(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – In an update to our previous report, the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday), identified a woman who had been fatally shot Sunday morning, in eastern Council Bluffs, as 83-year-old Bonnie Rankin. A man in the residence, 86-year-old Harvey Rankin, was found suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to University of Nebraska Medical Center by Lewis Township Rescue. A Pottawattamie County Deputy followed the ambulance to the hospital and placed a law enforcement hold on Harvey Rankin. The victims were found after Deputies responded to a domestic disturbance incident in the 400 block of Timber Drive, at around 7:45-a.m., Sunday.

In a press release, Pott. County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Doty said “We believe that everyone involved in this incident is accounted for and there is no danger to the public. The investigation is ongoing. Sheriff’s Office Investigators will be working with the Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office regarding any criminal charges.” The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office Investigation Division had responded to the residence on Timber Drive to conduct a death investigation and process the scene. They were assisted by the Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Team.

Sheriff Brown and the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office have offered their condolences to the family and friends of Bonnie Rankin.

(Radio Iowa) – Local veterans in Sioux City got to tell their stories for a special project that will preserve them at the Library of Congress. Bill Lyle was one of around one dozen veterans who shared their story during recording at the 185th Air National Guard base Friday. Lyle was 18 when he and eight of his friends joined the Army at the end of World War Two and ended up in the occupation forces in Japan in 1946. “It took us four weeks to get to Japan. What they would do is zig-zag kind of to avoid any of the underwater bombs and things like that,” Lyle says. “When I got over there I was the first one taken off the ship. I couldn’t figure out why, but they said your records show that you are the best typist — and so I got a really good job.”

Lyle says being 18 and in a foreign country made him a little nervous, but they were surprised by the reception they got from the Japanese. “They actually treated us really well. We’d walk out on the sidewalk and they would get off the sidewalk and bow to us when we got there. We didn’t even carry a gun after a couple three weeks we were there — because it wasn’t dangerous,” Lyle says.  Former 185th commander Brigadier General Larry Christensen brought his stepfather in to share his story of serving in Viet Nam starting in 1968. He says those veterans had to do a lot without the modern technology of computers. “Everything was slide rules, writing it up by hand, there was nothing as far as technology,” Christensen says. “They had to do it thinking on their feet, and that’s how a lot of things got done back then. We are very thankful for what they did back then because all of us now are actually standing on their shoulders — because what they built is what you see around us today.”

General Christensen says it is good to get a record of the veteran’s experiences. He says the veterans have stories they probably have never told anyone and when you hear those stories he says they could probably be best sellers. “A lot of the people don’t understand what they did at that time. The hardships they were up against and the courage and the bravery they had to get through everything that they did,” Christensen says.

Each of the soldiers will also get a photo on the Library of Congress website along with their story. This is the fourth year the interviews have been held at the 185th for the Veterans History Project.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass Health Foundation will host its annual gala on Saturday, March 26, 2022, at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club. Officials say the gala is a fundraiser for the Cass Health Foundation’s 2022 campaign to purchase a mobile telemedicine stroke system. The system will be used to immediately connect a suspected stroke patient with a neurologist.

Dave Chase, Cass Health Foundation Treasurer, said “The mission of the Cass Health Foundation is to support Cass Health. Our project this year helps get important equipment into the hands of providers who are caring for us, our family, and our neighbors.” The theme of this year’s gala is “Wild, Wild West.” Attendees are encouraged to wear western wear like boots, hats, jeans, etc.

The evening includes dinner, dessert auction, and entertainment. Tickets to the event are limited and available through table sponsorships. For more information, please call Dawn Marnin at 712-243-7409 or visit casshealth.org/donors/2022gala to view the details, or pay online.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Auditor Stephanie  Burke reports County officials conducted a post-election audit today (Monday, November 8, 2021), under a law designed to monitor and protect election processes. Burke said the audit was a perfect match to the results recorded on election night.

Iowa law allows the Secretary of State choose, at random, one precinct in each Iowa county to be audited. County auditors must then supervise a hand count of the ballots from that precinct and compare the results to the voting machine count from election night. In Montgomery County, the Secretary of State chose Precinct 7, which votes at the Villisca Community Building. 139 ballots were cast on election night and the results matched perfectly to the hand count done on Monday, November 8, 2021.

