Police in Atlantic say no injuries were reported following a collision late Tuesday morning at the intersection of Highway 6 and 22nd Street. Authorities say a vehicle driven by Mark Darrow, of Merriam Woods, MO., was preparing to turn onto 22nd Street off of southbound Highway 6, and had stopped to wait for traffic to pass before making the turn.

A vehicle driven by Thomas Dahl, of Dexter, was also traveling south on Highway 6, and failed to stop in time before rear-ending the Woods vehicle. The accident happened at around 11:15-a.m. Damage from the collision amounted to $6,500. Dalh was cited for Failure to Maintain Control and/or reduce Speed.

Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency have moved the county’s “Fire Danger” Index to “HIGH” until further notice. Dry and windy weather conditions prompted the change. All open burning is prohibited in Shelby County until the danger of rapidly spreading grass and field fires is reduced.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County have identified a woman who was shot and killed early Tuesday morning, in Oakland. Sheriff Jeff Danker says 64-year old Patricia Kinkade-Dorsey, from rural Cass County, died from injuries she suffered when she was shot at around 3-a.m. Tuesday.

63-year old Robert Reynolds, Jr., of Oakland faces a charge of 1st Degree Murder in connection with the incident. Reynolds remains in the Pottawattamie County Jail on $1-million bond. His preliminary hearing was set for April 18th. According to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday, Reynolds allegedly told law enforcement officers during an interview that he had a verbal confrontation with a woman in the kitchen of his Oakland residence at 303 Brown Street, before shooting her multiple times with a semi-automatic handgun.

Kinkade-Dorsey was described by authorities as being a family friend. According to reports,  she was headed to Eppley Airfield to go on a trip and was staying with Reynolds and his wife for the night. Authorities say alcohol and an argument are believed to have played a role in the shooting. Reynolds was taken into custody after a brief stand-off with law enforcement.

There were three other persons in the home when the incident occurred, including Reynolds’ wife, and two family members under the age of 18. The incident was the first homicide investigation that occurred in Oakland in more than seven years. This case is believed to be the first murder in Oakland since the November 2006 killing of 24-year-old April Corter of Red Oak, whose body was found in a well near the community.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – City officials and local governments in Iowa would maintain their control over where cell towers are placed within city limits under a broadband-expansion proposal adopted by a legislative panel.

A Senate Appropriations subcommittee unanimously approved changes Wednesday to a bill intended to expand broadband access to rural Iowans. The legislation, which now includes language about cell tower placement, is now subject to full committee review as early as Thursday.

The Senate’s proposal strays from a draft in the House, which local officials have said could strip their authority in tower placement decisions. Lawmakers in the Senate have vowed to maintain this authority while still adhering to cellular companies’ concerns.

Democratic Sen. Steve Sodders, of State Center, says the language in the bill has been considered and approved by local officials.

The entire KJAN listening area is under a Red Flag Warning for critical fire weather conditions, meaning that any outdoor burning which occurs either intentionally or by accident, can spread in an explosive manner, due to low humidity, dry grasses and timber, and very gusty winds.

Photo’s courtesy Montgomery Co. EMA (Brian Hamman)

Similar conditions Tuesday afternoon helped to spread a 15-acre fire in Montgomery County into a 30-acre fire. Emergency Manager Brian Hamman reports the Red Oak Fire Department was paged to a possible field fire just before 4-p.m., Tuesday, in the area of 230^th Street and J Avenue.

Hamman says upon arrival, crews found nearly 15 acres of corn stalk stubble on fire, with flames moving rapidly to the south. Mutual aid was requested from the Stanton Fire Dept., and multiple tractors with discs were used to stop the spread of the flames. A total of 30 acres burned and crews were on scene for roughly three-hours.

Hamman says a hot exhaust pipe that was sitting in the field while workers were marking terraces caused the fire. Once the crew noticed the fire, they attempted to extinguish it with their fire extinguisher but were unable to do so due to the strong winds and dry conditions. The Fire Weather Index was in the Very High category at the time.

A western Iowa lawmaker who’s been absent from the state senate for a month is back at the capitol today (Wednesday). Senator Hubert Houser, a Republican from Carson, met with the secretary of the senate this morning (Wednesday) to ask that he not be paid for four weeks’ worth of the daily expense money legislators receive. “I asked him about past practices and he said this is probably the first time this has ever been done,” Houser says. “There’s been absences before, but they’ve never bothered to ask for reimbursement.”

Houser, who is 71 years old, does not intend to seek reelection this November after 22 years of service in the Iowa House and Senate. Houser says he was surprised by the controversy sparked by his absence. “The way I look at it, having been around here for a long time, that I was only on standing committees and that part was pretty well done when I left,” Houser says. “And I’m in the minority and I’m retiring and I’m a lame duck and, you know, there wasn’t much for me to do here at all, really.”

Republicans hold 24 seats in the senate compared to the 26 Democrats hold, meaning Democrats get to control the senate’s debate agenda. Houser says he’s been spending time expanding his farm operation, building new livestock facilities for his 34-year-old granddaughter to run. Houser says he notified the Republican leaders in the Senate that he needed to be home for the construction. “And so they knew and they said, ‘Will you come in if we need you for votes?’ And I said: ‘Sure,'” Houser says.

Houser says he’s not sure there will be any votes in the Senate today (Wednesday), but he was on the senate floor early this morning and plans to be in the senate every day until the 2014 session adjourns, perhaps sometime this month according to legislative leaders. Houser says he’s spent the past year finding other legislators who will champion key issues he’s handled over the past two decades and Houser says he’s found members of the Iowa House who will take up the cause for the Loess Hills and for the Glenwood Resource Center.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors had a very light agenda this (Wednesday) morning, and consequently a short session. The Board moved to re-appoint Chair Frank Waters to the Southwest Iowa Mental Health Regional Governing Board.

In other business, the Supervisors approved a final payment to Gus Construction for a box culvert project on Boston Road, about one-mile east of “The Valley” (near the Highway 71/I-80 interchange). Engineer Charles Marker provided an update on the project. He said the final cost of the project was just over $207,324.00.

Marker said also, applications closed last Friday for a truck driver’s position associated with the Secondary Roads Department’s Massena County Shed. He said they received 42 applications, six candidates were selected to be interviewed, with Marker and Assistant Engineer Rich Hansen narrowing those down to the top two candidates.  A background check is currently underway on those two individuals. Marker said also, that a single bid has been received for replacement of a culvert pipe northeast of Marne with a concrete box-type. No decision has been made on accepting the bid at this time.

And, Cass County Attorney Dan Feistner mentioned to the Board he’s looking into selecting a law school intern through a program with the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. He says it’s a good program to help future prosecutors train in the legal field, and possibly place those persons in a job following graduation.

According to the Iowa A-G’s website, first-and second-year law students are being sought for 2014 summer internships. The Office is unable to offer paid internships for first-year students and has a limited number of paid internships for second-year students. The Office has slots for 10 – 15 summer interns.

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a traffic stop Tuesday afternoon in Red Oak resulted in the arrest of a man on drug-related charges. When a deputy stopped 41-year old Larry Steve Hutchings, of Emerson in the 100 block of west Reed Street, he learned the man was driving on a suspended license. Upon further investigation, Hutchings was taken into custody on two counts of delivery of marijuana in connection with a previous investigation.

Hutchings was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 cash only bond.