Update #2: On 02-02-23 at 10:00am the Council Bluffs Police Department received information from the Shreveport Louisiana Police Department that they have Devin Akins in custody. At this time all suspects involved in the case have been arrested.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – An official with the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division today (Thursday), reported three people wanted in connection with a murder investigation, have been taken into custody. At around 6:30-p.m., Wednesday, 20-year-old Angelina Michaelson, of Council Bluffs, turned herself-in to authorities, and was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail. At around 6:30-a.m. today (Thursday), 19-year-old Trebor Carman, and 20-year-old Dontre Hudson, were arrested by the Southwest Iowa Fugitive Task Force, at a location in Omaha. Both were transported to Douglas County, NE. Corrections, and are awaiting extradition to Council Bluffs. One other suspect, 30-year-old Devin Adkins, remains at Large. (No photo available)

Three other suspects, who are 20-years of age, were also arrested, as we previously announced. They include: Keshawn Houtz-Mayfield; Traavon Thomas and Treianna Hudson. All of the suspects are from Council Bluffs. Each of the suspects face Felony charges of 1st Degree Murder and Robbery in the 1st Degree. The charges are the result of the January 8, 2023 shooting of 19-year old Tucker Dobberstein, who was found inside of an apartment, shot in the chest.

If you have any information regarding the location of the remaining suspect, Devin Atkins, please contact your local law enforcement agency.

Previous story: https://www.kjan.com/index.php/2023/02/3-out-of-seven-suspects-allegedly-involved-in-death-of-a-ne-man-are-arrested-4-others-sought-on-felony-warrants/?fbclid=IwAR1CpEAkkhPaziRb-yqe7Hu32wdlJNg5yexk7iNpP1l-kVSGqmP-3BoGmrU

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The seven member Cass County Compensation Board will meet 7-p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, in the basement meeting room at the Cass County Courthouse, in Atlantic. The Board will elect officers for their Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary.

Afterward, they will discuss compensation of elected officials, followed by consideration and action on compensation recommendations to the Board of Supervisors.

(Radio Iowa) – As egg prices bound, backyard chicken flocks are gaining in popularity, but the practice of chicken keeping demands plenty of planning and patience before it pays off. Christa Hartsook, the small farms program coordinator for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, says the amount of money you have to invest to get started depends on how large an operation you want to launch. “Your basic costs are going to be in a little bit of equipment,” Hartsook says. “You’re going to need specific waterers and feeders for baby chicks. You’re going to need a specific area to keep them in that you can keep them nice and enclosed, and definitely very warm while they are in that early stage of life. Your biggest costs are going to be in the chick itself and in the feed.”

Most chicks range from three to six dollars each, but before you start counting your chickens, Hartsook says you’ll need to make sure you can legally keep the birds in the backyard.  “I always recommend that folks check with their community first and foremost, so that they can determine what particular regulations are guiding their community,” Hartsook says. “It may be in terms of the overall number, a community may not allow roosters, you may have property setback limits, so definitely check and read your community ordinances.” There are all sorts of breeds from which to choose, and you’ll also need to decide if you want chickens for eggs or for meat. Plus, if you’re going to be raising them in Iowa, certain heavier breeds are better able to withstand the state’s frigid winters.

Hartsook says she’s getting a lot of calls lately about backyard chickens, as spring will arrive March 20th. “People are just very concerned about the rising costs and we use eggs a lot in our daily diets,” Hartsook says. “Another great thing about chickens is it’s a relatively easy enterprise to get started with. It doesn’t cost a whole lot, then it’s a great way for folks to make that connection back to their own food source, and then maybe even provide some responsibility for kids.” For the same reasons egg prices are inflated, supply chain issues are pushing up the cost of chicken feed — and the cost of chicks, too.

“Chicks are a little higher because we are seeing a lot of interest in getting started with backyard chickens, so you’re definitely not going to get chicks tomorrow and then see eggs the next week,” Hartsook says. “You’re not going to see any kind of return really on chicks until fall. It’s five to five-and-a-half months before a chick is mature enough to have egg production.” If you’re considering starting a backyard flock, there’s a free online course through the I-S-U Extension: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/15129

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – January is usually the coldest and driest month of the year, but State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the numbers went against the averages this year. “Little over 24 degrees is the average temperature for the state and that’s about five degrees above average so top 30 warmest Januarys on record,” he says.

