Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Monday of 23-year old Theodore Brayman. The Glenwood man was charged with Public intoxication and Disorderly Conduct. His bond was set at $600.

A couple of public hearings will take place during the City Council meeting in Atlantic, Wednesday evening. The meeting begins at 5:30-p.m. The first hearing is with regard to the Plans, Specifications and Form of Contract for the Connector Trail and Pedestrian Bridge Project. The hearing, as required by State Law, allows public input on the project for which the City has agreed to contribute $50,000 from the Local Option Sales Tax (or, LOST) Progress Fund. City Administrator John Lund has indicated the fund has grown significantly over the past year, and uses for the fund are limited. And, since the trails system in Atlantic serve as a potential launch pad for a number of economic development opportunities, the LOST fund would be an appropriate use of the money, according to Lund.

The second public hearing is with regard to the Southeast Urban Renewal Plan Amendment, as it pertains to the Ash Street Housing Development project being proposed by Boose Building Construction. The estimated value created by the development, according to Lund, is Tax Increment Finacing (TIF) amounting to slightly more than $1.02-million. Boose has requested TIF from the City to support the project, which the City’s Personnel and Finance Committee has thoroughly reviewed and recommended for passage, by the Council. The site plan was approved by the Council during their meeting on April 15th.

Following both hearings, the Council will act on Resolutions approving both matters, along with a review of the bids for the Connector Trail Project and awarding of a contract for that project. They will also act on a Resolution authorizing an Internal Advance of Funds for the Urban Renewal Project, the TIF agreement for which amounts to $80,000. Lund says setting up an internal loan simplifies the process for all parties involved, and will be made out of the General Fund. It will be repaid through revenue from the TIF district over the agreed upon terms outlined in the development agreement.

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

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In an update to our report at noon, Monday, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said today (Tuesday), a man from Pottawattamie County and a woman from Shelby County were arrested following a chase, crash, and one-mile perimeter search. The incident began at around 9:20-a.m., when authorities received a call about suspicious activity around a rural residents’ vehicle located off of 900th Street, between Oak and Orange Roads.

Brittni Finken

When deputies approached the scene, the suspects sped-off in a dark colored car in an easterly direction on 900th Street. With deputies in pursuit, the suspect’s vehicle turned north onto Quince Road and crossed Highway 44 at speeds of around 100-miles per hour. The suspect’s vehicle lost control at the T-intersection of Quince and Nishna Roads, and crashed into the north ditch before coming to rest on its top.

The male and female suspects took off on foot into a corn field and were located hours later in a culvert, thanks to the assistance of the Omaha Police Department’s helicopter, “Able 1,” and the Shelby County K-9 Unit. Both suspects were taken into custody and transported to the Shelby County Jail.

The suspects, 28-year old T-J Lebaugh, of Council Bluffs, and 25-year old Brittni Finken, of Harlan, face charges that include: Carrying a concealed weapon; Manner of conveyance of a fire arm; Possession of a Controlled Substance; and, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Lebaugh faces additional charges related to traffic violations. The pair were being held in the jail on $2,000 bond, each.

Assisting with the search for the suspects was officers with the Harlan Police Department, deputies with the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office, and Trooper with the Iowa State Patrol. Additional assistance was provided at the accident scene by the Harlan Fire Department and Medivac Ambulance.

(8-a.m. News)

Creston Police are investigating an incident of vandalism that was reported this (Tuesday) morning. Officials say a woman told police someone shot the windshield of her car with a BB gun twice, while the vehicle was parked behind the Elms Club, at 108 N. Elm, in Creston. The incident happened sometime between 10-p.m. Monday and 1:50-a.m. today (Tuesday). Damage was estimated at $300.

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

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Auditions for the Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre’s original musical production of “Alladin and His Magic Lamp” will be held Monday, July 6th, beginning at 1-p.m. in the Atlantic High School Auditorium. According to Melissa Ehrman Johnson, Atlantic Children’s Theatre Group Vice President/Secretary, two professionals from the PFCT will direct the production, which requires up to 81 local young people to play one of numerous roles, including Alladin, Harmonia, the Sultan, Princess Serena, and more.

Auditions are open to any area youth that has completed the 1st through 9th grades. No preparation is required. Rehearsals will be held from 1-to 5:15-p.m. throughout the remainder of next week, with performances scheduled for 7-p.m. Friday, July 10th, and 2-p.m. Saturday, July 11th, at the Atlantic High School.

