More details are being released about a three-vehicle crash on Monday night in Webster County near Badger that killed a Humboldt man and seriously injured a Fort Dodge woman. Reportedly, a 2006 Land Rover driven by 24-year-old Aisha Ismail of Fort Dodge was traveling westbound on Webster County Road C-56 when she started to pass a 2008 Chevrolet Silverardo pickup truck and car trailer operated by 51-year-old Michael Heuck of Spencer. As Ismail was passing the Heuck pickup, she collided head-on with an eastbound Dodge Neon driven by David Fliehe of Humboldt.

The collision caused the Ismael Land Rover to be pushed into the driver’s side of the Heuck trailer. The Fliehe car ended up in the south ditch. The Ismael vehicle rolled onto its side and then ended up on its top in the south ditch. The Heuck pickup remained on the road and was able to stop without further problems. Fliehe was pronounced dead at the accident scene. Ismail was airlifted to a Des Moines hospital for treatment of her injuries. Heuck escaped injury.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday), approved a request for permission to hold a Bible Reading Marathon on the courthouse block grounds. The event takes place Saturday, July 21st, beginning at 10-a.m., and is similar to the past two-years, except that it will be held one-day only, instead of two. It’s estimated to take two-hours for multiple individuals to read different sections of the Bible at the same time.

Supervisors Mark Wedemeyer expressed concern that another group, such as Atheists, for example, might also request a similar event espousing their beliefs, but it was pointed out by Board Chair Gaylord Schelling and organizer Renee Watson, that the event has been held the past two years in Cass County without issue. Watson said Governor Kim Reynolds passed a proclamation recognizing the state-wide event late last month, and that there have been no problems with any Bible Reading events in Iowa’s 99 counties.

In other business, the Supervisors approved a wage adjustment for Rich Hansen, assistant to County Engineer Charles Bechtold. His salary will be adjusted from about $62,239 to $63,000.

Two people were arrested early this (Wednesday) morning, in Red Oak. Authorities say 47-year old Ann Kristine Harding, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 1:45-a.m. on a Mills County warrant for Unlawful Possession of a Prescription Drug. While executing the warrant, Red Oak Police arrested 34-year old Marcus John Josephson, of Red Oak, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Harding and Josephson were transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where Harding was being held without bond, and Josephson’s bond was set at $300.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man who hid a camera in a bathroom to take pornographic images of children has been imprisoned. Prosecutors said Tuesday that 65-year-old Jack Coleman, of Wapello, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Davenport to 30 years. He’d pleaded guilty to production of child pornography. A child sexual abuse investigation that began in 2016 led to the porn charge.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Police in Creston say a resident of the community reported Tuesday morning, that she had been the victim of a phone scam. The woman said that sometime between June 28th and July 3rd, she was scammed out of $15,000. Authorities said also, 27-year old Matthew E. Thomas, of Creston, was arrested just before 3-a.m. today (Wednesday), for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. Thomas was later released from the Union County Jail on a $300 bond. And, Tuesday evening, 33-year old Vincent Ray Bentley, of Lorimor, was arrested on a Madison County Warrant for Violation of Probation, for which there is no bond until he’s seen by a Judge. Bentley was additionally charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Paraphernalia, the bond for which amounts to $1,300.

(7-a.m. News)

While tornadoes can strike during any month of the year, Iowa is now out of the “peak” season for tornadoes and the numbers are well below the norm, according to meteorologist Craig Cogil at the National Weather Service. “So far this year across Iowa, we’ve seen 15 tornadoes,” Cogil says. “Typically by this point in the year, we’re much closer to 30 or 35 tornadoes, so, half of what we normally see.”  Even with the 15 twisters, none of them were very powerful and there were no reports of any injuries or significant property damage. “Out of the 15 tornadoes, 13 of them were EF-0s and there have only been two EF-1s,” Cogil says, “and most of them have been in just corn fields or soybean fields, causing very little damage.”

While some storms this spring and summer have dropped significant rain that caused severe flooding in parts of the state, Iowa has managed to miss most of the -very- bad weather.  “A lot of the systems that are really problematic for us just haven’t been occurring across the state,” Cogil says. “They’ve either gone south of us, some of them have been north of us. We just haven’t seen the set-up that really produces those big, dangerous days where we get a lot of the strong tornadoes.”

While Iowa’s only had 15 tornadoes this year, the state had 55 twisters in all of last year, including a dozen that were classified as EF-2s.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:15 a.m. CDT

DOON, Iowa (AP) — BNSF Railway says less oil spilled from derailed tanker cars in northwest Iowa last month than originally believed. BNSF spokesman Andy Williams says officials now believe 160,000 gallons (605,648 liters) of tar sand oil spilled from 10 of 32 tanker cars that derailed on June 22 into floodwaters of the Little Rock River near Doon. Officials had previously said 14 tanker cars were compromised, spilling an estimated 230,000 gallons (870,619 liters).

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former Des Moines hospital pharmacy worker accused of stealing painkillers from hundreds of patients has been sentenced to more than 2 years in federal prison. Federal prosecutors say 30-year-old Victor Van Cleave was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months. Officials say Van Cleave was a pharmacy technician at Iowa Methodist Medical Center who used a syringe to steal fentanyl and other powerful painkillers from vials, then replaced the painkillers with sterile water.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa plans to cut staff, sell property in Des Moines and make other moves in response to state funding reductions. The university announced the move Tuesday in a news release, saying it will close seven centers and lay off 33 full-time staffers whose positions are not directly tied to student instruction.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for a deadly hit-and-run crash last year. Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports that Ashley Pennington was sentenced Tuesday at the Linn County Courthouse. She had pleaded guilty in April to leaving the scene of a fatal accident and forgery. In exchange for her plea, other counts were dropped.

A Special Election was held Tuesday in the City of Shelby, to fill two open seats on the City Council. There were four candidates for the position, with the winners being Donavan Gail Dontje who received 92 votes, and Robert Morton, who had 77 votes.

Candidate Karen Schlueter garnered 73 votes, and candidate Steven Edward Myers had 31 votes, according to Shelby County Auditor, Mark L. Maxwell. The votes remain unofficial until canvassed by the County Board of Supervisors.