COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Vandalism and a fire at a Council Bluffs house are being investigated as a hate crime. Firefighters were sent to the home about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, and they put out flames that had engulfed a bedroom there. No injuries were reported.

Kevin Durham and Shelly Owens were gone and their children were at school when the fire occurred. The couple say the house had been vandalized and racial slurs had been spray-painted several times on the walls. Durham is black; Owens is white.

Council Bluffs police Sgt. David Dawson confirmed that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

Voters across the State went to the polls Tuesday (9/10/13) to cast their ballots in the 2013 School Board elections. Among the area contested races:

In Cass County, incumbents Kristy Pellett and Josh McLaren were re-elected to the school board in the Atlantic Community School District. Both beat out challenger Bob Reilly for the two At Large open seats on the Board. In the Griswold District, incumbents Steve Baier and Robert Peterson were re-elected to the school board. The men defeated Denise Bridges for the two open At Large seats on the Griswold School Board. Also in Cass County, both Iowa Western Community College levy measures were overwhelmingly approved by the voters.

In Adair County,  Megan Kading, Jeff Leonard and Mark Williams were elected to the At Large seats on the Adair-Casey school board. The three won the three open At Large seats in a four way race with Tobin Muller.

In Guthrie County, Deb Douglass defeated two other challengers for the single, open seat in District 2 of the Panorama School District, and Jon Stezel beat challenger Shari Clark in District 4. The winner of the Coon Rapids-Bayard District 1 school board seat was Brenda Schlatter, who beat challenger Kelly Pevestorf 227-to 61. Chad Leighty had a somewhat closer win over challenger Steve Dentlinger in CR-B District 4, 183-to 108.

In Montgomery County, there were no contested races, but voters in the Stanton School District did pass Proposition A by 113 to 6.

In Pottawattamie County, Steve Paul Kock won a two-way race for an At Large seat on the AHST school board, and Lindsay Bentley won a three-way race for a District 5 seat in the Riverside School District. And, in the Walnut School District, Shane Brockhoff and Tom Carroll won a four-way race for two At Large seats on the Walnut School Board.

In Shelby County, the Harlan Community School Board will see no changes after elections Tuesday night. In District 2, Amy Rueschenberg defeated Robert Dickinson 252 to 12 in the only contested race. The Public Measure for the Revenue Purpose Statement for the Harlan Community School District passed 228 yes to 21 no. Sam Hansen and Eric Ramsey won a race against three other contenders for two open At Large seats on the IKM-Manning School Board.

You can see the full results on the News page on our website, at www.kjan.com. Just scroll down and look for the “Sept. 10^th 2013 School Board election results.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – An Ohio man has been arrested in Omaha after a fatal traffic accident.    Omaha police say 30-year-old Evan Shiplett, of Zanesville, Ohio, was arrested on Tuesday evening after he was released from a hospital. He is being held on one count of vehicular homicide.

Police say Shiplett was driving fast when his pickup went out of control and rolled as it left Interstate 480 in eastern Omaha on Friday evening. One of his passengers, 19-year-old Matthew Doty, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was killed. Another passenger, 18-year-old Jacob Levene, of Neola, Iowa, left the scene but was later taken to a hospital.

Jail records say Shiplett remained in custody on Wednesday morning.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press….

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Flags will be flying at half-staff to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Gov. Terry Branstad ordered all the flags at state-run buildings to be lowered Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The governor is encouraging businesses and schools to do the same as a sign of respect for the thousands of people killed in the attacks.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — More than $3.2 million in federal money has been approved for airport runway improvements in Davenport and Ankeny. Sen. Tom Harkin says the Federal Aviation Administration will give $1.8 million to the Davenport Municipal Airport to pay for reconstruction of a deteriorating runway. The FAA also will give nearly $1.4 million to the Ankeny Regional Airport to pay for the relocation of a road that will allow full use of a runway.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sportscaster Bob Costas will headline the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s annual dinner in January. The economic development organization says it strives to attract nationally recognized figures for its annual event. The dinner is the central Iowa business community’s celebration of the past year’s economic and community development successes.

WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — A 59-year-old Waterloo man is charged in connection with a head-on crash in northeast Iowa that killed a Minnesota woman. The Bremer County Sheriff’s Office says Verle Dean Wygle is charged with homicide by vehicle. The sheriff’s office says Wygle was northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 218 on July 24 when his pickup truck crashed into the woman’s van. Court records do not list an attorney.