(Harlan, Iowa) –  The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports they will be hosting a Defensive Tactics Class on Tuesday August 9th, 2022, from 3:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M., at the Harlan Community High School wrestling room. The target audience for this training will be high school to college age women. The class is free.

Authorities will offer similar training which will be more community focused in the future but at this time would like to focus on this age group. Any female within this age group is invited to join in this event. Participants will be asked to sign a waiver prior to the start of class. Any participant under the age of 18 will need a guardian to sign the waiver upon arrival. Pre-registration is not required. 

Participants are asked to wear clean athletic clothing and socks as shoes will not be allowed on the mats. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says “We look forward to being able to bring this class to the young women of our community in hopes it helps keep you safe.”

This is what the waiver looks like

(Modale, Iowa) – Deputies in Harrison County who were searching for a man wanted on outstanding warrants from Council Bluffs and Omaha, found their man, but he wasn’t arrested without incident, Thursday evening.  Harrison County Sheriff Brandon Doiel reports Deputies arrived at a residence in Modale at around 7:49-p.m., acting on a tip 29-year-old Lucas Sales would be there. As they arrived, Sales was seen in the driver’s seat of a car that was in the driveway of the residence.

As a Deputy approached the vehicle on foot, Sales immediately attempted to elude law enforcement, and struck the Deputy with his vehicle, causing minor injuries to the Deputy. A vehicle pursuit began, with Sales traveling through the City Limits of Modale and then westbound on 270th Street.

Lucas Sales (Harrison County S/O photo)

The pursuit traveled down several rural gravel roads northwest of Modale, and eventually entered back into the City Limits of Modale, and continuing southbound on Austin Avenue. The Iowa State Patrol arrived at that time and assisted in the chase. It was about then, that Sales allegedly displayed a handgun and began firing several rounds at pursuing law enforcement officers (None of the officers were hit). Sales eventually lost control of the 2006 Subaru Impreza he was driving.

After the vehicle entered the south ditch at the intersection of Austin Avenue and Highway 30, Sales was taken into custody without further incident. He suffered minor injuries resulting from the accident, and was transported to CHI Missouri Valley Hospital for treatment, and once medically released, was transported to the Harrison County Jail. Lucas Sales was being held on a $35,000 bond on charges that include: Assault with a Deadly Weapon; Attempt to Commit Murder; Eluding Law Enforcement, and Reckless Driving Violations.

Agencies assisting during the incident include: The Iowa State Patrol; Modale 1st Responders; Missouri Valley Rescue and Mondamin Rescue.

(Radio Iowa) – Negotiators with the United Steelworkers have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract for 950 workers at the Bridgestone-Firestone factory in Des Moines. Bridgestone-Firestone makes tires for tractors and farm implements. The current contract for four-thousand workers at the company’s factories in Iowa and four other states expired at 11 last night (Thursday night).

Employees are still at work and union members will vote on the new contract proposal soon. A statement posted on the United Steelworkers’ Facebook page doesn’t share details, but said there are solid breakthroughs and significant gains in the contract offer.

(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says she opposed the bill that provides federal subsidies to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. for a number of reasons. Hinson and other Republicans who voted “no” on the bill say it could wind up supporting U.S. companies that do business in China.  “The final product really was a gigantic corporate subsidy that not only will help fan the flames of inflation, but it will support our adversaries there through that loophole and drag our economy down,” Hinson says. “…I’m hopeful we will take back the House. We have another package that we are working on and hope to bring to the floor in the new congress.”

Two dozen House Republicans voted for the bill, but Hinson and the two other Republicans from Iowa voted against it.  “As is often the case here in Washington, D.C. with these massive packages, the way I saw this, the final product that we voted on strayed far from the original intent of the legislation,” Hinson says. Hinson’s General Election opponent, Democrat Liz Mathis of Hiawatha, says Hinson voted to continue our dependence on China rather than invest in manufacturing jobs here at home.

Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines supported the bill. Axne says semiconductor chips are critical to the production of cars, computers, and other electronic goods and boosting U.S. production will address shortages and end reliance on China for the chips.

(Radio Iowa) – Saturday is “World Day Against Human Trafficking” and one of the efforts in Iowa to raise awareness involved training the drivers of the big rigs to spot trafficking. Sergeant Joe Nickell Sergeant with the D-O-T’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement division helps with the training. “Back in 2013, we began this this awareness campaign with a group called “Truckers Against Trafficking,” and their goal is to train all truck drivers what human trafficking looked like, just with the idea that they’re out there on the highway system more than anyone, and I see more than anyone saying make those reports,” Nickell says. He says truckers are a great resource for information on what’s happening on the highway.

