A traffic stop at a used truck and heavy equipment dealer in Mills County, resulted in the arrest Tuesday afternoon of a man on drug charges. The Mills County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday (today), that Deputies with the Sheriff’s Office K9 unit conducted the traffic stop at VanderHaags.

Upon investigation and searching the vehicle, marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were located on the passenger, 52-year old Gregory Neemaan. He was transported to the Mills County Jail and charged with Possession of Meth/3rd or subsequent offense, Possession of Marijuana/3rd or subsequent offense, and Possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond was set at $7,300.

Council Bluffs Police say two transient men were arrested on murder charges following an investigation into the discovered late Wednesday night, of  body found outside of a building at 1435 N. 15th Street. 46-year old Vance A. Good was charged with 1st Degree murder in the death of 44-year old Lee Johnson. 32-year old Brandon K. Hollis was charged with being an accessory to murder. Both men were being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Brandon Hollis

Vance Good

Authorities say at around 11:30-p.m., Wednesday, Council Bluffs Police and Fire personnel were dispatched to the Joshua House on North 15th Street, regarding an assault. The Joshua House is a 24‐hour men’s emergency homeless shelter. Johnson, Good and Hollis were all signed into the facility to spend the night.

Upon their arrival, officers located Lee Johnson’s deceased body laying outside the building. Johnson had multiple, deep lacerations to his face and neck. Joshua House staff directed officers to Vance Good and Brandon Hollis, who were both still inside the facility. Preliminary investigation revealed that Good and Johnson were in an altercation inside the Joshua House and it is alleged that Good used a sharp cutting instrument to fatally wound Johnson. Good and Hollis then proceeded to carry Johnson’s body out of the building, to dispose of it in the parking lot.

Neither Good or Hollis attempted any life saving measures nor did they contact anyone to provide emergency medical assistance for Johnson.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A man charged as an accessory in the Council Bluffs slaying of a homeless man has been sentenced. Court records say 53-year-old Cleo McClellan pleaded guilty Wednesday and was sentenced to 98 days already served and fined $625, but the fine was suspended.

Police say he and 43-year-old Michael Thacker were involved in the Nov. 28 slaying of 34-year-old David Simpson, whose body was found Dec. 11. He’d died of blunt force trauma. Police say all three men were homeless at the time. Thacker was found and arrested Dec. 13 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Court records show he’s pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and is scheduled to go on trial May 8.

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office say 54-year old James Leroy Meek, Jr., of Blockton was arrested Wednesday. Meek, Jr.  was taken into custody on a warrant for Failure to Appear (on an original charge of Domestic Abuse Assault), and was being held at the Taylor County Jail without bond, until seen by the magistrate.

The Atlantic City Council held a public hearing Wednesday evening, with regard to the removal of a stop sign at 6^th and Sunnyside Lane. Mayor Dave Jones explained why the sign is being removed. He said the north/south stop signs will be removed and signs indicating north/south traffic will not stop at the intersection will be installed. The reason is that trucks and traffic coming from the ethanol plant will frequent the road, and having stop signs on the north/south sides would likely result in a traffic congestion there.)

The change was recommended by the Community Protection Committee during their meeting Jan. 16^th. The Mayor admits they currently have no idea how much the traffic flow will increase, but it’s expected to be significant. Following the public hearing, the Council held the first reading of an amended ordinance calling for removal of the north south stop signs.

Two more readings are required before the change takes effect.

Officials with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office report they received a call this (Thursday) morning with regard to threats made at the Sidney High School. Deputies determined that a 16-year-old female student, made a general threat against the lives of students, causing them to be in fear of their safety. The student has been charged with Harassment 1st Degree, an Aggravated Misdemeanor and has been placed at the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs. Deputies determined that incident is not directly connected to the previous threat that took place Wednesday.

During that incident, a 14-year old female student allegedly threatened to make a shooting at the Sidney High School. The student was also arrested and transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs. They were charged with Threats of Terrorism.

No names were released in connection with either incident.

A new report finds the number of cases of Alzheimer’s disease in Iowa is growing rapidly, as is the cost of care. Greg Woods, a program specialist with the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Iowa, says the annual report isn’t very encouraging as there’s still no effective treatment and no cure. “This year, we looked at three main things,” Woods says, “the prevalance and incidence of the disease, so how common is it, we looked at the cost of care and we looked at the effect of caregiving, as well.”

Alzheimer’s deaths have more than doubled in the last 15 years while deaths from other major illnesses and medical conditions, like heart disease, have significantly decreased. The report finds about five-point-seven million people nationwide are now living with Alzheimer’s, while the figure in Iowa is about 64-thousand, and both numbers are escalating. “By 2025, the number of people aged 65 and older is expected to reach 7.1-million, that’s an increase of almost 29% from this year,” Woods says. “In Iowa, we will see that as well, so we’re looking at that 64,000 number becoming upwards of 73,000.”

If a treatment isn’t found, the annual number of new cases of Alzheimer’s and other dementia’s is projected to double by 2050. In Iowa, the report projects a 14-percent growth in the number of people with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. Woods says the number of Alzheimer’s deaths have more than doubled in the last 15 years nationwide. “We know that Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S. and that is interesting to some people because they don’t often think of it as an actual cause of death,” Woods says. “In fact, here in Iowa alone, we have the 5th highest death rate from Alzheimer’s in the whole United States.”

The national cost of caring for people with Alzheimer’s is projected to surpass a quarter-trillion dollars ($277 billion) this year, an increase of nearly 20-billion since last year. In Iowa, the Medicaid costs to care for people with Alzheimer’s are expected to reach 630-million dollars this year. The cost is expected to grow by nearly 24-percent by 2025. In Iowa, 136-thousand caregivers provided a total of 154-million hours of unpaid care for Alzheimer’s patients, valued at 1.95-billion dollars. The difficulties associated with providing that care are estimated to have resulted in 98-million dollars in additional healthcare costs for caregivers last year. See the full report at: www.alz.org/facts

(Radio Iowa)

GARNER, Iowa (AP) — A car driver has been imprisoned for the crash death of a motorcyclist in northern Iowa. Hancock County District Court records say 34-year-old Shannon Gamble, of Garner, was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison. She’d pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while under the influence.

The collision occurred June 18 near Klemme in Hancock County. Authorities say Gamble was driving south on U.S. Highway 69 and trying to pass another vehicle when her car struck the northbound motorcyclist, killing 31-year-old Nathan Wadsley. He lived in Belmond.