Officials had to evacuate a Council Bluffs neighborhood because of a natural gas leak that was started by a copper thief.

About a dozen houses were evacuated before dawn Thursday morning while officials searched for the source of the gas leak. Residents were allowed to return home around 6:30 a.m.

Council Bluffs police say the gas leak came from a vacant homewhere someone had been trying to steal copper pipe. Officials believe the thief cut the home’s natural gas line and water line while trying to steal the copper.

Police arrested a teen suspect in the theft and recovered the stolen copper.

The affected neighborhood is a couple blocks east of Interstate 29 on the west side of Council Bluffs near 36th and B streets.

–AP

Proceeds from the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund and the T-Fred Golf Tournament are continuing to be distributed throughout western Iowa.

One of the donations made possible by the fund was the donation of an enclosed trailer to the East Side Christian Church in Council Bluffs.

Trevor’s mother Melanie Petty says she and Trevor’s father learned that the Council Bluffs church was looking for a trailer to keep supplies so they could be ready on a moment’s to help the community with any disasters. The church has made a pledge to log 10,000 hours of community service in 2011.

Including the trailer, the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund has made over $20,000 in donations to date. Some of those many donations include: books and magazine subscriptions to the Atlantic High School and Atlantic Public Libraries, $500 annually toward coaching expenses and t-shirts for all participants of the Trevor Frederickson Baseball and Softball Clinics , $1000 annual contributions to the Nishna Valley Family YMCA’s Partnership With Youth campaign, and $750 annual scholarships to two Atlantic High School graduates and a Southwestern Community College student.

In 2009, a Council Bluffs apartment fire took the life of 21 year old Trevor Frederickson. He was a graduate of Atlantic High School.

w/ Brett Johnson

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Iowa has widened its lead over North Carolina as the nation’s top hog producer.

The Des Moines Register reported Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture lists Iowa’s herd total at 19.6 million, an increase from last year’s 18.9 million.

The hog inventory in No. 2 North Carolina dropped by 7 percent to 8.5 million. Producers blamed the decline in North Carolina on the high cost of corn, which is shipped to the state to feed the hogs.

The USDA says the nation’s total hog inventory was 66.6 million. Producers have been seeing strong prices.

Shane Ellis of Iowa State University Extension says per-head profits were $21.33 in August. He expects those profits to drop into the single digits in September.

–AP

Officials have evacuated a Council Bluffs neighborhood because of a natural gas leak.

About a dozen houses were evacuated before dawn Thursday morning.

The area was being evacuated as a precaution while officials searched for the source of the gas leak.

The affected neighborhood is a couple blocks east of Interstate 29 on the west side of Council Bluffs near 36th and B streets.

–AP

Winterset residents are being asked to conserve water as the level of the lake that supplies the city’s water continues to drop.

The level of Cedar Lake is at its lowest since 2006 and KCCI reported the 65-acre lake’s level gets lower each day.

The city’s water utilities manager says there hasn’t been any significant rain since July and with little rain in the forecast, the city is taking steps to keep more water in the lake by asking residents to voluntarily conserve water.

Officials say if the lake falls another 2 1/2 feet, the city will have to buy water from the Southern Iowa Rural Water Association. Residents are being asked to not wash cars, water their yards or run water when they brush their teeth.

–AP

An Iowa High School was put on lockdown Tuesday evening for a short time.

Dallas Center Grimes High School was put on lockdown during a volleyball game Tuesday evening when officials noticed a suspicious person walking along highway 44 near the school. The person reportedly looked to be carrying a rifle and a bullet proof vest.

After calling 911, the school’s doors were locked and officials were put on high alert for any suspicious activity that might occur. At the time of the lockdown, a volleyball game was taking place at the school.

Authorities eventually arrested Michael Jensen who is being held in the Polk County Jail on $100,000 cash bond.

A gathering of World War II Veterans will take place in Council Bluffs starting next Tuesday. Prisoners of War who surrendered to the Japanese in 1942 will be gathering at the annual Mukden Survivors and Descendants Reunion at the Holiday Inn and Suites at Ameristar in Council Bluffs from October 4-8.

The Mukden Prisoner of War Camp was a Japanese slave labor camp using men surrendered during WWII. Mukden POW camp was located in Manchuria in northeast China. It was one of the largest POW camps of the Japanese imprisoning 1500 Americans as well as military men from Great Britain, the Netherlands and several other nations.

Registration will be next Tuesday, with a banquet held on October 8^th at the Holiday Inn.

On October 8 from 10:00-11:00am, the public is invited to meet and listen to the stories of these former WWII Japanese prisoners of war at the Holiday Inn.

For more information about the event, contact Gloria Myers, at 712-784-3913. Reservations for the banquet are $25 and need to be made by Saturday.

The Iowa DOT is reminding the public that all persons are prohibited from entering the Interstate 680 construction site. The construction site will only be open to contractor employees and individuals directly involved in the rebuilding project.

The Iowa DOT would like to have interstate 680 partially or completely open by the end of the year. Disruptions caused by the public by entering the construction site could cause delays in re-building the interstate.

The contractor is mobilizing its equipment to the site and beginning work using heavy equipment and trucks. The work environment is heavily congested and unsafe for observers.

The Iowa DOT says it will let the public know if there are any opportunities in the future to view the construction site.

Volunteers are needed in southwest Iowa to help with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. The VITA Program is an IRS-sponsored program that certifies community volunteers to prepare and e-file basic tax returns at no cost for low to moderate income individuals and families.

Those interested in volunteering in southwest Iowa to help prepare 2011 income taxes should have a basic understanding of income tax laws, an interest in helping others, and basic computer skills.

Volunteers will be provided basic training to help people fill out their basic 1040 tax forms.

To find out more about the VITA program contact the Shelby County Extension Office at 712-755-3104, or Mary Beth Kaufman, Extension Family Program Specialist at 712-755-3104 or e-mail: mbkaufma@iastate.edu. Those interested will need to complete a one page application.