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Pottawattamie County Man Sentenced for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

News

April 25th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum announced on April 24, 2019, Kenneth Ryan Hartwell, age 32, was sentenced by United States District Court Senior Judge James E. Gritzner for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. Hartwell was sentenced 154 months in prison, to be followed by a term of supervised release for five years.

In April 2018, Council Bluffs Police stopped a vehicle leaving an area that police were dispatched to regarding reports of vehicle burglaries. Hartwell was the driver and only occupant in the vehicle. Law enforcement determined Hartwell had a suspended license. When Hartwell was asked to exit the vehicle, police discovered marijuana and a scale in the driver’s side door panel. In a search subsequent to the stop, Council Bluffs Police located five pounds of methamphetamine and over $16,000 in cash.

This matter was investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Department and Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Posted in News |

Omaha motorcyclist killed in 3-vehicle crash near airport

News

April 25th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a motorcyclist has been killed in a crash in northeastern Omaha near the city’s airport, and an Iowa driver could face charges.

Police say 45-year-old Michael Laughlin was on a motorcycle Wednesday afternoon heading south on 11th Street when a northbound car turned left in front of the bike, causing the crash. The car then slid into an eastbound pickup truck.

Laughlin was taken to an Omaha hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The car’s driver, a 27-year-old man from Council Bluffs, Iowa, was not injured. The driver of the pickup also was not injured.

Police say charges in the case are pending.

Posted in News |

IHSAA releases Soccer Substate assignments

Sports

April 25th, 2019 by admin

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released the 2019 Soccer Substate assignments on Thursday. Atlantic is in Class 1A Substate 8 along with AHSTW, Clarinda Academy, Greene County, Logan-Magnolia, Riverside, St. Albert, and Underwood.

Substate play is set to begin for all classes on Monday, May 20th.

Check out the full assignments for all classes at the links below:

Class 1A

Class 2A

Class 3A

Posted in Sports |

Ex-western Iowa teacher accused of sex with student

News

April 25th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A former western Iowa high school teacher has been arrested and charged on suspicion of having sex with one of his students. Council Bluffs police say 56-year-old Mark Mendell, of Crescent, was arrested Thursday at his home on two charges of sexual exploitation by a school employee. Police say an investigation that began last month revealed a sexual relationship between Mendell while he was Abraham Lincoln High School’s band teacher and a 17-year-old student.

Mendell (Photo courtesy Council Bluffs PD)

Officials say Mendell is no longer employed by the school, and the student is no longer attending classes after having met all graduation requirements.

The age of sexual consent in Iowa is 16, but state law prohibits school employees from having any sexual contact with students.

Posted in News |

Girls Regional Golf assignments released

Sports

April 25th, 2019 by admin

The 2019 Girls Regional Golf assignments were released by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union on Thursday. For Classes 1A and 2A Regional First Round Meets will be contested on Monday, May 13th. Regional Final Meets in all Classes will then be played on Monday, May 20th.

In Class 1A Region 1B at Logan will feature Logan-Magnolia. Region 1C at Quail Run Golf Course in Neola will feature AHSTW, East Mills, Essex, Fremont-Mills, Riverside, Sidney, St. Albert, and Tri-Center. The Region 1 Final will be played in Moville at The Meadows Country Club.

Region 2A will be at Crestwood Hills in Anita with Audubon, Bedford, Boyer Valley, CAM, Exira-EHK, Griswold, Lenox, Nodaway Valley, and Southwest Valley competing. Region 2B at Coon Rapids Country Club will feature Baxter, Coon Rapids-Bayard, Earlham, Glidden-Ralston, IKM-Manning, Madrid, Martensdale-St. Marys, and Southeast Warren. Region 2C is at Mount Ayr Golf and Country Club with East Union and Mount Ayr included. The Region 2 Final will be played in Menlo at 5×80 Golf and Country Club.

In Class 2A Region 1B will be at Red Oak Country Club with Clarinda, Missouri Valley, MVAOCOU, Red Oak, Shenandoah, Treynor, Underwood, and West Central Valley playing. The Region 1 Final will be in Mapleton at the Willow Vale Golf Course.

Region 2A will be at Carroll Country Club and will feature Cherokee, East Sac County, Emmetsburg, Kuemper Catholic, OABCIG, Pocahontas Area, South Central Calhoun, and Southeast Valley. The Region 2 Final is at Garner Golf Course.

Region 4A is at Lake Panorama National Golf Course with AC/GC, Colfax-Mingo, Des Moines Christian, I-35, Ogden, Panorama, Van Meter, and Woodward-Granger competing. The Region 4 Final will be at Pleasantville Golf and Country Club.

In Class 3A Region 1 will be in Storm Lake at Buena Vista University Golf Course. This is where Atlantic will play alongside Algona, Bishop Heelan, Glenwood, Harlan, Humboldt, LeMars, MOC-Floyd Valley, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Spencer, Spirit Lake, and Storm Lake.

