The National Weather Service this (Saturday) morning, said they are still tracking two winter systems to impact Iowa through Tuesday. The first one still to bring light snow to much of Iowa late tonight through Sunday. Some light freezing drizzle may mix with with the snow as precipitation ends late Sunday.

A stronger winter storm system is then slated to impact Iowa Monday into Tuesday. Precipitation is expected to spread across Iowa Monday as a light wintry mix, then change to snow Monday evening and continue into Tuesday. Moderate to heavy accumulations of snow are more likely across the northern half of the state. Uncertainty still high with snow amounts given uncertainty in the track and strength of this system. Northwest winds will increase across the state Tuesday and be strong and gusty through the day into Tuesday evening. This will allow for blowing and drifting snow. Travel may be difficult across the state Tuesday with snow-packed roads and significantly reduced visibilities possible.

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A single-vehicle accident Friday afternoon in eastern Iowa’s Bremer County claimed the life of a woman from Illinois. The Iowa State Patrol reports 19-year old Julia Walters, of Morrison, IL., was driving a 2007 Ford Focus northbound on U-S Highway 218 at around 2:54-p.m., Friday, when the vehicle went out of control at mile marker 196.

The car entered the median and rolled over before coming to rest in the median. Walters – who was not wearing a seat belt – was ejected from the car and died from her injuries. Her passenger, 21-year old Michaela Hibbard, of Sterling, IL., was wearing a seat belt. She was transported by Waverly Ambulance to the hospital in Waverly.

The crash remains under investigation.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Monticello man has been sentenced to prison for robbing an eastern Iowa bank on his birthday. Federal prosecutors say 46-year-old Joseph Kripner was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to five years in federal prison. Authorities say he robbed the Security State Bank in Springville on his birthday, June 1, getting away with nearly $4,000 after showing his handgun to a teller. Kripner’s distinctive tattoos helped authorities zero in on him.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker is stressing a theme of social justice on the first visit of his presidential campaign to Iowa. Booker told a crowd in a church basement Friday that denying health care coverage was like denying civil rights. Booker was opening his inaugural Iowa event using the rhetoric reminiscent of the civil rights movement to distinguish himself early in the race.

CENTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Law enforcement officials have testified that it took them several hours to find the body of a slain Iowa hunter after he was reported missing. The Daily Iowegian reports that Appanoose County Deputy Jonathan Printy testified Friday in the murder trial of Ethan Davis that he was the first officer to respond in the early morning hours of Nov. 24 after 31-year-old Curtis Ross was reported missing. Davis is charged with first-degree murder in Ross’ death.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa landlords who say they were falsely accused of stealing a tenant’s washer and dryer are suing a detective and prosecutor for false arrest and malicious prosecution. The Linn County attorney’s office dropped felony charges against the men after neighbors testified that they didn’t witness any theft as police claimed. Brian Darling and Frank Massingham have filed a lawsuit accusing Prosecutor Jerry Vander Sanden and police officer Justin Boecker of violating their rights.

A man being held in the Cass County Jail was arrested last week on two Guthrie County felony charges. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says Matthew Ross, of Marne, was transported February 3rd to Guthrie County where he appeared before a magistrate with regard to two counts of Sex Abuse in the 2nd Degree – both Class B felonies.

Matthew Ross

After making his appearance before the judge, Ross was released on his own recognizance. The case was investigated by the Stuart Police Department.

On February 1st, Jerome Boblett, of Coon Rapids, was arrested on a charge of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was arrested following a traffic stop on Highway 141, east of Bagley. Additional charges are pending. The Guthrie County K9 was utilized on this traffic stop. On February 2nd, Payden Willms, of Guthrie Center, was stopped for a traffic violation. Willms was cited and released on an Operating While Intoxicated 1st Offense Charge.

On February 4th, Joseph Reynolds, of Stuart, turned himself into the Guthrie County Jail to serve a thirty-day mittimus. His initial charges were weapons and drug related. And, on February 8th, Mark Doyle, of De Soto, turned himself into the Guthrie County Jail to serve two days of his seven-day mittimus. His initial charge was an Operating While Intoxicated 2nd Offense.

Atlantic, Iowa  February 8, 2019:  Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), which operates Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA), has completed the purchase of a 10,000 square foot vehicle staging and storage facility at 3236 Nebraska Avenue, Council Bluffs.  The new facility has indoor parking space for fifteen transit buses, a vehicle maintenance area, office space, training rooms, and driver waiting and storage space.  There is also a large, fenced exterior parking area that will be able to accommodate vehicles not in active use.

SWITA is headquartered in Atlantic and provides public transit services throughout an 8 county region in Southwest Iowa, including Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County.  It also operates the Special Transit Service (STS) for the City of Council Bluffs, which is the city’s para-transit service.  SWITA operates a fleet of over 100 vehicles and approximately 20 of those vehicles and 21 drivers are currently based in and around Council Bluffs.  All of the Council Bluffs vehicles are currently stored outside at various locations.  In 2018 over 100,000 public transit rides were provided by SWITA in Pottawattamie County, and an additional 250,000 throughout the rest of the region.

