Rescue crews from several area departments were called to the scene of a three-vehicle accident with entrapment early this (Saturday) morning, in Shelby County. According to dispatch reports, the crash happened at around 2:45-a.m. on Highway 59, just south of 1800th Street, south of Earling. One of the vehicles was said to have been upside down, in a ditch.

Medivac Ambulance, Westphalia and Harlan Fire and Rescue crews were all called to the scene. LifeNet helicopter was put on stand-by, and a Trauma Alert was issued at Myrtue Memorial Hospital. Initial reports indicated at least three people were hurt.

Highway 59 was closed for a while, as the accident was under investigation. No other details were immediately available.

Senate Republicans met privately today (Friday) to discuss allegations of Senate G-O-P staff misconduct that were aired during a recent trial. A jury awarded former Senate Republican Caucus Staff director Kirsten Anderson more than two-million dollars after hearing testimony about sexual harassment in the workplace. Senate Republican Leader Bill Dix says no one on the staff has been fired or placed on paid leave.

“There were issues learned in tbe trial as the result of testimony that I was not aware of and, as a result, there is an investigation taking place to learn about those allegations,” Dix says. “If we learn that they are truthful, we will move swiftly to address them in the appropriate manner.” Dix has put the secretary of the senate in charge of the investigation. Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale served on the Republican leadership team in the senate when some of the alleged harassment occurred.

“I think what happened was disgusting,” Zaun says. “I was disappointed in our staff that no one brought any of this type of information to me or we would have done something about it.” Zaun says he supports “the changes” Dix is making. And Dix easily survived Senator Rick Bertrand’s call for Dix to resign as leader.

“At the end of the day, I made my peace. I distanced myself from this thing,” Bertrand told reporters after the meeting. “…If this was any other organization in the United States, you would act quickly and decisively to make changes.” Dix says Senate Republicans are “very unified” as they work through this and other challenges. Dix says he and his Republican colleagues had “candid conversations” in their private meeting that also included the possibility of a special legislative session this fall to address a state budget shortfall.

“I’m going to focus on doing the job that we were sent here to do in the best, effective manner that we can,” Dix says. “And that means working hard, listening to our constituents and continuing to focus on policies that grow our state.” Dix says the attorney general is still reviewing the jury’s two-point-two-million dollar verdict and hasn’t decided whether there will be an appeal. If the verdict stands, Dix says Republican legislators will opt to have it be paid with taxpayer funds. Dix says that’s standard practice for all trials and verdicts involving state employees and the staffers who work for Senate Republicans are on the state payroll.

(Radio Iowa)

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests took place today (Friday). At around 11-a.m., 32-year old Elizabeth Rene Clayton, of Afton, was arrested in Adams County on a Union County warrant for domestic abuse assault.  Clayton was being held without bond for Union County, in the Ringgold County Jail, until seen by a judge.

And, 24-year old Rebecca Adeline Holbrook, of Lenox, was arrested at around Noon today (Friday) in Lenox, on a Union County warrant for forgery.  Holbrook was also being held for Union County in the Ringgold County Jail. Her bond was set at $5,000.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A state trooper who was granted an early retirement after an on-duty shooting in 2013 continues to collect disability benefits while working as a security guard for Des Moines Public Schools. Tim Sieleman has received a $42,000-annual pension since the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s retirement system in 2014 found him “totally and permanently incapacitated for duty” due to mental stress. In February, he started work for the school district.

Attorney Bill McGinn, who represented the suspect shot by Sieleman in 2013, says Sieleman’s dual compensation is “kind of outrageous.” Iowa law declares that benefits received by disabled officers will end if they return to a “public safety occupation.” But Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan says Sieleman’s dual compensation is allowed because school security work isn’t considered such a job.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Friday) received Quarterly reports from Veterans Affairs Director Mitch Holmes, Conservation Director Micah Lee, along with County Mental Health & General Assistance Director Deb Schuler.

They also heard from County Engineer Charles Bechtold, who said the Secondary Roads Department has five pipe projects left that he hopes to have done before school starts. Bechtold also presented the board with the documents to allow for paving of the Lyman Road, (Old Highway 71) in the unincorporated town of Lyman.

Bechtold explained, “It’s not a Farm-to-Market route, it’s a local route.” The plan is to mill-off about two inches of road surface from where the north and south sides of the curves are, and use that for the shouldering material. Then they will apply two-inches of new asphalt across the entire surface. Requests for bids will be made August 14th. The project should be completed by next June.

