HANLONTOWN, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say two children died in a collision between a semitrailer and a van near Hanlontown in northern Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol says 9-year-old Cassidy Stehn, of Northwood, and 12-year-old Hana Riedinger, of Kensett, died in the crash Tuesday. The Globe Gazette in Mason City (http://bit.ly/Mh14fd ) says four other youngsters and the driver of the van in which the girls were riding in were injured. 
 
ANKENY, Iowa (AP) – Fire officials say a bottle under pressure exploded in a lab and may have exposed a worker to vapors at a Monsanto Co. facility in Ankeny. The Des Moines Register (http://dmreg.co/LG7cO ) says the bottle was under high pressure during a chemical process when the incident happened Tuesday afternoon. Ankeny Fire Chief Rex Mundt couldn’t immediately say what chemicals it contained.
 
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state worker’s union has filed a complaint against Gov. Terry Branstad over asking workers to pay part of their health care premiums. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a complaint with the Iowa Public Employee Relations Board on Tuesday. The complaint says health insurance is covered under collective bargaining laws and the governor is prohibited from approaching workers about making changes.
 
WASHINGTON (AP) – Authorities say the chief of an Iowa-based brokerage firm where millions of dollars have vanished left a suicide note that prompted them to notify the FBI. Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson said the founder and chairman of Peregrine Financial Group was found Monday in his car outside company headquarters. A day after Russell Wasendorf Sr.’s apparent suicide attempt, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed civil fraud charges against the firm, accusing it and Wasendorf of misusing customer funds and failing to keep them separate from company money.