A rural Council Bluffs teenager suffered non-life threatening injuries following a rollover accident early this (Tuesday) morning, in Pottawattamie County. According to Sheriff Jeff Danker, 16-year old Keagan Hedrick, who was wearing his seat belt,  was transported by LifeNet to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, for treatment of broken bones cuts, bruises and other, unknown injuries. Danker said the accident happened near 260^th Street at around 6:20-a.m., as the teen was traveling east on Highway 92, enroute to football practice in Treynor.

The teen told authorities he fell asleep at the wheel of the 2005 Toyota minivan, and when he woke up saw his vehicle had drifted into the oncoming lane of traffic, where another vehicle was approaching. Hedrick swerved to avoid contact and lost control, causing the van to roll several times into the north ditch.

Danker said he wasn’t sure if the teen will be cited for Failure to Maintain Control, he said more importantly he’s just thankful the teen is still alive.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County say no injuries were reported following two recent accidents. On July 30th, a 1998 Lincoln driven by Denver Cook, of Glenwood, was traveling east at a high rate of speed on Highway 34, when Cook tried to make a left-hand turn onto 315th Street. His vehicle was traveling too fast to make the turn though, and went out of control. It hit a ditch head-on before traveling up an embankment through a cornfield and coming to rest in the south ditch of Highway 34, about one-half mile north of Malvern.

The other accident happened last Friday (Aug. 2nd), at around 2:35-p.m.  Officials say a 2007 Honda driven by Samuel Kalhorn, of Glenwood, was traveling south on 240th Street, when an unknown vehicle was headed northbound, partially in Kalhorn’s lane. When he swerved to avoid contact with the other vehicle, Kalhorn’s car hit a cable guardrail.

w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have released the name of a woman whose body was found in a southwest Iowa cornfield.  Des Moines television station KCCI says  the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office identified her as 31-year-old Maggie Weaver.  Authorities say a crime isn’t suspected in Weaver’s death. Toxicology reports are expected in four to six weeks.

The body was found Saturday in a field west of Lenox in Taylor County. Weaver had been missing for several days.

Council Bluffs Republican Art Hill, Monday, announced his decision to run for Iowa Senate in District 11. The district covers 2,200 miles in Pottawattamie, Cass, Adams, and Union Counties. Hill stopped in Atlantic Monday afternoon following his announcement at the Public Library in Council Bluffs. Speaking with KJAN News, Hill, who works as the City of Council Bluffs’ Finance Director, said he’s tossing his hat in the ring this early in the political season because there’s a lot of work to be done and many miles to cover before the Primary election, which is about 300 days away.

Hill says after reapportionment in 2011, he looked at the new district and saw how radically it had changed. He also looked at the common threads between Council Bluffs, Atlantic and Creston. They each have campuses with community colleges that provide an opportunity for graduates to get good jobs, and that’s something he wants to continue to see happen. Fellow Republican, Senator Hubert Houser, currently presides over the 11th District. Houser has not announced his intentions with regard to re-election. Hill says he spoke with Houser in May and informed him of his intentions. He says he respects Houser and whatever plans he makes. Hill says if Houser decides to run against him in the Spring, voters in the four counties should feel they would be well represented by either of the two men. No democrats have announced their intentions early in this political season to challenge Hill or Houser in the 2014 elections.

Hill says his experience as Finance Director for Council Bluffs, and a former Business Manager for the Lewis Central Community School District, gives him an edge when it comes to fiscal responsibility. He says “Finding an equitable way of raising tax revenue for services we ask for from our government in the future is important. He says in Iowa, that means simplifying the tax code. On a national level, he says a Fair Tax is important. Voter integrity is also important to Hill, who says voter ID laws are one way of ensuring the elections are legitimate on the state and national level. Hill says he supports efforts by Secretary of State Matt Schultz to ensure election integrity. He says also, a common core of values and beliefs are important to the future of our society.

He says “As a country we’ve developed a culture that has provided many blessings and providence for our country and it’s based on a core set of values and beliefs.” Hills says “Maintaining a sense of purpose…and a set of values we can rally around is important for any society to be ongoing.”

Hill has lived in Council Bluffs with his wife Andrea for the past 18-years. The couple have been married for 35-years. They have two adult children.

(re-posted due to a formatting error on previous post entered 5:30-pm Mon., Aug. 5th)

(Council Bluffs) — As the investigation into Sunday’s officer involved shooting incident continues, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Monday evening, released the names of all individuals involved. Offcials say on Sunday, August 4th  at around 4:45-p.m., an unidentified woman told Council Bluffs Police Officers Aaron Gutierrez and Jason Burleigh that she had just seen a suspicious individual at the site of the new Wal-Mart in Council Bluffs.  She told the officers that the man was acting suspicious and was bleeding from his hands.