And, the Supervisors passed a Resolution for the abatement of taxes on a 1974 mobile home in the County, where the County Treasurer declared it is impractical to collect the tax.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Iowa transportation officials have announced preliminary plans to demolish more than 30 homes as part of work on freeways in the southwestern part of the state. Wes Mayberry is a transportation engineer specialist with the state Department of Transportation. He tells The Daily Nonpareil that the fourth segment of the Council Bluffs Interstate System Improvement Program is still in its concept phase so the number of homes affected may change.

Mayberry says the department hopes to start buying and demolishing the mix of single- and multi-family houses later this year or early next year. The department must first complete an environmental evaluation for the project. The project will also take off parts of a golf course. The department will host a public meeting Aug. 15 to present the final plans.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says a man wanted on a warrant for OWI/1st offense, turned himself-in to the Sheriff’s Office, Thursday afternoon. After the warrant was confirmed, 21-year old Eric David Rock, of Oakland, was placed under arrest and transported to the Pott. County Jail.

And, a man being held in the Pott. County Jail was served with a Felony warrant Thursday. The warrant for 20-year old Tyler James Moss, of Council Bluffs, was for Interference with a Corrections Official by inflicting serious injury, and Assault with the intent of injury a person of certain occupations. Moss was read the warrant and returned to the custody of jail staff.

Leaders of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association are asking supporters to turn out in force and comment on the E-P-A’s renewable fuel standard volume obligations for 2018. Association spokeswoman Cassidy Riley says it’s a simple process for people to submit their opinions and the deadline is next month. “We’ve launched a webpage where people can just go on and click to support corn ethanol or support biodiesel or support both and sign our petition to tell EPA to hold strong with the 15-billion gallon statutory level for conventional corn ethanol,” Riley says. “Really, we’re hoping to see that biodiesel number increased.”

The effort needs as many backers as possible as Riley suspects the deep-pocketed petroleum industry will be calling for reductions. “The 15-billion-gallon level for conventional corn ethanol, we’re pretty happy with that but we’re expecting that big oil is going to be fighting to have that number lowered,” Riley says. “On the biodiesel number, 2.1-billion gallons, flat-lining it there is really not acceptable.”

Riley says the current E-P-A proposal for bio-mass biodiesel at 2.1-billion gallons is too low, given the fact 2.9-billion gallons were produced last year. To submit comments, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website is iowaRFA.org. “There’s a link right on that homepage you can click on or you can go directly to IowaRFA.org/rfs,” Riley says. “You’ll be able to find all of the information about how you can comment and Iowa-produced, homegrown ethanol and biodiesel.”

The comment period ends August 31st. Iowa is the nation’s number-one ethanol producer with 43 plants churning out more than four-billion gallons a year, or almost one-third of the nation’s ethanol.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa has fallen from 7th to 14th place in a national study that ranks the states on overall financial security. Study author Solana Rice, at Prosperity Now, says despite an improving economy, many Iowa families struggle in low-wage jobs that don’t allow them to save for a better future. Rice says only about 59-percent of Iowa credit users have “prime credit.” “Prime credit is essential now-a-days especially for being able to access all kinds of opportunities,” Rice says. “Prime credit is having a credit score that allows you to purchase a home, to make small purchases, big and large.”

The report found more than one in four Iowans, or 27-percent, have virtually no savings and roughly the same number face “volatile incomes.” A quarter of Iowa households are considered “liquid asset poor,” meaning, they have so little savings they couldn’t live at the poverty level for just three months if they lose a job or suffer another significant income loss. Iowa ranks number-one in the country for the affordability of homes: at the median, home values are only two-and-a-half times higher than incomes.

“Iowa comes out pretty good across a lot of the state data, especially around financial assets and income,” Rice says. “Sixty-one percent of families report being able to save in the last 12 months for emergency savings.” The report found more than 25-percent of Iowans are in low-wage jobs, about one-percent more than the national average. “A quarter of jobs is still a lot of jobs to be low-wage because that means families are just getting by,” Rice says, “they’re not able to really save and get ahead.”

The annual Prosperity Now Scorecard ranks the states based on five categories: financial assets & income, businesses & jobs, home ownership & housing, health care and education. Vermont places first in the overall outcomes, while Mississippi is last. See the full report at: scorecard.prosperitynow.org.

(Radio Iowa)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Federal charges have been filed in Nebraska against a man suspected of being the “AK-47 bandit,” accused of robbing banks in five states. Richard Gathercole is accused of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle and stolen firearms in a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Lincoln. FBI officials believe Gathercole is “the AK-47 bandit,” who has robbed banks in California, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska and Washington.

Court documents say Gathercole was arrested June 20 at a gas station near Lexington, Nebraska. A sheriff’s deputy had spotted a pickup truck there that Kansas authorities had reported stolen by a man who fired at but missed a state trooper.