Police in Council Bluffs responded at around 8:47-a.m. today (Thursday), to a report of an armed robbery at the Frontier Bank, located at 940 Valley View Drive. Upon arrival officers spoke to employees of the business, who told officer that two male suspects entered the bank, one armed with a handgun and demanded money. Both suspects were wearing masks. Following the robbery, in which a yet to be determined amount of cash was taken, the two suspects fled the area in a White Pontiac Grand Am.

While checking the area, officers located the suspect vehicle abandoned in apartment complex lot nearby. The vehicle had been recently reported stolen in Omaha. The two unknown suspects were not located. The robbery is currently under investigation by members of the Criminal Investigation Division. Anyone having possible information is urged to contact police at (712) 328-4728 or Crime Stoppers at (712) 328-7867.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state audit says that a University of Iowa professor misused nearly $100,000 on hosting unauthorized conferences between 2011 and 2017. Iowa State Auditor Mary Mosiman said Thursday that physics professor Michael Flatte improperly used his university procurement card to pay for $47,203.81 in expenses for three conferences. He also collected $44,161.69 in registration fees and used most of that for the conferences.

The University of Iowa says it identified Flatte’s unauthorized transactions in November 2016 and requested the state audit. University officials are reviewing potential disciplinary action.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports an eastern Iowa man was arrested Wednesday evening on a Union County warrant. 19-year old Brazon Jordan Davenport, of Tama, was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear on the original charge of domestic abuse assault. Davenport was being held in the Union County Jail on $2,000 bond.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports Mulberry Loop in Shelby County, is currently closed for a bridge replacement with low water crossing. The bridge is in the 800 block of Mulberry Loop in Fairview Township Section 23. The bridge has been removed and will be replaced with a low water crossing. Work will continue as weather conditions permit.

Area affected by closure

The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office reports the two victims of a Riverside School bus fire on December 12th, died of smoke and soot inhalation coupled with thermal injuries. The deaths of a passenger, 16-year old Megan Klindt, and the driver, 74-year old Donnie Hendricks, have been ruled accidental. The fire broke broke out around 7 a.m. after the vehicle backed out of a farm driveway and entered a ditch across the road.

Deputies arrived on scene around 7:20 a.m. but were unable to board the bus because it was fully engulfed in flames. Fire department crews from Carson and Oakland extinguished the fire. The farmstead was the first scheduled stop on the bus route. No one else was on board.

DETROIT (AP) — Ford and Mazda are recalling more than 380,000 older small pickup trucks for a second time to replace Takata air bag inflators that can explode and hurl shrapnel.
The recalls cover driver and passenger inflators in certain 2004 to 2006 Ford Ranger and Mazda B-Series trucks made by Ford. Takata uses ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion that inflates air bags. But the chemical can deteriorate over time and burn too fast, blowing apart a metal canister. At least 20 people have been killed worldwide.

The trucks were recalled in 2015 and 2016 to replace inflators with newer ones as a temporary fix. Under the latest recalls, inflators will be swapped for ones that don’t use ammonium nitrate.
Owners will be notified starting later this month.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Hancock turned himself-in to the Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday afternoon. 43-year old Jeffrey Bruce Willett was wanted on a Probation Violation warrant. He was transported to the Jail and booked-in. And, a Council Bluffs man was arrested Wednesday morning for Interference with Official Acts. 47-year old Kenneth Edward Petty was arrested after a Deputy went to Petty’s home to serve legal papers. Petty allegedly became argumentative, even after he was warned to stop, or face arrest. He continued to show resistance while being arrested and while being put in the patrol vehicle.

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

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It’s a busy time of the year for everyone, especially the medical experts working the phones at the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center. Registered nurse Joan McVoy says the number of accidental poisonings involving children typically rises during the holiday season. “When you have your holiday visitors come in, make sure they’re storing their medications up, out of reach, out of sight, so small children don’t get into them, teenagers don’t get into them,” McVoy says. “That’s the thing that we get, most of our calls are going to be medications.”

Another potential problem at this time of year is those tiny, button-sized disc batteries. “You’ll find them in remotes, the Christmas greeting cards that play music, watches, toys and games,” McVoy says. “Amazingly, even though we talk about this every year, last year, over 2,000 kids swallowed disc batteries and that was a 14-percent increase nationally.”

There will be celebrating the season with alcohol in many Iowa households, especially for New Year’s Eve, which can also pose a threat. “After the party, what happens is a lot of times we get calls here, the parents were tired in the evening and just go to bed and when the kids come down in the morning, they’re hungry and they’re looking at all of the empty drink glasses sitting around and they’ll get into the drinks,” McVoy says, “and then we’ll get a call from a parent.”

Should you need to make the call to the Sioux City-based hotline, it’s staffed around-the-clock at 800-222-1222.

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Karla James, Omaha)

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

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