Region 2 will be played at Carroll Country Club with ADM, Ballard, Carroll, Creston, Denison-Schleswig, Gilbert, Greene County, Nevada, North Polk, Perry, Webster City, and Winterset all playing.

In Class 4A CB Abraham Lincoln, CB Thomas Jefferson, and Lewis Central will all be playing in Region 2 at Willow Creek Golf Course in West Des Moines. Other teams at that site are Ankeny Centennial, Dallas Center-Grimes, Des Moines East, Des Moines Lincoln, Dowling Catholic, Indianola, and WDM Valley.

Take a look at the full pairings in each class at the links below:

Class 1A Regional Golf

Class 2A Regional Golf

Class 3A Regional Golf

Class 4A Regional Golf

Posted in Sports |

IGHSAU weekly girls soccer rankings 04/25/2019

Sports

April 25th, 2019 by admin

The IGHSAU released the latest weekly girls soccer rankings on Thursday. Not many changes from last week for area teams in the poll.

In Class 3A CB Abraham Lincoln stays at number 6.

In Class 2A Lewis Central still reigns number 1 with Winterset checking in at #13.

In Class 1A Treynor stays at #7 and Panorama is at #10 once again.

Check out the full rankings here: soccer-2019-42519rankings

Posted in Sports |

IGHSAU releases girls Regional Singles and Doubles Tennis assignements

Sports

April 25th, 2019 by admin

The IGHSAU released the Class 1A and 2A Girls Singles and Doubles Regional Tennis Tournament assignments on Wednesday. Play is set to take place at each site on Wednesday, May 15th at 9:00am.

In Class 1A Atlantic is in Region 2 at Red Oak. Other teams competing at that site are Clarinda, Glenwood, Harlan, Red Oak, St. Albert, Shenandoah, and Southwest Valley.

Region 3 at Norwalk will include Audubon, Ballard, Clarke, Creston O-M, Kuemper Catholic/Carroll, North Polk, Norwalk, and Saydel.

Region 1 at Spencer will include Bishop Heelan, Cherokee/Ridge View/Newell-Fonda, Denison-Schleswig, Estherville-Lincoln Central, LeMars, Spirit Lake/Okoboji, and Storm Lake.

In Class 2A Lewis Central will compete in Region 2 at Johnston, CB Thomas Jefferson will be in Region 3 at WDM Valley, and CB Abraham Lincoln will compete in Region 4 at SE Polk.

Full assignments can be seen here: tennis-2019-regionalsinglesdoublesassignments

Posted in Sports |

Deere agrees to pay Iowa $1M for air-quality violations

Ag/Outdoor, News

April 25th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa attorney general’s office says Deere & Co. has agreed to pay $1 million for violating air quality standards at its Cedar Falls facility. A news release said Thursday that the Moline, Illinois-based heavy equipment company has agreed in a consent decree to annual third-party environmental audits for at least three years. They will continue until Deere receives two consecutive audits reports with few or no violations.

The Iowa Natural Resources Department has said Deere didn’t comply with emissions limits at its Performance Engineering Center, operated without proper air quality permits in some cases and provided inaccurate information on compliance reports to the department from 2005 to 2016. Deere spokesman Ken Golden says problems arose from past errors in air permits issued in 2005 for the center’s engine test cells. He says that Deere took corrective actions and worked with Iowa officials toward the issuance of new permits after learning of the problems in late 2016.

Posted in Ag/Outdoor, News |

University of Nebraska gets $12M to study rural drug abuse

News

April 25th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has received a nearly $12 million federal grant to research challenges connected with rural drug abuse in the Midwest. The five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health will fund a research initiative called the Rural Drug Addiction Center. Researchers will track 600 rural drug users in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.

Nebraska has seen a drastic jump in its drug overdose rate in recent years. The issue is complicated by a trend among the state’s drug users who are often addicted to a combination of substances. It’s an understudied phenomenon that’s been seen in other Midwestern states. The program’s leader, Kirk Dombrowski, says current drug addiction treatment focuses on brain chemistry, but understanding social patterns of abuse can lead to new treatments.

Posted in News |

Iowa lawmakers near end of session, a week ahead of schedule

News

April 25th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The flurry of activity that often signifies the end of a legislative session is evident at the Iowa Capitol this week. The exact end of the 2019 session isn’t set, but lawmakers were preparing Thursday to wind down their work and go home for the year. A Friday adjournment would be a week earlier than the scheduled May 3 session end. The Iowa House debated a Republican priority property tax bill until nearly 3 a.m. Thursday. Only a few must-do budget bills remain.

Some controversial issues also are unresolved, including a bill to impose a fee on solar energy installations, a measure that remaking the way Iowa nominates judges and a bill seeking election day changes, including moving up the closing time for voting. If leaders pull together the needed votes, those issues could surface in the final hours.

Posted in News |