The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Nebraska man was sentenced Friday to almost 2 1/2-years in prison for escape from a residential care facility in Council Bluffs. 53-year old Michael E. Hannum, of Omaha, was sentenced by United States District Court Senior Judge Robert Pratt to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for escape.

On November 1st, 2013, Hannum pled guilty to escaping on August 2nd, 2013, from CH Inc. the residential re-entry center in Council Bluffs. On August 4th, 2013, Hannum was arrested by officers with the Council Bluffs Police.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department and the United States Marshal Service, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

A Nebraska woman was sentenced Friday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, for her role in the distribution of methaphetamine in a Bluffs casino. 43-year old Dawn R. Hightree, of Fremont, NE, was sentenced to 64 months in prison followed by six years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

On May 22, 2013, Hightree pled guilty to the charge which was the result of an investigation conducted into methamphetamine distribution at Harrah’s Cas ino in Council Bluffs. Hightree was found to have methamphetamine and drug trafficking paraphernalia in the hotel room at Harrah’s Casino where she was staying.

The investigation was conducted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Special Enforcement Operations Bureau, the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in northeast Iowa say the bodies of five people have been retrieved from a house that was completely destroyed by an early morning fire. The house was damaged so badly it could be difficult to collect enough evidence to determine the cause of the fire. The blaze left just a charred pile of smoking metal and siding where the house once stood in Arlington, a small city about 125 miles northeast of Des Moines.

The state fire marshal says it appears the bodies are those of three adults and two children. Their remains will be sent to the state medical examiner’s office for positive identification. An official cause of death for the five will not be available until autopsies are completed.

Officials with MidAmerican Energy Company have announced the company is participating in several educational training meetings throughout Iowa to help prepare emergency responders and public officials on pipeline safety and damage prevention tactics. The 2014 Pipeline Awareness and Education Meetings are hosted by the Iowa Pipeline Association and are free to the public. All emergency responders and public officials are encouraged to attend.

During the meetings, the Iowa Pipeline Association will conduct interactive scenarios, allowing attendees to practice and apply their emergency response knowledge to specific incidents, such as leak recognition, hazard awareness, damage prevention and basic pipeline safety strategies. Events will be held from January through March, beginning at 5:30 p.m. A free dinner will be provided at each event.

Those interested can register for any one of the meetings at www.iowapipelinesafety.com. In western Iowa, meetings will be held: In Guthrie Center at the Farm Bureau Hall on March 11th; In Denison at the Boulders Conference Center on March 13th;In Creston at Iowa Southwestern Community College on March 25th; In Clarinda at Heritage Hall on March 26th, and in Atlantic at the Cass County Community Center on March 27th.

Firefighters from Massena were called to the scene of a fully engulfed machine shed fire early this (Friday) afternoon. The call about the blaze on the Ron Schafer farm at 73646 Victoria Road, about 3-miles south of Massena, came in at around 12:50-p.m. Crews were reportedly on the scene for about an hour, dousing the flames that damaged the small, wooden building. A cause for the blaze has not yet been determined.