October is the busiest month of the year for a 19th century jailhouse in southwest Iowa which some believe is haunted. What’s known as the Squirrel Cage Jail was built in Council Bluffs in 1885. Karla Borgaila is the museum coordinator for the Pottawattamie County Historical Society. She says the jail’s a spooky place.  “It got the name of the Squirrel Cage because inside this absolutely gorgeous brick building is a three-story cage that has pie-shaped cells for the men and it would rotate around,” Borgaila says. “It had a water motor for during the night and a hand crank for during the day.” Only 16 jails of this type were built in the U-S and three survive, but the facility in Council Bluffs is the only one that has three tiers of cells. She says it was a very unpopular place for prisoners.

“It even has a solitary confinement area down this long narrow hallway just barely bigger than the width of a gym locker,” Borgaila says. “There’s a standing area the size of a gym locker at the back they could put you in with a cage door for anywhere from one to ten days.” Members of the group Nevermore Paranormal have spent time in the jail and will share what they have documented about ghostly activity in the cages on Sunday at 2 P-M at the Western Trails Center, in Council Bluffs. Borgaila says there will also be evening tours of the jail on October 29th.

“From 6 to 8 P-M, we do spooky tours, evening tours throughout the jail and Nevermore Paranormal will be there,” she says. “The jail’s spooky enough during the day and once the sun goes down, it’s even a little bit creepier.” The Pottawattamie County Historical Society will also hold haunted lantern tours of its rail cars at the RailsWest Railroad Museum on October 28th. Younger kids can stop buy earlier that evening and go railcar-to-railcar trick-or-treating.

(Radio Iowa)

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — An 18-year-old Cass County, Iowa man has been sentenced to 4 to 9 years in prison for his role in a deadly shooting of another man in Bellevue. Online court records show Cable Cohrs, of Atlantic, was sentenced on Monday in Sarpy County, NE, District Court after pleading guilty to being an accessory to a felony and aiding consummation of a felony. Cohrs was originally charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Kyle Williams. In exchange for Cohrs’ plea, the murder charge was dropped.

Williams was found injured and unresponsive by his grandfather at their home in March. He died of his injuries. Johnathan Armendariz was sentenced in September to 80 to 100 years in prison on charges of second-degree murder and use of a firearm in Williams’ death.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – Missouri River state governors are clashing with Montana over flood control as federal officials tell them damage from this year’s high water will make them even more vulnerable during next year’s flood season. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer lashed back against a developing notion that downstream flood control should dominate upstream reservoir management. He told the downstream governors Monday such a plan would lead to empty reservoirs in Montana when a drought hits.

Schweitzer called into what was expected to be a private meeting attended by governors from Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota. The host, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, clashed with Schweitzer during the meeting. Schweitzer invited reporters to his office to listen to the meeting. He criticized the others for closing the doors to the public.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is proposing a 9.35 percent increase in premiums for more than 70,000 individual customers in Iowa, saying it’s needed to offset rising health care costs. The Des Moines-based health insurer announced the increase Monday. Wellmark executives say the primary factor behind the increase is increased use of health care services as Iowans become less healthy, in part because of obesity. The proposal would translate into an increase of up to $47 per month. Earlier this year, Wellmark imposed an 8.5 percent increase on individual customers. That followed an 18 percent hike in 2010. Hugh Espey, executive director of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, calls the proposed increase “outrageous” during a time of economic crisis. A public hearing on the increase is scheduled for Dec. 10.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports all lanes of I-80 eastbound near Shelby are now open, following a semi-tractor trailer fire earlier this morning.

Cass County Mental Health Coordinator Teresa Kanning says seats are still available for this Thursday evening’s “Conversation on Mental Health,” which takes place at Iowa Western Community College, in Atlantic. The event begins at 7-p.m., with keynote speaker Joan Becker.

Becker’s son Mark shot and killed Aplington-Parkersburg Football Coach Ed Thomas in June 2009. A jury found him guilty of 1^st degree murder in March 2010, after rejecting his insanity defense. He was later sentenced to life in prison.

