(Story County, Iowa) – One person died and two others were injured, Friday evening, when an ATV and a pickup truck collided head-on, southwest of Cambridge, in Central Iowa. According to the State Patrol, a 2022 Polaris ATV operated by 29-year-old  Spencer Alan Pote, of Maxwell, was traveling south on 570th Street at around 6:45-p.m.  A 2003 Ford F-150 pickup driven by 17-year old Chase Thomas Kratz, of Ames, was traveling north on 570th.

The Patrol says due to the dust cloud from a previous, non-contact vehicle, the vision of both drivers was obstructed, resulting in the collision. Spencer Pote died at the scene. Kratz, and a passenger in one of the vehicles, 37-year-old Travis Scott Petersen, of Nevada, were injured in the crash. Both were transported to Mercy Hospital, with Peterson taken by medical helicopter, and Kratz transported by Story County Rescue.

The accident remains under investigation.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A Council Bluffs Police Officer on Patrol Friday afternoon in the area of S. 16th Street & 3rd Avenue, observed a stolen 2008 Porsche Cayenne SUV with Nebraska license plates. The vehicle accelerated and rammed the front end of the police cruiser before continuing southbound. A short chase ended when the suspect, 41-year-old Steven Dale Bascue, of Council Bluffs, lost control of the SUV. The vehicle struck a 2011 Ford F-150 at S. 21st & W. Broadway. The driver of the Ford complained of pain but refused medical attention.

Steve Dale Bascue

Bascue bailed out of the Porsche and ran on foot for a short while before being apprehended. Bascue faces numerous charges, including Felony Assault and Theft in the 1st Degree.

(Harlan, Iowa) –  The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports they will be hosting a Defensive Tactics Class on Tuesday August 9th, 2022, from 3:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M., at the Harlan Community High School wrestling room. The target audience for this training will be high school to college age women. The class is free.

Authorities will offer similar training which will be more community focused in the future but at this time would like to focus on this age group. Any female within this age group is invited to join in this event. Participants will be asked to sign a waiver prior to the start of class. Any participant under the age of 18 will need a guardian to sign the waiver upon arrival. Pre-registration is not required. 

Participants are asked to wear clean athletic clothing and socks as shoes will not be allowed on the mats. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says “We look forward to being able to bring this class to the young women of our community in hopes it helps keep you safe.”

This is what the waiver looks like

(Modale, Iowa) – Deputies in Harrison County who were searching for a man wanted on outstanding warrants from Council Bluffs and Omaha, found their man, but he wasn’t arrested without incident, Thursday evening.  Harrison County Sheriff Brandon Doiel reports Deputies arrived at a residence in Modale at around 7:49-p.m., acting on a tip 29-year-old Lucas Sales would be there. As they arrived, Sales was seen in the driver’s seat of a car that was in the driveway of the residence.

As a Deputy approached the vehicle on foot, Sales immediately attempted to elude law enforcement, and struck the Deputy with his vehicle, causing minor injuries to the Deputy. A vehicle pursuit began, with Sales traveling through the City Limits of Modale and then westbound on 270th Street.

Lucas Sales (Harrison County S/O photo)

The pursuit traveled down several rural gravel roads northwest of Modale, and eventually entered back into the City Limits of Modale, and continuing southbound on Austin Avenue. The Iowa State Patrol arrived at that time and assisted in the chase. It was about then, that Sales allegedly displayed a handgun and began firing several rounds at pursuing law enforcement officers (None of the officers were hit). Sales eventually lost control of the 2006 Subaru Impreza he was driving.

After the vehicle entered the south ditch at the intersection of Austin Avenue and Highway 30, Sales was taken into custody without further incident. He suffered minor injuries resulting from the accident, and was transported to CHI Missouri Valley Hospital for treatment, and once medically released, was transported to the Harrison County Jail. Lucas Sales was being held on a $35,000 bond on charges that include: Assault with a Deadly Weapon; Attempt to Commit Murder; Eluding Law Enforcement, and Reckless Driving Violations.

