Police in Council Bluffs arrested one person in connection with the robbery of a pharmacy Wednesday morning. 30-year old Donald A. White, of Council Bluffs, faces charges which include Robbery in the 1st degree, and theft in the 2nd degree. An employee of the Union Pharmacy on West Broadway detained the suspect until police could arrive and take him into custody. White is also suspected of committing a robbery at the CVS Pharmacy on West Washington Street in Council Bluffs, last Sunday evening.

Officials say Bluffs Police officers were called to the store just after 10-a.m, Wednesday, after receiving word a robbery had occurred. While enroute, they learned the suspect was being physically detained. Authorities say White entered the pharmacy wearing dark clothing and a black nylon over his face. He approached clerk Bill Shipley and threatened him with a box cutter before demanding the pain killer hydromorphine.

Shipley punched White in the face and after a struggle, was able to hold him down until police arrived. Shipley told an Omaha television station “You don’t have time to deal with this stuff. It just makes you mad.” Witnesses at the scene told police White arrived at the store in a Dodge pickup, which was later determined to have been stolen out of Omaha. A different Dodge truck was used in Sunday’s robbery. It was recovered shortley after the CVS Pharmacy robbery took place. Officials say charges are pending in connection with that incident.

Police in Red Oak say a local man was arrested just after 3-a.m. today (Thursday), on a charge of Public Intoxication. 57-year old James Donald Uhlmann, Sr., of Red Oak, was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

The Iowa State Patrol is investigating a crash Wednesday evening which claimed the life of a southwest Iowa man, in Mills County. Authorities say 62-year old Randall Jones, of Henderson, died at the scene of the crash on Highway 34, about two-miles east of Malvern, at around 5-p.m., Wednesday.  Jones was driving a 2003 Buick LeSabre east on Highway 34, when his car collided near the centerline of the road with a westbound 1997 Ford pickup, driven by 40-year old Agustin Argueta, of Omaha.

Argueta, and two passengers in his truck, 21-year old Hector Gimenez, and 28-year old Rubin Antonio Soza Alvarez, both of whom are from Omaha, were transported to Creighton University Medical Center. Argueta and Gimenz were taken to the hospital by Malvern Rescue, while Alvarez was transported by Glenwood Rescue. Gimenez was the only one of the accident victims who was not wearing a seatbelt.

An out of control semi collided with a semi and a pickup in the opposite lanes of  an ice-covered Interstate 80 Wednesday evening in Cass County. The accident resulted in one person being sent to the hospital. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash happened about a mile and a-half east of the exit to Highway 71, at around 6:15-p.m.

Officials said a semi driven by 36-year old Sara Anderson, of Ham Lake, MN, and a Dodge pickup, driven by 21-year old Richard Franks, Jr., of Knox, IN, were traveling westbound in the slow lane of I-80, when an eastbound semi driven by 28-year old Ryan Keasey, of Hamburg, went out of control due to the high winds and icy road conditions. The Peterbilt went through the median before colliding with a Volvo semi driven by Anderson, and Franks Jr’.’s pickup. All three vehicles came to rest on the Interstate, blocking traffic for about two-hours.

Richard Franks, Jr. was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, by Medivac ambulance. Neither of the semi drivers was injured.

The numerous wrecks in western Iowa this evening have claimed one life. According to scanner traffic, one person was killed during a two-vehicle collision in Mills County. The accident happened near Hastings, at about the 19-mile marker, on Highway 34. No other information is available at this time.

Road conditions are deteriorating rapidly this evening. Slow down, expect black ice conditions!

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/wxstory.php?site=dmx

The Cass County Extension Service reminds area residents that free tax preparation services will be available in southwest Iowa for low and moderate income families as part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program.  For more information, or to make an appointment, call the Cass County Extension Office in Atlantic at 712-243-1132, any time after January 18th.   Other tax sites will also be available in Logan, Harlan, Malvern, Red Oak, Clarinda and Shenandoah.

Services will be provided by IRS trained and certified local volunteers who utilize the Tax Wise software to complete returns.  Only Basic Federal, Iowa and nearby state returns will be processed.  Most returns will be electronically filed and to speed up the refund process participants are encouraged to have a savings or bank account, although it is not required.  Taxpayers can have refunds deposited into more than one account and also purchase Series I US Savings Bonds.

