Police in Council Bluffs are investigating a possible connection between pharmacy robberies in Council Bluffs and Omaha. Bluffs Police Sgt. Chad Meyers told the Omaha-World Herald there were similarities between the incidents at a K-Mart Pharmacy on E. Kanesville Blvd. last Saturday, and a CVS Pharmacy on Dec. 8th., as well as the recent robbery of an Omaha Walgreens Store.

Meyer told the paper a man wearing a coat entered Kmart about 11:16-a.m. Saturday and approached the half-door that leads into the pharmacy area. As the suspect approached, he put the hood over his head and motioned to one of the pharmacy techs to come over to him. The suspect indicated he had a gun and demanded all of their pain medication.

Meyer said while no gun was displayed, the clerk could see what appeared to be the butt of a weapon inside the suspect’s coat. The man left the store with an undisclosed amount of oxycodone.

Two people were injured during a collision Thursday evening on Highway 275, in Mills County. The Iowa State Patrol says the driver of a pickup, 57-year old Lee Allen Mosier, of Imogene, and the driver of a car, 66-year old William Porter Rickabaugh, Jr., of Malvern were hurt, when the vehicles collided on the shoulder of the road just north of the Mills/Fremont County line, near Tabor. The accident happened at around 5:40-p.m,

Officials say Mosier was traveling south in his 2001 Ford F-350 pickup, when he noticed headlights facing him off on the west shoulder. Mosier told authorities he thought the other vehicle was pulling out into his lane, so he took to the west shoulder of the road, where his vehicle collided with Rickabaugh’s 2000 Volvo S-80. The Volvo was pulled off on the west side of the road facing the wrong way, while Rickabaugh was retrieving mail from a rural mailbox.

Rickabaugh, who was not wearing a seat belt, was transported by Glenwood Rescue to Creighton Hospital in Omaha. Mosier, who was wearing a seat belt, was checked and treated at the scene.

GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) – A pregnant woman’s quick stop at a central Iowa convenience store while on the way to the hospital didn’t go as planned.  Amanda Teas, who works at Casey’s General Store in Greenfield, told KCCI Abbie Hinrichs stopped in at about 2:30 a.m. Thursday to use the restroom.     Hinrichs told Teas she was in labor and was headed for the Creston hospital.  Teas checked on her about four minutes later and found the baby had arrived.  She says Hinrichs “was calm as could be.”

Teas ran outside to tell Henrich’s mother, husband and son, who were in a car. Medics soon arrived, taking Henrich and the baby to the Adair County Hospital. The family says Addison Nicole Hinrichs weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces. She and her mother are doing fine.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education Thursday night approved by a vote of 4-to 1, moving ahead with plans for a $19.8-million dollar Capital Improvements project that would include new construction and additional renovations to current district facilities. Board member Dennis Davis provided the lone no vote. The action came after discussion which lasted for about 55-minutes. The matter is expected to come before the voters in the form of a bond referendum on April 1^st, 2014.

Concept 2

The Board had two concepts to choose from before making their final decision. The first would have cost a little more than $8-million. They chose the second, more costly option, based upon a recommendation from Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein, who said the proposal was based on input from faculty, staff, the administrators, school board discussions, and input from the community. 

He proposed four new classrooms on the northeast side of the Washington Elementary School, which will provide space for the two Pre-school classes currently in place at the Old Lincoln School building, as well as space for the Special Education classroom. The second part of the concept is the addition of a new Middle School building (for grades 7 and 8) next to the High School. Amstein thinks that will provide enough instructional space for both grades, and a greater opportunity for students to take exploratory classes and achieve high school credit in the 8^th grade, prior to attending high school.

The proposal also calls for the construction of eight new classrooms on the west side wings of the High School. Special Education classes would be housed in most of those classrooms, but some would serve as additional math and science space, and possibly a Career Tech Education classroom, as well as an expansion of the current art room. The concept also calls for the expansion and renovation of the Industrial Technology and Agricultural Education Lab. Plans also call for replacement of 18-year old heat pumps at the high school. Amstein says they typically have a service life of 15- to 18-years.

He says the plan would also require reconfiguration of the Schuler and Middle School buildings, but no new construction other than a possible renovation of the Level 3 Severe and Profound classroom at Schuler or the current Middle School. Amstein also recommended the Old Lincoln building house the Cass County Educational Opportunity Center (CCEOC), which was previously housed at that facility.

The earliest construction could begin if the project is approved by the voters on April 1^st, is in the Summer of 2015.