Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested an Anita Man on Oct. 17th. Authorities said Monday (today), 46-year old Bradley Leo Ranney, of Anita, was arrested on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Ranney was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $2,000 bond.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, today (Monday), released an arrest and accident report. Officials say 34-year old Collen Lynn Salmons, of Malvern, was arrested Sunday night for Contributing Alcohol to a Minor. Her bond was set at $1,000.

And, one person was injured during an accident Saturday morning at 221st Street and Kane Avenue, in Mills County. Authorities say Samantha Wilson, of Glenwood, was driving a 1995 Oldsmobile northbound on 221st Street at around 9:30-a.m., and approaching the railroad over pass bridge. Wilson told authorities When she swerved to miss a deer in the roadway, her vehicle crossed the center line into the southbound lane of traffic before hitting the west side of a bridge. The car then crossed back over into the northbound lane of traffic and struck the east side of the bridge before coming to rest. Wilson was transported by Pacific Junction Rescue to Mercy Hospital.

The other accident happened Friday afternoon, as Larry Diamond, of Council Bluffs, was driving a 2012 Ford eastbound coming into Iowa, on the Bellevue Bridge. Diamond’s vehicle made contact with a vehicle driven by Kyle Kruse, with both vehicles’ side view mirrors impacting each other. Both drivers stopped on opposite sides of the bridge waiting for each other to come back to their side of the bridge.

Diamond suffered a laceration to his hand during the accident and left the scene for about 20-minutes to seek medical attention. The Sheriff’s Office says both drivers were on the yellow center line, and were equally at fault.

Police in Council Bluffs, Monday (today), identified the driver of a vehicle involved in a fiery crash Friday night. Authorities say 34-year old Habib A. Ibrahim, of Omaha, remains in critical condition at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha.

The accident happened at around 8:10-p.m. Friday on Interstate 29 southbound near the 53.5 mile marker. When officers arrived on the scene, they found flames coming from the vehicle and Ibrahim was still inside.

Council Bluffs Fire personnel were able to extinguish the flames and remove the man from the vehicle. He was the only person involved in the crash. Officials have not yet determined the cause of the accident. Anyone who may have witnessed the accident is asked to contact the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Traffic Unit at (712)328-4948.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad is creating a special division in Iowa’s public defender’s office that will focus on wrongful convictions. Branstad and State Public Defender Adam Gregg announced the new division today (Monday). The division will initially review cases that used flawed hair analysis testimony.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department and FBI announced that nearly every examiner in the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants for more than 20 years before 2000.

Gregg says that announcement was a motivation for creating the division. The state has hired Audrey McGinn, who previously worked for the California Innocence Project, to head the division. She will work with the Iowa Innocence Project and the Midwest Innocence Project.

Montgomery County Auditor Stephanie Burke says Montgomery County will be hosting a Red Oak Chamber Coffee at the Courthouse, 105 E Coolbaugh, Red Oak on Wednesday, October 28th, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Burke says there is a possibility that there will be a quorum, but no official county business will be acted upon during that time.