Officials with the Iowa DCI and Creston Police are conducting an investigation into a suspicious death. Authorities say at around 8:17-p.m., Wednesday, the Union County Dispatch Center received a call to do a welfare check at a residence located 300 East Montgomery, Apartment 3, in Creston.  Upon arriving and entering the residence, Creston Police Department officers discovered the body of a deceased male. The victim has been identified as 45-year old Paul Allen Scheel.  The body was transported to the Office of the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s office in Ankeny, where an autopsy will be conducted.

The death investigation is being treated as suspicious at this time.  If the public has any information regarding Scheel they are asked to call the Union County Law Enforcement Center at (641) 782-8402. This is an ongoing investigation being worked jointly by the Creston Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Authorities say no further information will be released at this time.

A northwest Iowa legislator says about 15 percent of Iowa school districts do not have plans for dealing with an “active shooter” situation. “That really surprised me.” Senator Jim Carlin of Sioux City wants that to change. Carlin sponsored a bill last year in the House, when he was a state representative, that would have required Iowa schools to establish security plans. It didn’t get a hearing. “There was some reluctance to add another mandate on schools, but the concern I had — and I think it’s a valid concern — is that rural schools do not have law enforcement assets within minutes of the locations of schools,” Carlin says. “I also found out through smoe inquiry that not all of our schools have a protocol for active shooters.”

Carlin is now a state senator and today (Thursday), the Senate Education Committee is voting on his proposal. Carlin says he saw all sorts of “red flags” as he read about yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) mass shooting at a Florida school. “I think we’re now in a day where we can’t ignore those red flags and we have to prepare for those situations in a more concrete way,” Carlin says. Some Iowa schools have installed systems so a building or even portions of a facility may be locked down in seconds. Carlin says not every school district has that kind of money. His bill merely calls for school officials to give some thought to how they could respond if shooting starts at their school.

“You want them to coordinate a real plan and not just have something that gets thrown in the books and forgotten about,” Carlin says. “You want them to have a plan with law enforcement and maybe practice it because when you’re confronted with something like this, if you don’t have a plan, terrible things are going to happen.” Carlin says the Iowa Department of Education already has materials that can help districts who lack a plan develop one.

(Radio Iowa)

An SUV that had been reported stolen this (Thursday) morning from Red Oak, was recovered a few hours later at the Red Oak High School. Red Oak Police say the vehicle was actually not stolen as first thought. It had been parked at the High School for the past two-days. Police think the vehicle was misplaced due to alleged mechanical reasons, and with the confusion among family members, not everyone was made aware of the situation.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 54-year-old woman has been accused of embezzling more than $32,000 from the Mason City convenience store she managed. Court records say Melissa Gott is charged with theft. A Mason City phone listed for Gott rang busy during several calls Thursday. Authorities say she stole the money from a Yesway store’s bank deposits between Jan. 3 and Jan. 14.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing one man and wounding another in a Cedar Rapids parking lot. Court records say Quarzone Martin was sentenced Tuesday in Linn County District Court. He’d been found guilty of second-degree murder, willful injury and going armed with intent. Prosecutors say he fatally shot 26-year-old Andrew Meeks and wounded 30-year-old Johnny Moore Jr. on July 2 in the parking lot of a Cedar Rapids Walmart store.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports four people have been arrested on drug charges. On February 10th, as the result of response to a call, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested: 20-year old Kaylee Renae Roach, of Atlantic, on charges of Possession of Meth 1^st Offense and Possession of Marijuana 1^st Offense; 19-year old Drew Henry Miller, of Atlantic, was arrested on charges of Possession of Meth 2^nd Offense and Possession of Marijuana 2^nd Offense; and, 19-year old Isaiah Lashawn Lagassie, of Atlantic, was arrested on a felony Possession of Contraband in Jail, charge, along with Possession of Alprazolam 2^nd Offense,  and Possession of Marijuana 2^nd Offense. Those individuals were taken to the Cass County Jail. Roach was later released on her own recognizance; Miller was later released on $3,000 bond; and Lagassie was later released on $8,000 bond. On February 7th, Cass County Deputies arrested 26-year old Devin Michael Gardner, of Atlantic, on charges of OWI 2^nd Offense); Driving While Barred; Possession of Methamphetamine 1^st Offense; and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (Simple). Gardner was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

On February 9th, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 47-year old Mark Allen Schmidt, of Omaha, on a charge of OWI 2^nd Offense. Schmidt was taken to the Cass County Jail and was released later that day on his own recognizance. On February 10th, 41-year old Patrick William Hillard, of Atlantic, was arrested on a charge of Driving While Revoked. Hillard was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

On February 13th, Deputies arrested 28-year old Eduardo Salinas-Landero, of Des Moines, on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Salinas-Landero was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $1,000 bond. And, on February 13th, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 39-year old Matthew Robert Prall, of Anita, on a District Court Warrant for Probation Violation. Prall was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $25,000 bond.

On the same day a mass shooting at a south Florida school took 17 lives and left many injured, a note threatening a shooting was found at a school in northwest Iowa. Administrators at Le Mars High School called police Wednesday afternoon after finding the note threatening violence. Le Mars Police Chief Kevin Vande Vegte says officers responded immediately. “The outcome of that investigation found that a student here at the high school had left the note with the potential threat to harm others,” Chief Vande Vegte says. “It was found that at no time was any student, anybody in the school, in any danger of any sort.”

The situation was resolved in a little over an hour. “We were able to narrow down a potential suspect that had left the note,” he says, “and ultimately got a confession from that individual to reassure the public that the school was safe and none of the kids were in any harm whatsoever.” A 14-year-old student was taken into custody. The chief praised school administrators for taking quick and appropriate action. Vande Vegte says, “Security measures are in place in Le Mars schools and the school immediately followed those procedures and went into a lockout mode which means nobody in the school, nobody outside the school.”

The incident took place about 1 P-M and the chief says the timing was very coincidental. “Luckily, we were about to begin a training session at the police station and I had 14 officers standing there and I sent them to the high school,” Vande Vegte says. “They secured the perimeter. Nobody came in. Nobody came out. That’s the objective of a lockout. If there is a threat inside, officers are outside and they can enter immediately.” Some parents gathered around the perimeter of the school, concerned about the safety of their children. They were notified of the incident either from social media or cell phone calls and texts. Precautions were also taken around the community. “We sent a uniformed officer to each school in Le Mars,” Vande Vegte says. “They also went into a lockout. That officer did a walk-through of that school as we do every day, a uniformed officer walks every school in Le Mars. We simply did that again. We just walked the halls and we chatted with individuals and we reassured individuals.”

The unnamed male student was transported to the Le Mars Police Department at about 2:10 P-M. He was later transferred to the juvenile detention center in Cherokee and is charged with threat of terrorism, a class D felony. Classes resumed today as normal.

(Radio Iowa)

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa woman has been given six years in prison for wire and benefits fraud. Court records say 45-year-old Michele McGee, of Bettendorf, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Davenport. She must serve three years of supervised release after she leaves prison.

Federal prosecutors say McGee defrauded Boston-based UbiCare while she worked for the company from May 2014 through Feb. 12, 2015. She faked contracts with five hospitals that fraudulently brought her pay of nearly $116,000. She was ordered to pay back UbiCare. Prosecutors say McGee also received more than $11,500 in food stamp and Medicaid benefits by not reporting her household income. She was ordered to pay back the money to the state of Iowa.