A central Iowa man was injured during a head-on, wrong-way vehicle collision Friday night, in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 22-year old Ryan I. Evans, of Johnston, was driving a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse eastbound in the westbound lane of Interstate 80 about two-miles north of the exit to Highway 6 on the east side of Council Bluffs, when his car struck a 2013 Freightliner semi. The accident happened at around 10:11-p.m. in the right lane of westbound I-80.

Following the collision, the car came to rest in the median, and caught fire. The semi, driven by 57-year old Marvin L. Fielder, of Omaha, came to rest in the west ditch. Fielder was not injured in the crash. Evans, who was wearing his seat belt, was flown by LifeNet to the UNMC in Omaha.

The Patrol says the accident remains under investigation, but alcohol does NOT appear to be a factor in the crash.

Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department report officers were involved in the pursuit Friday afternoon, of a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was seen at around 3:20-p.m. traveling southbound on the South Expressway. The vehicle eluded officers when they attempted to stop it and they pursued it through the city. At one point the vehicle left the traveled portion of the roadway and also drove in the wrong lanes of traffic on two other occasions.

Officers were able to follow the vehicle until it went into Omaha and communicated with dispatchers who relayed the information to Omaha Police Department (OPD) Officers. A short time later, OPD officers located the vehicle in the 5800 block of South 14th Street. Two suspects were also located in the area.

The OPD Auto Theft Unit is handing the investigation. Police have not yet released the names of those two suspects.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state official credits increased use of overdose antidotes for a decline in deaths due to heroin and pain pills in Iowa. The director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy tells The Des Moines Register that first responders now have more training and experience in how to respond to overdoses. He says more also carry antidotes like naloxone, which can counteract the effects of narcotic overdoses.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court seems to agree with Kevin Costner that there’s no better place to play baseball than on fields cut out of the corn. The court on Friday cleared the way for a 24-field baseball complex at the “Field of Dreams” movie site in Dyersville, upholding a lower court’s decision that the City Council properly rezoned the property from agricultural to commercial.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Sioux City police have revealed the name of an officer who fatally shot a South Dakota man during a traffic stop, as well as more details of the shooting. The Sioux City Journal cites a department release Friday that says Officer Dylan Grimsley fatally shot 36-year-old Daniel Anthony Riedmann, of Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, on Wednesday. Police say Riedmann ignored commands to show his hands and unlock the door of the SUV. Police say a gun was found in the vehicle.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating a Des Moines house fire that injured three firefighters. The Des Moines Register reports that the fire is believed to have started in the attic of the house Thursday night. Des Moines Fire Department spokesman Brian O’Keefe says one firefighter was injured when he fell through an opening in the attic roof to the floor below. A second dislocated his shoulder moving fire equipment, and a third was injured when the house’s ceiling collapsed.

According to the schedule released by the Governor’s office on Friday Lt. Governor and soon to be Governor Kim Reynolds is set to make a stop in Atlantic next week. Reynolds is scheduled to tour the Ann Wickman Child Development Center in Atlantic on Friday, December 16th at 10:15am.  The center is located at 703 Linn Street in Atlantic.

From Atlantic Reynolds will head to Indianola to meet with Warren County Economic Development at 12:45pm.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Government statistics significantly understate the number of children in the U.S. who were killed by unintentional gun discharges last year. The Associated Press and USA TODAY Network found 141 deaths of minors were attributed to unintentional or accidental shootings in 2015. That’s 83 percent higher than the 77 deaths that the Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday.

Advocates for stricter laws and new technology meant to keep guns away from children argue that the deaths are largely preventable. They say the undercount is significant because it informs the policy debate.

CDC officials say their statistics are low because they rely on death certificates. Some coroners list deaths in which one child unintentionally shoots another as homicides. The AP and USA TODAY Network relied on determinations made by investigating agencies.

Police in Council Bluffs say a Nebraska man was arrested this (Friday) morning, in connection with the theft of a car whose owner left the engine running to warm-up the vehicle. 36-year old Brian James Johnson, of Omaha, was apprehended following a short, two-block foot pursuit that began as Officers began to question him about the incident. Johnson was arrested for Theft in the 2nd Degree, Possession with the Intent to Deliver/Methamphetamine, and Eluding. The drug charge was added after Officers found a quantity of meth in Johnson’s possession.

The incident leading up to his arrest began when authorities were notified at around 9:10-a.m., that at Buick LeSabre reported stolen earlier in the morning had been located by the owner, at the Days Inn parking lot at 3619 9th Avenue. GPS tracking allowed the victim to find her vehicle at the hotel. She met with law enforcement at scene and identified the vehicle as being hers.

