver who struck and killed a Shelby Firefighter has been dismissed. Online court documents state the lawsuit with David Thies who was suing the city of Shelby was dismissed Wednesday by Judge Robert Rodenburg, in Pottawattamie County district court.

Thies was seeking $5,000 from the city after claiming Shelby Firefighter Michael Collins was under the influence of THC when he stepped into traffic on September 18th, 2011. The 41 year old volunteer firefighter was directing traffic on I-80 following an accident around 6:50pm two years ago.

Thies was traveling on the Interstate and went around the stopped vehicles and hit Collins in the left lane. No criminal charges were filed against Thies but he was charged with driving without proper registration. The accident report from the Iowa State Patrol reported Collins received oxymorphone (a narcotic pain reliever) from someone who had a prescription.

In his order dismissing the case, Judge Robert Rodenburg wrote Thies “failed to maintain a proper lookout, and failed to maintain control of his vehicle” before striking Collins. He said also that Thies also did not see an emergency sign alerting motorists to the crash scene, and, that Thies failed to present any evidence that the drugs in the firefighter’s system impaired him that evening.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety report positive identification has been made on the skeletal remains discovered on October 11th along the I-480 bridge in Council Bluffs.  The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation worked in association with the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office, who used known dental records to identify the remains as 21 year old Chance Fletcher of Omaha.

Fletcher was last seen alive on December 15, 2011, by area law enforcement during the course of a police pursuit.  Fletcher was driving in a stolen car when a Carter Lake officer attempted to pull him over.  Eventually the chase ended in Council Bluffs, near the I-480 bridge, after Fletcher wrecked the car he was in and escaped on foot.  Officers with Council Bluffs Police Department, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, and the Omaha Police Department assisted in the search for Fletcher that evening with no success.

The Omaha Police Department’s Missing Person’s Unit was investigating cold cases when they coordinated a search of the area on October 11th, with the assistance of the Council Bluffs Police Department.  The discovery of the skeletal remains were located in a drainage ditch on the south side of the I-480 bridge, an area adjacent to the location Fletcher was last seen running from almost 2 years ago.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was requested to investigate the discovery of the remains and death investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Department as local law enforcement was the last to have contact with Fletcher during the course of the pursuit and his escape that evening.  Assistance was provided by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Omaha Police Department, the Pottawattamie County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office.

It was another remarkable year for area Relay For Life committees. The American Cancer Society has released their final numbers for the 2013 fundraising year. The per capita amount is based on money raised and the population of a county. In the state of Iowa, the per capita is around $2 and the national average is $1.25. Cass County raised $76,313 and had a per capita of $5.55.

The Shelby County Relay for Life raised a new record of just over $130,520. The county had a per capita of $10.92. Carroll County raised just under $260,730, with a per capita of $12.61. Crawford County raised nearly $100,396, with $6.12 per capita. The figures from Audubon County were not given.

In addition to the County totals, team totals were also announced. Shelby County had 8 teams raise over $5,000.  Crawford County had 4 teams raise over $5,000, Carroll County 11 and Cass with one.

The American Cancer Society reports with the money raised from Relay For Life events in the Country, 16,500 cancer survivors were given rides to treatment last year, 1 million people were assisted by their free 800 number and 89,000 people were helped by ACS patient navigators on understanding their diagnosis and find the help the patient needed.

Since 1946, the ACS has invested more than $3.9 billion in cancer research that has helped many breakthroughs including establishing a link between obesity and multiple cancers and different treatments. Every year, more than 4 million people come together at Relay for Life events around the world to support the American Cancer Society and help finish the fight against cancer.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)