Authorities say an armed man shot by a Fort Madison police officer has died. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says Wednesday that officers encountered the man after being sent late Tuesday to a manufacturing warehouse. The man was armed with a handgun. An officer shot the man, and he died later at a Fort Madison hospital. He was identified as 42-year-old Robert Allen Elfgen.

The officer’s name hasn’t been released. Fort Madison Police Chief Mark Rohloff told station WGEM the warehouse incident was related to the earlier shooting of another man.

VAN HORNE, Iowa (AP) — The mother of a 26-year-old Iowa woman who died in a car crash last month is calling for better signage at rural intersections to protect motorists. WOI in Des Moines reports that Dawn Hess wants the Iowa Department of Transportation to take a closer look at areas where lighting or rumble strips might not be enough to warn people about upcoming stops.

Her daughter, Baylee Hess, of La Porte City, was killed Nov. 30 at a Highway 30 intersection near Van Horne, in eastern Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol says Hess failed to stop and crossed under a trailer, landing in a ditch.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds has announced a public service campaign to address increased vaping by Iowa teenagers. The campaign announced Wednesday will focus on social media and information programs for parents and students. Reynolds says increasing awareness and education on the known risks of vaping will help prevent young people from suffering nicotine addiction and health problems.

The campaign will feature videos targeted at teens on SnapChat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Hulu and other sites. Reynolds says she won’t sign an executive order to ban the sale of flavored vaping products because such moves have been blocked in the courts in other states.

Council Bluffs, Iowa – Dec. 11, 2019 – The Iowa Dept. of Transportation’s District 4 Office in Atlantic reports good news for travelers in the Council Bluffs area: U.S. Highway 6 was expected to open today (Wednesday).

Traffic will be able to use both eastbound lanes while westbound traffic will have one lane. Traffic has been head-to-head throughout the summer. This segment is part of a two-year project to replace the pavement in the area.  Asphalt shoulders and other items will be completed next spring.

The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

Three arrests have taken place in Mills County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 31-year old Jacob Cole Harbold, of Des Moines. was arrested Tuesday on a warrant out of Polk County, for Violation of Parole and Failure To Appear. Harbold was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

A little after 1:15-a.m. today (Wednesday), 55-year old Concepion Castro, of Houston, TX was arrested for Public Intoxication. Bond was set at $300. And, at around 4-a.m., 24-year old D’Angelo Thomas Monson, of Glenwood, was arrested for Intimidation with a weapon. His bond: was set at $5,000.

This year’s record rainfall and devastating flooding are forcing tough decisions about the future of farming in in the face of climate change. Farmers who lost billions of dollars in grain, livestock and equipment must decide whether to continue to gamble on fertile bottomlands, as federal officials determine how many damaged levees can and should be rebuilt.

Chart shows the percent change for the annual average number of days with at least one inch of rainfall for 2009-2018 compared to the annual average from 1950 to 2018

Many farmers now believe heavier rains are the new normal _ even those skeptical that human activity is a factor. With the ground still soggy heading into winter, experts say the stage is set for more flooding next spring.

A California man who pleaded guilty in Iowa to child sexual exploitation has been given 30 years in a federal prison.Prosecutors say 22-year-old David Vogelpohl, of Vista, California, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. He must serve five years of supervised release after he leaves prison and must comply with sex offender requirements.He had admitted that he persuaded a girl under 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct last year for the purpose of producing visual depictions.

Authorities say a suspicious package detected Wednesday morning at an Air Force base near Omaha contained nothing threatening. The U.S. Air Force said in a news release that a military K-9 alerted security personnel to the package inside a commercial vehicle that was undergoing a routine check at an Offutt Air Force Base gate. Military and civilian investigators checked into the package and concluded that it held nothing harmful. Officials have not released any information about the vehicle or the person or people in it.

(Radio Iowa) — A memorial celebration for former Iowa Congressman Berkley Bedell will be held next summer in the Spirit Lake area. The 98-year-old Bedell died December 7th, three days after suffering a massive stroke in Naples, Florida. Bedell represented the former Sixth Congressional District in northwest Iowa for six terms. Iowa District Court Judge Jeff Neary interned for Bedell when Neary was a senior at Westmar College. He later worked part-time for the congressman in his Sioux City office. “He had a reputation of being not often very political and just expected from his caseworkers and staff people to get things done. And to be visible with people and to be out and about and to do the work that was required just to make folks know that they had an advocate in Washington, D-C,” Neary says.

Neary says Bedell was not perceived as a “traditional Democrat” by district voters and was good at getting things done that were important for northwest Iowans. “And when he helped people, the politics didn’t get involved. And he was very, very sincere about everything he did,” Neary says. “I think he was generally very moderate — and I think that appeals to folks in northwest Iowa. And he put politics aside most times and I don’t think he was a lightening rod like some can be — and that was the focus of what he was all about,” according to Neary.

Bedell last appeared in Sioux City last July to campaign with Senator Elizabeth Warren, who he supported for president. A visitation for Bedell will be held at Peace Harbor on Highway 86 in Spirit Lake, on Friday, July 24th at 5:00 p-m. A memorial celebration is planned for July 25th at the Spirit Lake United Methodist Church at 11:00 a-m.

Memorials may be sent to the Foundation for Alternative and Integrative Medicine, P.O. Box 2860, Loveland, Colorado, 80538.

(Radio Iowa) — Public health officials will be at a northern Iowa high school before Christmas break to test students, staff and others who may have had close contact with a student who’s been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Administrators at Hampton-Dumont High School sent an alert to parents and guardians on Monday afternoon that a student at the high school had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. The school district’s nurse is working with officials from the state, Franklin County and the local hospital to come up with a final list of people who will be notified that they should be tested. Jenni Swart is Hampton-Dumont’s school nurse. “TB can get quite complicated as in the length of time we could have it in our body and we would actually develop it, but we can identify it and treat it,” she says. “There is a state program and the testing is free as well as the treatment is free.”

Swart says it’s hard to say how the student contracted T-B.  “It’s transmitted with close contact with coughing, sneezing, talking with the person that’s actually diagnosed with that.” Hampton-Dumont Superintendent Todd Lettow says the district’s website is being updated to keep the community informed. “We just want to have a central place where everybody can go and get the same information,” he says.

Symptoms of active T-B include coughing that lasts three or more weeks, a fever and unintentional weight loss.