The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a Council Bluffs man was arrested Tuesday night on drug and other charges. Authorities say at around 11:35-p.m., a deputy on patrol saw a vehicle whose driver was possibly intoxicated or tired. A traffic stop of the vehicle resulted in the arrest of 18-year old Jackson Butler Rackley, of Council Bluffs, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, 45-year old Frankie Jo Garren, of Irwin, was arrested at around 8:50-p.m. Tuesday, for Driving While Barred. Her arrest took place after a deputy responded to a report a pickup truck was traveling on Interstate 80 without its headlights on.

A Pott. County Deputy arrested 21-year old Cole Bernard McKenzie, of Council Bluffs early this (Wednesday) morning. McKenzie was taken into custody for Driving While Barred, following a traffic stop at around 3-a.m. in the 24000 block of Greenview Road.

A workshop is being held in central Iowa today (Wednesday) to help communities find the needed resources to help redevelop and revitalize areas that may have environmental contamination. Mel Pins, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the workshop is focused on what are known as “brownfield” areas, and he offers an example.

“If there’s a closed gas station in your community that’s been sitting there for a number of years, why has it not been redeveloped?” Pins asks. “That’s probably because somebody fears contamination. Whether there are problems or not, that perception or that stigma holds up reuse and redevelopment.”

The all-day workshop is free and open to anyone, targeting Iowa community leaders and non-profit groups. “The workshop is designed to cover some of the things we can offer, both technical and financial assistance, to help investigate environmental issues at these sites, to see if they’re suitable for reuse, and if necessary, even to help clean them up.”

The D-N-R workshop is underway at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames.

(Radio Iowa)

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

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The Creston Police Department reports a woman from Lenox was arrested Tuesday night on a simple assault charge. 26-year old Makinze Reed was taken into custody at around 6:40-p.m. and subsequently released on a Promise to Appear later, in court.

Creston Police said also, 46-year old Randy Overholtzer, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday night for Driving While Revoked. He was later released on $1,000 bond. And, 30-year old Daman Wells, of Creston, was arrested early this (Wednesday) morning, for OWI/2nd offense. Wells was later released on $2,000 bond.

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

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The head of the Iowa DNR’s State Forest section is predicting an “average” year for fall colors. Jeff Goerndt is hoping he’s wrong, but says recent wet and cool conditions may not result in the best and brightest show for leaf watchers. “We’re really keeping an eye on northeast Iowa, where we typically have our best fall color. We’ve had some really heavy rain, storm events and flooding in that area. There’s more cooler and wet weather forecast for that area and that’s not necessarily the best recipe for good fall color,” Goerndt says.

Northeast Iowa has an abundance of hard maple trees, which supply bright red and orange colors. Goerndt suggests the Loess Hills in western Iowa offer a completely different, yet equally stunning, fall look.

Photo from the Iowa River, Coralville, Iowa City CVB via Radio IA

“There are a lot of cedar trees, which give you sort of green colors, mixed in with a lot of yellow colors from some of the ash and cottonwood trees,” Goerndt says. “It’s sort of a different fall color look than what you’re going to see around the rest of the state.”

Leaves typically change first across northern Iowa between the last week of September to the second week of October. Central and southern Iowa generally change color between mid to late October. The annual fall color show is a big tourist attraction for many cities and towns around the state. “Folks like to visit our state parks and state forest areas, especially the areas around the larger reservoirs with a lot of trees. Also, if you get out there and drive those scenic byways around the state, those are great places to view fall color,” Goerndt says.

Weekly updates on fall color information can be found at iowadnr.gov/fallcolor.

(Radio Iowa)

Fall arrives Thursday and the Iowa Department of Transportation is already looking ahead to winter by signing farmers up for the Standing Corn Program. Scott Suhr,  the D-O-T’s district transportation planner, based in Atlantic, explains how it works: “We actually have this program where we pay farmers to leave corn in their field. The corn that’s left in the field in drifting areas holds the snow back from the roadway and has a benefit to the DOT and to the motorist by keeping the snow off the road.”