Independence Day is a time of celebration with family and friends, food, and fireworks, but the Fourth of July holiday weekend is one of the deadliest on the nation’s roadways, of crashes involving alcohol. Extra law enforcement officers will be present on Iowa roadways during a Special Traffic Enforcement Program (or, STEP), July 1st through the 7th, watching for impaired drivers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports in 2013, the most recent year in which data is available, 512 people were killed, nationwide in motor vehicle crashes over the Fourth of July holiday (5 p.m. July 3–6 a.m. July 8). One hundred and ninety-nine of those deaths, or 39 percent, occurred in crashes that involved at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.

More than 20 percent of the impaired drivers involved in those fatal crashes had a BAC of .15 or higher and the incidence of impaired driving was over three times higher at night than during the day. Twenty-seven percent of motorcycle operators involved in fatal crashes had BACs of .08 or higher. During that same time period, six people were killed on Iowa roadways. Half of those fatal crashes were alcohol related.

The Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau says “If you have been drinking, don’t risk it; make a plan before the celebration begins. There is always another way home; arrange for a ride or call a taxi and remember: Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.”

Police in Council Bluffs are looking for a man who they say was involved in an attempted murder late Monday afternoon. Sgt. Dave Dawson with the Council Bluffs P-D says officers were called to 733 Mynster at around 4:40-p.m. for a shooting that had just occurred. After they arrived, officers determined 44-year old Sally L. Huffman, of Council Bluffs, had been shot by a small caliber handgun, and had suffered a wound to the right ankle area. The woman was transported to Creighton Hospital in Omaha for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Huffman told investigators a black male, about 30-to 40-years old, weighing about 500-to 600 pounds, had knocked on her door. When the woman opened the door, the suspect asked if “Antoine” was there. Huffman told the man she didn’t know anyone by that name, and closed the door on the suspect. While she went to a back room in the apartment, the suspect, who was also described as having a chipped front tooth, medium length black hair and was clean shaven, came in through the unlocked apartment door and confronted the woman.

He produced a small caliber gun and pointed it at Hoffman’s chest, but did not say anything to her. The man became distracted when the woman’s cat ran across the room. The sudden action caused the suspect to point the weapon in a downward direction before he fired once, striking Hoffman. The man then fled from the apartment on foot in an unknown direction.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to Call CrimeStoppers at 712-328-7867.

The head of the union that represents the largest share of state employees was in southwest Iowa, Monday, meeting with workers who’re being laid off from the state-run Mental Health Institute in Clarinda. AFSCME Council 61 President Danny Homan said his message to the 53 employees serving their last two days is simple.

“I’m very sorry the governor has decided to take this action. I believe not only has he violated the collective bargaining agreement by his actions of laying everyone off effective at the end of the day June 30, but I also believe he is violation of a state law,” Homan says. “And we will take the appropriate action and attempt to fix this situation.”

That’s the strongest hint yet that Homan’s union will be part of a lawsuit challenging the governor’s call to shut-down Clarinda’s Mental Health Institute, as well as the one in Mount Pleasant. Homan says this situation is different than the one his union faced in Toledo with the shutdown of the Iowa Juvenile Home. AFSCME filed a lawsuit in that case that went all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court, but the court did not rule in the union’s favor and order that the home be reopened.

“I believe what the Supreme Court said is the issue was moot because there was no funding appropriated for the Toledo Juvenile Home,” Homan said. “That’s not the case here. Funding has been approved by the Iowa Legislature for both the Clarinda and the Mount Pleasant MHI’s. I believe that is, I hope that is a significant enough difference to where the outcome will be different if in fact this gets in front of the Supreme Court again.”

Homan says despite the disruption to the affected workers and the economic hit to Clarinda, the real losers in this case are the patients.”The real losers in this process are the citizens of the state of Iowa,” Homan says, “the citizens of southwestern Iowa who no longer have a facility to take someone who is having a chronic episode of a mental health issue.” Homan says Iowa lags behind other states in mental health care options and the absence of replacement community based services will only worsen the situation. Clarinda’s M-H-I has offered care to elderly patients with a mental illness who are too frail or violent to be cared for in a private facility, like a nursing home. Mount Pleasant’s M-H-I has had a residential treatment program for patients with the dual diagnosis of a mental illness AND a substance abuse problem.

(Radio Iowa)