The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said Wednesday (Dec. 19th), that 26-year old Chad Allen Brayman, of Carroll, was sentenced Dec. 11th to 10-years in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms. United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey handed down the 120 month sentence in Council Bluffs against Brayman.

Jarvey also ordered Brayman to serve 3-years of supervised release following his imprisonment. In addition, he will have to pay a $200 special assessment to the Crime Victim Fund, and forfeit the firearms and ammunition found in his possession. Brayman remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending designation the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility at which he will serve his sentence.

Brayman was sentenced upon his pleas of guilty to the two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. The first charge arose from a call to the Council Bluffs Police Department from a Council Bluffs motel on February 6, 2012, regarding a person sleeping in an automobile in the parking lot of the motel. In answering the call, Council Bluffs police officers found Brayman in the vehicle at the motel, and in possession of a loaded Norinco SKS 7.62X39 rifle, a loaded Remington 22-250 rifle, a 12-gauge Remington shotgun, a 410-gauge Westernfield shotgun, a Ruger 9mm pistol, and several rounds of ammunition. The second charge arose from the stop of a vehicle in Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Council Bluffs police officers on April 30, 2012, in which Brayman was found to be the driver of a vehicle with expired registration.

During the stop, Brayman was found in possession of a loaded ACCU-Tec pistol. Prior to possessing the firearms and ammunition, Brayman had been convicted of various felony offenses, including burglary, theft-related crimes, and felon in possession of a firearm.

The case was investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Sheriff’s deputies in Mills County were very busy Tuesday, investigating no fewer than four accidents. One of the accidents happened at around 2:50-p.m. Tuesday, about two-miles southeast of Glenwood on Kidd Road, at the intersection with Kane Avenue. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says a 1991 Toyota driven by 16-year old Ashley Hunter, of Glenwood, was traveling south on Kidd Road when for reasons unknown, it left the road and hit an embankment. Hunter was transported by Glenwood Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs for treatment of undisclosed injuries.

The other three accidents occurred at nearly the same time. Officials say the vehicles each went out of control as they crossed a bridge where ice had formed on the roadway. Each of the accident took place at around 5:35-a.m. Tuesday, about 2.5-miles west of Malvern, on Highway 34.

Officials say a 1999 Ford F-150 pickup driven by 25-year old Matthew Twehous, of Malvern, was traveling west on Highway 34, when the vehicle began to fishtail as he drove across a bridge. Twehous tried to take corrective action, but the truck skidded across the centerline of the road and hit the opposite side of the bridge.

At about the same time, a 2004 Dodge driven by 34-year old Justin Scroggs, of Malvern, hit the same patch of icy road on the bridge, causing the vehicle to fishtail out of control. The vehicle crossed the centerline and hit the opposite side of the bridge twice. And, about an hour later, a 2005 Chevy driven by 48-year old Carri McAdams, of Malvern also spun out of control on the increasingly icy bridge, as McAdams was traveling westbound. The vehicle hit the opposite side of the bridge. None of the drivers was injured. A dollar amount of the damage was not immediately available.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors Wednesday morning, approved a proposal from Carlson, West, and Povandra Architects, for a courthouse space/needs study. The study will cost a total of $4,300. That includes the base price of $3,800, plus an optional $800 fee for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (Or, HVAC) analysis. The board concluded the HVAC study should be done to determine whether it would be more cost effective and feasible to install a Geo-thermal system, or reconfigure the current system, depending on the location of the 9-1-1 Center.

During their meeting last week, Supervisor Mark Wedemeyer, who sits on the County Public Safety Commission, said the Commission would be willing to foot $2,500 toward the cost of the study, but Supervisor Chuck Rieken said Wednesday, that the Board could look at picking up the entire bill, once the study is complete. He says that’s because it would benefit the entire courthouse, and not just the Comm Center.

The Board could look at numerous methods of helping to pay for the study, including splitting the costs with the Public Safety Commission and obtaining Federal/State grants. The study will be completed within 90-days once the contract is signed.

Finding more space in the courthouse or on the grounds of the facility is a process that began in the Fall of 2011, after it became clear the Cass County 9-1-1/Communications Center has outgrown its current location, and because new technology will take up more space and require the use of additional personnel to operate it.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports two people were arrested on drug charges this week, following an investigation into drug-related activity. 23-year old Justin Tigges, of Defiance, was arrested Monday in Ames, on a felony Delivery of Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine charge. Tigges was transported to Shelby County where he was being held on $50,000 bond.

38-year old Vicki Garrison, from Harlan, was arrested Tuesday in Harlan, on the same felony charge. Garrison was brought to the Shelby County Jail, where she was also being held on $50,000 bond. Authorities say an investigation into the pair’s alleged illegal activities are ongoing.