It appears a van stolen from Atlantic late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning has been discovered in a Cass County field late Thursday afternoon. A person notified the Cass County Communications Center about the van’s location at around 5:30-p.m. Additional details concerning the location were not immediately available.

A 2004 Chevy Venture van, similar to one stolen from Atlantic recently

The vehicle Police reported missing late Thursday morning was a white, 2004 Chevy Venture van, with Iowa license plate 583 MFS. If you have any information concerning the theft of this van, call the Atlantic Police Department at 712-243-3512.

 SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A U.S. District Court judge in Sioux City has sentenced a Californian for hauling illegal immigrants across the country.  The Sioux City Journal says 24-year-old Maurelio Diaz-Alfonso, of Riverside, Calif., had pleaded guilty in March. He was sentenced on Tuesday to 13 months in prison. Diaz-Alfonso was arrested after a traffic stop on Interstate 29 near Onawa in western Iowa.

A state trooper who pulled over the sport utility vehicle Diaz-Alfonso was driving searched it and found 12 people inside. They were illegal immigrants.  Diaz-Alfonso later told federal agents that he was paid to drive his passengers from Mesa, Ariz., to Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York.

w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A ticket sold at a grocery store in Cedar Rapids has matched the Powerball numbers and won someone a jackpot of $241 million. Iowa Lottery officials say the ticket was sold at a Hy-Vee on Edgewood Road in Cedar Rapids. The person or people holding the ticket have yet to step forward to claim the prize from Wednesday’s drawing. The ticket matched the numbers of 7, 10, 14, 33 and 57, plus the Powerball number of 18. 
 
Iowa Lottery Chief Executive Officer Terry Rich says lottery officials encourage jackpot winners to consult financial or legal advisers before claiming such a big prize. If the ticket holder chooses to take a lump sum payout, the total is $160.3 million before taxes. After taxes, a little more than $112 million.

Heat and humidity can make for a dangerous — even deadly — combination. Today (Thursday) is Heat Awareness Day in Iowa. Jeff Johnson, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says Iowans can benefit from a refresher course on the risks of hot weather. “It’s intended to remind folks that in the summertime in Iowa, particularly in late June, July and early August, that we can have periods of extreme heat and humidity,” Johnson says. “That is actually a public health concern.” Johnson has some simple advice for beating the heat.

“Drinking plenty of water, avoid alcohol, slow down during the day in the heat and do your exercise early in the morning or late in the evening, and dress in light-colored clothes,” he says. “If you know of an elderly person or someone in bad health who doesn’t have air conditioning, be sure and check on them, maybe even encourage them to get to somewhere that does have air conditioning.” We’re coming off one of the warmest winters –and springs — in Iowa history, so the summer ahead could be steamy. Johnson says last summer wasn’t too brutal.

“We didn’t hit 100 in Des Moines but I think we did elsewhere in the state,” he says. “We did have some heat events. One week in July of last year, we had heat advisories out every day for a week. We did have kind of a heat wave. It wasn’t extreme like in ’95 or ’88, but we did have some heat last year.” The first day of summer is next Wednesday, June 20th. Learn more about Heat Awareness Day at www.weather.gov/dmx

(Radio Iowa)

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Heartland Cooperative Wednesday, announced he will be retiring at the end of this year. Larry Petersen informed the Co-Op Board of his decision earlier this week. Petersen has spent the last 31-years with the Heartland combined companies, and his served in the agricultural-related industries for more than 42-years. He became the General Manager of the Panora Farmers Cooperative in 1981, and is the first and only CEO of the Heartland Co-Op since its inception in 1987.

During his tenure, Heartland has grown to become one of the largest local cooperatives in the nation, according to Board President Art Churchill.  Churchill says the Heartland Board of Directors has begun the process to secure a replacement for Petersen, and they fully expect to have a new CEO in-place before Petersen’s departure on December 31st.

The Heartland Co-Op has corporate offices located in West Des Moines, and consists of a total of 51 locations in Central and Eastern Iowa. The organizations serves more than 4,500 members with operations in grain handling and marketing, fertilizer and application, Ag chemicals and application, livestock feed and processing, agricultural products, and propane.

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Police in Bedford are asking for your help in locating a red, 4-door pickup believed to be involved in an alleged abduction attempt. According to Bedford Police Chief Jeremy Holben, the driver of the pickup is wanted for questioning in connection with Wednesday’s incident.

Holben says an “older looking” male tried to entice a child to his vehicle by offering candy. The child’s mother was nearby, and escorted her child away from the scene. Chief  Holben says since the man’s intentions are unclear, authorities  want to question him about the incident. He was last seen driving the pickup in the 1100 block of Bent Street in Bedford. No other description of the vehicle is available. Anyone with information about this person in-question, is asked to phone the Bedford Police Department at 523-2128.

Other attempted child abductions were reported over the past couple of weeks in the Union County communities of Lorimor and Afton. In those instances, a man in a white van stopped children and attempted to lure them into his vehicle by asking the kids if they would like to buy a puppy, or help him locate a lost dog. A man whose vehicle matched the description given by the children was questioned, but denied any wrongdoing.

Attempts to abduct children were also reported to have occurred last month, in Perry, and Pleasant Hill.

Two Council Bluffs residents were injured when the motorcycle they were riding collided with a car Wednesday night in Council Bluffs. A passenger on the cycle, 26-year old Kristine Freeman, suffered life-threatening injuries. She, along with the driver of the 2006 Suzuki, 39-year old Jeramy McCollum, were transported to the Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, by Council Bluffs Fire and Rescue. McCollum’s injuries were not considered to be life-threatening. Officials say neither of the riders were wearing a helmet.

According to Council Bluffs Police, the accident happened just after 9:45-p.m., when a 2000 Dodge Intrepid driven by 23-year old Joshua Ourada, of Omaha, attempted to turn left onto MidAmerican Drive from northbound South 24th Street. Investigators say when he turned in front of the southbound motorcycle, the vehicles collided. Ourada was not injured.

McCollum and Freeman were ejected from the cycle. Speed and alcohol were NOT believed to be factors in the crash. Citations were being withheld, pending completion of the accident investigation.