Authorities are investigating the robbery of a bank in Council Bluffs. According to Bluffs Police, a black male wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue sweatpants and a ski mask walked into the American National Bank at 2650 W. Broadway at around 10-a.m. The man, brandishing a gun, jumped over the counter and demanded money from a teller before leaving through the bank’s east doors. He got away with an undetermined amount of cash. One of the bundles contained a dye-pack that exploded as the suspect was on foot.

Police officers found a several yards long money trail along Avenue A, and followed it back toward West Broadway, but they were unable to locate the suspect. The incident remains under investigation.

The Iowa State Patrol says a Nebraska man was arrested Tuesday night after he crashed his motorcycle into a ditch. Officials say 55-year old Glenn Allen, of Omaha, was traveling at a high rate of speed on his 1996 Ducati M900 cycle when he lost control. The bike crashed at around 9:50-p.m., and came to rest in the west ditch off of Interstate 29 southbound, about 4.5-miles north of Council Bluffs. The cycle was totaled in the crash, with the damage estimated at $4,000. Allen refused medical treatment at the scene. He was charged with OWI/1st offense, Failure to Maintain Control, and Failure to have a Valid License or permit to operate a motor vehicle.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) say even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared the recent West Nile virus outbreak as the largest ever seen in the U.S., Iowa West Nile virus case reports have been consistent with recent years. The  (IDPH) says it has received five confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne illness and several additional cases are currently being investigated. The five confirmed cases include one each in Grundy, Linn, Lyon, Page, and Plymouth counties. All patients have recovered.

While overall mosquito activity has been lower this year, likely due to the extremely dry spring and summer, officials say the cases illustrate West Nile virus is circulating and causing illness. IDPH Medical Director, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk says “Iowans may think the use of mosquito spray while outdoors is unnecessary because there seem to be few mosquitoes bothering them.” But Quinlisk says they’re urging residents and visitors to continue the use of insect repellent with DEET while outdoors, to protect against mosquitoes which may be carrying the West Nile virus, and ticks, which may carry Lyme disease.

The best way to prevent West Nile virus is to eliminate mosquito breeding areas and to use insect repellent when outdoors. Iowans should take the following steps to reduce the risk of exposure to West Nile virus:

• Use insect repellent with DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Always read the repellent label and consult with a health care provider if you have questions when using these types of products for children. For example, DEET should not be used on infants less than 2-months-old and oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under 3-years-old.
• Avoid outdoor activities at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts, pants, shoes, and socks whenever possible outdoors.
• Eliminate standing water around the home because that’s where mosquitoes lay eggs. Empty water from buckets, cans, pool covers and pet water dishes. Change water in bird baths every three to four days.

While West Nile virus case reports so far have been consistent with recent years, there has been a slight increase in Lyme diseases case reports. 113 cases of Lyme disease have been confirmed thus far in 2012. There were 100 confirmed cases in 2011.

Online court records indicate two former Nodaway Valley High School wrestlers arrested last year in connection with a hazing incident have plead guilty to harassment and serious assault charges. Judge Paul Huscher, Tuesday, sentenced 18-year-old Michael Fieck and 18-year-old Jacob Wayne Schliessman to a total of 90-days each in the Adair County Jail, followed by two-years probation. They were facing two-years in jail. The men each plead guilty to two counts of first-degree harassment and two counts of serious assault. They had originally been charged with second-degree sexual abuse.

The charges were later changed to two counts each of felonious assault. Last March, Feick and Schliessman, who was 17 at the time of the incident, both entered pleas of not guilty to the charges of two counts of felonious assault, and waived their right to a speedy trial.

The incident which led to their arrest happened in December 2011, and pertained to the hazing of a fellow student on the Nodaway Valley wrestling squad. The unidentified student had said the assault happened when he missed a practice session. A subsequent investigation by the Greenfield Police Department indicated there may have been as many as three victims of hazing. Both of the accused teens were expelled from the school.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office this (Friday) morning released the name of a man who died during a stand-off with authorities northeast of Shelby, Thursday. Sheriff Mark Hervey identified the man as 48-year old Larry Tiarks, of Avoca.

Hervey says the sheriff’s office was notified of a robbery at the Shelby County State Bank in Shelby, at about 11:45-a.m., Thursday. A deputy who was on-duty and in the City of Shelby at the time of the robbery, observed a vehicle leaving the city, that matched the description of the suspect’s vehicle. The deputy engaged in a pursuit, which traveled east of Shelby to the 200-block of Juniper Road.

The chase ended after Tiarks left his vehicle and entered a rural residence. Sheriff’s officials along with those from surrounding counties and the Iowa State Patrol established a perimeter around the residence. At around 4-p.m., the Iowa State Patrol Tactical Entry Team, using specialized equipment from the FBI, made entry into the home.

Tiarks was inside. The Sheriff says the man died from a self-inflicted wound. An investigation into the robbery is being conducted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Among the agencies responding to the incident, was both Cass County K-9 units: Deputy Corey Larsen and his partner Mufasa, and Deputy Kyle Quist, along with his partner Kane.

Iowa State University climatologist Elwyn Taylor says the cooler temperatures and rainfall we’ve seen recently do not mean Iowa’s drought is finished. “It definitely has not broken yet, maybe has for a few locations, but for the most part it is still with us,” Taylor says. Some areas of the country though have seen the relief from dry conditions come. “The southeastern United States is done with their drought, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona — we won’t say done with the drought– but much moderated there and disappearing in places but still at strength in the Midwest and out into the Rocky Mountains,” according to Taylor.

Taylor says about 80-percent of Iowa’s rainfall comes from the Gulf of Mexico.  “We are seeing a flow of moisture, at least a moderate flow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico,”Taylor says, “and it’s only about half the strength, or a little less than half the strength, and with that being weak we’re not seeing a real quick end to this”. While Taylor says factors influencing Iowa’s weather are moderating toward more normal temperatures and moisture in the immediate future, he expects the drought to continue into next spring in most areas.

(Radio Iowa)

A stand-off northeast of Shelby with a person possibly connected to the Thursday morning robbery of a bank there, ended with one-person dead, and no injuries to law enforcement. According to Shelby County Sheriff Mark Hervey, a man whom deputies had pursued following the bank robbery to a home in the vicinity of 200th and Juniper Streets, was found deceased inside the residence. His body was discovered after authorities made entry into the home just after 4-p.m., following a stand-off that lasted for more than 3 -hours. Hervey said there were no shots fired during the stand-off, either by the person in question or law enforcement.  The robbery which led to the incident happened at around 11:50-a.m., at the Shelby County State Bank, in Shelby.

Bank employees reportedly told investigating officers that the robber did not display a gun during the incident. It’s unclear how much, if any, money was taken during the robbery. Officers from at least five counties…including both Cass County K-9 units: Deputy Josh McLaren and his partner Mufasa, and Deputy Kyle Quist, along with his partner Kane…were on the scene, along with the Iowa State Patrol’s Tactical Team, agents with the FBI, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Harlan Police and the Iowa Dept. of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division.

Additional details, including the man’s name are not available.