SWIPCO executive director John McCurdy said, “We have an excellent facility in Atlantic, which is our main administrative and maintenance hub, but we have been reviewing properties in the Council Bluffs area for over 2 years.  The 3236 Nebraska Avenue location meets all of our needs with a near turnkey solution that will be a great satellite location to our Atlantic base.  The recent frigid weather has underscored the need for us to get as many of our vehicles indoors as possible.  It extends the life of the vehicles, enhances the drivers’ ability to keep their vehicles clean and secure, and will improve the overall experience for our riders.”

The Council Bluffs facility is currently undergoing a few necessary upgrades and vehicles will begin staging out of it in the next few weeks.

Southwest Iowa Planning Council is a council of governments that serves Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Montgomery, Mills, Page, Pottawattamie, and Page Counties in Iowa.  Southwest Iowa Transit Agency is its public transit service.  All services are open to the public, and SWIPCO is an equal opportunity provider, lender, and employer

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds has used a Utah law as the template for her proposal to let women get birth control directly from a pharmacist rather than having to periodically get a doctor’s prescription. Reynolds says the bill outlining the details may be released as soon as today (Friday).

“There is an age limit. I think you have to be 18 or older,” Reynolds says. There’s an assessment form that you have to fill out. You’re required to visit a doctor every two years.” Reynolds first talked about this issue last fall, during her race for a full, four-year term as governor. Reynolds says the proposal will expand access to the pill and other birth control products for Iowa women, particularly those in rural areas.

“The way that we’re doing it is similar to what we did with Naloxone,” Reynolds says. That’s the medication which temporarily reverses an opioid overdose. “So it would be a standing order that would give the pharmacists authority to prescribe,” Reynolds says. Reynolds indicated the bill is written so women who have insurance coverage of their contraceptives would continue to have that coverage. Reynolds describes the bill as a starting point for debate in the legislature.

“I think any time you drop legislation, you know that’s potentially not where it’s going to end up,” Reynolds says, “but we’ve tried to work really hard to identify any problems that we might run into.” Reynolds made her comments during taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program that airs tonight (Friday) at 7:30.

Utah’s Republican-led legislature embraced this move unanimously last May and Utah’s Republican governor signed it into law. A few other states like California and Oregon have similar laws and bills have been introduced in congress to classify birth control an over-the-counter medication nationwide.

(Radio Iowa) — New forecasts predict a rising risk for flooding across western Iowa in the weeks and months ahead. The U-S Army Corps of Engineers reports it has moved all excess water out of Missouri River reservoirs to prepare for this year’s runoff. Hydrologist Kevin Low, with the Missouri Basin River Forecast Center of the National Weather Service, says mountain snowpack is on trac

“Snowpack conditions in the mountains can be generally described as about normal for this time of year,” Low says. “By this point, we’d have normally accumulated about 60%, a little more maybe, of the seasonal peak snow-water equivalent in the mountains. We still have plenty of accumulating season left and much could change.” Given the snowfall so far and based on previous decades of record-keeping, Low says a runoff forecast is being released.

“The February water supply forecast developed by the National Weather Service projects a slightly below-average runoff volume for the 2018 season,” Low says. In spite of that, he says there will probably be some flooding on tributaries of the Missouri River this spring. “Areas likely to experience tributary flooding include eastern South Dakota, western Iowa, eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas and across the state of Missouri,” Low says. “The wet soils have enhanced the chances for flooding in these areas for this spring.”

The first flood forecast of the season will be released later this month.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — A former central Iowa high school educator who taught for 30 years has been imprisoned for distributing child pornography. The Times-Republican reports that Glen Sedlacek, of Marshalltown, was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in federal prison. He’d pleaded guilty in October after prosecutors dropped two other counts. Prosecutors say Sedlacek had numerous computer files containing pornography of children younger than 12, dating back to March 2013.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose also ordered Sedlacek to make restitution of $6,000 to a female minor identified as Lily and $3,000 to a girl identified as Chelsa. Prosecutors say the two had appeared in porn films he’d viewed in his Marshalltown home.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports 27-year old Dylan Michal Frazier, of Malvern, was arrested Tuesday in Malvern. Frazier faces charges that include Possession of a Controlled Substance – Child Endangerment, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $3,300. On Wednesday, Mills County Deputies arrested 33-year old Michael Paul LeDuc, of Mineola, for being a Fugitive from Justice. LeDuc was being held in the Mills County Jail without bond. And, On Thursday, 24-year old Daniel Cortes-Curiel, of Hawarden, was arrested on a warrant for Probation Violation. He was taken into custody in Douglas County, NE., and held in the Mills County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

The cause of a fire that reportedly occurred in the attic area of a home northwest of Brayton, is being investigated. Firefighters from Brayton responded to 3144 Goldfinch Place a little after 8-a.m. today (Friday). Mutual aid was requested from the Exira and Atlantic Fire Departments.The upper level of the home sustained damage. No injuries were reported. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.