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.

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.

The Atlantic Police Department says there were a dozen arrests that took place between November 16th through December 9th:

• On December 9th, 33-year old Erin Larson, of Red Oak, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance (Marijuana), Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd Offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Assault with Intent to Inflict Serious Injury, Possession of Contraband in a Correctional Institution, and Harassment 2nd Degree.
• Two people were arrested Dec. 7th: 51-year old Dana Charles, of Atlantic, was arrested on two Cass County warrants for Failure to Appear, and 56-year old David Charles, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear.
• On Dec. 6th, 18-year old Rachael Stanley, of Atlantic, was arrested on Cass County warrants for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, three-counts of Theft 5th, and two counts of Failure to Appear. And, 31-year old Casey Sampson, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Controlled Substance.
• On Dec. 4th, Atlantic Police arrested 46-year old Dan Christensen, of Atlantic, for Violation of a No Contact Order and Public Intoxication.
• 41-year old Todd Glade, of Atlantic, was arrested December 3rd, for Domestic Abuse Assault and Simple Assault.
• 25-year old Bryce Baker, of Atlantic, was arrested November 25th, for Interference with Official Acts.
• 54-year old Lee Ann Hansen, of Atlantic, was arrested November 21st, for Operating While Under the Influence.
• on Nov. 20th, Atlantic Police arrested 32-year old Aaron Ihnken, of Atlantic, on a Cass County warrant for Burglary 3rd Degree.
• On Nov. 18th, 19-year old Devon Lentz, of Eagle Grove, was arrested on a Shelby County warrant for Sexual Abuse 3rd Degree.
• And on Nov. 16th, 33-year old Trevor German, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was arrested by Atlantic Police, for Operating While Under the Influence.