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

CHICAGO (AP) — From San Diego to New York, Mega Millions players are dreaming of how they would spend the record $1.6 billion jackpot should they beat the astronomical odds of winning. The next drawing is Tuesday. Some would pay off bills and give to charity. Others would buy a new house, travel and put money away for their kids. Nebraska mom Michelle Connaghan said she would do “surprise good deeds for people.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Powerball jackpot will top $620 million this week because no one won Saturday’s drawing, but that may seem relatively small compared to the $1.6 billion Mega Millions drawing expected on Tuesday. Both lottery jackpots are approaching new heights this week.

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Simpson College students have staged a protest at the south-central Iowa school over faculty and program cuts announced last week. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that Simpson College President Jay Simmons announced last week that the college will cut 13 full-time employees, the art department, and French and German majors. Students packed the Kent Campus Center on Friday to voice their anger over the cuts.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa City officials have named the black-eyed Susan as the city’s official flower. The City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution adopting the flower with gold petals and a black center. The plant is native to Iowa city and attracts a wide variety of insects, including butterflies and bees. Its seeds are a favorite of songbirds, such as goldfinches, sparrows and chickadees. The flower’s colors are also shared by the University of Iowa.

In an update to our earlier reports, Shelby County Emergency Management Operations Officer Jason Wickizer, Sunday, provided additional information with regard to the death of Earling Fire Chief Tom Henrich. According to the report, at around 2:40-p.m. Saturday, Henrich fell ill while working a fire call involving a combine and field fire. Immediate Emergency Medical Assistance was provided by Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies, Earling, Defiance and Irwin EMT’s, who witnessed the incident.

Chief Henrich was transported to Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan. Wickizer said “Unfortunately Chief Henrich did not survived the event. Funeral arrangements are pending, and will be announced {later}.” The incident occurred in the vicinity of Highway 37 and Hazel Road, in Shelby County. Numerous posts of condolences, and support for Earling Fire Department personnel and Henrich’s family, have been posted on social media sites.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Powerball jackpot will top $620 million this week because no one won Saturday’s drawing, but that may seem relatively small compared to the $1.6 billion Mega Millions drawing expected on Tuesday.

Both lottery jackpots will approach new heights this week. The Mega Millions jackpot will likely set a new record, and the Powerball jackpot will be the third largest ever for that game on Wednesday.
The second-largest jackpot was a $1.586 billion Powerball drawing on Jan. 13, 2016.

The Mega Millions jackpot has been growing since July, when a group of 11 California office workers won $543 million. It costs $2 to play either game. The odds of winning Mega Millions are about one in 302 million. The Powerball odds are slightly better at one in 292.2 million.

(Radio Iowa) –The third and final televised debate between Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and Democratic challenger Fred Hubbell was held early Sunday morning. The candidates clashed over a variety of topics, each accusing the other of misleading Iowans. Hubbell says the G-O-P tax plan Reynolds touts has restrictions that may not allow it to fully go into effect.

“The likelihood that tax cut for the middle class is going to happen in 2024 is no more likely than than the cow jumping over the moon,” Hubbell said. Reynolds says the promise of those tax cuts has been an economic driver. “We’re reducing taxes and regulations and created a pro-growth environment,” Reynolds said, “where we’re seeing our economy grow.” The pace of growth in state support of public schools was also a point of debate. Reynolds says you can’t measure the success of a program by the sheer amount of dollars put into it.

“(I’m) proud of our investment in education, as I’ve said, fourth in the country,” Reynolds said. “And I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do even with higher education.” Hubbell pointed to the mid-year budget cuts to the state universities and argued K-through-12 schools are being asked to do more and more with less. “We’ve had eight years in a row of about a 1.3 percent average increase in student funding in our schools,” Hubbell said. “Inflation has been 2.5 to 3 percent in each of those eight years.” Reynolds has been airing campaign ads hammering Hubbell’s management of the Younkers department store chain and she used the debate to make this charge:

“Fred, when you were the CEO of Younkers, the IRS said you owed, that Younkers owed, $9 million in back taxes. That doesn’t sound like fiscal responsibility to me.” Hubbell responded, saying the payment was the outcome of a 1992 tax audit.  “I knew that the governor was going to be throwing the kitchen sink at me,” Hubbell said. “…Younkers had a tax reserve, which most public companies do. They negotiated with the IRS. The actual change in the reserves was very small. It did not affect gross income of Younkers at all and it was a perfectly normal situation.”

Reynolds twice accused her opponent of favoring repeal of Iowa’s “right-to-work” law that forbids forced union membership, prompting this response from Hubbell:  “If the legislature determines that the right-to-work bill should be passed and they give me a bill that’s good for small businesses and the economy, I will sign that bill,” Hubbell said. Hubbell accused Reynolds of supporting the roll-back of Iowa’s collective bargaining law for “purely political reasons.”

“They wanted to reduce the impact of labor unions in the state to strengthen the Republican Party. It had nothing to do with being good for our state,” Hubbell said. “…Now, teachers and state workers don’t have the right to strike or collectively bargain. It’s not fair.” Reynolds says the new law which limits contract talks to salaries only “put taxpayers at the negotiating table.” In responding to questions about immigration, Reynolds said she is open to sending Iowa National Guard troops to seal the southern border. Hubbell said such a move would put Iowa soldiers in harm’s way for political reasons.