Post election audit being conducted in Montgomery County (photo courtesy Stephanie Burke)

“That’s what we like to see,” Burke said, “the hand count shows that our machines are accurately counting the ballots.” “Since our voting machines, as well as our programming and tabulating computers, aren’t hooked up to the internet, hacking the vote is highly unlikely,” she said. “Being able to rely on paper ballots should give us confidence in the integrity of our voting system.”
Four precinct election officials, representing the two major political parties, conducted the count under the supervision of Auditor, Stephanie Burke. As required in the law, the Auditor’s Office notified the county chairs of both of the two major political parties.

Questions about the post-election audit and other election matters may be directed to the Montgomery County Auditor’s office at 712-623-5127.

(Radio Iowa) – A ceremony will be held this (Monday) afternoon at Iowa State University to honor three former students for their military service during World War Two. One of those who will be honored is William Ostlund, of Webster City. His nephew, Chris Ostlund, says the Japanese attack on the U-S base in Hawaii on December 7th of 1941 was the turning point for his uncle. “After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted and decided to go into the submarine service because he knew that was something that was difficult and he thought the challenge would be great.”

Ostlund joined the U.S Navy in February of 1942 and was assigned to a sub, the U-S-S Gudgeon. Many stories have been passed down about Ostlund’s Uncle Bill. “He had aspirations actually to go into politics after World War II and in a sense, he knew that the submarine service would look good on his resume,” Ostlund says, “but of course, he also wanted to serve the country and was very angry at what happened and wanted to go fight the enemy.”

William Ostlund. (ISU photo.)

The Gudgeon and its crew of 81 were lost at sea in 1944 and it was never found, but years later, a Japanese pilot documented sinking an American submarine that April, which was presumed to be it. Ostlund says this ceremony is a wonderful — and somber — time for him and his relatives. “We have family coming from literally all over the country to attend, a whole bunch of Ostlunds,” he says, “so it’s a unique opportunity for all of us to get together and maybe have our own closure as a family, as a group, that never was alive when the memorial service for Uncle Bill took place in 1946.”

The service will also honor Robert A. Berwick of Knoxville who studied chemistry at Iowa State from 1940 to 1943. Berwick joined the U.S. Navy in the fall of 1943 and was killed off the coast of Okinawa in 1945. Donald T. Griswold of Clarinda attended Iowa State from 1936 to 1941 to study agronomy. Griswold joined the U.S. Navy in 1941 and died June 6, 1942 during the battle of Midway. The ceremony is scheduled for 3:15 P-M at the Memorial Union Great Hall. The event is open to the public.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Guthrie County today (Monday), say there were three, non-injury accidents that took place between Thursday and Saturday. At around 6:45-p.m. Saturday, a 2016 Ford F-150 driven by 33-year-old Kate R. Holtz, of Carroll, was traveling west on Highway 141, when the pickup struck a deer. The vehicle sustained an estimated $15,000 damage.

On Friday, at around 4:20-p.m., a collision occurred in the A.C./G.C. High School parking lot. Authorities say 17-year-old Keitn D. Kinney, of Guthrie Center, was driving a legally parked 2003 Chevy Silverado pickup, and pulling out of a parking stall, when he turned too short, causing his vehicle to strike the driver’s side bumper/headlight area of a 2002 Ford Ranger. Damage to the Ford was estimated at $2,000. The Chevy sustained about $5,000 damage. No citations were issued.

And, at around 1:25-p.m. Thursday, a 2012 Ford F-650 Super Duty moving van driven by 26-year-old Tyler Scott Stewart, of Indianola, was backing up in the 100 block of N. 6th Street in Guthrie Center, so he could turn west into the 500 block of Main Street. In doing so, Stewart failed to notice a legally parked 2015 Chevy Silverado pickup as it was in the yard at 102 N. 5th Street. The truck backed into the grill of the pickup, causing minor damage to the grill guard, fender and headlight assembly of the Chevy. The cost of the damage was estimated at $1,000. No citations were issued.