SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Police say a worker has died in a northwestern Iowa transportation hub accident. The Sioux City Journal reports that the incident happened shortly before noon Wednesday at the Big Soo Terminal in Sioux City.
Police Lieutenant Mark Kirkpatrick says a worker was crushed as he attempted to move train cars and that the death is being treated as an accident.

Kirkpatrick says officers were still investigating the incident Wednesday afternoon.
The name of the worker killed has not been released.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Page County, this (Wednesday) afternoon, arrested 60-year old  Randall Allen Snow, of Shenandoah, on an Atchison County, Missouri, Felony Warrant for possession of a controlled substance (cannabis) and other misdemeanors.  Snow was arrested in Shenandoah.

He was transported to the Page County Jail and held on $5,000 bond and while awaiting extradition to Atchison County Missouri. The Shenandoah Police Department assisted the Page County Sheriff’s Office on the arrest.

Governor Kim Reynolds has signed 23 bills into law today, including a bill that makes about 25 million dollars in cuts to the CURRENT year’s state budget. The governor’s action triggers a reaction through much of state government. Spending must be trimmed in the three months that remain in the current state budget year. The state universities in Ames and Iowa City are hardest hit. Legislators approved about 11 million dollars in cuts to the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.

Brenna Smith, a spokeswoman for Governor Reynolds, issued a statement, saying Reynolds “is pleased to balance the state’s budget and will continue her work to unleash opportunities for all Iowans.” The cuts are necessary to avoid a state budget deficit. State tax collections, while increasing, are not growing as quickly as expected when the budget plan was created a year ago.

The state’s prison system must cut three-point-four million before June 30th. The Department of Human Services must reduce it’s budget by more than four million dollars. Reynolds previously has said state agencies have been on notice for months that the cuts were coming and her top administrators have been planning for these reductions.

Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price issued a written statement, saying the bill shows the “Reynolds budget crisis” has hit “full bloom.” Price said the bill “sends a very clear message that they only value tax cuts for the wealthy and don’t care about leaving working Iowans behind.”

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The State Court Administrator in Iowa has ordered an independent investigation of a retired judge who admitted that he allowed the attorney on the winning side to ghost-write opinions in at least 200 cases.

Administrator Todd Nuccio issued Wednesday an administrative directive appointing a senior judge and a retired court administrator to review allegations that retired northwest Iowa judge Edward Jacobson requested opinions from attorneys on one side of cases without the knowledge of the other side. The directive says a report with recommendations is due June 2.

Jacobson shocked the legal community in November by admitting in a deposition that he allowed the ghost writing repeatedly in his 16 years on the bench. Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady admonished judges and attorneys to avoid such one-sided communications. Jacobson declined to comment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lottery players could have a chance of winning the nation’s 10th largest lottery prize, as the Mega Millions estimated jackpot climbs to $502 million. The Friday night drawing will offer players a chance to spend $2 and dream of beating the staggering odds of 302.5 million to one and winning the big prize. Jackpot winners must match all six numbers in a drawing.

The $502 million prize is the annuity option, in which a sole winner is paid over 29 years. A winner opting for the cash prize would take home $301 million, minus state and federal taxes. No one has won the Mega Millions jackpot since January. Mega Millions is one of two national lottery games. It’s played in 44 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

An accident early this afternoon in Cass County has resulted in injuries to two people. According to dispatch reports, the accident occurred at around 12:25-p.m. on Interstate 80 eastbound, near mile-marker 64. One person suffered from a head laceration and complained of rib, knee and other pain. A second person suffered from knee, and other unknown injuries. Traffic in the area is running slow as of 12:45-p.m.

No other details were immediately available.

(CLARINDA) – A correctional officer was assaulted by an inmate at the Clarinda Correctional Facility in Clarinda, at approximately 5:00 p.m. in the evening on Tuesday, March 27th.  The correctional officer, along with another officer that was present, was attempting to gain compliance from an inmate that was failing to follow directives when the inmate unexpectedly kicked towards the officer. The officer deployed OC spray (pepper spray) towards the inmate at this time, but the inmate was able to strike the officer in the face with a closed fist. After the officer delivered another application of OC spray, the inmate wrestled the officer to the ground where the officer then used a restraining technique to gain control of the inmate until additional officers responded to assist.

The correctional officer was seen by facility health services and was found to have sustained scratches and bruises from the incident. The officer stayed on duty and completed his shift. The incident remains under investigation.

A semi tractor-trailer driver from northwest Iowa was injured during an accident this (Wednesday) morning, in Monona County. The Iowa State Patrol says 48-year old Kenneth Patton, of Milford, was transported by Onawa EMS to Burgess Hospital in Onawa, after the 2019 Volvo he was driving rolled onto its right side. Officials say the rig was traveling south on I-29 at around 5:45-a.m., when for reasons unknown, it left the southbound lanes and crossed the median before entering the northbound lanes traveling south, and then rolling onto its passenger side. The semi came to rest blocking both northbound lanes.

The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by Onawa Fire And Rescue, Whiting Police, the Monona County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement Officers.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office report 58-year old Michael Wayne Kemery, of Clearfield, was arrested Tuesday afternoon following a traffic stop on Highway 169. He wascharged with 1st offense OWI. Kemery was released from the Union County Jail on $1, 000 bond.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge says Iowa’s new “stand your ground” law is too vague in rejecting an appeal by a man convicted of manslaughter. The law says a person is immune from legal liability if they’re justified in their use of reasonable force against someone threatening them. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that Johnson County Judge Paul Miller ruled Tuesday that 24-year-old Lamar Wilson doesn’t qualify for immunity because evidence doesn’t show he was justified when shooting his gun.

A trial jury in February found Wilson guilty of voluntary manslaughter and other charges for a shooting in the Iowa City pedestrian mall last year that killed one and injured two others. Wilson’s lawyers filed a motion for a new trial last week, citing issues with potential witnesses and the jury selection.