DENISON, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of crashing his car into a river in western Iowa, killing a teenager, has pleaded not guilty to all nine charges against him in the case. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports 24-year-old Ramon Hernandez remains jailed in Crawford County. He is charged with vehicular homicide and eight drug and alcohol counts.

Authorities say Hernandez drove through a farm field with four teenagers in his car before it plunged into the Boyer River on Jan. 19. He and three of the others reached safety. The body of 15-year-old Yoana Acosta was found a week later on Jan. 26.

Cass County Democratic Party Chair Sherry Toelle has announced the Cass County Democrats will hold their 2017 Off-Year Caucus on Tuesday, March 21st, at the Cass County Court House, second floor Court Room, in Atlantic. The Caucus will be called to order at 6-p.m., but Democrats are advised to arrive between 5:30-and 6-p.m., in order to register. For those who are not currently registered as Democrats, voter registration forms will be available to allow as many voters to participate as want to. One must be a registered Democrat in order to participate in the Caucus.

Toelle said that it would be a great opportunity for Democrats to discuss the issues they feel are important to them, whether those be local, state, or national concerns. Those issues will then be forwarded to the Iowa Democratic Party for candidates who decide to run for office in 2018. In a statement she said “We hope to bring even more passionate Democrats into the Central Committee, filling vacancies that currently exist. We also will be advocating for Democrats to run for local and state offices in 2018. Democrats who are considering a run for political office should contact me to further discuss that possibility.”

Following the Caucus, the Cass County Central Committee will hold its biennial organizational meeting at which time committee officers will be elected. Snacks and beverages will be served since the meetings fall over the dinner hour. All Democrats are encouraged to attend the Caucus.

SIDNEY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have ticketed a teen driver involved in the crash of a pickup and school bus in southwest Iowa last month, saying the boy was texting when the crash occurred. The Iowa State Patrol tells the Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil that 18-year-old Drew Graham has been ticketed on suspicion of texting while driving, driving on the wrong side of the road and not wearing a seat belt.

Authorities Graham’s truck hit a bus leaving Sidney Junior-Senior High School grounds the morning of Feb. 22, causing minor injuries to the 60-year-old bus driver and two students on the bus. Graham was critically injured and was flown to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. He is expected to recover.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs officials hope a $36 million redevelopment of a key thoroughfare will spark economic development and brighten a busy area. The Omaha World-Herald reports work will start this month on a five-year overhaul of West Broadway, which connects Council Bluffs and Omaha, Nebraska.

The work will include colored pavers, new street lights and decorative pillars. Crews also will install new sewers, which should lessen cracking caused by pooling water that freezes and thaws. The three blocks closest to Omaha should be completed by this fall, providing a sense of what’s to follow.

Officials say the work follows city moves to buy and demolish a number of dilapidated buildings along Broadway, leaving grassy plots the city hopes to sell. The project is funded with public and private sources.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports a trio of drug-related arrests Friday evening into Friday night. At around 5:42-p.m. Clarinda Police arrested 38-year old Stacey Jean Garrigus , of Council Bluffs, for felony possession with intent to deliver more than five grams of methamphetamine. Garrigus was arrested after methamphetamine was located in a 1995 Dodge Dakota pickup she was operating in the vicinity of 9th and Chestnut. She had been pulled over for not wearing a seat belt. Garrigus was being held in the Page County Jail on $125,000 bail.

At around 10:45-p.m. Friday, officers with the Clarinda Police Department, Page County Sheriff’s Deputies and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies executed a search warrant at a residence at 614 East Washington Street. Officers seized approximately 30 grams of methamphetamine, a small amount of marijuana, numerous items of drug paraphernalia and a small amount of cash. They arrested 42-year old Jay Dean Miles and 34-year old Cynthia Joanne Butler, of Clarinda who both reside at 614 East Washington Street. Miles and Butler are charged with felony possession with intent to deliver more than five grams of methamphetamine. Miles and Butler were being held in the Page County Jail on $125,000 bail.

Clarinda Emergency Medical Services provided stand by medical support functions during the execution of the search warrant. All police reports will be forwarded to the Page County Attorney’s Office for review and consideration of the filing of formal indictments in Page County District Court.

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

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Governor Terry Branstad says he’s not surprised his fellow Republicans in the legislature have been reluctant to embrace his regulatory reduction plans. “We knew this was going to be tough,” Branstad says. “You’re going up against all of the organized special-interest groups that want to protect their turf, but I’m still hopeful that we can get parts of it approved.”

Branstad’s bill that would have ended state licensing for barbershops, social workers, mental health counselors and other health care professionals was rejected by a three-member House panel. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton suggests the move could “harm the public” by inviting pretenders into the state who would act as if they had legitimate training in the health care field. Branstad says there are too many state-licensed professions in Iowa.

“These licensing boards kind of look at it as something (like), ‘We’re there to protect the profession, not the public,’ and that’s my concern,” Branstad says. “In some cases we’ve gone into places where I really don’t think we need to be licensed and it drives up the costs and it keeps out the competition.”

Another proposal Branstad backed tried to change state regulations to make it easier for health care clinics that are for-profit to set up shop near already existing Iowa hospitals and clinics. That bill failed to advance in the Iowa House, too, because of opposition from Republicans. Branstad says these kinds of regulatory reforms will “never be easy” to get through the legislature.

“Every one of these groups is organized. A lot of ’em have lobbyists and they spend a lot of money and they always sell it on the idea, ‘Well, we’re going to protect the health, safety and well-being of Iowans,'” Branstad says. “But we have more licensed, regulated professions than anybody else.”

Branstad made his comments late Thursday during an interview with reporters from the Radio Iowa and The Cedar Rapids Gazette. Branstad was wearing a red lapel pin at the time. Kentucky’s Republican governor gave Branstad the pin — which featured a tiny pair of scissors. It’s a symbol of the Kentucky governor’s “red tape reduction” campaign.

(Radio Iowa)

Hunters in Iowa killed just under 101,397 deer this past season. Iowa DNR wildlife researcher Tyler Harms says that’s about 3,000 fewer than in the 2015-16 season, but nearly identical to the harvest from two years ago. “We’ve been holding right around that 100,000 mark for the last few years, which to us is a good sign – indicative of a stable deer population in Iowa,” Harms says.

A big factor in the lower numbers this past year was unseasonably warm weather early in the season, according to Harms. He admits some hunters are a frustrated they aren’t seeing as many deer as they’d like. “What we’re hearing, overall statewide, is hunters are pretty pleased with the numbers,” Harms says. “Obviously, that’s going to change depending on specific areas in the state.”

The deer population in southeast Iowa, for example, has decreased. That’s due in large part to a disease outbreak known as E-H-D. “That are was hit pretty hard with epizootic hemorrhagic disease a couple years ago, which can have some pretty drastic impacts on local population,” Harms says.

The Iowa DNR has a goal to manage for a deer population that can provide a harvest of between 100,000 and 120,000 deer each year, based on the recommendations agreed upon by a state deer task force. Around 170,000 hunters took part in the latest deer season. Harms says deer hunting license sales have been “stable” over the last 5 to 6 years.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak, this (Saturday) morning, arrested 37-year old Joseph Dean Wallace, of Clarinda, on felony drug charges. Officers took Wallace into custody at around 4:45-a.m. in the 400 block of E. Maple Street, in Red Oak. He faces felony charges that include Possession of Methamphetamine & Marijuana with the Intent to Deliver, and a simple misdemeanor Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, charge.

Officers seized approximately 18.8-grams of Meth and about 24.1-grams of marijuana. Wallace was being held at the Montgomery Law Enforcement Center on a $100,000 cash bond.