The program is open to Iowa residents in Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Rural Pottawattamie, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont, and Page Counties.  Participants should have low to moderate income below 200% of poverty.  For example, yearly income should be less than $37,060 for a family of 3, less than $44,700 for a family of 4, less than $52,340 for a family of 5, etc.

In rural southwest Iowa the VITA program is a joint effort of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and Iowan’s for Social and Economic Development.  The program is financial supported by the Internal Revenue Service and the Iowa Department of Human Services.  For more information about the program contact Mary Beth Kaufman, ISU Extension Program Specialist and VITA Coordinator at 712-755-3104.

Winter driving tips from the Iowa DOT
Fill your vehicle’s gas tank. Before traveling in winter weather, always keep your vehicle’s gas tank nearly full and make sure your vehicle is in good mechanical condition.  Use your vehicle’s safety equipment. Your vehicle’s headlights are a valuable asset when driving in winter weather. Turn them on to see and be seen. Make sure you and your passengers are wearing their seat belts, and any children are in their child safety seats.

Never use cruise control during winter weather. Your vehicle’s cruise control sensors may not work properly if the tires are traveling on packed snow or ice. This can cause your vehicle to increase speed and increase the danger of a crash.

Keep a winter survival kit in your vehicle. This kit should contain items to help sustain your life and the lives of your passengers should your vehicle become stranded. These items can include: booster cables, candles and matches, a flashlight with fresh batteries, extra blankets and warm clothes, nonperishable food items, a can for melting water, and a snow shovel. Sufficient supplies should be in the kit for all persons traveling in the vehicle.

Use caution when approaching or following a snowplow. Snowplows generally operate at much slower speeds than other traffic. Snowplows can be forced sideways when clearing hard-packed drifts and generate a “snow cloud” that may impair the vision of drivers in nearby vehicles. Remain a safe distance behind the snowplow, pass only when clear; and never continue to drive alongside a plow. Allow plenty of space when passing the snowplow because the wing of the plow blade extends out to the side of the truck. Do not cut back into the lane of traffic too closely in front of a snowplow truck because the blade also extends in front of the truck.

Remember the slogans, “Ice and Snow …Take It Slow” and “Don’t crowd the plow.”

Check on the latest travel conditions. Visit www.511ia.org or call 511 (in Iowa) or 800-288-1047 (nationwide). You can also receive 511 traveler information via Twitter or text message. Visit the 511 website and click on the “Twitter” icon to select your desired Twitter feeds. Feeds are available for six Iowa metropolitan areas (Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Quad Cities, Sioux City and Cedar Falls/Waterloo), each of the state’s 99 counties, all traffic alerts and breaking news.

So many accidents are piling-up along Interstate 29 and I-80 in western Iowa, authorities can simply not keep up. Snow and strong, gusty winds have contributed to the accidents along both stretches of road this evening. Scanner traffic indicated anywhere from 20-to 30 vehicles had gone off the road along a stretch of  I-29 from Glenwood north to the I-680 split by 4:30-pm. Most have not resulted in injuries, or minor injuries at best. In one accident, a Glenwood School bus loaded with students reportedly hit an SUV near I-29 northbound and Highway 92. No word yet on any injuries.

The forecast for far western Iowa and extreme eastern Nebraska calls for snow to continue this evening, especially east and south of a line from Seward, NE to Lincoln, NE to Omaha and Onawa, IA. Snowfall amounts thus far have been light, just a few tenths of an inch, however, some of the snow may melt on the roads. When combined with northwest winds of 30-to 45-mph and temperatures falling below freezing, roads have been, and will become slick.

Slow down and use your Winter Weather driving skills. Allow extra time to reach your destination.

Authorities in Greenfield said today (Wednesday), two Nodaway Valley High School students have been arrested in connection with an incident related to the Nodaway Valley wrestling team. According to Greenfield Police Chief Austin O’Brien, 18-year-old Mikel Fieck and a 17-year-old juvenile, both from Greenfield, have been charged with 2^nd degree Sexual Abuse, in connection with a hazing incident involving a student on the wrestling squad. Feick was booked into the Adair County Jail and later released on $25,000 bond. The 17-year-old juvenile was being held in a juvenile detention facility in Eldora.

Nodaway Valley Superintendent of Schools Casey Berlau would not provide specific details about the students or the arrests, because of student confidentiality.