Officials with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office report the arrest early Monday morning, of 23-year old Dakota Shawn McDonald, of Omaha. His arrest followed a stolen vehicle report out of LaVista, NE. An investigation revealed McDonald allegedly took the 1999 Chrysler 300M and drove to the home of a relative, in Harlan. McDonald was taken into custody at 1506 6th Street in Harlan and charged with Theft in the 2nd degree/Motor Vehicle theft.

An Omaha man turned himself-in to the Pottawattamie County Jail, Monday afternoon. 30-year old Victor Navarro was placed under arrest on charges that include Forgery (a felony), Identity Theft, Perjury of Statement, Counterfeiting, Malicious Prosecution,  and Forgery of Records.

The Pott. County Sheriff’s Office reports also, 26-year old Anthony Shane Schovanec and 25-year old Patricia Kay Irene Sopcich, both of Council Bluffs, were arrested Monday afternoon on drug charges, after the van they were in was pulled over because the registered owner (Schovanec) had a warrant. Schovanec and Sopcich were taken into custody for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Paraphernalia. Schovanec was also taken into custody on a warrant for Criminal Trespass.

The mild spring with frequent rains means tick-borne disease season is underway in Iowa. The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) reminds Iowans to protect themselves against tick bites. Ticks can carry the organisms that cause diseases like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Ehrlichiosis.

The best way to prevent tick bites is to avoid wooded and grassy areas, where ticks are usually found. If you do spend time in these areas:

• Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
• Walk in the center of trails.
• Use repellent that contains 20 percent or more DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 on exposed skin for protection that lasts several hours.
• Always follow product instructions. Parents should apply this product to their children, avoiding hands, eyes, and mouth.
• Use products that contain permethrin on clothing. Treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents with products containing 0.5% permethrin. It remains protective through several washings. Pre-treated clothing is available and may be protective longer.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an online tool to help you select the repellent that is best for you and your family at https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/find-insect-repellent-right-you.

If you discover a tick on your body, remove it right away. Folk remedies, such as burning the tick with a match or covering it with petroleum jelly or nail polish, are not effective. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following instructions for removing a tick:

• Carefully grasp the tick by using tweezers to grip the tick by its mouthparts which are close to the skin. Do not squeeze the tick’s body.
• Pull steadily directly away from your skin. Because removing the tick’s body is your main goal, don’t worry if its mouthparts break off in the process.
• Clean the wound and disinfect the site of the bite.

The most common tick-borne disease is Lyme disease; 232 cases of Lyme disease were reported to IDPH in 2016. Not everyone who gets Lyme disease will have the same symptoms, but the best and earliest sign of infection is a rash that may appear within a few days to a month, usually at the site of the tick bite. The rash will first look like a small, red bump, then expand until it begins to look like a bull’s eye, with a red center and a red ring surrounding a clear area. It is important to contact your healthcare provider immediately if you develop this type of rash or develop flu-like symptoms within a month of having a tick bite or being in an area where ticks are present.

For more information on Lyme disease, visit http://idph.iowa.gov/cade/disease-information/lyme-disease.

(Update 8:45-a.m.: No fire found. All units have returned to the fire station)

Firefighters from Griswold responded to a fire alarm at the Griswold Care Center this morning. They were dispatched at around 8:13-a.m. for a report of an alarm coming from the basement. The alarm company ordered an evacuation of the facility as a precaution.  No fire or smoke issues were found.

Care Center officials said the problem was determined to have been water leaking onto some wiring, which set off the alarm. An electrician was called to repair the wiring.

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

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Des Moines Police and the capital city’s leaders held a news conference Monday morning, after the city recorded its 15th homicide of the year over the weekend. Mayor Frank Cownie said “Today’s conversation is about violent crime, and violent crime needs to be punished.” The city and private groups are providing additional funding to create an incentive for the public to cooperate with police. Cownie says the ultimate goal is to reduce instances of violent crime.

Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert said the unnamed program will provide police with money to offer to witnesses of violent crimes to testify. Fourteen people, mostly city and county leaders, were involved in today’s news conference. State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad of Des Moines was in attendance and said “no one from the black community” appeared to be invited. Still, Abdul-Samad said he “commends” the project and he plans to get involved with the group. He blames the recent rise in violence, in part, on cuts in funding to “programs that have worked” in the past.

