An accident late Tuesday morning in Greene County has claimed the life of a man who was riding on a tractor. The Iowa State Patrol says 47-year old Patrick Fields, of Paton, died at the scene of the crash when the 1965 International Tractor he was driving was hit from behind by a semi. The tractor was pushed into a ditch by the impact, and rolled on top of Fields, pinning him underneath.

The accident happened at around 11:20-a.m., as Fields was traveling east on Greene County Road E-18. The driver of the 1996 Freightliner semi, 25-year old Troy Shaw, of Harcourt, was not injured. The accident remains under investigation.

The Iowa State Patrol was assisted at the scene by deputies with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, EMS, Paton Fire and Grand Junction Fire and Rescue.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following an accident Tuesday afternoon, in Villisca. Authorities sat a 1998 Chevy S-10 pickup owned and driven by David L. Rhamy, of Villisca, was traveling north on U Avenue at around 12:20-p.m., when Rhany pulled to the right of the road to deliver mail.

A 2005 Chevy Monte Carlo, owned and driven by Jessica K. Marshall, was traveling north behind the pickup. Marshall failed to notice the pickup was slowing and pulling to the right. Her car made contact with the left rear of the pickup, causing a total of about $1,400 damage. No citations were issued.

Two people suffered possible/minor injuries during separate accidents Tuesday, in Union County. Sheriff’s officials say 33-year old Adam Michael Roan, of Afton, was transported by ambulance to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, after the vehicle he was driving entered a ditch and struck a culvert. The accident happened at around 7:40-p.m. as Roan was traveling south on Palomino Drive.

Authorities say he was talking on the phone when he met a car that kicked up dust and impaired visibility. Roan’s 2004 Dodge pickup got too close to the ditch before it entered the west side of the ditch and hit the culvert. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $4,000.

The other accident happened at around 3:35-p.m., Tuesday, in the Bunn-O-Matic parking lot, in Creston. Officials say Christopher Paul Kuhn, of Greenfield, was walking out into the parking after getting off work, when, as he walked around the front a vehicle waiting to pull out of a parking stall, was struck in the left knee, when the vehicle pulled out. The accident caused Kuhn to fall to the ground with a possible knee injury. He was transported to the Creston hospital by ambulance to be checked out.

The driver of the vehicle that struck him, 27-year old William Anthony Graham, of Creston, told authorities he didn’t see Kuhn walking around his 2014 Chevy  Cruz before he pulled out of the parking stall. No citations were issued.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a Creston man, 30-year old Sean Cody Stauffer, was arrested Tuesday evening in Adams County. He was transferred from the Adams County Jail to the Union County Jail, on Union County Warrants for criminal mischief 5th degree and for failure to appear in court on a sex offender registration violation.  Stauffer was being held in the Union County Jail on $5000.00 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The executive director of the Iowa Board of Regents has announced his resignation. A regents news release said Wednesday that Bob Donley’s resignation is effective July 15. He’s served in the position since 2008. The board intends to appoint an interim executive director and begin searching for Donley’s replacement.

The board oversees the state’s three public universities and two special K-12 schools: the Iowa School for the Deaf and the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School.

The first of Democrat who announced a run for governor in 2018 is dropping out. On January 4th, Rich Leopold kicked off his campaign, but after five months, operations are shutting down. Leopold, who is 52, served as director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and is currently director of Polk County Conservation.

Leopold says he has suspended his campaign because of “challenging in fundraising and difficulty in competing with the mostly political insiders” who have entered the race. Leopold says the “truth is the reality of an outsider mounting a winning campaign in Iowa is slim.”

(Radio Iowa)

One person was arrested early this (Wednesday) morning, following an investigation into an alleged case of child abuse. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy responded a little after midnight to a call from a woman in Underwood, who said she found bruises on her two-year old goddaughter.  Deputies subsequently arrested 25-year old Ryan Bradley Rapier, of Council Bluffs at around 3-a.m., on a charge of Child Endangerment with Bodily Injury.