Agencies assisting during the incident include: The Iowa State Patrol; Modale 1st Responders; Missouri Valley Rescue and Mondamin Rescue.

(Radio Iowa) – Negotiators with the United Steelworkers have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract for 950 workers at the Bridgestone-Firestone factory in Des Moines. Bridgestone-Firestone makes tires for tractors and farm implements. The current contract for four-thousand workers at the company’s factories in Iowa and four other states expired at 11 last night (Thursday night).

Employees are still at work and union members will vote on the new contract proposal soon. A statement posted on the United Steelworkers’ Facebook page doesn’t share details, but said there are solid breakthroughs and significant gains in the contract offer.

(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says she opposed the bill that provides federal subsidies to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. for a number of reasons. Hinson and other Republicans who voted “no” on the bill say it could wind up supporting U.S. companies that do business in China.  “The final product really was a gigantic corporate subsidy that not only will help fan the flames of inflation, but it will support our adversaries there through that loophole and drag our economy down,” Hinson says. “…I’m hopeful we will take back the House. We have another package that we are working on and hope to bring to the floor in the new congress.”

Two dozen House Republicans voted for the bill, but Hinson and the two other Republicans from Iowa voted against it.  “As is often the case here in Washington, D.C. with these massive packages, the way I saw this, the final product that we voted on strayed far from the original intent of the legislation,” Hinson says. Hinson’s General Election opponent, Democrat Liz Mathis of Hiawatha, says Hinson voted to continue our dependence on China rather than invest in manufacturing jobs here at home.

Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines supported the bill. Axne says semiconductor chips are critical to the production of cars, computers, and other electronic goods and boosting U.S. production will address shortages and end reliance on China for the chips.

(Radio Iowa) – Saturday is “World Day Against Human Trafficking” and one of the efforts in Iowa to raise awareness involved training the drivers of the big rigs to spot trafficking. Sergeant Joe Nickell Sergeant with the D-O-T’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement division helps with the training. “Back in 2013, we began this this awareness campaign with a group called “Truckers Against Trafficking,” and their goal is to train all truck drivers what human trafficking looked like, just with the idea that they’re out there on the highway system more than anyone, and I see more than anyone saying make those reports,” Nickell says. He says truckers are a great resource for information on what’s happening on the highway.

“They eyes and ears the road, and they definitely know what’s out there. And law enforcement, we look for the abnormal — we know what the normal looks like — so we’re looking for the abnormal and that’s the way they educated them to look for something that just looks different,” he says. Nickell says the drivers and industry has been very receptive of their “Truckers Against Trafficking,” or TAT training. “These these folks are highly motivated to make the reports, there’s just certain certain crimes I think we can all get behind. And this is one that they’re excited to be that everyday hero, it’s called and make that phone call,” according to Nickell.

“So since since we started, TAT, one-point-three million have been have been TAT trained going through their certification process. And we have facilitated more than 40-thousand truck drivers here in Iowa in the training.” Nickell and others says it’s important for everyone to learn the signs of human trafficking, because it can happen to anyone of any age.

You can go to the Department of Public Safety website to find out more . You are also asked to give them a tip if you see something that doesn’t look right. You can call toll free at: 888-373-7888 to give a tip. Or you can go to the D-P-S website: stophtiowa.org to make a report, or find out more about training.

(Radio Iowa) – The House Ethics Committee has unanimously voted to dismiss a complaint against Congresswoman Cindy Axne after concluding there’s no clear evidence Axne made willful errors on financial disclosures. Last year a watchdog group accused Axne and six other House members of failing to report stock trades. Axne says she and her husband leave their investment decisions to account managers and didn’t make any stock trades themselves — and Axne didn’t realize she was to file public .reports about any of that account activity.

Axne has hired a lawyer to file the reports about her investment accounts. Axne has signed onto the effort to ban members of congress from directly executing their own stock trades.