No injuries were reported following a collision Saturday morning in Massena, between a pickup and a car. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says the accident happened at around 8:20-a.m., at Main and 5^th Streets in Massena.

Officials say a 2006 Ford F350 pickup owned and driven by 38-year old Tammi Jo Schulz, of Elk Horn, was backing southbound on Main Street when her vehicle was hit by a 2009 Ford Taurus owned and driven by 68-year old Nancy Kaye Erickson, of Massena. The accident happened as Erickson was attempting a right turn onto Main Street,  and failed to see Schulz backing up.

Damage from the accident amounted to $3,500.  No citations were issued.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Sunday, of 25-year old Jesse Cavin Meier, from  Lewis. Meier was taken into custody on a charge of OWI 2^nd Offense, and was being held in the Cass County Jail on $2,500 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Some Iowa home buyers may be eligible for a program that will reduce their federal tax burden.  Gov. Terry Branstad announced Monday the state is offering a mortgage credit certificate program that will reduce federal income taxes for qualifying home buyers. The relief could be as much as $2,000 a year for the duration of the mortgage.

The program is available to first time homebuyers, those buying in certain targeted areas and some military veterans. It is funded through federal bonds and the state expects to provide relief to about 1,000 home buyers.  A spokeswoman for the Iowa Finance Authority, which is administering the program, says this tax program has not been offered to Iowans since the mid-1990s.

The “Antique City” of Walnut will be prominently featured during a nationally aired program this (Monday) evening on Public Television. Dave Bradley, Owner of Corn Country Antiques in Walnut, says the producers and crew with the “Market Warriors” program on PBS paid a visit to Walnut last June, during the annual AMVET’s Antique Walk.

The “Market Warriors” antique experts come to Walnut for a taping of the show.

The one-hour program features four experts on antiques who criss-cross the country, in search of items to buy at flea markets and antique shows, and then sell everything at auction. Bradley says their goal, is to score the biggest profit in each show’s final auction segment. He says they have a certain amount of dollars to spend, and target items to try and find…kind of like a scavenger hunt.

The experts don’t actually “pocket” the profits. Instead, it just goes back into the production efforts of the program. Bradley says it also shows “No matter how smart you are, you don’t always make money,” when it comes to buying and selling antiques.

The experts filmed a segment of the show in his store. The piece was about an 1830’s clock. Bradley says he won’t know for sure whether the piece made to final editing until the show airs.

There’s a preview of tonight’s program on the web at www.pbs.org. You can also watch the show later, if you miss the episode of Market Warriors, tonight. Bradley says the producers selected Walnut because of their AMVETS show. He says the AMVETS show is one of the best in the country. They do an excellent job of filtering out the non-antique items, which is something the “purists” enjoy and appreciate.

Bradley says the City, businesses and organizations worked to make sure the cast and crew had everything they needed in-place, before they arrived and started shooting the show, including location, power and food. Bradley says PBS brought about 25 people to the town for the program, along with numerous pieces of production-related equipment. He says there was no pre-production public announcement of the shoot, to try and keep things as normal as possible. Bradley says they taped tonight’s show with four crews, each of whom spent 10- to 12-hours in the community.

Tonight’s program featuring Walnut airs at 8-p.m. local time, right after the “Antiques Roadshow.”

The Audubon Chamber of Commerce and Audubon County Economic Development (ACED) groups held their joint banquet and recognition program, Saturday evening, in Audubon. During the event, which was held at the St. Patrick’s Parish Center, the gavel was passed from Chamber President Carrie Hansen to the former Vice-President, and current President Elect, Trish Nielsen, and, new directors were named for 2013. They include Dr. Tom Hansen, Tracey Armentrout, Shelby Jensen, and Val Chambers.

During the awards and recognition portion of the evening, the Citizen of the Year award went to Patricia “Pat” Curtis, who returned to Audubon after a long career of teaching, and has been a business owner in Audubon, since 1991. Curtis was lauded for her efforts at writing and co-writing lucrative grants for the City Park Stage, Albert the Bull, Trees Forever and many more projects. She’s been described by many, as the “Ambassador of Audubon.”

Audubon’s Junior Citizen of the Year award was presented to Andrew Hoffman, a Senior at the Audubon High School. Andrew was said to be an outstanding student and student leader, very active in his community, sports, and academic activities. In addition, the Audubon Community School District received the 2012 Community Appreciation Award, for being recognized as One of the Top Small Employers in Iowa, by the Des Moines Register.

The award recognition came after Workplace Dynamics conducted a survey of employees at various places of work in Iowa, where there were 35 employees or more. The results were published in the Sept. 23^rd, 2012 edition of the Register, with the Audubon Community Schools ranked 24^th in the small employers division (35-to 149 employees). The district was founded in 1900 and has 70 employees, with two new staffers hired last year.

The ACED also recognized numerous businesses in the County during the Saturday evening event.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Missouri River has received a special blessing from an Iowa church that hopes the ceremony will make the river holy and reduce flooding and drought.  The Sioux City Journal reports Father Lucas Rice led a group of congregants from St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Sioux City in the ceremony on Sunday.

In 2012, communities all along the river in Iowa and Nebraska experienced severe drought. The year before, flooding along the Missouri caused widespread damage.  Rice says he hopes the blessing will make the river healthy. The ceremony held at the foot of a boat ramp is also part of the Orthodox tradition of celebrating Jesus Christ’s baptism.  But Sunday’s ceremony marked the first time the Sioux City church that was formed in 1916 blessed the Missouri River.

(9-a.m. News)

There were Iowa connections to the weekend standoff in Aurora, Colorado, that claimed the lives of four people, including the gunman. One of the victims in the incident has been identified as Stacie Philbrook and an individual who escaped the shooting was Stephanie Philbrook Archuleta. They are the daughters of Greg Philbrook of Kamrar in Hamilton County.

Relatives say Philbrook Archuleta is okay after the ordeal that happened at about 3:00 Saturday morning. Aurora police have not yet released the name of the gunman. A SWAT team stormed the town home five hours later. As they entered the home, the team discovered the bodies of Stacie Philbrook and the three other individuals. The incident remains under investigation.

(Pat Powers/Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Public Safety is asking for the public’s help in finding two Council Bluffs women. Nineteen-year-old Sakadee Donyen and 25-year-old Amra Dupanovic were reported to the agency as missing persons on Sunday. Authorities have not released any other details about the circumstances of their disappearance or if the two cases are even related. No photos of the women are immediately available. Donyen is described as a black woman five foot three inches tall, weighing 165 pounds. Dupanovic is described as a black woman five feet nine inches tall, weighing 190 pounds. Authorities advise anyone who might see either individual to not take any action, other than taking note of relevant information and immediately contacting the Iowa Department of Public Safety at 800-346-5507.

(Chuck Morris/Radio Iowa)