The debate was sponsored by the Quad City Times, K-W-Q-C in the Quad Cities and K-C-R-G in Cedar Rapids. W-O-W-T in Omaha also broadcast the debate, which started at 8 a.m. Sunday.

The Iowa State Patrol reports one person died and four others were injured during a collision that happened at around 7:45-p.m. Saturday on Highway 71 and Casey Road. The Patrol says a 2013 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 72-year old Ronald Ray Nelson, of Exira, was traveling north on Highway 71 and was approaching the red traffic light at a bridge construction site south of “The Valley,” when for reasons unknown, he failed to stop, and rear-ended a 2011 Ford Explorer driven by 34-year old Travis Wayne Anthofer, of Exira.

Following the collision, the pickup entered the east ditch. The SUV was pushed into the open lane on the bridge, where it blocked Highway 71. Dispatch reports at the time said Nelson was unresponsive, and rescue crews were performing CPR. The man died at the scene, though. Antohofer, and his passengers, 33-year old Kaitlin Ann Anthofer, 7-year old Ryleigh Anthofer, and 9-year old Gavin Joseph Anthofer, all of Exira, were transported by other family members to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, to be checked for injuries.

Police in Red Oak say two people were arrested overnight Saturday into early this (Sunday) morning. At around 7:30-p.m. Saturday, 28-year old Mildred Helenora Douglas, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 200 block of W. Washington Street, on a charge of Public Intoxication, and Assault on a Peace Officer. Douglas was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond. Red Oak Police were assisted at the scene by deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

And, at around 2:40-a.m. today (Sunday), Red Oak Police arrested 28-year old Nicholas Allen Philby, of Red Oak. He was taken into custody at the intersection of Red Oak Boulevard and E. Summit Street, for OWI/2nd, and brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, where his bond was set at $2,000.

(Updated 2:38-a.m.) Two people were transported by Elk Horn Rescue to the Cass County Memorial Hospital early this (Sunday) morning, following an accident off Highway 173 and 300th Street, in southeastern Shelby County. The crash occurred at around 2-a.m. One of the victims was a female who is 17-weeks pregnant, according to dispatch reports.

No other details were immediately available.

The Iowa State Patrol late Saturday night, released an official report with regard to a two-vehicle head-on crash that took place early Friday morning in Cass County. The accident that occurred about 6:50-a.m. two-miles west of Massena on Highway 92, claimed the life of 22-year old Patrick Lee Schultz, of Cumberland, and resulted in injuries to 38-year old Jeremiah Juhl, of Fontanelle.

The Patrol says Schultz was eastbound on the highway, when for reasons unknown, the 1997 Chevy Blazer he was driving crossed the center line of the road and entered the westbound lanes, where it struck a 2019 Isuzu NPR XD, driven by Juhl.

The SUV came to rest in the middle of Highway 92, while the car came to rest in the westbound lanes and north shoulder. Schultz, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. Juhl, who was wearing a seat belt, was transported by Midwest MedAir to Iowa Methodist Hospital for treatment of his injuries. He said later in social media post, that he suffered from a fractured vertebra and some broken ribs, along with other injuries.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency said Saturday, that a medical issue at the scene of an agricultural equipment and field fire Saturday afternoon, resulted in the death of a firefighter. A 9-1-1 call about the fire was received at around 2:40-p.m. at the Shelby County EMA 911 Center, regarding a combine and field fire near Highway 37 and Hazel Road.

Units from Earling Fire and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched with mutual aid from Defiance and Irwin Fire. Shortly after Earling Fire arrived on scene, a medical incident occurred. Additional assistance was requested from Medivac and Harlan Police Department.

The firefighter has since passed away. He was identified as Earling Fire Chief, Tom Henrich.

Combine/Field fire east of Earling Saturday. (KNOD photo courtesy Andy Ahrenholtz)

As part of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, the Council Bluffs Police Department will participate in the semiannual event sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Our event is designated as “Council Bluffs Operation Medicine Cabinet” and involves the collaboration of several community organizations, volunteers, and the City of Council Bluffs Recycling Center. CB Drug Takeback. flyer October 2018

The rain or shine event will be located at Walgreens, 535 East Broadway in Council Bluffs IA on the west side of the store near the drive through pharmacy lanes on Saturday October 27th between the
hours of 10:00am and 2:00pm. Citizens are simply asked to drive through a designated lane, hand over their unused, expired prescription or over the counter drugs with no questions asked.

The Council Bluffs Police Department has helped to organize 17 Prescription Drug Drop Off events since 2010. To date, the Departments “Operation Medicine Cabinet” events have resulted in 6,050 pounds of miscellaneous pharmaceuticals being collected and over 3,295 individuals participating anonymously.

The National Prescription Drug Take Back addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Many Americans are not aware medicines that remain in homes are highly susceptible to theft, misuse, or abuse. Prescription drug abuse in the U.S. is increasing at an alarming rate, as are the numbers of accidental poisonings and overdoses. Studies show many abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from home medicine cabinets. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicines, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away, which are both potential safety and health hazards.

Prescription drug abuse is a huge problem and this drug drop off event is a great opportunity for citizens of Council Bluffs anyone else to help reduce this threat. Please clean out your medicine cabinets and make your home safe from potential drug theft and abuse.