Heavy rain and hail contributed to a fatal motorcycle crash Saturday evening in eastern Iowa’s Johnson County. The Iowa State Patrol reports at around 5:50-p.m., a 2001 Chevy Prism driven by 55-year old Leroy Foster, Jr., of Marion, was traveling eastbound on Interstate 80 and had illegally parked with its hazards on in heavy rain and hail. 70-year old George P. Taylor, La Moille, IL, was traveling east on a 2012 Harley Davidson motorcycle, and saw traffic slowing in front of him due to the weather conditions.

Taylor pulled onto the south should to avoid a collision, and sideswiped the Chevy. Taylor, who was not wearing a helmet, was ejected from the cycle and came to rest in the middle of I-80. He died from his injuries at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics in Iowa City.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5:00 a.m. CDT

WINTERSET, Iowa (AP) — An iconic Madison County, Iowa, covered bridge _ pictured on the cover of the best-selling novel “The Bridges of Madison County” _ has been destroyed by fire, and authorities say they suspect it was intentionally set. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office tells the Des Moines Register that the fire at the Cedar Bridge was reported around 6 a.m. Saturday. Officials say the bridge was fully engulfed by the time firefighters got to the bridge near Winterset in south-central Iowa.

WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — A day-care center where the director was arrested on drug charges is closing. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the owner of the Little Learners Preschool and Daycare on Technology Place in Waverly said the business was closing at 6 p.m. Tuesday due to recent events. Police arrested 44-year-old Kelly Raney Hampton, of Waverly, on April 6 for misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine and marijuana and other charges.

SIBLEY, Iowa (AP) — A former Sibley-Ocheyedan football coach and middle school teacher fired in 2015 after the superintendent found him sleeping in his classroom next to a middle school boy has been charged with sexual assault. The Sioux City Journal reports that 38-year-old Kyle Thomas Ewinger, of West Burlington, was fired after he was found with a 10-year-old boy sleeping on an air mattress. The boy later said he had been sexually assaulted that night.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — State prosecutors have taken the rare step of asking the Iowa Supreme Court to reverse the conviction of a man sentenced last year to up to 10 years for sexually abusing a teenage boy. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that Iowa Attorney General’s Office says in a new filing that Doug Lindaman, of Charles City, was allowed to represent himself at his trial without knowingly waiving his right to have an attorney.

SIBLEY, Iowa (AP) – A former Sibley-Ocheyedan football coach and middle school teacher fired in 2015 after the superintendent found him sleeping in his classroom next to a middle school boy has been charged with sexual assault.

The Sioux City Journal reports 38-year-old Kyle Thomas Ewinger, of West Burlington, was fired after he was found with a 10-year-old boy sleeping on an air mattress. The newspaper says the boy at the time denied anything sexual had happened, but later said that Ewinger had performed a sex act on him, according to a March criminal complaint.

Ewinger was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree sexual assault. He’s free on $10,000 bond.

WINTERSET, Iowa (AP) — An iconic Madison County, Iowa, covered bridge — pictured on the cover of the best-selling novel “The Bridges of Madison County” — has been destroyed by fire. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office tells the Des Moines Register that the fire at the Cedar Bridge was reported around 6 a.m. Saturday.

Officials say the bridge was fully engulfed by the time firefighters got to the bridge near Winterset in south-central Iowa. The original Cedar Bridge was built in 1883 before it burned in 2002. Investigators determined the fire to be arson, but no arrests were ever made. It was rebuilt and reopened in 2004.

The bridge was featured in the movie adaptation of “The Bridges of Madison County.” The novel was written by Robert Waller, who died in March.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Law enforcement officials in western Iowa will be collecting unused prescription medications later this month. The public will have the opportunity to drop off prescription drugs with no questions asked through the “Operation Medicine Cabinet” event on April 29. The event is being held by the Council Bluffs Police Department and is sponsored by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.

The Daily Nonpareil reports that people can drop off prescription and over-the-counter drugs from 10 a.m. through 2 p.m. at Walgreens in Council Bluffs. Past events have collected more than 4,200 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, with more than 2,300 residents participating anonymously since 2010.

The warmer weather has people itching to get outside — especially those who like to hunt what some consider an Iowa delicacy. Iowa State University plant pathology professor, Mark Gleason, says morel mushrooms will start to pop out as the ground warms. “I don’t know if there’s a specific temperature, but this is about the time right now. Some people say when you get bud break on certain types of plants — it depends on the year — this year we’ve been warm and cool,” Gleason says.

