A traffic stop on a vehicle in Pottawattamie County at around 9:45-p.m. Tuesday, in the 37000 block of Highway 6, resulted in the arrest of a passenger in the vehicle. 23-year old Shawn Richard Ellis, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Violation of a No Contact Order, with regard to a woman from Oakland, and for Providing False Information. Ellis was being held without bond in the Pott. County Jail on the No Contact charge. And, a Deputy called to a residence in Carson, Tuesday night check for a wanted male, made contact with the subject, 38-year old David Aaron Hazel, of Glenwood. Dispatch confirmed the man had two active warrants for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree, and 3rd Degree Harassment. Hazel was transported to the Pott. County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) — This is the last week of summer and forecasters at the National Climate Center are raising the odds of an El Nino weather pattern impacting our region soon. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says we may see a shift within a few months. “We get into El Nino conditions maybe by late fall but probably by mid-winter,” Todey says. “The probability is around 65 to 70% chance right now.”

Forecasting models indicate a weak El Nino is most likely, Todey says, but that’s just at the moment. “This one will probably not be a particularly strong one,” he says, “so, therefore, what we expect out of this, we can’t assume as much out of it this time. Typically, we talk about El Nino winters as higher likelihood of being warmer than average throughout most of the Northern Plains, the northern Midwest. That’s still the thinking.”

Todey says it’s a safer bet the impacts of the weather pattern will be felt more next year than this fall. “The other thing, when we have El Ninos, we expect a better chance of precipitation as you get into springtime,” Todey says. “The indications for fall aren’t as strong and we’re really not being impacted by El Nino right now, so, we can’t say too much about the fall as being too much different from average right now.”

Forecasts for the last three months of the year show near-normal temperatures and precipitation are likely for the region.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of driving onto and damaging the eastern Iowa baseball field made famous by the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” has changed his plea to guilty. Dubuque County court records say 21-year-old Austin Pape, of Dyersville, entered the plea Monday, the day his trial was to begin on a felony charge of criminal mischief. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 13.

Investigators say Pape acknowledged driving onto the field Jan. 22. Court records say the owner estimated the damage at more than $5,500. The vehicle left deep gashes in the field and damaged sprinklers.

The field sits just outside Dyersville, which is 140 miles northeast of Des Moines. Thousands of people visit the property every year, running around the bases and walking to the surrounding cornfields.

Police in Creston, Tuesday night, arrested a local man on assault and other charges. 28-year old Alex Cunningham, of Creston, was taken into custody at a residence in the 800 block of W. Taylor Street, at around 11:40-p.m.  Cunningham was arrested for Disorderly Conduct, Interference with Official Acts, Criminal Mischief 4th, Assault – by Bodily Fluids/Secretions, Assault on Police Officer without Injury, and Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd offense. He was being held in Union County Jail on a $9,600 bond.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect from a pursuit that occurred near Lenox, Tuesday evening. If you know who this is, please contact the Taylor County Law Enforcement Center at 712-523-2153.

Pursuit suspect

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines resident has been convicted of killing an Urbandale man after breaking into the man’s home and stabbing him. Polk County court records say a jury found 20-year-old Magai Anai Kur guilty on Monday of robbery and first-degree murder. The murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. His sentencing is set for Nov. 14.

Prosecutors say Anai Kur broke into the home of 77-year-old Robert Howe early on Sept. 3 last year, demanded money and then choked, punched and stabbed Howe after Howe tried to fight back. Prosecutors say Howe died of his injuries four months later, so they raised the charge of attempted murder to first-degree murder.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge in North Dakota has handed Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds a victory in temporarily halting enforcement of a Barack Obama administration clean water rule in the state. The Waters of the United States rule is disliked by conservative groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Farm Bureau Federation which claim it’s classic government over-regulation. It was challenged in court in June 2015 by a dozen states seeking to halt its implementation.

The rule, supported by environmental groups, provides a definition for which rivers, lakes and other water bodies may be regulated by federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency. Iowa was not one of the original states in the lawsuit, but Reynolds had asked the court to allow the state to join in. That would mean Iowa also could halt enforcement of the clean water rule until the issue is fully litigated in the courts. On Tuesday Judge Daniel Hovland granted Reynolds’ request.

Police in Red Oak who conducted a traffic stop Tuesday evening in the 2400 block of Broadway, arrested the driver of the vehicle on warrants and for Driving While Barred. 31-year old Joshua Kenneth Wolcott (whose address was not listed in the report) was arrested on a Fremont County warrant charging him with three counts of Theft in the 4th Degree. Wolcott was being held in the Montgomery County Jail, awaiting extradition to Fremont County. His bond was set at $2,000.