COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Copper siding has been stolen from a museum in Council Bluffs.  The Daily Nonpareil says police reported the theft on Wednesday. The siding is valued at $1,000. It apparently was taken early Saturday morning from the Western Historic Trails Center.  The museum is owned by the state of Iowa.

In an update to our story last hour about a reported hoop barn fire near Harlan, Harlan Fire Chief Roger Bissen (Bee’sun) told KJAN News the fire was actually in about a half-dozen bales of corn stored inside the barn, and not so much the structure, contrary to earlier information we received. Tractors were removing the bales from inside the structure, prior to the bales being extinguished. The hoop barn sustained some damage to the canvass-style fabric covering structure.

Several fire departments were dispatched to the scene east of Harlan, including those from Harlan, Irwin, Kimballton, Kirkman and Defiance. The blaze occurred at a farm near the intersection of Highway 44 and Shelby County Road M-47, just before 6-a.m.

No injuries have been reported. Bissen said crews would remain on the scene for another couple of hours.

Several fire departments have been dispatched to a fire east of Harlan this (Friday) morning. Firefighters from Harlan, Irwin, Kimballton, Kirkman and Defiance were called to the scene of the blaze near the intersection of Highway 44 and Shelby County Road M-47, just before 6-a.m.

A Shelby County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher said a hoop barn was on fire at that location, but no other details are currently available.

An extremely dangerous homemade narcotic which is being called “the worst drug in the world” is suspected in recent cases in several states and will likely make it to Iowa in the coming weeks. It’s called “krokodil” (crock-ah-dial) and the toxic mix often results in amputations and can dissolve jawbones and teeth, much like methamphetamine, according to registered nurse Tammy Noble at the Iowa Poison Control Center.

“It causes the skin to become kind of scaly, almost like what you’d think of with a crocodile, similar to that, and oftentimes a green appearance,” Noble says, “because it’s eating the body from the inside out where this drug comes into contact with the tissues.” One key ingredient is over-the-counter codeine-based headache pills mixed with iodine, gasoline, paint thinner or alcohol. Krokodil is believed to be behind several recent cases in Arizona, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Noble, the poison center’s education coordinator, fears it will eventually reach Iowa, likely sooner than later.

“It used to be it would take months before we would start seeing it in the Midwest but because of the media, social media, now we are starting to see these drugs of abuse appear much quicker in the Midwest,” Noble says. “It’s only a matter of time before we’re going to start seeing it in our area.” Reports say the drug first appeared in Russia about a decade ago but has quickly gained popularity in the past three years.

“It’s cheaper than people using heroin so some of the users are former heroin users who are now using this as an alternative,” Noble says. “What happens is, when people are using it, it ends up rotting the skin from the inside out.” Krokodil may cost three times less heroin and the high is similar — though much shorter — usually around 90 minutes. Reports say the average life expectancy among krokodil addicts in Russia is two to three years. Noble says anyone with concerns about this drug and other poisons can call the Sioux City-based Iowa Poison Control Center around-the-clock at 800-222-1222.

(Radio Iowa)