“They eyes and ears the road, and they definitely know what’s out there. And law enforcement, we look for the abnormal — we know what the normal looks like — so we’re looking for the abnormal and that’s the way they educated them to look for something that just looks different,” he says. Nickell says the drivers and industry has been very receptive of their “Truckers Against Trafficking,” or TAT training. “These these folks are highly motivated to make the reports, there’s just certain certain crimes I think we can all get behind. And this is one that they’re excited to be that everyday hero, it’s called and make that phone call,” according to Nickell.

“So since since we started, TAT, one-point-three million have been have been TAT trained going through their certification process. And we have facilitated more than 40-thousand truck drivers here in Iowa in the training.” Nickell and others says it’s important for everyone to learn the signs of human trafficking, because it can happen to anyone of any age.

You can go to the Department of Public Safety website to find out more . You are also asked to give them a tip if you see something that doesn’t look right. You can call toll free at: 888-373-7888 to give a tip. Or you can go to the D-P-S website: stophtiowa.org to make a report, or find out more about training.

(Radio Iowa) – After a cool morning with some overnight lows in the 50s, forecasters say Iowa is in for a “prolonged heat event” next week. Meteorologist Alex Krull, at the National Weather Service, says the switch from July to August will bring us some excessively hot days, with highs in the low 90s expected Sunday and Monday. “Tuesday, we’re looking at actual air temperatures between the mid 90s and upper 90s and that’ll send heat index values — or the feels-like temperature — above 100 degrees,” Krull says.

“Then Wednesday, we’re looking at upper 90s for the actual air temperatures, and it may be possible for us to cross over 100 degrees and we’ll likely be looking at heat index values anywhere between 105 to 107 degrees.” Iowans will need to take precautions to cope with the steamy weather. “If you have any plans to be outdoors during the middle of this upcoming week, please plan accordingly,” Krull says. “Have plenty of water to stay hydrated and have a place to cool down, whether that be in a car that has working air conditioning or a building that is air-conditioned and shaded properly.”

Krull says the pattern of above-normal temperatures will continue perhaps for another ten days. “When we have this kind of pattern in July and August, it typically results in very hot and humid conditions throughout the next couple of weeks,” Krull says. “There may be some possibilities for rain showers and thunderstorms and anytime that those occur, they can provide some relief to the excessive temperatures.” The heat wave isn’t hitting just Iowa. Above-normal temps are forecast through the first week of August from Nebraska all the way to New York.

(Radio Iowa) – The House Ethics Committee has unanimously voted to dismiss a complaint against Congresswoman Cindy Axne after concluding there’s no clear evidence Axne made willful errors on financial disclosures. Last year a watchdog group accused Axne and six other House members of failing to report stock trades. Axne says she and her husband leave their investment decisions to account managers and didn’t make any stock trades themselves — and Axne didn’t realize she was to file public .reports about any of that account activity.

Axne has hired a lawyer to file the reports about her investment accounts. Axne has signed onto the effort to ban members of congress from directly executing their own stock trades.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Two Atlantic men will stand trial in September on Class-D Felony charges associated with a break-in and the theft of several guns. The rural-Atlantic residential burglary occurred June 5^th.  The Cass County Sheriff’s Office had reported 20-year-old Corbin Logemann and 19-year-old Cristian Mata allegedly took firearms, pellet guns, long bows, a gun cabinet, and more. The items were valued at between $1,500 and $10,000. Both men face charges of Burglary in the 3^rd Degree, and Theft in the 2^nd Degree.

During an investigation and under questioning, Logemann and Mata admitted to the crime. And, a neighbor of Logemann and Mata provided law enforcement with surveillance video showing some of the stolen items being unloaded into Logemann and Mata’s residence.

Mata and Logemann will be arraigned on the charges August 22nd, with a pre-trial conference set for Sept. 12th, and trial on Sept. 27th

(Cass County, Iowa) – A bridge replacement project that was slated to begin Monday, in northern Cass County, will begin a few days later than planned. Rich Hansen, Assistant to Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken said the project involves the two-month closure of an east-west gravel road, spanning from Olive Street to Highway 71/630th Street.

Hansen says a detour route will be in effect.

Orange highlight marks the portion of road to be closed.

(The detour takes you South on Dunbar Road, east to Dunbar for one-mile to 630th/Hwy 71, then back north to Boston Road. The route is a combination of paved and gravel roads.)

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Officials with the Glenwood Police Department report an arrest took place this (Friday) morning. 41-year-old Daniel Thomas, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Mills

County Warrant for Theft 2nd, bond set at $5000 cash or surety.