The Council Bluffs Police Department thanks the citizen(s) who assisted in locating and apprehending the suspect. The incident they said, “Further highlights the dangers of leaving the keys in the ignition when warming up your vehicle on cold mornings.”

The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce has announced the monthly winner of the Shop Local Passport Program. The November winner is Kevin Garrett, who shopped local at Cappel’s Ace Hardware. He received $50 in Passport Bucks, only to be used at participating businesses.

Kevin Garrett

The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with First Whitney Bank and participating Chamber Members kicked off the passport program at the beginning of June.  Thes shopping incentive rewards shoppers for shopping local and keeps dollars in our community supporting families, employees, business owners and benefiting local schools and community projects. Small businesses have created over 8 million jobs since 1990 and donate 250% more than big business to non-profits and community causes.

The Shop Local Passport campaign has 24 participating businesses allowing shoppers to get everything they need right here in Atlantic. Since the campaign kicked off, 2,431 passports have been entered into the contest. That’s a total of $425,425.00 spent just at participating businesses, helping to increase L.O.S.T (Local Option Sales Tax).

How it works:

1. Passports are available for pick up at the Atlantic Area Chamber of commerce or participating businesses.
2. You receive stamps in the amount of purchases.
3. Once your passport is complete, you have the option to return the completed passport to the Chamber or participating businesses to be entered into a monthly drawing to win Passport Bucks, only redeemable at participating businesses.
4. At the end of the year, all the completed passports will be eligible for a Grand Prize drawing! Prizes will include AtlantiCash and items provided by participating businesses.
5. To learn more and how to be a winner, please visit www.atlanticiowa.com.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports 31-year old Laurel Curtis McDonald, of Exira, was arrested Thursday, on an outstanding warrant charging him with OWI/1st Offense, and three-counts of Child Endangerment. The charges are the result of an investigation into an accident that occurred Nov. 2nd on Littlefield Drive, near Pheasant Avenue.

McDonald was brought to the Audubon County Jail and released after appearing in front of the magistrate. His preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 29th.

An official representing the Elite Octane, LLC ethanol plant, issued a Press Release today (Friday), saying the Cass County Board of Supervisors have received an updated proposal from Elite Octane, with regard to the construction of an ethanol production facility in Atlantic.  Nick Bowdish, President and CEO of N Bowdish Company, LLC, said the proposal provides for new infrastructure to be completed in Cass County that will be paid for entirely by property taxes generated by Elite Octane.  Bowdish says at the completion of the proposed project, Cass County will have an additional two and a half miles of newly paved roads that should help facilitate development of the area surrounding the proposed plant.

According to Bowdish, property taxes generated by Elite Octane’s proposed project will also support the installation of a “gray water” line that will recycle a waste stream the community has released down the Nishnabotna River for more than 75 years. The recycling of gray water, he says, is certainly a positive from both water conservation and environmental perspectives, but is also important to the viability of the ethanol facility itself. Recycled gray water is an important component in plans for Elite Octane’s proposed $190 million dollar investment, which will bring with it 49 long-term, high quality jobs and a local payroll in excess of $3.5 million.

While previous proposals contemplated Cass County carrying a greater share of the project’s financial and infrastructure burdens, as neighboring counties have done with ethanol plants in the past, Bowdish says Elite Octane’s newest proposal contemplates that Cass County taxpayers will not pay for any of the new infrastructure required by the project. These will be entirely funded by Elite Octane’s future property taxes. Cass county residents will, however, enjoy the benefits of immediate and certain job growth as well as a value-added processor for corn grown in the region that should drive local farm incomes higher.

In addition, Bowdish says there will be opportunities for further economic development on the newly paved roads, which will be paid for entirely by the tax revenues generated from the asset investment Elite Octane proposes to make in Cass County. “It has always been Elite Octane’s intention to pay its own way into Cass County,” said Bowdish. “Elite Octane looks forward to finalizing an agreement with Cass County that will enable it to promptly sign construction contracts, avoiding further delay and risks of labor and material escalation which could potentially delay, or even stop, the project.”

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman said a public hearing on a Development Agreement, based on the new proposal, will be held during the Board of Supervisors meeting at 9-a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14th.

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Elite Octane, LLC is a privately held, development-stage ethanol production company.  The Company is in final stages of due diligence and anticipates it could begin construction in January 2017 on an ethanol plant near Atlantic, Iowa that will consume over 40 million bushels of locally grown corn and produce approximately 120 million gallons of ethanol and 300,000 tons of distiller’s grains per year.