The program has been around some 15 years. The agency also pays farmers five-dollars for each bushel of corn left in the field. Once spring arrives, farmers are free to harvest the corn. There is a second installment of the program that involves installing snow fences. Suhr says, “If we have drifting areas along certain highways, you can put up snow fence and we’ll pay the farmers to put that fence up, I think it’s a dollar a foot that we pay out for that.”

The program makes the D-O-T’s work more efficient. “Some of the winters we have in Iowa, you can get a lot of blowing snow and if you have this eight or ten rows of corn that’s holding that snow that’s drifting back from the roadway, then, motorists don’t have to deal with it or our maintenance crews,” Suhr says. “It also helps us clean up these winter storms a lot quicker.”

To qualify, the unpicked corn rows must be nearest to the road and the D-O-T will only compensate farmers for up to 16 rows. There’s no official deadline date for farmers to join, but he says they like to have all the information ready by the time harvest starts — by the first or second week of October.

(Radio Iowa)

A chase in Pottawattamie County early this (Wednesday) morning ended with one person hospitalized for a head injury. Council Bluffs Police says at around 3:12-a.m., Officers observed three people on dirt bikes driving reckless in the area of 10th and 8th Ave. The individuals also saw the Officers and took off west bound down the alley way.

One of the subjects dropped the dirt bike and fled on foot. The other two subjects fled west bound on dirt bikes through the alley. Officers searching the area located a male subject lying next to a wrecked dirt bike in the 1200 block Alley way between 7th and
8th Ave.

Council Bluffs PD Shield

The driver of the dirt bike was identified as 19-year old Khadin Theisen, of Pacific Junction. Theisen had struck the railroad tracks with the dirt bike, lost control and fell to the ground suffering a head injury. He was transported by the Council Bluffs Fire Department in to University Nebraska Medical Center for treatment. A report on his condition was not immediately available.

The dirt bike was confirmed stolen.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Drake University in Des Moines is guaranteeing that next fall’s incoming students will pay the same tuition each year until they graduate. The Des Moines Register reports Drake officials think their Drake Tuition Guarantee program is the first of its kind in the state and also among the private university’s official peer institutions.

Drake President Early “Marty” Martin says the plan is designed to help increase enrollment and improve student retention. Martin says Drake students have seen an annual average increase of 4.5 percent over the past five years.

Tuition for next fall will increase 11 percent, to nearly $39,000 for incoming students and remain the same until those students are awarded their undergraduate degrees.

Authorities in Montgomery County said Tuesday a central Iowa man thought to be armed and dangerous, and allegedly involved in an assault and the theft of a vehicle, was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon, following an incident that began nearly 12 hours earlier in southwest Iowa. 30-year old Nicholas Allen Cannon, of Des Moines, was arrested at around 3:30-p.m.

Early Tuesday morning, Cannon was involved in a high-speed pursuit that began in Adams County, and ended with a crash in Red Oak. The incident began at around 3:15-a.m., when Adams County Deputies, who had stopped a separate vehicle for a traffic offense 3 miles east of the Adams/Montgomery County line, saw a vehicle drive by at about 85-miles per hour. The deputies engaged in a pursuit of the speeding car, with speeds approaching 110-miles per hour on Highway 34, as the vehicle entered Montgomery County.

As the pursuit entered Red Oak city limits, Cannon’s vehicle hit a deer. The accident resulted in the vehicle entering a ditch near the intersection of Highway 34 and Eastern Avenue. The vehicle continued westbound in the ditch and barely missed a light pole and stop sign. Cannon jumped out of the vehicle as it crossed over Eastern Avenue going about 40-to 45-miles per hour, and continued to flee on foot. The vehicle continued west across Eastern Avenue, down into the ditch and came to rest about 150-yards southwest of the intersection.

Sheriff’s K9 Units from Montgomery and Cass Counties searched for the suspect for a considerable amount of time before their efforts were called-off. At around 8-a.m., Tuesday, the Montgomery County’s Communication Center received a call regarding a theft of a cell phone from a residence located on 200th Street, about three-quarters of a mile east of Cannon’s last known location. Authorities searched the area but came up empty. They think Cannon used the stolen cell phone to contact an ex-girlfriend in the Des Moines area.

Agencies involved in the search for Cannon included Deputies with the Adams, Montgomery and Cass County Sheriff’s Offices, Cass and Montgomery County K9 Units, and Red Oak Police.