(Update 5-p.m. 7/14: Chloe has been found! Thanks to everyone who looked for her)

The Stuart Police Department’s drug detection dog is missing, Officials said Thursday, that “Chloe” was being watched by a neighbor while her handler is on vacation. When the neighbor took her outside, Chloe got loose and ran away. If you the friendly black Lan, please call the Stuart Dispatch Center at 641-747-2214. Authorities say Chloe is extremely important to their department, and the community.

Chloe the drug dog

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in northwest Iowa say they are investigating the discovery of a human skull near the Raccoon River in southern Sac County. The skull was found Monday afternoon. Sheriff Ken McClure says in a statement the state medical examiner concluded it was the skull of an adult white man.

It has been forwarded to a forensic anthropologist in Kansas City for further examination and to determine its age. McClure says his office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation will determine the next steps in the investigation based on the reports from the forensic examination.

CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) — Tyson Foods is offering to pay $400,000 to buy out its remaining lease on a plant it closed in 2014 in the northwest Iowa town of Cherokee. Tyson’s Wes Morris said Thursday the Springdale, Arkansas, company is offering to pay all of its remaining rent for the next four years to end its interest in the vacant building. Morris says that would give the building owner and local officials more control over marketing the plant.

It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday afternoon whether the building’s owner will accept Tyson’s offer. New York real estate investor Mark Langfan’s family owns the building. Previously, local leaders in Cherokee had criticized Tyson’s handling of the building.

Tyson says several food companies expressed interest in the plant but decided it wouldn’t work for their needs.

The Trevor Frederickson Foundation is paying the costs for anyone who wants to ride the Atlantic High School pep bus to support the Atlantic Girls Softball team at the state tournament next week.  Darrin Petty says the Trevor Frederickson Foundation is working with the Atlantic administration on the project.  The school is coordinating the pep buses and the foundation will pay the cost of the bus AND the ticket admission to the ball game for any student who wants to ride.  You need to contact the high school office at 243-5358 to reserve your spot.  There is no limit to the number of people that can ride, they will take as many buses as needed and the foundation will pay the cost.  In addition, there will be a drawing on each bus for a $50 gift card from Olsen’s BP!  You must contact the HS office by the end of the day on Friday, July 15th.  Atlantic will face Davenport Assumption Tuesday, July 19th in a 1:00 pm game in Fort Dodge in their first ever trip to the state tourney.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two Sioux City police officers have teamed up to teach teenagers how to navigate the roads through their driving academy. The Sioux City Journal reports that Scott Hatting and Todd Ferry, who have worked at the Sioux City Police Department for more than 20 years, have started the Cruising with Cops academy.

Ferry says the instructors have experience in adverse driving conditions. According to Hatting and Ferry, students will gain experience on how to interact with law enforcement officers while learning how to drive. The driving school is not affiliated or funded by the police department. Instructors will not wear police uniforms or operate police vehicles.

The classes, which will last approximately two months and cost $500, are scheduled to start in September.

The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) has awarded more than $599,920 to 27 historic preservation and country school projects in 22 communities across the state. Locally, the communities of Clarinda, Denison and Winterset have received a total of more than $14,000 for projects.

The Nodaway Valley Historical Museum in Clarinda was awarded a grant for $2,875 to restore and preserve the Page County Goldenrod Schoolhouse. The building is used throughout the year as an educational resource for area students and visitors to learn about the days of the country school. It educates over 5,000 visitors each year.

The Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts, in Denison, was awarded a grant amounting to $1,333, so the Donna Reed Museum/Archive can properly store and organize the vast collection of her personal artifacts and provide proper storage for a growing collection of items relating to the history of Denison.

And, the Madison County Historical Society, in Winterset, was awarded a DCA grant of $10,000, for a “Research Library” archive preservation project. The grant will be used to purchase archival supplies and engage a professional archivist to advise staff and train volunteers. The project will bring historically significant documents together in one location for safekeeping, making them easily accessible to researchers and preserved according to museum industry standards.

Several lowa police departments are warning players of the smartphone game Pokémon Go to be aware of their surroundings for hazards including muggers and traffic. The video game is fast-becoming one of the world’s most-downloaded apps, but Jim Hegarty, at the Better Business Bureau office in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says crooks have already found a way to rip you off.

“There’s a malware version of this,” Hegarty says. “Make sure you go to your actual app store to get the legitimate game. Do not try to download the game from a link you’ve received through an email or by text message. Those versions are the ones that contain the malware that can do all kinds of nasty stuff to you.” That “nasty stuff” may include locking up your mobile device or stealing your personal financial information. Hegarty also warns parents the game gobbles data.

