COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a national DNA database listing from Nebraska has led to an arrest in a 2001 rape case in Council Bluffs. Online court records say 50-year-old Mark Sands faces seven charges, including sexual abuse, kidnapping and burglary. His trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 15th.

His attorney, Joe Reedy said that Sands is “absolutely innocent” and has pleaded not guilty. Pottawattamie County prosecutors say the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System – CODIS – helped identify Sands, a registered sex offender from a separate case. Nebraska records say Sands was living in Omaha, Neb. Police say a Council Bluffs woman reported in October 2001 that a stranger raped her for hours and tied up her disabled daughter at their home.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County say a traffic stop late Wednesday morning on Interstate 80 in Council Bluffs, resulted in 226-pounds of Marijuana being seized from the vehicle, and the driver placed under arrest.

Authorities say Deputy Brian Miller pulled over a pickup truck with out-of-state license plates on I-80 eastbound, at the 9-mile marker, or at about the Highway 6 interchange. The traffic stop took place at around 11:24-a.m. A search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of controlled substance. The lone male occupant of the vehicle was arrested.

No other details are being released about the suspect or the drug bust, at this time.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Police in Red Oak say one-person was being held in the Montgomery County jail this (Thursday) morning, following a disturbance Wednesday afternoon  25-year-old Nathan Al Ward, Jr., of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 3-p.m., for disturbing the peace, and for allegedly displaying a dangerous weapon in the courtyard of a housing complex located on East Summit Street, in Red Oak.

Ward was charged with Breach of Peace and Aggravated Assault. His bond was set at $2,300.

The U-S Army Corps of Engineers has been holding meetings up and down the Missouri River to discuss 2011 flooding problems and its plans for 2012. Percival, Iowa farmer Leo Ettleman, is also a spokesman for a coalition called “Responsible River Management.” Ettleman describes the meetings as “frustrating,” and says while the Corps is listening, they aren’t planning any changes.  He says the Corps looks at 2008 at a “500-year event” and they have no reason to change their management plans over one such event, so he says they will manage the river in 2012 like they have in the past. Ettleman says any changes to the Corps’ Missouri River operating plan will have to come from Congress.

Ettleman says that means there is no funding in the plan for flood recovery to build the levees back to the 100-year protection that they were. Ettleman lost two-thirds of his 23-hundred row crop acres to the flooding in 2011. He says it has left a tremendous amount of debris and sand deposits on his land. “We have sand deposits probably, anywhere from two foot to four foot deep, just waves of sand.. scour holes, we have scour holes anywhere from two foot to five foot deep, it’s tremendous,” Ettleman says. Ettleman is concerned about a repeat of the flooding problems in 2012.

He says they are going into spring with a 25-year protection levee, if it gets finished,by spring, and “we’re going to be extremely vulnerable in 2012 and perhaps even beyond, it depends on when the funding comes in.” Ettleman says because the number of people directly affected by the flooding is relatively small, it has been a challenge to make their voices heard.

(Dar Danielson/Radio Iowa)

Scene of Wednesday's fatal crash (Photo Credit: Harlan Tribune)

(final update 3:45-p.m. Wed.)  The Iowa State Patrol has released the names of the victims who died Wednesday morning in a crash about four-miles south of Harlan, on Highway 59. They were identified as 68-year old Marcella and 71-year old Robert Schwery, both of Panama, and 26-year old Christina Cotant, of Avoca. The Patrol says a 1999 Cadillac Deville driven by Marcella Schwery was traveling south on Highway 59 at around 10:20-a.m., when the vehicle went around a State Patrol cruiser, which was parked on the shoulder of the road. Schwery’s car crossed the center line of the road and collided head-on with a northbound 2008 Ford Escape, driven by Cotant.

After the impact, the Cadillac spun around and collided with an unoccupied 2008 Ford Crown Victoria State Patrol cruiser. The troopers had been in the process of working a traffic stop, their vehicles’ emergency lights on, when the crash occurred. Officials say after the crash, the SUV entered the east ditch. Neither of the troopers, nor those in the vehicle they stopped, were injured.

The Patrol says all of the crash three victims died at the scene. Marcella Schwery and Christina Cotant were wearing their seatbelts, but Robert Schwery was not.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), in November. The nationwide test will occur on Wednesday, November 9th at 1 p.m. central time and may last up to three and a half minutes. The public will hear a message indicating that “This is a test.” The audio message will be the same for both radio, television, and cable.

The National-level EAS is a public alert and warning system that enables the President of the United States to address the American public during extreme emergencies. Similar to local EAS tests that are conducted frequently, the Nationwide Test will involve broadcast radio and television stations, cable television, satellite radio and television services and wireline providers across all states and territories.

Over the past two years and as part of ongoing national preparedness planning efforts, FEMA, the FCC and other federal partners, State, local, tribal and territorial governments, EAS Participants, and others in the EAS Community have been working toward making this test a reality. As the federal, state, tribal, territorial and local governments prepare for and test their capabilities, this event serves as a reminder that everyone should establish an emergency preparedness kit and emergency plan for themselves, their families, communities, and businesses.

Anyone can visit www.Ready.gov for more information about how to prepare for and stay informed about what to do in the event of an actual emergency.

(update 12:25-p.m.) An overheated motor in a furnace apparently caused a small fire at a residence in Walnut, this morning.  Firefighters from Walnut and Hancock were paged out to a reported fire at 500 Highland Street, in Walnut. The call came in at around 11:18-a.m. 

Firefighters weren’t on the scene very long. No injuries were reported. It’s not clear what the extent of the damage was.

(Updated 12:35-.m.) Three people have reportedly died in a three-vehicle crash this morning south of the Harlan airport. Harlan Medivac and Avoca Rescue were called to the scene, along with Lifenet helicopter. The acccident happened at around 10:30-a.m., as the Iowa State Patrol was making a routine traffic stop. One of the vehicles involved in the crash was an SUV.

No other details are currently available. We’ll post more on this story, as it becomes known.