Police in Council Bluffs have arrested a transient in connection with burglaries at storage facility. 35-year old Robert Thomas was taken into custody on six counts of burglary following an investigation into incidents which occurred at 1st American Storage this (Wednesday) morning, in Council Bluffs. Thomas was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Authorities say an Officer with the Council Bluffs P-D was called to the storage facility at 901 West Broadway at around 9:40-a.m., after police received word six storage units had been broken into. About 40 minutes later, the same Officer drove by the storage units again and noticed a suspicious looking male inside the fenced in area.

The Officer made contact with the individual, later identified as Thomas, and was able to locate stolen items from two of the units in his possession. The man was then taken to the Council Bluffs Police Department and questioned by Detectives. Through the work of the initial Officer and the Detective’s questioning, enough probable cause was developed to tie Thomas to all six burglaries.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (Jan. 27, 2016) – The American Red Cross has an emergency need for blood donors. Severe winter weather since Jan. 1 has forced the cancellation of more than 300 blood drives across 20 states, resulting in more than 9,500 donations uncollected, further depleting an already low winter supply. Blood donation appointments can be quickly and easily scheduled by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Katie Marshall, external communications manager of the Midwest Blood Services Region, says “Blood products are being delivered to hospitals as quickly as donations are coming in. Eligible donors are urged to make an appointment to give blood or platelets now and help ensure blood products are available for patients.”

The Red Cross must collect approximately 14,000 blood and platelet donations every day for the patients at about 2,600 hospitals and transfusion centers nationwide. Blood and platelets are needed to respond to patient emergencies, including accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease.

How to donate blood
A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

Blood donors can now save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, from a home or work computer prior to arriving at the blood drive. To get started and learn more, visit redcrossblood.org/RapidPass and follow the instructions on the site.

Two people were arrested Tuesday night following a traffic stop just east of Clarinda, in Page County. The Sheriff’s Office says the driver of the vehicle, 36-year old Joseph Dean Wallace, of Bedford, was operating the vehicle with fraudulent registration. Wallace was arrested and charged with Fraudulent registration, No drug tax stamp, Driving while license is suspended, possession of drug paraphernalia, Possession of a controlled substance (Marijuana) with intent to deliver, and on Page County warrants for simple assault and Burglary 2nd degree. He was processed and is currently being held in the Page County Jail on$15,300 bond.

A passenger in the car, 36-year old Kimberly Ann Briggs, of Clarinda, was arrested on charges of Possession of drug paraphernalia, No drug tax stamp, and Possession of a controlled substance (Marijuana) with intent to deliver. Her bond at the Page County Jail was set at $5000.

Clarinda Police Department Officers assisted with the traffic stop.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The head of the Iowa National Guard says nearly 1,700 positions have been opened up to women this year following a federal policy change.
Major General Timothy Orr told the Iowa General Assembly on Wednesday the spots became available after Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced in late 2015 that women in the U.S. armed forces may serve in any position, including combat roles.

Orr announced the development during his annual “Condition of the Guard” address at the Capitol. The speech included the latest figures on active duty and training. The guard currently has 15 soldiers and airmen deployed around the world. Orr also noted Kosovo will open the first-ever foreign consulate office in Iowa. It is scheduled to open Friday in downtown Des Moines.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say officers have captured an inmate listed as escaped from the Council Bluffs Work Release Facility. Council Bluffs police say Roger Madsen ran from a pickup after it was pulled over Tuesday. The officers caught Madsen after following his tracks in the snow. The Daily Nonpareil reports the 32-year-old was listed as escaped when he didn’t return to the facility after work on Jan. 14.

Madsen is serving a 20-year sentence for prohibited acts involving a controlled substance, two counts of theft, assault with intent to injure a peace officer and assault with a weapon on a peace officer.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Corrections Department says a 26-year-old inmate has been listed as escaped from the work release facility in Sioux City. The department says Jacob Petty didn’t return Tuesday from an outpatient treatment program. In October 2008 Petty began serving a 10-year sentence for robbery in Woodbury County. He was transferred to work release on Oct. 8 last year.

More area and State news from KJAN’s Ric Hanson.

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NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) – An instrumental rendition of the University of Iowa fight song has been playing for several hours every day since last summer over speakers mounted on a vacant building in the city of Niagara Falls. And it’s driving the neighbors crazy. The music starts in the mid-afternoon and repeats in about 50-second loops for the next seven hours before turning off.

The owners of a restaurant directly across the street from the building say they have been told by police that the music’s volume and the time it’s being played don’t violate any city noise ordinances. Kevin Robertson, the restaurant’s chef, lives above the eatery. He says being subjected to hours-long daily doses of the Iowa fight song is torture.

The company that owns the building hasn’t responded to media requests for comment.

The 7:06-a.m. newscast w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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A liberal advocacy group is calling on the presidential candidates to talk more about affordable child care during their stops in Iowa. The group Progress Iowa sponsored a news conference that included Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. “The reality is, in a time where wages are pretty stuck for most families, the rising cost of child care is really contributing to the squeeze families are facing,” Tanden says.

“For the average American family with an infant and a toddler, child care costs nearly 18-thousand dollars every year — let me say that again, nearly 18-thousand dollars every year — which amounts to a third of the average income for those families.” Tanden says high quality child care can cost a family the same amount each month as a mortgage payment. And then you add in other costs such as transportation, food and utilities.

“And it’s that kind of squeeze I think a lot of families are facing and are contributing to the debate that we are having on national issues right now,” Tanden says. Tanden says her organization is a “think tank” that commissioned a poll that showed 70 percent of likely caucus goers in Iowa believe child care is too expensive and out of reach for working families. She says our country is way behind others on the issue.

“In American families, 65 percent of children under age six have both parents in the workforce. This is the reality, this is what’s happening,” Tanden says. “And yet we do very little as a country to help those families struggling with those costs. We have really not national child care policy that makes it possible for most families to afford child care.” Former U-S Senator Tom Harkin also spoke at the event.

“Child care is completely out of reach for too many American families. And for too many children of low income, it means their growth and their development is stunted from the start,” Harkin says. Harkin, a Democrat who retired last year, says the issue should be getting more attention from the candidates looking for Caucus votes.

He says there’s a lot of discussion by the political campaigns about helping working families, including raising the minimum wage, strengthening Social Security and keeping drug prices down. “All important middle class family issues,” Harkin says. “But one big part is not being discussed enough, and that is affordable, quality child care.”

Harkin says the federal block grant program to help low income people with child care was re-authorized before he retired, but he says the proper funding needs to be appropriated for the program. He urges voters to ask the candidates about the child care issues.

“We all focus on the presidential race right now obviously in Iowa. But next year is also the legislative races here in the state of Iowa,” Harkin says. “Ask your legislative candidates what they are going to do in Iowa and put the funding at the state level to match the block grant program from the federal government.”

The news conference was held during the noon hour at a Des Moines child care center.

(Radio Iowa)