KJAN weather records for the month of January in Atlantic, show that we were on average, 4-degrees warmer than normal, 8-degrees warmer on the Low side of the thermometer, and thanks to rainfall and four days of snowfall, we ended-up slightly more than six-tenths of an inch wetter than normal. The Average High for Jan. 2023 in Atlantic was 33.6 degrees (the norm is 29.4). The Low averaged out to 15.5degrees (9.3 is the norm), and we received 1.47-inches of precipitation (rain/melted frozen precip.). We would normally be much drier, at .84-inches. Snowfall amounted to 1.9 inches. The warmest day was January 10th (49-degrees). The coldest day (24-hour Low) was Jan. 30th, at -5 degrees. The snowiest day was January 27th (.8″).

Justin Glisan says January in Iowa saw more rain and snow than normal. “We’re about an inch above average — we came in at just under two inches of precipitation snowfall in any rainfall that fell — and preliminarily in the top 10 wettest Januarys on record.”He says half the state saw more snowfall than normal. “As January is the driest month it doesn’t take a lot to be above average, but definitely above average snowpack across the northern half of the state anywhere from five to 10 inches above average. You look at southern Iowa in a snow drought so below average snowfall for that portion of the state,” Glisan says.

The severe weather in January was not limited to snow and blizzards, as two tornadoes touched down in eastern Iowa. “Very weak tornadoes, E-F-zero, E-F-one, on the ground for 10 minutes five mile track. Some damage along that path, but nothing catastrophic,” he says. The tornadoes were rare and record-breaking. “The earliest calendar day tornado for the state of Iowa. So we broke a record there. And it was these were the first tornadoes that we’ve seen across the state since January 24 1967, when we saw 13 tornadoes in eastern Iowa, which was a part of a larger tornado outbreak across Missouri, Illinois and Iowa,” Glisan says.

Glisan says the early short-term outlook for February is slightly warmer and wetter.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has unanimously voted to increase the annual budget for grants from the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund by more than a third. The grants are to help low income veterans cover unexpected expenses like car repairs. The 500-thousand dollar allotment for the current budgeting year ran out last fall. Representative Martin Graber of Fort Madison says there would be 800-thousand dollars in grants available each year if the bill becomes law.

“Anytime there’s an issue that deals with veterans I’m for it as long as it’s fiscally responsible and does the right thing,” Graber says. “I believe this bill does those things.”

Earlier this week Governor Reynolds used her authority to transfer 440-thousand dollars in federal pandemic relief funds to finance Veterans Fund grants that had been approved, but not awarded.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill introduced in the Iowa House would require that school library catalogs be posted online and teachers would have to list all the instructional materials they plan to use. The concept was considered in the House and Senate last year, but did not become law. Melissa Peterson of the Iowa State Education Association says parents should have access to school curriculum, but the bill would prevent teachers from adding new material that would benefit students.

“The number of things that can occur on a daily basis, if not an hourly basis, that could have relevance in the classroom,” she says, “that really would help connect whatever is happening from an instructional material standpoint to what is happening in the world around us.” Supporters of the legislation say parents have a right to know what materials will be used in their child’s classroom and opt out of anything they object to. Another House bill calls for a fine of up to five-thousand dollars against a school district that violates the ban on teaching certain ideas about racism and sexism.

Under a 2021 state law, schools are not allowed to teach that Iowa or the United States are fundamentally racist. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison says setting up fines would send the message that the law must be followed. “It would appear to us that this hasn’t been complied with in some school districts, that it has been blatantly ignored in some school districts or that they are just simply trying to play word games and keep doing the same thing.”

If the bill becomes law, the Iowa Department of Education would field any complaints that a school is teaching those concepts and determine if the district should be fined.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest economic survey of supply managers in Iowa and eight other Midwestern states shows the business barometer falling to its worst January level in 15 years.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the monthly report ranks the region’s economy on a zero-to-100 scale and he says fears about recession are growing. “The overall rating was down from 47.1 last month, December, to 47 this month,” Goss says. “Obviously, neither of those readings are good. They’re both below growth neutral and it’s the lowest January recording that we’ve had since 2008, so it was not a good month.”

The survey’s individual Business Conditions Index for Iowa dropped to 47.0 in January, down from December’s 47.8. Respondents in the nine states were asked to name and rank what they see as the top threats to their business and to the economy in the coming months. “Supply chain disruptions were number one, higher input prices number two, and recession number three,” Goss says. “What was surprising is finding and hiring qualified workers — labor shortages — was not in the top six, so that was a surprise to me.”