Michael Hannum

Officers Gutierrez and Burleigh responded to the construction site where they encountered 52 year old Michael Hannum. Hannum was bleeding from his wrists and armed with a sharp, cutting instrument.  Throughout the encounter, Hannum did not respond to verbal commands from Officers Gutierrez and Burleigh.  When he became aggressive towards the officers, Officer Burleigh to deployed his TASER, but the officer’s attempt to subdue Hannum was unsuccessful.  Hannum continued to advance toward the officers, at which time Officer Gutierrez fired is duty weapon, striking Hannum two times. Hannum was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center where he remains in critical but stable condition.

In accordance with the police department’s policy, Officers Gutierrez and Burleigh will remain on paid, administrative leave until the conclusion of the investigation into this incident. Last Friday, Hannum was listed as a fugitive from the Federal Bureau of Prisons – Federal Residential Reentry Center in Council Bluffs.  At the time of the encounter, the officers did not know Hannum’s identity.

To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, the Council Bluffs Police Department requested DCI review the incident.  At the conclusion of the investigation, the DCI investigative report will be turned over to Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber for his office’s review of the incident. Law enforcement officials are looking for the woman who originally alerted Officers Gutierrez and Burleigh to the suspicious person.  This citizen should contact DCI at 712-322-1585 or the Council Bluffs Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.

Iowa Congressman Steve King opposes the Obama Administration’s decision to close 19 U.S. embassies in Northern Africa and the Middle East all week due to terror threats. “We should not be pulling out of our embassies because of a threat of al Qaeda. We should be reinforcing our embassies,” King said. “We are the United States of America. We should be able to bring the force to bear to defend them.” Prison breaks in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan in late July freed hundreds of terrorists linked to al Qaeda. U.S. intelligence agencies reported heightened internet chatter about attacks on Western targets planned for this week, at the end of Ramadan, a month-long period of fasting and self-reflection for Muslims. King, a Republican, says the embassy closings were the wrong move.

“If we build a reputation that we’re going to retreat from internet chatter, what kind of a country are we?” King asks. King suggests Obama has inappropriately sent “signals” to the enemy. “I wouldn’t be telling ’em any of this,” King says. “If I made a decision to have an ambassador someplace else, I wouldn’t tell the world that.” The decision to close the embassies has generally met with widespread approval from Democrats and Republicans in congress. Some Republicans argue the decision showed the Obama Administration had learned from last year’s deaths at a U.S. outpost in Libya. King is not convinced the closures are the right move. “If you announce that it’s too dangerous now, pull everybody out of the multiple embassies and if you just look at the map of the Middle East and then when are we going to declare that it’s safe enough to come back?” King asks.

Americans traveling overseas have been told to take additional security precautions and be wary of the dangers of public transportation. Interpol — an international police agency based in France — issued a global security alert on Saturday, warning of attacks on westerners in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Several European nations — including Britain, Germany and France — closed their embassies in Yemen as a precaution.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Council Bluffs man to prison his part in a 2011 killing in Omaha. The Omaha World-Herald reports Douglas County District Court Judge Joseph Troia sentenced 42-year-old Corey Brooks to a minimum of 56 years in prison in the shooting death of 50-year-old James Asmus. The sentence means Brooks will be eligible for parole in 28 years.

Brooks was convicted of manslaughter in the killing as well as drug and gun charges. Before he was sentenced, Brooks apologized to the Asmus family and asked the judge for leniency. Two other men were charged in the shooting. Asmus was found shot to death on September 2nd in a south Omaha garage. Prosecutors say a plan by Asmus to rob Brooks may have prompted the shooting.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A U.S. Department of Agriculture weekly survey shows Iowa’s cropland is getting drier as most of the state sees little rainfall. The agency says 41 percent of topsoil had adequate or surplus moisture, down 8 percentage points from the previous week.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Women from Iowa and Nebraska have filed lawsuits against the company that owns Olive Garden restaurants, saying they became sick after eating at the business. The Des Moines Register reported yesterday that federal court documents show Kelly Kunc of Hiawatha, Iowa and Joyce Nendza of Holt County, Nebraska filed the lawsuits.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are providing more details about a weekend shooting of a man by Council Bluffs police. The Department of Criminal Investigation identified the man as 52-year-old Michael Hannum. The incident began Sunday afternoon when a woman told officers Aaron Gutierrez and Jason Burleigh that a man was at a Wal-Mart construction site who was bleeding from his hands. Officers found Hannum at the site. They say he became aggressive and displayed a sharp instrument before officers used a stun gun and then shot him. The officers were put on paid leave.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Texas Senator Ted Cruz is headed back to Iowa. The tea party favorite and potential 2016 presidential contender is scheduled to speak to a gathering of social conservatives this Saturday. He’s also set to deliver the keynote address at an Iowa Republican Party dinner on October 25th.