Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Brian Hamman reports, that through donations by local community foundations and grants, Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency (MCEMA) has received thermal imaging technology for their small unmanned aerial vehicle system (or, drone). The small and effective camera will provide an aerial view of dangerous situations, emergency incidents and provide live streaming video back to incident commanders and ground crews. Hamman says there are many useful applications for this camera including fire incidents, damage assessment, search and rescue missions and law enforcement applications such as large-scale area searches for wanted and missing persons. The camera will also allow authorities to fly during nighttime hours, whereas before, they were restricted to daylight hours, making it available 24 hours a day.

According to Hamman, “Officer safety is our number one goal and by having this camera and being equipped with this technology, we cannot only search a large area in a shorter time frame, we can also provide officers with live information from the command post and direct those resources in safely and effectively.”

Images from a November training exercise with area law enforcement K9 teams to show off the newly acquired FLIR/Thermal Camera technology with a small unmanned aerial vehicle(drone). (MCEMA photos)

The total cost of the camera was $10,500 and was completely funded by generous donations and grants from the E. F. Sylvia Schildberg Foundation, Montgomery County Community Foundation, Mid-American Energy Foundation and the Alliant Energy Foundation.

While the thermal imaging camera is just one part of the drone system, it offers one authorities another tool that enables better service to citizens and area first respondersm during dangerous and high-risk incidents to ensure everyone is safe and goes home at the end of an incident. The MCEMA drone system has been in operation for over one year and has already been used to provide aerial views of large structure fires, missing person searches as well as local law enforcement K-9 training. The drone is available to all area counties through mutual aid requests and 28E agreements.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Democratic candidate for a northeast Iowa House seat who is trailing by nine votes has won a court ruling that gives her the right to determine whether 33 absentee ballots were mailed on time. The ruling could potentially change the results of the race if the ballots are counted. Democrat Kayla Koether sued election officials who refused to count the ballots, saying they lacked a postmark that would indicate when they were mailed. The ballots do contain a postal bar code that Koether says Iowa law allows to be used as proof of mailing.

Incumbent Republican Michael Bergan leads Koether by nine votes in the three-county district. Judge Scott Beattie’s order Monday does not hold up certification of the race with an injunction but does say Koether can contest the results of the election, which means a winner will not be determined until the ballot dispute is resolved. Beattie ordered the ballots preserved, scanned by the Postal Service and a date of mailing determined by Wednesday. That information must be provided to the court and the attorneys by Friday.

Police in Council Bluffs say a domestic violence situation late Sunday afternoon resulted in a shooting, and the death of 59-year old Russ Atkins, of Council Bluffs. Authorities say Officers were called to the 500 block of Grace Street at around 4:40-p.m., with regard to a shooting that had just occurred. Upon arrival, officers located Atkins, deceased, laying in the street. A subsequent investigation revealed Atkins had been involved in a domestic violence situation with a woman, when 67-year old Stephen Hahn, of Omaha, attempted to intervene.

Hahn produced a handgun during the altercation, and fired one round, fatally wounding Atkins. Detectives determine Hahn personally knew Atkins and the woman, and that a court ordered Protection Order was in place between Atkins and the woman. Hahn remained on the scene and was cooperative with detectives during the investigation. Hahn was also legally permitted to be in possession of the handgun.

Authorities say after consulting with Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber this (Monday) morning, it was decided the facts surrounding the incident will be presented to a Grand Jury to determine whether Hahn will face any criminal charges. In order not to taint the Grand Jury members, authorities say no further information will be released by the Council Bluffs Police Department at this time.

(Radio Iowa) — A bill passed by both houses of Congress would roll back state jurisdiction on Iowa’s Meskwaki settlement. Since 1948, state officials have been able to prosecute crimes by Native Americans on Native land. That’s resulted in some tribal members being tried twice for the same crime, in tribal court and state court, according to Meskwaki Attorney General Jay Finch.  “We felt that was fundamentally unjust and unfair that Native Americans were being prosecuted twice for the same offense,” Finch says, “or were being exposed to increased fines and incarceration.”

Federal lawmakers have approved a bill that would repeal the 70-year-old law, a move Finch says would reassert the tribe’s sovereignty. The bill is now heading to President Trump’s desk. Under that original law, Finch says, justice was not being served. “Which basically resulted in tribal members being charged twice for the same act on their land,” Finch says, “whereas, as a non-Native who committed a criminal offense on the settlement would only get prosecuted once in state court.”

In 1948, Congress gave the state of Iowa criminal jurisdiction over the Meskwaki settlement. At the time, the tribe didn’t have a formal court system, but that’s changed over the past 70 years.

(Thanks to Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Slater informed authorities early Sunday morning, that sometime between 10-p.m. Saturday and 2-a.m. Sunday, his vehicle was entered while it was parked at 910 N. Clayton Street, in Afton. Taken was $60 in cash, an EMS light bar, radar detector and prescription sunglasses. The loss was estimated at $1,085.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Tons of paper meant to be recycled was instead dumped into a Des Moines landfill because of plunging prices for the material. Mid America Recycling President Mick Barry tells the Des Moines Register that about 20 tons of paper a day ended up in the landfill this summer. The company processes the metro area’s recyclables. Cities have been struggling to get rid of recyclables since China tightened standards on what it would accept about two years ago.

Des Moines’ recycling program is expected to see a $50,000 deficit next fiscal year, compared to $320,000 in revenue in 2017. The city is looking to raise its solid waste fee by 2 percent next year to help cover losses. Metro Waste Authority, which handles recycling for the metro’s suburbs, has also seen costs increase.