The warm weather is key along with some rain. “We also have enough soil moisture to push them out of the ground,” Gleason says, “so in dry years we tend to have poor morel stands. In moister, wetter years with more rainfall, we tend to have more.” The temperatures so far this spring have fluctuated, but Gleason says once a warm day pops the mushrooms out, they are there until found or they dry up.

“It’s a one way trip. Once they are out they don’t go back in. They’ll enlarge a bit as they come out of the ground and reach their standard size,” Gleason says. “There’s five species of morels in the state and each of those has its own characteristic size The smallest one is probably the gray — which is the first to come out of the ground — and the largest is the last one which kind of a golden color and can be six or eight inches, even larger.”

Leaves popping out of the ground are a key signal the morels are there for the picking. Gleason says many people look for dead elm trees as the prime growing spot, but that’s not the only place they flourish. “But also other trees, and that area around the root zone of other trees can work, alive or dead. So looking in woodlands is good, but they will grow in meadows and things like that. But more often they are in association with some decayed wood or buried wood. So, it might be a decayed root or something like that,” Gleason says.

You might think asking veteran morel hunters for the best places to find them — but he says the people that are most successful don’t like to share their hot spots. “Most people are very reluctant to do that,” he says. “Unless you are related to them or they like you, it might be hard information to get.”

There are a lot of stories or tales about how to help the morels flourish. One is to use a mesh bag that allows the morel spores to drop out as you hike through the woods — providing seed for a new generation. “Well, there are people who strongly believe that. I’m skeptical of that,” Gleason says. “Because, when morels are picked they are very, very young and the spores haven’t formed yet. If you are waiting for a morel to form spores, it’s probably well beyond the age where you’d want to eat it.”

If you do decide to give mushroom hunting a try, Gleason says you have to remember they can easily blend into the surroundings.  “You kind of have to train your eye to them a bit. They are easy to overlook,” Gleason explains. “It’s possible to walk through a wooded area and just overlook the morels. But once your eye gets trained to what a morel looks like amongst other spring plants — then it’s easier to spot.”

Gleason says the morel season can vary across the state depending the weather conditions.

(Radio Iowa)

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A man from Nebraska faces possible charges following a single-vehicle accident this (Saturday) morning, in Council Bluffs. Authorities say at around 3:18-a.m., Council Bluffs Police and Fire Department responded to the area of I-80 and I-29 for a single vehicle crash during which the vehicle had left the road.

The vehicle, a black 2006 Chevy Impala, had been driven by a 26-year old man from LaVista, NE.,  south bound on I-29 and was merging onto westbound I-80, when the car went out of control and went off the north side of the roadway. The driver – whose name was being withheld pending notification of family – was transported by rescue squad to the hospital with what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries. Operator Control of the Vehicle and Alcohol are believed to be the primary contributing factors in the crash.

The ramp from I-29 South to I-80 West had to be shut down for approximately 1 hour.

A traffic stop that began in Fremont County late Friday night, resulted in a high-speed pursuit and the arrest by authorities in Missouri, of a Kansas man. Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports the Fremont County K9 unit tried to stop a 2010 Toyota Corolla at around 10:30-p.m., when the driver, 37-year old Dilip Kumar Agniotri, of Overland Park, KS, began an effort to elude the deputy.

The Corolla reached speeds of up to 100 miles per hour as deputies pursued it into Missouri, where they were able to bring the car to a stop around the 115 mile marker of Interstate 29. Fremont County Deputies were assisted in the pursuit by Officers with the Rockport (MO.) Police Department, Missouri State Patrol, and Atchinson County (MO.) Sheriff’s Office.

Agniotri was cited for the Iowa traffic violations before being turned over to Atchinson County authorities.

Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County report a woman faces two felony charges of child endangerment, following an investigation into an incident that allegedly took place last Sunday. 50-year-old Samantha Kay Bailey, of Gray, was arrested on Friday (April 14th). During the alleged incident in Gray last Sunday (April 9th), children in her care ended-up being flown to a hospital. Additional information about the incident was not released.

Bailey was being held in the Audubon County Jail on $10,000 bond, pending an appearance before the county magistrate. The incident remained under investigation, with additional charges possible.