“One of the things I know we did at Urban Dreams in 1999 was a ‘gun trade back’ and we took almost 150 guns off the street,” Abdul-Samad said. “We didn’t continue that in the fashion that we needed to.”

Urban Dreams is a program that aims to help inner city residents of Des Moines. It was founded in 1985 by State Representative Wayne Ford. There were 13 total homicides in Des Moines during all of last year. There have already been 15 in the first five months of this year. The man found dead early Sunday, one of four shooting victims discovered by police, was identified as 19-year-old Ruot Gach of Carroll. No one has been charged in the case. The fatal shooting is the third to happen in recent months in or just outside Des Moines’ Beaverdale neighborhood.

(Radio Iowa)

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

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The Iowa State University Extension Department has released the results of its first horticulture survey since 2000. Arlene Enderton with the extension Outreach Local Foods Program, says the survey includes crops that can be eaten that are grown to sell to others. “It would include sweet corn, any fruits or vegetables, also it included nuts. And it included pumpkins, even though people don’t usually eat them, you could eat them. We also included honey and maple syrup — which are not horticultural products — but they are specialty crops,” according to Enderton.

The top five crops were tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, green beans, and winter squash. Sweet corn was the top crop in the last survey in 2000, followed by tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and sweet peppers. Enderton says the survey gives them a picture of the types of growers. “We found that the vast majority of them had been growing horticultural crops for less than ten years. So according to the U-S-D-A that would make them beginning farmers, assuming they hadn’t been growing other types of things prior to growing horticulture type crops,” Enderton says. “The median farm size was two acres, which means that half of them are farming on less than two acres and half of them are growing on more than two acres. The largest was eight acres.”

She says grower retirements appear to have impacted the industry. “The average acreage per farmer went down, so we are getting the impression that our farms are smaller today and it appears that some of our larger horticultural farmers may have retired or gone out of business since 2000. We saw a lot fewer of the really large farms — which would be farms that had 20 acres or more,” Enderton says.

She says while farmers are retiring, there appears to be many people stepping in to take over. “One thing that I thought was really encouraging is there is a lot of new farmers. There’s a lot of interest in growing horticultural crops, “Enderton says. “I think that’s a really good thing. I think there’s a potential for a lot of growth.”

About half the growers market their products exclusively through direct-to-consumer markets including farmers markets, farm stands, community supported agriculture, you-pick, and online sales. You can see the full survey on the Iowa Department of Agriculture’s website under the “Hot Topics” section.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State regulators say an Iowa insurance brokerage accused of a deceptive practice has agreed to repay more than $1.3 million to local governments. The Des Moines Register reports Two Rivers Insurance Co., which is based in Burlington, was accused in 2014 of inflating the amount it spent on premiums for health coverage purchased from Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield. Documents release Monday say Wellmark complained to state regulators that the brokerage had improperly included up to 7 percent in its own fees in “premium” costs that it billed to local governments for insurance for 10,500 public employees.

Two Rivers President Todd Ackerman says the brokerage still denies any wrongdoing but is settling the dispute to avoid “an extremely costly and burdensome legal process.”

Police in Creston said Monday night, that four vehicles were heavily damaged during an accident that took place early Sunday morning. The incident happened at around 12:25-a.m., as a 2012 Dodge Ram pickup driven by 15-year old Dillon Wyatt Weis, of Afton, was traveling east on W. Adams Street in downtown Creston. The pickup drifted toward a row of legally parked vehicles and struck a 1990 Chevy pickup.

Weis’ vehicle also collided with a 2006 Toyota Tundra, and a 1996 Oldsmobile Cutless Supreme. Damage to all the vehicles amounted to $16,000 ($4,000 each). According to the report, excessive speed was a contributing factor to the accident. No citations were issued.

A man from Missouri was arrested Monday evening in Red Oak, on drug and weapon charges. Red Oak Police report 25-year old Dillon Ray McCracken, of Hale, MO., was taken into custody at around 7:40-p.m. in the 500 block of W. Coolbaugh Street, for Carrying Weapons, felony Possession of Meth with the Intent to Deliver, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. McCracken was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $25,000 bond.