A teenager from western Iowa died in a fiery crash early this (Friday) morning in Pottawattamie County. Pott. County Sheriff Jeff Danker reports just before eight-a.m., deputies were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident. The driver of the vehicle reported the accident and advised the vehicle was on fire and they were unable to get out. Deputies located the vehicle not long on Pinoak Road just west of County Road L-34, minutes later. The vehicle had traveled off the roadway and ended up on its side. It was fully engulfed in flames.

Fire and rescue personnel arrived at around 8:10-a.m. and extinguished the flames. The driver, identified as 16-year old ShyAnne Larsen, of Honey Creek, was unable to escape the vehicle and flames. She died at the scene. A preliminary investigation determined the teen was eastbound on Pinoak Road in a 2000 Ford Focus, when the vehicle left the road and entered the north ditch, when it traveled on its side before coming to rest. The fire started in the front portion of the vehicle. The cause of the fire is unknown. The accident remains under investigation.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office today (Friday), said a 16-year old was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center Thursday night, for carrying weapons. The teen admitted to taking a loaded gun and ammunition to the Creston High School in his backpack on Thursday. The juvenile was transported to the Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center, in Eldora.

Creston School District Supt. Steve McDermott issued a statement today (Friday), concerning the incident. McDermott said during an investigation at the students’ home, “One of the boy’s bags was searched and a handgun was discovered. The young man then admitted to having taken that bag with the gun to school at least once in the past. Law enforcement has determined that this is an isolated incident and that the situation has been contained. It has been reported that no threats have been made or founded. The boy will be charged and will not be returning to school in the foreseen future.”

Glenwood Police report four arrests over the past few days. On Thursday: 27-year old Austin Olson, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Probation Violation; 34-year old Octavius Johnson, of Omaha, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance, and 28-year old Amin Person, of Omaha, was arrested for Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs. Bonds for Olson and Johnson were set at $5,000 each. Person’s bond was set at $1,000. And, on Wednesday, Glenwood Police arrested 29-year old Ashley Ring, of Glenwood, on a Mills County warrant for Probation Violation. Her bond was set at $5,000.

(FORT MADISON) – Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Corrections report a correctional officer was assaulted by an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison at approximately 8:00 a.m. today (Friday). The correctional officer was conducting his routine duties in a living unit when he was confronted by an inmate. The inmate used closed-fist strikes to force him to the ground, then proceeded to kick the officer once he was on the ground. Additional staff were nearby and able to quickly come to the assistance of the assaulted officer.

The officer that was assaulted was transported by department vehicle to the Fort Madison Community Hospital for evaluation and treatment. He has since been released from the hospital. The incident remains under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Mega Millions jackpot has soared to $1 billion, as the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. lottery history gets even bigger. Lottery officials increased the grand prize just hours ahead of the Friday night drawing. The prize climbed from $970 million. Although the jackpot keeps increasing , the odds of winning remain stuck at a miserable one in 302.5 million. The prize has grown so large because no one has hit the jackpot since July 24, when a group in California won $543 million.

The $1 billion prize refers to the annuity option. Most winners opt for cash, which for Friday night’s drawing would be $565 million. Officials say that if there isn’t a winner, the prize for Tuesday night’s drawing would be $1.6 billion, tying the largest U.S. lottery prize.

A traffic stop on a suspicious vehicle in Council Bluffs at around 12:30-a.m. today (Friday), resulted in the arrest of five people on theft charges. Authorities say the suspicious  truck was circling the 3100 block of Avenue E. The truck bed was full of Halloween decorations. The  vehicle was occupied by five younger males. Authorities say the suspects were cooperative, and admitted items in the truck bed were stolen, including from two residences that were hit prior to the traffic stop. The thieves were identified as 19-year olds Guy J. Sudmann, of McClelland, Davin M. Woodward, of Blue Springs, MO., and Henry Arenas, of Denton, TX., along with 18-year old’s Jose B. Valdivia, of Glendale Heights, IL., and Gad W. Husemand, of Council Bluffs.  Each was charged with Theft in the 3rd Degree, and were being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail on $2,000 bond, each.

Two victims were identified, and their items, valued at $350, were returned. The residences of seven other items could not be located. The Council Bluffs Police Department’s Property Section is in possession of those items, and is in the process of trying to locate the appropriate owners. If you are missing Halloween decorations in this area, call the Police Dept. at 712-328-4716.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that Iowa Department of Transportation officers do not have authority to issue speeding tickets to or arrest drivers outside of the regulation of commercial vehicles. The finding came Friday in separate 2016 cases in which lower courts split on the issue, with a judge in Iowa County finding that carrier enforcement officers did have such authority, while a judge in Polk County ruled that those officers did not.

The state’s high court ruled Friday that Iowa law allowed the officers to make arrests and issue tickets only for violations relating to operating authority, registration, size, weight and load of commercial vehicles.
State law changed last year, giving IDOT officers the authority to ticket drivers of noncommercial vehicles, but only until July 2018.

More than three-hours after a fatal, head-on crash closed Highway 92 west of Massena, this morning, the road has finally re-opened. Cass County Deputy Bill Ayers reports (that as of 10:25-a.m.) the wreck has been cleared away and the road is passable. The accident, which resulted in one-person flown to a hospital in Omaha, and the death of another person, occurred between 720th and 730th Streets on Highway 92, at around 6:45-a.m.  The names of the victims and other details have not yet been released.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowans are being bombarded with campaign ads in the most expensive election to date. Jay Newell, a professor of advertising at Iowa State University, says more money is being spent on ads during this 2018 midterm election than even the 2016 presidential election. More than six-million dollars is being spent on ads just in the governor’s race. Newell says ads for the 2016 Iowa Caucuses started early in 2015 and ran nearly a full year. “In Des Moines, there was something like $20-million of advertising, that’s a colossal amount,” Newell says. “In comparison, Hy-Vee, which is the largest advertiser in the state, spends about $4-million a year. Statewide, it was the equivalent of ten Hy-Vee chains opening all at once.”

What happens in political advertising is a lot like what happens with brand advertising, accord to Newell. “If all it took to get you to buy a product was to just advertise, then all you would do is advertise, advertise, advertise and you would win the market,” Newell says, “but that’s not what happens in brands and it’s not what happens in politics.”

An I-S-U study of political advertising during the 2016 Iowa Caucuses showed the candidates who spent more on television advertising generally received more support on caucus night, but spending does -not- guarantee a win. “Certainly, there is a relationship in that the more popular the candidate, the more access they might have to funding,” Newell says. “That’s going to result in advertising but that advertising may not result in voting behavior.”

Republican Jeb Bush spent more than nine-million dollars during the 2016 Caucus season, the second-biggest advertiser, but only won about three-percent of the vote. The top spender, Marco Rubio shelled out slightly more than Bush — around nine-point-two million — and still placed third, behind Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.