Ernie Goss

The survey points to slow, no, or negative growth in the months ahead, Goss says, likely through the second quarter. Looking ahead six months, the survey’s Confidence Index, which gauges economic optimism on a zero-to-100 scale, rose from 23 in December to 25 in January, which is still very weak. “Almost 26% reported workforce reductions, so instead of gaining, we’re reducing the size of the workforce,” Goss says. “The overall region when we look at compared to pre-COVID levels, we’re almost even. We’re down about 6,800 workers in the entire nine-state region from February of 2020.”

Only four of the nine states have rebounded to higher employment levels since the start of the pandemic: Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Iowa’s average inflation-adjusted hourly wage rate fell by 3.7% during 2022.

ATLANTIC, IA (February 1, 2023) – Sweetheart Market 2023 is now accepting preorders. For information and to preorder for Sweetheart Market, visit www.ProduceInTheParkAtlanticIowa.com. Sweetheart Market 2023 will offer in-person shopping as well as pre-ordering. Pre-order is available through Thursday, February 9. Shoppers can pick up preorders and shop in person at Sweetheart Market on Saturday, February 11 from noon to 3:00 PM at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA (805 W. 10th St. Atlantic, IA 50022).

Pre-ordering is an excellent option for customers who want to plan on a particular food item—such as Valentines cookies—as well as customers who are short on time to shop at the market. Some vendors, such as Miss NiNi’s Fine Desserts, will only be offering pre-ordered products.

Sweetheart Market is held the Saturday before Valentine’s Day, so shoppers can pick up Valentine’s Day themed sweets, baked goods, and gifts, in addition to farmers market favorites premium local produce, meats, jams, seasonal candles, crafts, art, jewelry, and bath and body products. Furthermore, the Nishna Valley Family YMCA will be offering free activities for kids during the market (no entry fee). Additionally, Pim’s Thai food truck will be in the parking lot selling Thai Food—a customer favorite.

Frosting Inc.’s Heart Cookie Cakes are now available to pre-order for Sweetheart Market

Sweetheart Market vendors confirmed as of February 1 include Smudge, Bridgewater Farm, Brun Ko Farm, Miss NiNi’s Fine Desserts, Noble Provisions, The Kringle Man, DezaRae Farm Soaps, Ter-Bear Honey, Johnna Joy Designs, Midwest Candles by Brit, Wud Bi Tek, Creekside Crystals and Crafts, Frosting Inc., Spirits of the Faire, Sweet Sisters Vegan, Donna’s Jewelry, Unicorn Clouds, Studio Samantha, Sugar Mamma Cookie Co., Imagine at Zellmer Century Farm, Silver Valley Craft Corner, and Pim’s Thai Food Truck.

Produce in the Park continues to accept vendor applications to Sweetheart Market and Spring Celebration Market (April 6). For more information visit produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com or contact Market Manager Brigham Hoegh at produceintheparkatlanticiowa@gmail.com or 712-249-5870.

Sweetheart Market is sponsored by the Atlantic Community Promotion Commission, Cass County Tourism, First Whitney Bank and Trust, Cass Health, Gregg Young Automotive of Atlantic, and the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce. For the latest information on Christmas Market, follow Produce in the Park on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/) or sign up for the Produce in the Park newsletter at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is strongly advising residents of the County – especially those in the rural areas – to keep their homes, cars and outbuildings locked. Authorities say Deputies responded Tuesday to the active burglary of an outbuilding in the area of the 1400 block of 900th St.

The subject was observed by the homeowner and was believed to be armed. Shelby County Deputies and other agencies assisted with trying to locate the subject with no success. Due to this being an ongoing investigation no further information is being released at this time.

In addition to locking your property, residents are advised to utilize security lights and cameras, if available. If you see anything suspicious, please call the Sheriff’s Office right away.

The Harlan Police Department is reporting five arrests took place from January 8th through the 17th. Two arrests occurred on January 8, 2023:

• 34-year-old Omar Barquero Flores, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Flores was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with public intoxication. And,
• 33-year-old Andrew Michael Bierl, of Omaha, NE, was arrested following a call for service. Bierl was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with trespassing.

On the 10th of January, 40-year-old Kera Dlynn Bomer, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant. Bomer was transported to the Shelby County Jail. The following day (Jan. 11), 30-year-old Jeremiah Joseph Rosemeier, of Hopkins, MO, was arrested following a traffic stop. Rosemeier was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with prohibited acts penalties, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

On January 17, 2023, 53-year-old Mark Allen Boardman, of Portsmouth, was arrested following a call for service. Boardman was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with public intoxication.

The H-PD said also, there were five accidents reported from January 4th through the 30th, but none resulted in any injuries.