VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) – Authorities are looking into the death of a 29-year-old Iowa woman whose body was found near a boat dock in southeastern South Dakota.
Alicia Hummel, of Sioux City, Iowa, was found dead in Vermillion near the Myron Grove boat launch, which also is known as the Highline Area in Clay County.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says police are looking for information on any suspicious activity between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. in the area on Monday. Authorities say a dark-colored sedan with tinted windows and a loud exhaust system might have been involved.

Council Bluffs Fire Department spokesman Justin James reports 15 members of the Iowa Hazardous Materials Task Force were activated this past weekend to assist the USDA with the monitoring of bio-security, cleaning and decontamination activities at infected premises and landfills impacted by the Avian Influenza outbreak. Members of the task force are employed by fire departments from the Cities of Council Bluffs, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Muscatine, and Sioux City.

James says in addition, Capt. Mike Cheney, of the Cedar Rapids Fire Department HazMat and Special Operations provided technical assistance to the USDA in the development of cleaning and decontamination procedures, for use at impacted sites and landfills. Nine Iowa Dept. of Agriculture and Land Stewardship staff are also assisting at infected premises to help monitor bio-security, cleaning and decontamination activities.

On a related note, officials with the Mills County Emergency Management Agency said Monday, government officials in the County are closely monitoring the arrival of bird waste at the Loess Hills Landfill, which began last Saturday, with 11 trucks bringing 21 loads for burial. The transport and burial processes were completed according to protocol developed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Officials say there were reports that three trucks bringing empty containers were incorrectly using several gravel roads for access, rather than staying on Highway34, however, the issue has since bee corrected.

The Pottawattamie County Bomb Squad was called to a home at 22529 Tammy Circle in Council Bluffs, Monday evening, where a woman found her late husband had a grenade stored in an old foot locker in the basement.The call about a suspicious device came in at around 6:50-p.m.

An Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Technician (File photo from Pott. County S/O)

Sgt. Jason LeMaster with the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office says the device, which was described as being a flat green “pineapple” shape, with some blue paint on it,  was placed in a protective pouch and brought back to the Sheriff’s Office where it was placed in the bomb bunker for safe keeping, until it could be destroyed.  It’s not clear whether the grenade was live or inert, and meant only for practice.

No injuries were reported.

In an update to our earlier report, authorities in Pottawattamie County say an Atlantic man was arrested Monday evening in Walnut, following a high speed pursuit. Sgt. Jason LeMaster, with the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office, says a deputy in Avoca ran a license plate on a black 1996 Cadillac Deville at around 6-p.m., because the registered owner did not have a valid license. When the deputy initiated a traffic stop, the car, driven by 32-year old Sean Gifford, of Atlantic, sped away and went through several alleys in Avoca in an attempt to elude the deputy.

The chase continued onto Highway 83 toward Walnut, with speeds topping 100-miles per hour. The deputy terminated the pursuit because of the excess speed, but located the vehicle at around 6:18-p.m., as it was coasting unoccupied, and ended up in a residential yard. Other deputies and agencies converged on the town to search for the suspect, who was apprehended at around 8-p.m. near a residence at 226 Koeppe Street, in Walnut.

Gifford was charged with eluding, Possession of a controlled substance/Marijuana for personal use and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, along with Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree. He was transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail and remains held on $5,000 bond.

LeMaster says Gifford told deputies he ran because he didn’t have a valid license. The Pott. County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by deputies from Cass and Shelby County, including the Cass County K9 unit, and Troopers with the Iowa State Patrol.

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

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Police in Creston arrested two people Monday. 17-year old Dyrrel Malik Thornton, of Lorimor, was arrested at around 4:45-p.m. on two Union County warrants for Probation Violation. Bond was set at $5,000. And, at around 7:15-p.m., Creston Police arrested 25-year old Chevy Van Sauer, of Creston, for Driving While Suspended. He was later released from the Union County Jail on $300 bond.

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

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Iowa Dept. of Transportation Planning Coordinator Scott Suhr, Monday, provided an update on the Highway 6/7th Street construction project, in Atlantic. Suhr says the milling of the old asphalt surface is complete, and Bluffs Paving is handling Portland Cement Concrete removals in the area near 7th and Plum, where the Environmental Protection Agency is set to mobilize next Monday, in preparation to remove soil contaminated with PCE (or, Tetrachoroethylene),  a solvent used by a former dry cleaning business that was detected in 1980.

Suhr says in addition, Bluffs Paving may start Sanitary Sewer Work at Plum Street, at mid-week. And, the City of Atlantic/Atlantic Municipal Utilities is scheduled to perform water main work at Plum Street, beginning this Thursday.

A traffic stop late Monday night in Fremont County resulted in the arrest of the driver on drug charges. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy stopped a pickup truck driven by 26-year old Gail Gilbert Heywood, Jr., of Randolph, at around 11:30-p.m.   Heywood, Jr., was arrested after an investigation determined he was allegedly in possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

The man was transported to the Fremont County Jail and held on a $2,300 cash bond.

One person was injured when a car and a field sprayer collided Monday evening, in Montgomery County. The Sheriff’s Office reports a John Deere 4730 sprayer owned and operated by 25-year old Joshua Stanley Carlson, and a 2009 Hyundai Sonata, driven by 50-year old Lori Jo Mayne, collided at around 8-p.m. in the 2000 block of Highway 34.

The accident happened as both vehicles were heading westbound, and Carlson initiated a left hand turn into a field drive. He noticed the car was beginning to pass him on the left, so Carlson swerved back into his lane, when the car also swerved into the same lane. After the vehicles collided, Mayne was transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital in Red Oak, where she was treated and later released.

Damage to the sprayer was estimated at $10,000, while the car was totaled in the collision. Deputies were assisted at the scene by Red Oak Police, Red Oak Fire and Rescue, and personnel with Agri-Vision.