“Most of the kids I see running around in our neighborhood playing the game don’t look like they’re at the age where they’re paying their own cell bill,” he says. “Parents need to be watching their data plans real carefully to make sure they’re not going to get some whopping bill.” The app is free to download but players might be tempted to click on some of the extras, which aren’t free.

“It does include in-app purchases,” Hegarty says. “If there’s a card attached to your account, you could be racking up some big charges without knowing it.” The game uses A-R, or “augmented reality,” where you switch on your phone’s camera, look at your screen and see virtual creatures which you’re trying to “catch” superimposed over the real world view.

(Radio Iowa)

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office says 32-year old Eddie Ray Mack, Jr., of Audubon, turned himself-in to the Sheriff’s Office, today (Thursday). Mack, Jr., was wanted on a warrant for Criminal Mischief in the 3rd degree, stemming from an incident that took place July 11th, in Hamlin. He was seen by a Magistrate, and then released from custody.

Neighborhoods and partners throughout Red Oak and Montgomery County are invited to join over 39-million people in over 16-thousand communities from all 50 State, U-S Territories, Canada, and Military Bases world-wide, in celebrating National Night Out. The August 2nd event is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, A-D-T, Nextdoor, Associa, and co-sponsored by the Red Oak Police and Fire Departments, Montgomery County Emergency Management, and Montgomery County Crime Stoppers. It takes place from 6-until 8-p.m. August 2nd, at Fountain Square, in Red Oak.

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes public safety-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie, to make communities safer, better places to live and work. The evening of August 2nd, residents are asked to lock their doors, turn on their porch and/or yard lights, and spend the evening at Fountain Square, in Red Oak.

The event features free hot dogs, chips and other goodies, along with kids’ games and prizes, and a kid’s Treasure Hunt. LifeNet Helicopter is scheduled to land in downtown Red Oak that night, the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital will have a mobile clinic, and BNSF (Burlington-Northern/Santa Fe) Railroad Police will be there, along with a Public Safety exhibit.

A dunk tank will feature some “local celebrity” targets. Numerous law enforcement, fire, EMS, 1st Responders and court officers that serve Red Oak and Montgomery County, will be on-hand as well. There’s also a meet-and-greet and photo opportunities with local public safety personnel and their vehicles.

The emerald ash borer (EAB), a destructive and invasive insect of ash trees has been discovered in Missouri Valley. Iowa’s growing number of counties with confirmed detections has now reached thirty-five. Native to Asia, EAB has spread to 27 states since first being identified in Michigan back in 2002. This exotic pest is responsible for the death of tens of millions of ash trees.

The Missouri Valley discovery was the result of an area certified arborist contacting the Iowa EAB Team after visiting some city owned ash trees that a resident had concerns about. After further investigation, an insect specimen was collected by members of the Iowa EAB Team and submitted to the USDA Systematic Entomology Laboratory which officially confirmed it as EAB.

“This find marks the westernmost site that we have found EAB in Iowa to date,” said Mike Kintner, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship EAB and gypsy moth coordinator. “Six new counties have been detected with EAB in Iowa this year.”

The adult beetle is metallic green and only about one-half inch long and slender making it difficult to recognize in the landscape. The larvae stage of this wood-boring insect tunnel under the bark of ash trees, disrupting the flow of water and nutrients, ultimately causing the tree to die. EAB infested ash trees include canopy dieback beginning at the top of the tree and progressing downwards, S-shaped feeding galleries under dead or splitting bark, D-shaped exit holes, water sprouts (along the trunk and main branches), and increased woodpecker activity to the bark.

The Iowa EAB Team urges Iowans to use locally sourced firewood, burning it in the same county where it was purchased. Firewood is a vehicle for the movement EAB and other tree-killing pests.

At this calendar date, the treatment window for soil-applied preventive treatment measures (soil injection, soil drench, or granular application) and basal bark sprays has ended. Trunk injections can be done now through the end of August, provided there is good ground moisture. Landowners interested in protecting a valuable and healthy ash tree within 15 miles of a known infestation, should have landscape or tree service companies bid on work and schedule a treatment.

The State of Iowa will continue to track the movement of EAB on a county-by-county basis. Before a county can be officially recognized as infested, EAB must be collected by a member of the Iowa EAB Team and verified by USDA entomologists.

To learn more about EAB and other pests that are threatening Iowa’s tree population, please visit www.IowaTreePests.com.