IOWA NEWS 1 dead in small plane crash on I-29

IOWA NEWS 1 dead in small plane crash on I-29

COUNCIL BLUFFS (AP) — A small airplane crashed on Interstate 29 Thursday in western Iowa, killing the pilot who had just taken off from Omaha’s Eppley Airfield.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker said the pilot was the sole occupant of the plane, which crashed just before noon. Firefi ghters and law enforcement briefly closed all lanes of the interstate and later restricted traffic to one lane in each direction for several miles. No other injuries were reported.

The plane crashed near mile marker 58 north of Council Bluffs.

Danker said the pilot radioed to report engine problems and was trying to turn the plane around. The plane struck a power line during the crash, knocking down the wires.

Authorities have not released the pilot’s identity and were still investigating Thursday afternoon.

Woman charged in death of 3-year-old

OTTUMWA (AP) — Ottumwa police say authorities in Utah have charged a woman with murder in the death of a 3-year-old boy.

Police say in a news release that officers with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation arrested 31-year-old Kashenna Nichole Tucker on Thursday in Midvale, a suburb of Salt Lake City.

On Tuesday, Ottumwa police had obtained an arrest warrant charging Tucker with first degree murder in the death of Wysdom Evans. Police had been investigating the case since Evans died in January 2014 at an Iowa City hospital. Investigators say Evans was a guardian for the child at the time of his death.

Tucker is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on $500,000 bond.

Experts lower Iowa’s revenue projections

DES MOINES (AP) — It’s time for caution in state budgeting, as income for farmers is dropping primarily due to low commodity prices and slowing the state’s economic growth, budget experts said Thursday.

Members of the Revenue Estimating Conference said state revenue for the fiscal year that began July 1 is expected to grow to $7.04 billion. That would be about 3.3 percent more than the previous year but nearly $9 million less than the group’s estimate in October.

The group estimates 4 percent revenue growth for fiscal year 2017 that begins next July, or total revenue of $7.33 billion. That is $21.5 million less than the group estimated in October.

Department of Management director David Roederer said state economic growth is slowing to a more normal pace after several years of faster growth, fueled by high commodity prices that caused rising farm incomes. Farming income accounts for about a third of Iowa’s economy, and about half of the state’s revenue comes from personal income taxes.

Authorities ID body found in Cedar River

GILBERTVILLE (AP) — Iowa authorities have identified a body found in the Cedar River as a missing Waterloo high school student.

Dental records linked the remains to 18-year-old Moe Sed, who was last seen leaving home on his bicycle on Oct. 22. The cause of death hasn’t been determined.

A trapper in a boat discovered the body on Sunday, roughly five miles downriver from the spot where Black Hawk County sheriff’s deputies launched a boat and checked the river with sonar on Oct.

29. The following day, a person using the Cedar Valley Trail reported seeing someone who matched Sed’s description just south of a pedestrian bridge. The sighting was at a distance and unconfirmed.