Joan Becker, who has two other sons, is making her way around the state to hold conversations about mental health issues. She spoke last month at the Wallace Country Life Center in rural Orient, about her son‘s struggle with paranoid schizophrenia.

Kanning told the Board of Supervisors during a meeting earlier this month, that Becker will discuss what parts of the mental health system failed her son, and which parts were helpful. A local mental health panel discussion will follow Becker’s presentation about how the system works or doesn’t work, in Cass County.

Several mental health and medical professionals, as well as Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren and County Attorney Dan Feistner, have signed-up for the program. Some of those individuals will participate in the panel discussion that evening. The event is open to the public. To reserve your seat, call 712-243-4424.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s office reports five people were arrested over the past week and a half. On October 10^th, 62-year old Mary Jane Hammes, of Tabor, was arrested for 5^th degree theft, and 19-year old Alexandra Brooke Odell, of Hamburg, was arrested on a Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charge.

On October 8^th, 47-year old Michelle Dawn Campbell, of Thurman, was arrested on a Mills County warrant for 3^rd degree theft. She posted a $2,300 cash bond that same day. And, 24-year old Lester A. Gonzalez, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested for 1^st Offense OWI.

And, on October 6^th, 21-year old Amy Marie McConahay, of Glenwood, was arrested on two counts of allegedly providing alcohol to minors. The woman posted $1,000 bond. Her arraignment is set to take place October 31^st, with a jury trial scheduled for December 6^th.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Department today (Monday), released a compiled report on accidents which occurred over the past couple of weeks. Officials say two people suffered minor injuries during a rollover accident Oct. 11^th, northeast of Sidney. The accident happened when Justin Carter, of Nevada, MO, missed a curve on 195^th Street, as he was traveling north onto 305^th Street. The car rolled into the east ditch. Carter, and a passenger in the car were injured, and transported by Sidney Rescue to Grape Community Hospital in Hamburg.

Another accident happened October 8^th, near the Sidney Recreation area. Officials say Rosemary Spiegel, of Hamburg, was traveling north on Highway 275. As she passed 230^th Street, Spiegel lost control of her 1998 Buick LeSabre and overcorrected, sending the car across the opposite lane of traffic and into the west ditch, where it rolled onto its top. Spiegel and a passenger in the vehicle were transported to the hospital in Hamburg by Sidney Rescue.

And, on October 4^th, two passengers in a van were taken to the Shenandoah Hospital after a car driven by Brittany Corbin, of Tarkio, MO, collided with the van as Corbin was passing a semi. The accident happened on northbound Highway 275. Neither Cordbin, nor the driver of the van, David McSorley, of Sidney, were injured in the crash.

A downed power line north of Lewis Sunday left residents of the community without power for a little more than five-hours. The downed line caused a small ditch fire just north of Highway 6, near County Road M-56.

The power was knocked out at around 3-p.m.. Crews from Mid-American Energy were on the scene and able to restore service to the utility’s customers, at around 8:00 p.m.

Police in Shenandoah report a traffic stop Sunday resulted in the arrest of one person on a drug charge. 18-year-old Treyton Sunderman was taken into custody for possession of drug paraphernalia, after a Shenandoah Police Reserve officer stopped Sunderman’s vehicle in the 400 block of West Nishna Road.The police report said the officer discovered drug paraphernalia in the vehicle during a search. Sunderman was subsequently cited into magistrate’s court.

Police in Shenandoah are investigating the theft over the weekend, of a pickup truck. Officials say Chris Hogue of Shenandoah reported his 2008 Chevy Silverado was stolen at approximately 6 p.m. Sunday, from the 300 block of Church Street. Police located the pickup a short while later in the 1000 block of 7th Avenue. Officials say anyone with information about the theft should contact Shenandoah Police at 712-246-3512.

Police in Red Oak say an alleged shoplifter was arrested Sunday evening. 42-year old Darren Scott Foncree was taken into custody for allegedly taking a pack of cigarettes from the Red Oak Hy Vee Store. Foncree was charged with 5th degree theft and held in jail on $300 bond.